Page 36 of In Bed with her Highland Foe

“It is a nice name. Michael.” Her smile softened once again. “Why dae ye run from it?”

“What I said before about ghosts haunting us.” He tapped his own temple. “That name haunts me fer various reasons.”

“I’m sorry.” She truly did look in danger of falling off of the bed now. She reached forward, her free hand now taking one of his hands. He twisted his palm, this time not hesitating to entwine their fingers together. It was a close grip, an intimate one, and he inhaled sharply, hearing her do the same. “If ye ever wanted tae go back tae it, I like it. It is a fine name.”

“Thank ye,” he whispered.

She breathed deeply once more, as if steeling herself for something.

“Me turn,” she whispered. She didn’t pull back but stayed holding onto his hand. “Imogen never liked me. Ye must have seen there was little warmth between us.”

“I confess, I did.” He nodded.

“She… she blamed me. For our mother’s death.”

Gilchrist cocked his head to the side. The confusion on his face must have been plain for she nodded at him.

“I ken.”

“That is madness,” he said in such sudden earnestness and passion that it alarmed the kitten. She jumped down off his shoulder, landing on the floor. She marched away with her head held high in the air, clearly irked at having been alarmed with such a sudden sound. “Why would she dae that?”

“Me mother died when I was born. It was me birth that killed her.” Kyven held a sudden fascination for watching the cat. She jerked her head away and refused to look at him again.

“Kyven?” he pleaded with her, tugging on her hand to try and get her attention. “Surely ye dinnae believe ye are tae blame? Tell me ye dinnae believe it.”

Kyven didn’t look at him.

“Kyven?” He pulled himself out of the chair and kneeled before her, practically begging at her feet.

“What are ye doing?”

“Pleading with ye,” he said desperately. “Ye arenae tae blame fer an act of nature. Just as the falcons attack the smaller birds, and seals catch the fish of these shores, women die in childbirth. It is brutal, horrible, but it is nay one’s fault. Nay one’s doing.”

“Yet hearing it every day, hearing Imogen saying it was me doing.” She struggled with her mead cup, raising it to her lips and taking a hasty sip, clearly looking for something to distract her. “Oh, the pain of it.”

“Then dinnae think of it.” He came so close to her now, that they were practically inches apart. Had anyone opened his bedchamber door, they would have thought the two of them locked in a tryst. “Ye arenae tae blame,” he said stoically. “Dinnae dwell on something that a dead woman has told ye. Live fer ye, nae for her memory.”

Gilchrist had had no liking for Imogen in life and had even less liking for her now that he knew what the woman had truly been capable of. She had proved herself malicious and selfish, as different from Kyven as day and night.

“Ye are nae tae blame,” he said again, his words slower this time and much stronger. The smallest of smiles flickered on her lips.

“Thank ye. But these ghosts in our minds, as ye call them, they arenae so easy tae brush off, are they?”

“Nay, I ken.” He nodded. “If ye ever want someone tae distract ye, tae chase away those ghosts, ye come tae me though. I’ll find a way.”

She giggled, looking down at their hands that were still entwined.

“How would ye chase such thoughts away?” She was blushing as she asked the question.

Here was his opening, his chance to say something, but now his stomach was tensing with fear. What if she rejected his advance? What then?

He stood, loosening her hand from his.

“Gilchrist?” she called to him. He put his glass down on the table and turned back to face her. He reached toward her, intending to place his hand on her shoulder, perhaps caressing the nape of her neck with his bare fingers. It would be a small touch, but still something, enough to show what she meant.

Yet she stood at the same time that he reached out toward her. Rather than his hand coming anywhere near her shoulder or neck, his hand closed upon her breast instead.

She gasped loudly as he stared at her.