Gifts of Desire (10 page)

             
That settled in his mind, his thoughts wandered
again
to Ella, and as if summoned, she appeared in the bailey below.  It had to be her, a small figure with blond hair flowing out
behind her as she hurried across the yard, staying next to the wall, out of the site of the guards in the gatehouse
, who were looking outward across the moor
.
  Gritting his teeth
in sudden anger
, he went to follow her.  Maybe this was the chance he had been waiting f
or to learn what she was really up to
.

Chapter 5
             

             
It was her second night at the castle, and
Ella
didn’t feel like sleeping. 
She had split the day between
carefully
befriending the people of Tulloch and wandering the castle as much as she could, peering into corners and closets when she was sure she would not be seen. 
In truth, it was very difficult not to be seen, there were so many people about, and she could not afford to raise anyone’s suspicions. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she realized finding something in a castle this size, with eyes everywhere, might be harder than she had
ever
imagined.
  She would have to take her time and search each part of the castle as opportunity arose.  Perhaps she could volunteer to help with some of the work, so that she could move around more without it seeming strange. 
She wouldn’t mind helping.
It was so
peculiar
, but she
truly
liked it here. 
She felt comfortable already with most everyone she had met, as if she had come home after being gone a long time
and had simply needed to become reacquainted
.  
 

             
The moon was full, the night warm,
too warm to sleep comfortably,
and from her window she could see the
small
loch shimmering in the pale light.  A gentle breeze blew, like a caress, and a few thin wisps of clouds flew by, glowing eerily in the moonlight.  Nights like this always made her feel
a little
wild and restless, as if all things
were possible and anything at all might happen
. 
Esme would have said that the magic of things bubbled closer to
the surface, just out of reach. 
All at once
,
Ella
felt that she just had to be out in
the
open air
.  S
he
turned from the w
indow and crossed the room,
eased the door
open and slipped into the hallway.  Giddy
with adventure
, she stole
silently
from the
castle and headed for the loch, staying near the walls so that the guards wouldn’t see her.
  Once there, she moved around to a sheltered corner behind an outcropping of rocks, where she wouldn’t be seen from the castle windows, should anyone else be up at this hour. 

             
Turning to dip her
bare
foot in the cool water, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.  A tall
, dark
figure slipped behind a stone, but she
knew
instantly
who had followed her. 
She could feel it in her very bones when
ever
he was near.  Had from that first day in the forest when he found her. 
Ceann
.  He probably thought she was meeting a messenger
, or
that he would catch her in the act of compromi
sing his secrets
.
The corner of her mouth turned up mischievously.  For tonight, anyway, she would
ease
his fears.  If he wanted to
catch her in the act
, he would get more than he bargained for.  Feeling
more than
a
bit reckless
, she reached for the hem of her night rail, and slowly pulled it up over her body
, tossing it onto the rocks behind her.  She stepped knee deep into the water, and it was cool liquid silk on her bare skin.  She stretched her arms up and ran her hands slowly down her sides before sinking into the loch.  She swam towards the reflection of the moon in the water
, watching it shimmer as if the moon
itself
had fallen into the loch
.
  She looked back toward the shore, wondering if Ceann would reveal himself to her, almost hoping he would.  What was this strange power he seemed to hold over her?  She had the sinking feeling that she would follow him anywhere he led.  Even now, she wanted
him to come to her
.
 

             
When she began to grow cold, she turned and swam
without hurry
for the shore.  She knew
Ceann
still watched her, could
feel him there, even if she couldn’t see him
hidden
in the shadows.
  She stood
in hip deep water and wrung out her hair
,
the
n
climbed to the shore and sat on a smooth rock there,
letting the
soft and balmy
breeze dry some of the moisture from her skin before she donned the night rail again
.  She held her breath and listened, but there was no movement behind her.  He would stay hidden, then.
  Her
shameless
siren call would go unheeded.  She was mad to tempt him so, anyway, this warrior-laird that she didn’t even know.
  After a while she stood
and made her way back to her chamber. 
Her bare feet padded up the cool stone steps, and she slipped into her room, closing the door silently behind her.  She went to the window, and looking out
, she saw a lone figure pacing in the bailey below, pullin
g his h
ands through his hair
in a gesture of agitation
.  Smiling and
gidd
y that she had apparently affected him after all
,
s
he crawled into bed a
nd
finally slept, though she doubted
Ceann
would be able to do the same.  Perhaps she had been a bit too wicked, but she blamed it on the full moon, was it not wont to make people do mad things?

