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He was going to give her more when he heard the pounding on the door.
“Yesenda? Tis Kieran.”
“Go away!” Iain shouted just as Yesenda slammed her palm across his mouth to keep him quiet.
“Iain? I suggest you get out of there because Bram is on his way, and he wants a word with Yesenda.”
Yesenda jumped out of the bed, practically pushing Iain out of the way. She grabbed some clothes and ran out the door with only her chemise on.
“Where are you going?” Iain yelled.
“I need a cold bath in the river. I cannot meet Bram like this,” she shouted back.
Iain noticed her face was flushed, and she looked as if she had just been ravished.
He looked down and noticed he was still semi-aroused.
“Wait!” Iain picked up his leine. “I also need a dip in the river.”
Kieran just shook his head as Iain ran after Yesenda. “I swear the people in this clan are bloody daft,” he muttered to himself.
Ten minutes later Iain and Yesenda both emerged with wet hair donning a change of clothes and they had lost the ‘hazed over with lust’ expression.
***
Bram questioned Yesenda thoroughly about theBrotherhoodand why they thought of attacking Henderson Keep. She gave them mostly half-truths and assured him she would move on as soon as she could so as not to endanger anyone else. Bram and Iain disagreed with her. They believed the crisis had passed, and they were safer if they all stuck together. Yesenda let it go. She would just have to remain vigilant.
As for the subject of Miriam Ferguson, Yesenda outright lied that she knew nothing of the woman, and it was most likely mistaken identity. She felt guilty about lying to them, but she had no choice. When grilled about her fighting abilities, she told more half-truths, explaining that the abbey taught the nuns self-defense in the event of an attack. Bram and Iain found that a plausible explanation and, to Yesenda’s relief, they dropped the matter.
***
Chasing Waterfalls
Yesenda slipped out of the Keep early in the morning, hoping to find a secluded spot to bathe.
Sorcha told her of a waterfall close to the Keep. When she reached it on foot, she was so excited. She discarded her clothes and jumped straight in. Ten minutes later, she had rinsed off the soap and was frolicking in the water when she heard someone approaching. She had no time to hide, so she ducked underwater and swam towards a boulder. She surfaced and treaded water, waiting.
Yesenda heard a splash and the telltale sounds of someone bathing. She wanted to shout out that she was there, but not knowing whether they were friend or foe, she refrained. Yesenda quietly swam around, trying to get a glimpse, and stilled when she saw the glorious sight of Iain Henderson completely naked. He was standing waist deep in water, his body lathered with soap, and he had his eyes closed, rinsing his hair under the smaller waterfall.
Yesenda felt her face heat. She should have alerted him to her presence, but she could not look away. The water cascaded down his muscular arms to his solid chest and down his chiseled stomach. Yesenda had visions of caressing every inch of his body. She felt her nipples harden and a tingling sensation strike at her core. Her cheeks flushed.
Afraid of getting discovered ogling his body, she quietly retreated to her side of the pool, making as little noise as possible. When she reached the water’s edge, she slowly hefted herself up and stood on a rock ledge. She was reaching for a drying cloth when she heard a voice say, “What the devil?”
Yesenda turned, then realized to her horror it was Iain, standing a few feet away, completely naked. He gazed at her body. Yesenda gasped and quickly covered her breasts with one arm and her quim with one hand, then she backed away. Not thinking about the rocks and the steep drop behind her.
“Stop!” Iain shouted and rapidly closed the distance between them. Yesenda teetered backward on the verge of falling down the incline just as Iain grabbed her and pulled her towards him. They both toppled into the water, with Iain wrapped around her.
When they surfaced, Iain had his arms about her in a protective hold. He held her close and said, “Are you all right?”
“Aye, I’m sorry. I was bathing and did not realize anyone else was coming…”
“Tis all right, love. I thought I heard a noise.”
“I’m sorry, tis my fault I should have called out but I—”
“No, truly it was my fault, I um—”
They both stopped talking when they realized they were naked and in a rock pool. Their faces were inches apart, their bodies touching under the surface.
