But, now, I couldn’t wait to feel the sun on my face once again and to smell the scent of the harvest on the breeze. I smiled widely and clapped my hands together.
Wilkie seemed amused by my animation.
He kissed me playfully, and, as I tried to pull away from him to dress, he held my hand as though he wouldn’t let it go. I tugged on it, questioning his intent with my smile. “Let me dress, warrior.”
My back was to him, my hair hung long. I thought of Ailie’s urgent request. I had been careful to keep my back away from Wilkie, and to use my hair as a shield when I was naked before him here in this daylight. But it was true that I had let my guard down just slightly. Still, I was glad that he had not yet noticed it.
You must tell him, Roses. You must.
I would. I would. But fear once again speared me at the thought. Would he still love me if the old woman’s accusation had been true? Could he forgive me for my murky, sinister origins?
But I knew Ailie was right. I must show him.
Iwouldshow him.
Tonight.
I would allow myself to savor the thoroughness of Wilkie’s loving for the day, before I undermined italtogether by unveiling to him my horrible revelation. It was selfish of me, to be sure: to want him so desperately, even as I knew he would likely cast me out as soon as he discovered my secret. No man this privileged, this beautiful, would want to forever align himself in body and mind with a... With the truth of what I was. I wondered if Wilkie himself would watch me burn.
Aye, I would allow myself one more day, and only one more day, tolive. It was a difficult thing to relinquish, love and beauty of this magnitude, but I would do it. For him. In effect I would be releasing him to follow his destiny and fulfill his duty as the nobleman that he was. I had already claimed the ultimate prize: absolute connection to the man of my heart. I felt undeniably complete in the aftermath of Wilkie’s lovemaking. It was a feeling and a memory I could take with me to my pyre.
After a moment, he released my hand, and I held his gaze as he watched me back away from him, retreating to his antechamber; the movement alerted me to my fading bruises and also my newly acquired soreness. Wilkie’s eyes were curiously dark, almost dangerous in intent, as though he would leap up and pursue me at any moment.
In the adjoining chambers, I surveyed my choices. Ailie and Christie had been generous. There were several new outfits to choose from.
I chose a light green velvet with white satin trim. It felt too grand for walking in the gardens, but they were the only choices available to me. As I had before, I fingered the velvet material. Could a person ever get used to such finery? I slipped the dress over my head, luxuriating in its refined softness. It could have beenmade for me; the fit was comfortably snug and flattering, cinching in a fitted bodice, flowing gracefully in straight gathered lines to the floor. I touched the white satin trim, reveling in its silky texture.
I brushed my hair, untangling the long strands and brushing carefully. I braided several plaits and wound each one around my head, pinning the extra length at the back, so it was neatly bound. I put on my shoes.
When I returned to Wilkie, he was up, sitting on the edge of his bed, tying his trews but still shirtless. The bandage was still bound around his middle, but the sight of it didn’t spear me as much as it had in earlier days. I knew he was healing well, despite aggravating his wound during his fight with the Ogilvie warrior. What did spear me, but in an entirely different way, was the way his broad, muscular chest rippled and bunched with his movement.
He watched me approach him. His eyes trailed over my dress, my hair, my face. Then he closed his eyes, his dark lashes curving in a gentle sweep against his cheeks.
I moved to stand between his thighs, placing my hands on his browned, bare shoulders. I kissed his closed eyes. “Why do you close your eyes?”
His eyes opened, and he pulled me closer. “You hurt my heart with your loveliness. This dress matches the color of your eyes, and the silk matches your hair. I don’t want to share you.”
I laughed lightly at his daftness, running my fingers across the swarthy features of his face, enjoying the rough texture of the stubble along his jaw. “There’s no need to share me. I’m yours, all of me.”
“’Tis strange,” he mused, thoughtful, “seeing youmingling with my family and clan and acquaintances. Still I wonder if I’ve dreamed you, yet here you are. ’Tis true, I’ve never felt so possessive of anything in my life.” He stopped himself, and he appeared both upset by the thought and by his own reaction.
“You have no need for worrying, warrior. I’ll be thinking only of you. And besides, I’m very good at going unnoticed.” I thought of all my years at the Ogilvie keep, of being scorned and avoided for my unusualness, of spending days barely being acknowledged aside from the waited-for completion of my unending tasks.
“No longer, lass. You were the talk of the gathering last night, and now, after I swept you away in a dramatic abduction, only to not return for the night...you’ve no chance of going unnoticed today.”
“Well, then, I’ll do my best to keep them guessing.”
“And now I must go, before my brothers arrive to drag me from my chambers. Wait some time before you make your appearance downstairs. And I will see you later. I’ll come find you in the gardens.”
I helped Wilkie put on his tunic, taking any opportunity to touch him and savor the feel and the nearness of him. He strapped on his belt and fitted his sword and knife into place.
He kissed me once, and it was a kiss both savage and tender, full of all the depth of our new status: lovers, joined as one.
Then he left me, and I waited for a time, as he’d asked. I tidied up his chambers, straightening the furs of his bed. From my many years of cleaning the Ogilvie manor, I knew the unwritten code of chambermaids: a smoothly made bed was a sign that a room had been attended to. The sheets, I feared, would be noticed,the bloodstain revealing all that had taken place. But I had none to replace them with. If I made the bed and cleaned his chambers, then no one would be the wiser, and I could ask Wilkie to replace them tonight. I could clean them myself tomorrow.
When I felt enough time had passed, I opened the door to find Fergus waiting. I greeted him, and he nodded once, then followed me as I made my way to the activity of the great hall, where all of the female guests were breaking their fast. I tried my best to be inconspicuous, but all eyes turned to me, and the busy conversation paused, the sudden silence deafening.
One pair of eyes bored into me with unrestrained hostility. And Maisie Morrison’s sisters, on either side of her, comforted her and whispered to her. Ailie jumped up and laced her arm through mine, leading me to an empty chair between hers and Christie’s. It appeared they had saved it for me, and the realization touched me greatly.
