Chapter 13
Lachlan had never been so rampant for a woman before in his life.
And here she was, offering herself to him like a sugar sweet on a plate.
Her damp body pressed against him, and her long hair dripped water around his feet.
All he had to do was pick her up and carry her to the bed.
Then…the thought of what he wanted to do to her nearly made him lose control and take her right then and there on the washroom flagstones.
He was five and twenty years old—he must be the one to pull away first. He could remember the days when he was a youth, how hard it was to stop once kissing started.
He knew exactly how Ada felt right now with that pulsing, urgently compulsive feeling that could never be satisfied until fulfillment had been reached.
Added to that, all he had to do for them to stand naked with one another would be for him to untie his plaid…
then he could push her against the wall and take her.
She was ready; that soapy water between her thighs would ease the sharp pain she would feel the moment he penetrated her…
“Ada—”
He broke off the kiss and stepped back. She made a frustrated sound like a kitten who had lost its ball. Lachlan tried hard to suppress the feeling that his heart was just another plaything for her to toy with.
“Ye must go dress in the next-door chamber. I meant what I said: When I lie with ye, I want it to last for days and for us not to have to worry about being interrupted. As hot as ye make me, it cannae change the fact that yer mither will lodge a complaint with me grandfaither if she comes to bid ye good mornin’ an’ finds the door bolted against her. ”
The dawning realization that they were not free to do as they wanted could be seen on her face. Ada closed her eyes and blew a soft, steady stream of air out of her mouth a few times. When she opened her eyes again, she was smiling.
“Aye, Calvin…ye make a good point.”
And on those words, she disappeared into the dressing room, leaving Lachlan alone to use the hot bathing water she had left in the tub.
He stepped in, and after splashing his body with the water a few times, he rubbed the soap bar between his hands, trying hard not to think of the sweet places it had traveled over Ada’s body.
He was throbbing for her. There was not enough self-discipline in the world to stop his longing.
I must discover who is hell-bent on killing anyone connected to the Calvin clan quickly so that Ada and I can be wed.
For it must be clear to both of them by now that they were enamored with each other, far beyond the casting of a mere glamor.
If Iona had prophesied that Ada would only wed a man who was capable of bewitching her as much as the healer’s daughter did him, then she might as well start sewing her bridal gown right now.
The way she had looked at him just now was not like the way she had looked at those buzzing, callow youths that had surrounded her last night; that half-teasing, half-contemptuous glint in her eyes was absent when she was with him.
Ada blew hot or cold on him, but she never blew lukewarm.
He stood in the tub until the water chilled, then he took one of the pails and poured the cold water over himself. Ignoring the bath sheet, he sauntered into the dressing room, looking for a plaid, allowing the hot summer air to dry his skin. She was standing in the darkened room, waiting for him.
“I’ve heard that men like help foldin’ their plaids around them, Cal, so I’ve come here to do that for ye.”
It was a sweet gesture, and he was grateful for her help. After hastily donning a shirt with a good length of hem on it, he lay down on the soft wool plaid she had laid out and pleated on the floor for him. He stared up at the wooden ceiling beams as Ada tightened the belt around him.
“There, that should last ye a while.” She sat back on her haunches, blowing a wisp of hair off her face. “Who pleats yer plaid for ye when ye don’ have a lass at hand?”
He heard a note of some emotion akin to jealousy in her curiosity. Lachlan was not one of those men who took pleasure out of bringing a female pain.
“Och lass, how d’ye ken me? Have ye no’ noticed the uneven measure o’ me plaids afore? I do it meself or me brither, Asher, helps me if we’re havin’ a special occasion at MacNair Castle.”
“It must be nice havin’ a large family,” Ada said wistfully, “but Mither says I must wait to have one o’ me own.”
He sat up, pulling her close. “Don’ be in a hurry to start a family, Ada. No’ until ye’ve experienced how wonderful it can be lyin’ in yer husband’s arms without a care in the world except when next ye will be joinin’ yer bodies together…”
He was going to kiss her, but the bedchamber door rattled. In a flash, Ada was at the door to open it.
