***
"WHAT ABOUT THE CURSE?" Cat asked inside the stables.
Torr observed her, the most beautiful lass he'd ever beheld, feeling gutted that he would have to reveal the details of the curse. She would see him as a beast instead of a man and would no longer gaze at him with longing. She would find him repulsive as all other women did.
"I'd hoped you wouldn't find out, but since we'll be traveling together... you will see that I change form at dusk."
Cat watched him with wide-eyed fascination. "Are you a selkie, like Brodie?"
"Nay, I'm a kelpie." Torr's voice came out harsher than he'd intended. 'Twas not often he said the damnable word for what he was. "At dawn, I shift back into a man."
Mouth dropping open, she drew in a quick breath. "When Aggie and I first arrived..." Cat swallowed hard, her gaze searching his.
"Aye, I was the white horse you encountered by the loch. Aggie was right."
Cat's face paled, and her eyes darkened with dread. "But kelpies are water demons who kill people."
"I've never murdered anyone and have only killed in battle," he muttered.
Her gaze searching his, she nodded. "I believe you." She frowned. "But what do you do if someone leaps onto your back when you're in kelpie form? Do you eat them or jump into the loch to drown them?"
Such questions! But he knew 'twas part of the legends. He shook his head. Cat had the same curious mind she'd had ten years ago. "No one has ever leapt onto my back. They ken better."
"You detest being ridden, huh?" Her teasing, playful glance stirred his carnal urges to life.
He lifted a brow, wondering if she knew aboutthatkind of riding. Saints! Could he resist her on this journey, especially if she decided to seduce him? "Depends on who the rider is," he said.
Her grin exuded coyness. "Suppose 'twas me."
He could imagine that far too easily. Animalistic lust surged through his veins. "And how would you ride?"
"Gently. I would not dig in my heels nor use the whip."
He shook his head and glanced away, for she had nay inkling they were talking about two different things.
Desire near suffocated him.
"I would let you ride me, lass." In either way she chose.
"M'lady!" Aggie's screeching voice echoed across the bailey from the door of the keep. "M'lady?"
Cat went to the stable door and called out, "Aye?"
"Maude said you'll be traveling somewhere with Sir Torr."
"Indeed, he's going to help me find Lady Elsea in the morn."
"I'm coming with you as chaperone," Aggie stated firmly.
"Nay. We'll be riding the horses at a swift pace. You must stay here and rest."
"Humph. I never rest."
"We'll talk about it after supper, Aggie."
Amongst much grumbling and muttering, a door slammed.
Cat paced back toward Torr. "Blast. She is like my second mother."
Before Torr could respond, a fluttering ruckus overhead surprised him. Two birds the color of midnight flapped out of the corner, just beneath the thatch roof.
Cat ducked as they flew over her head and disappeared out the door.
"What in blazes was that?" Cat yelled.
"Two rooks. They must be building a nest in here." He glanced around to see if he could spot it.
"Strange. 'Tis nearing autumn. I thought they built nests in spring," she said.
"You're right. They do." Torr frowned and stared after the birds. Why would they be in the stables?
