Eight
One month later
James was pacing in front of the hearth. The month he’d waited had been spent training outside and the bronze of his skin showed it.
“Easy, Son.”
James stopped and stared at his father with frigid yellow eyes.
“My patience has waned.”
“Mayhap he wasna able to leave immediately, James.”
“I care not. This is a courtesy. I doona have to speak to him. Ye doona have to speak to him. There isna anything to speak about. Yet here I am.” He spread his arms wide.
He grabbed his sword and walked outside with resounding steps.
“Where are ye going?”
“To see my lass.”
Without further comment, he mounted his horse and made his way to Katie. The restlessness in him would not let him wait another day without seeing her.
It had been too long.
***
The sun was beginning to set once he reached Ramsay land. The promise of seeing her magnificent honeyed eyes made him move faster.
James stopped for the moment at their loch. His horse needed the water and truth was, he wanted to stretch his legs. To his surprise, there she was sitting as pretty as she’d ever been.
He tried to be as quiet as he could, but she’d heard him. Katie turned with ferocity, her hands on her sword in a fighting stance.
He gifted her with a smile.
“Good form, lass.”
“James!”
She threw her sword down and ran to him. Just as she was a foot away from him, she stopped. Her skirts swooshed around her legs.
“Ye look hale, lass.”
Katie was breathing hard, but whether it was from her sprint or the surprise of seeing him, he didn’t know.
Katie’s fingers tingled with the urge to touch him.
“I missed ye.”
Her words eased some of his restlessness.
The palm of his hand settled on his chest, over his heart, when he whispered, “Nay quite as much as I missed ye, lass.”
Her eyes rounded and her breath came in pants. He saw longing in her eyes and he knew it was reflected in his.
But he would not be the first to move.
This was Katie’s decision. While his arms ached to wrap around her and his lips desired touching hers, he would allow her set the pace of their blossoming union.
In the next moment, she threw herself at him. Her arms wound around his shoulders and her face dove into his neck.
“I doona wish to hesitate in touching ye.” Her whisper was small. “It is my wish to be freer with ye, but a part of me still hesitates to touch anyone.”
He waited a moment.
“Can I return yer hug, lass?”
She nodded. “Yes, please.”
Slowly, his arms encircled her. He breathed her scent in and he felt the tension ease within him.
“Katie, lass. I missed ye.”
His deep voice moved her. Slowly, she pushed back to look into his eyes. Even though the sunlight was near fading, she saw the golden depths of his eyes shining at her.
Beautiful, golden, kind eyes.
She took a look at him, a really good look like she hadn’t ever done before then.
James Menzies was a handsome man, one of the most handsome she’d ever seen. He could have his choice in women. Even when he’d stayed with her clan a month ago, she’d seen unmarried clanswomen watching him. He was magnificent- tall, strong, winsome. Intelligent.
Fierce.
He had been with her then.
And here he was. Now.
With her.
A woman who didn’t know what to do with the conflicting emotions within her.
A woman who only allowed her family to touch her, but was finding herself wanting the touch of another.
His touch.
His arms.
His attention.
His…love?
“What is it, lass? Is this too much for ye?”
Katie shook her head and leaned forward, wanting the touch of his lips on hers.
James’ gaze narrowed on her lips.
“Kiss me, James?”
She intended her words to be a request but the confusion within her formed them into a question.
“I could never deny ye anything, lass.”
His head slowly moved towards hers as if giving her an opportunity to change her mind, but she moved in closer to him.
And their lips met.
Katie’s heart thudded heavily in her chest, as of its speed would call out to his and share her secret. The one she was afraid to say aloud.
That she cared for him.
And that secret itself was partially a lie, because what she felt for him was not fully embodied in that word.
Care.
Because her lips yearned for his.
Because her body was beginning to desire his touch.
Because her soul wanted to meld with his.
Because her heart wanted to become his.
But her mind was like a scared bird afraid to fly.
His kiss was achingly slow and amazingly sweet. Her eyes pricked with emotion and materialized as tears down her cheeks. Her arms tightened around him, never wanting to let him go.
The month he’d been away had felt as if something had been missing from her.
Not just from her life, but from within her.
She’d grown accustomed to seeing him daily, and that habit was difficult to break.
As a result, every day, Katie had come to the loch. As she’d stared into its still waters, the ache of his absence grew.
She slowly pulled back, her lips tingling. Her hand reached up to rub his full beard.
“Growing it, are ye?”
He smiled.