“Good mornin’ to ye, Mither,” he heard her saying. “I feel much better. We must bake the laird’s grandson a nice cake as thanks for gettin’ the salt water down me so fast.”
When he went through to the bedchamber, if Iona noticed they both had wet hair, she did not feel the need to mention it. Iona brought them news.
“Laird Calvin has issued a decree. No one is to eat or drink anything outside of their own provenance. The alehouse is shut. The baker’s oven is only for the food folks have prepared themselves, and armed guards have been posted at the oven door to ensure no one opens it exceptin’ those who have a meal cookin’ inside it. ”
Ada clicked her tongue. “Losh, Mither. Are we forced to brew our own ale? It will take us all day to make our food without the help of others.”
Iona shook her head. “Laird Calvin has set up half a dozen wains for folks to ride to the nearest town. There we are to buy our own food stocks an’ keep them under lock an’ key in our own pantries.”
Lachlan was perched on the arm of a velvet divan pushed against the window. He frowned when he heard his grandfather’s orders, but it was not because he could not see the sense in it.
“Did he say how long this state of affairs would be for? The clan can hardly travel so far for their supplies in the future, not with the harvestin’ so close.”
Iona saw the sense in what he was saying.
“Aye, Lachlan, but what choice do we have? Even as we speak, hundreds of sovereigns’ worth of ale an’ whiskey is being poured down the drains and cesspits.
The kitchen is closed. Cook must travel to town and buy fresh goods, and then she must keep them locked in a chest. The great hall is closed, and the boards are propped against the walls.
All gatherings with communal eating are banned forthwith.
There is nay doubt in me mind that the perpetrator lurks within the clan, an’ what yer grandfaither is orderin’ is the only way to keep the clan safe. ”
Iona changed the subject suddenly. “Ada, that’s no’ yer shift gown. What are ye wearing?”
Ada had crawled back under the covers, as they wanted to keep up the illusion of her being far sicker than she really was.
“I’m using one of Calvin’s shirts, Mither,” Ada said casually. “He’s so tall it nearly reaches down to me knees anyway.”
Iona lifted the covers and checked the sheets saying, “No’ that I don’ trust ye, Lachlan, but if I go through yer chambers, am I likely to find blood there?”
He had the grace to blush. He had come so close to ravishing Ada that his relief at being able to answer her question honestly was genuine.
“These are strange days indeed, Mistress Iona, but when the mystery is solved, then ye are free to look for the blood of a maidenhead on me sheets once there is a ring on Ada’s finger.”
It was Ada’s turn to blush. But he was not finished yet.
“Rest easy that ye will have a home with us from the start, no matter where we live.”
Iona found this funny and cackled. “Hoots, lad. Ye must no’ jump the flag on this one.
Give me the credit of knowin’ me daughter’s temperaments better than ye do.
Let me give ye two lovebirds a word or two of caution.
If ye make it as far as the kirk aisle without falling out with one another again, then by all means, marry!
But ye both have strong wills and a burnin’ desire to rule the roost…
so when it comes to marriage, don’ count those chickens afore they hatch. ”
She accepted Lachlan’s offer to help her to the door, but no further.
“I asked the young man who carried me here to wait outside. He can assist me back to the cottage.”
When the door closed, he looked to see Ada in a contemplative mood.
“Mither did nae come here with that young man simply for his help. She wanted a witness in case there was the need to cry sculdudrie on ye, Calvin.”
Sculdudrie was the uniquely Scottish word that described a sex act done outside of marriage. Lachlan closed his eyes as if he was in acute pain as he imagined his mother and father’s reaction if someone cried sculdudrie on him. And that was not the only thing bothering him.
“What’s this yer mither tells me about jumpin’ the flag? Are yer feelings for me contrary, Ada?”