             
Ceann wanted to howl at that same
moon like some wild beast.  He wandered the bailey, not ready yet to go back into the keep where
she
was.  When he had seen her slip out of the castle, he was sure she was either trying to get away, or
was
meeting someone.  He had thought he would uncover her game; he had not thought he would
find himself
at the losing end of it.
  He should have turned back
when he realized that she was only going to bathe in the loch, but instead he
had
stayed and watched
, not trusting her
. 
No, in truth he had been spell-bound. 
And she had stood there naked, the moonlight catching the drops of water on her ivory skin, highlighting the lush curve of her breasts… aye she had a body every man dreamed of
… and that he
could not touch.
  Now he was left alone with his unsatisfied lust, a lust greater than any he could remember,
possibly
a lust greater than any man had ever felt before, he wouldn’t doubt it.  His body pounded with it.  P
erhaps
it
was just
that
he had been such a long time without a woman
in his bed
.  Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to find a willing lass in the village, one he knew would be
very
discreet, just to take the edge off.  He turned and took a few steps in the direction of the gates, and stopped. 
The idea of tupping a village lass suddenly held no appeal.  No, it was
only
the
damned
lass in the tower he wanted with every throbbing inch of his body.

             
Ella
woke at dawn
to the slamming of her chamber door.  She gasped, startled, and sat up in
t
he bed, only to see
Ceann
standing in front of the door, hands fiste
d at his
sides, looking furious
.
  She wondered
with brief amusement
what had him so angry this early in the morning,
if he had slept at all the night before,
and
if he
even
had any other expressions
.
 
He took a few steps closer, glaring at her, and she suddenly felt like a rabbit to a hawk. 
She was naked under the sheet, helpless. 
He was so powerful, he could do whatever he wanted with her, and she couldn’t stop him.  No one
else
would
stop him; h
e was laird.
  He hel
d her life in his hands
. 
She
frowned slightly.  Should that not bother her?  Shouldn’t she perhaps be
feeling
helpless, maybe a little frightened?  She felt neither.  No, instead she felt herself
being
drawn to that power
, dark
and sensuous
and intoxicating.
  She doubted she would even raise much of a protest were he to climb into the bed and ravage her senseless.  The thought made her heart beat faster and her breath come short.

             
“
You
were seen leaving the
castle last night”,
Ceann
bit out, jarring her from her
less-than-virginal
thoughts.
  “
Who were
you
meeting?”

             
She regarded him innocently
.  He knew
very well
she had met no one, but she
would play
his game anyway. 
“And if I did meet someone last night?”
 

             
“I would
know
who, and why, and yo
u would be punished accordingly, I will not have the safety of my people compromised in any way.
”

             
“I see.  And how would
you
see fit to punish me, should I have met some
one and handed over all of
you
r
greatest secrets?
  Whi
ch, by the way
”
,
she felt she had to point out,
“
I am not
privy to.
”

             
Punish her
…
He nearly gr
oaned
as images, unbidden, flooded his mind
.
  He
would punish her with his mouth, with his hands, with his body.  He would punish her for making him want her at all, when want could only bring more pain.
  Seeing her body outlined under the sheet
before him was almost more temptation than he could handle.
  Though she held the edge up to cover her breasts, her hair was sleep-tousled and fell over her bare shoulders in a most enticing way.
  Memories of her creamy bare ski
n shimmering in the moonlight...
w
hat
had he been thinking, coming in
to her chamber like this?
 
He hadn’t been. 
“
Don’t
try me”, he ground out through barred teeth.

             
Ella
looked at him thoughtfully, she had probably pushed him far enough.
  “I only went s
wimming in the loch.  I couldn’t
sleep. 
You see, t
he full moon
always
seems to make
me restless.”

             
It makes me restless too
…
h
e almost said
.  Instead, he
took a breath and
fixed her with a glare.
 
“
You
won’t
go
outside
at night, and
you
won’t
leave
the castle walls without a guard
.
”