She rose with the grandeur of the Queen herself, walked around the table, and gave him her hand. His fingers curled around hers, and she looked him in the eye. “I do.”
Ruaridh had dismounted his horse and was helping Violet down hers before she had fully absorbed the view before her.
He had brought her to a beautiful shore where the dark blue ocean stretched out for miles. She could almost imagine the horizon when the sun dipped beneath the water.
“What are we doing here?”
She had strolled ahead of him, drawn by the mesmerizing glitter of the sea, so she had to look back to properly address him.
Her eyes widened. Ruaridh had taken off his boots and hose and was removing the plaid across his shoulders.
“What are you doing?” she gasped and stumbled backward, almost losing her footing on the uneven rocky ground.
The horses, left to freely graze, lifted their heads from a bush, alarmed by her alarm. Ruaridh’s movements did not falter. In fact, his fingers worked quicker through the strings, cinching the cuffs of his white shirt.
“Ye requested I teach ye to swim, did ye nae? Or do the English folks swim in their clothes?”
“I did not expect a lesson in this manner or by you.”
She turned her head away, unable to look at the sliver of skin that peeked from his shirt. Though her mind unwillingly played images of her fingers splayed over his beautifully naked chest. Heat suffused her cheeks.
“You forget I am a lady. You cannot undress in my presence… without a warning.”
From her peripheral vision, she could see him approaching her.
But he can’t. He won’t. Good God, he is.
“I believe the English, even ladies, are capable of deduction, are they nae?” He stopped before her, his chest nearly grazing her forehead. “Bringing ye here was enough warning.”
God! He was impossible and absolutely infuriating.
She did not wish to argue, nor did she wish to let him believe he was correct. Stuck between two contradicting choices, she remained mute.
“Do ye need help undressing?”
Then the horror dawned upon her; she also needed to undress. And worse were the words that left her lips. “I do.”
He helped her onto a rock, then removed her slippers and stockings. The laces of her dress started from the square neckline of the bodice and curved around her waist over her hips, tied in a bow with the other string strung up the same way at her other side. It was an old-fashioned dress that had fascinated Keira plenty when they had first met so Violet had donned it just for her.
Ruaridh worked over the laces, not caring when his knuckles grazed her breasts. She hissed at him and pulled away.
“You ken I didnae intend to do that.” He did not even have the decency to sound genuine.
She could not let him know how lightheaded she was becoming from having him so close to her, from having his breath brush her temple. His touch had shocked her in a way that she did not know was possible, and yet she was the only one reacting as if she had felt it.
“You did not have to continue.”
With one side completely undone, it was easy to push off the fabric. Her corset was laced at the center, so she did not need any more of his help. He watched her strip, and when he was sure she did not need his help anymore, he stood on the embankment.
The rocks stabbed her feet, but she was happy. It feltfreeing.
“The water is cold,” he said, once she reached him.
He looked at her,reallylooked at her. She instinctively thought to wrap her arms around herself, but realized it would only expose her further.
“Ye have to acclimatize yerself first.” He led her by the arm to where the water was only high enough to cover her feet. “How does that feel?”
She wiggled her toes and laughed at the distorted image. She would not have been able to do this back in England. “It is cold, but not unbearably so.”