“Only if ye like it, lass.”
She smiled and though she wanted to look away in shyness, she forced her eyes to remain on his.
“I like ye in any and all manners of appearance, Sweet James.”
The air filled with Katie’s laughter as he groaned.
“By now, Connor would have told the whole clan.”
Katie smirked. “Knowing my brother, aye, he probably has.”
She brought her hand to his beard again. “But ye are sweet, James. To me.”
He raised his hand to her cheek and caressed her exquisitely soft skin.
“Always to ye, mo stòr. Always.”
She gifted him with a smile.
“Should we go to the keep now?”
He shook his head.
“I left with barely a word to anyone. I am nay supposed to be here.”
Her eyebrows crinkled. “Is something the matter?”
“Nothing to worry over, lass. I just need to be there for a bit while some issues are settled. I missed ye a great deal, and came here only for a short span.”
“Ye traveled here to see me for only a few moments?”
He brought his forehead down until theirs touched.
“For ye, lass? I’d journey into purgatory for fire even if ye only had need for a meager spark of a flame.”
Her breath caught.
“Ye said ye doona know flowery words, yet what ye say to me are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.”
“Ye bring out the best in me, Katie.”
She looked over to the lush grass and then back to him.
“Have a few more moments? Care to lie with me and watch the stars?”
His hand caressed her cheek. “I doona have to look at the night’s sky to see the stars, mo stòr. The stars in yer eyes are brighter and more beautiful than those that the sky could ever offer.”
She touched his lips with her fingertips, looking into his eyes.
“The things ye say, Sweet James.”
Her voice was whisper soft, and he kissed her fingers.
“Shall we?”
She nodded. “Aye.”
James spread his plaid on the ground and she looked at him with a slight smile on her face.
“Such a gentleman.”
He smirked at her. “Doona ye spread those falsities about me, lass. Yer pet name for me, Sweet James, has already begun my downfall, and has probably replaced my hard-earned war names.”
Katie laughed as she stretched down onto his plaid. The smell of him, woven into the plaid just like its threads, tickled her nose and made her heart miss rhythm. Even with the little physical contact they’d had before he returned home a month ago, she recognized his scent as a promise of warmth, comfort, and safety.
It was familiar.
Like home.
She was taken aback by her thoughts, but after a quick examination, she felt they were true and honest.
After all, you do not miss what is always with you. Only in something’s absence do you feel its worth.
James settled down next to her, placing one of his arms behind his head to rest on.
“Why doona ye tell me what’s transpired since I’ve been gone?”
“Maddie is making Connor daft with her walking about. She was told the more she does, the quicker the babe will come, and she’s nearing her time.”
James laughed. “My father made Connor promise to send for us at the earliest sign of the bairn coming.”
They stared at the sky in silence. The light whoosh of the wind rustled the leaves of the tall pines surrounding them. A few birds took flight and released a light melody in song.
“It’s peaceful here. I would have never known that if it hadna been for ye.”
“‘Twas a good place for instruction.”
“Aye, it was. Now, ‘tis a good place for easing the day’s burdens.”
James turned his head towards her and watched her.
“What burdens ye, mo stòr?”
Katie sighed. “I feel as if they’re keeping something from me. When I near them, their already hushed tones grow quieter.”
“What d’ye suppose it is?”
She shook her head. “I doona know. It reminds me of their behavior just after…after the…” She fell silent for a moment.
“I know yer meaning, lass.”
Her cheeks inflated as she exhaled. “They behaved much the same then as they’re behaving now. I know they believe I’m as fragile as a leaf in the wind, but I’m stronger now. Part of that is because of ye.”
Her hand slowly reached for his. Once she felt his callused and warm hand, she threaded her fingers through his. Katie sighed at the pleasure that one small action caused within her. Warmth spread up from their joined hands to her arm, and to her heart.
“What had they kept from ye?”
“That Maddie’s brothers were my…violators.”
He remained silent for a moment.
“I’m certain that they will reveal what has been transpiring. Doona make yerself ill with worry.”
James squeezed her hand gently, surprisingly enjoying the simple action of holding her hand.
James wasn’t one to engage in tenderness or hugging, but he wanted to be gentle and tender with Katie.
He wanted to be all things to her.
Their joined hands caused him an enormous amount of happiness.
Stillness.
It made his restless soul still.
Calm.
James may have been the one who’d instructed Katie, but she’d taught him that there were pleasures to be had without the use of sweaty bodies.