Prescribed for Love (11 page)

“It isna
e
my life that keeps me quiet, but the lives of my family.
Foregoing my life is worth saving theirs
,” spat the boy.

Alasdair
had not expected this answer. He knew Laird Cameron to be cruel, but this
was
inexcusable.
Fearing what would happen to the boy if he returned unharmed and unsuccessful, Alasdair raked his sword across the youth’s chest, just deep enough to bleed.
“Go home lad
die
. Tell ye
r laird ye were found and attacked.
But be warned, if I find ye spying again on MacLean land, I will n
ae
be as forgiving.”
The boy fled without another word

“
What do ye make of this
?” asked
Niall as
he watched the Cameron youth’s flight.

“I cannae be sure,
but I think
Cameron is trying to
find a weakness he can exploit in an attack
,” replied Alasdair.
“
We
can learn nothing else from this endeavor
,
let us return.”
The
men
directed their horses
back to the castle
. Now that
Alasdair
knew the
re was
indeed a threat
, he was anxious to return in order
to plan a course of action
.
Also providing motivation
,
was
Alasdair’s desire to see how Catriona was recovering from their last physical assault.
Aye, and I should also ensure her arm is healing well.

***

In the last day, things had gone fro
m bad to worse for Keith. N
ot only was his time being
squandered
with useless questioning by the police, but
now
the superintendent of Cat’s old apartment was harassing him to move the rest of his sister’s
stuff
out of the unit. He wanted to look for
Cat
, not
waste his time on
pointless endeavors!

***

Catriona had spent almost the entire day
searching for the book
while
touring the castle
with Ailsa
.
They had started in the
most obvious
places, but w
hen
the book had failed to present itself
,
the
ir
search
had
expanded
. The only room they
had
not examined
was
Alasdair
’s
.

Now that night had fallen
and everyone was a
bed
, Cat
knew she sh
ould take advantage of
Alasdair
’s
absence and
ransack
his chamber
.
With any luck I’ll be back in 2012 before morning!
With only a
small window of opportunity,
Catriona
changed back into the trews and shirt she had been wearing
the day she
had
left Elspeth’s
.
Sure
the items
were a bit bedraggled, but s
he did not have time to waste wrestling with a skirt
.
While the
clothing
had been cleaned, the sleeve where she had been cut was ruined, so Cat simply ripped off both
at the shoulder
.
I look like I should be in the
Scottish
version of a blue-collar comedy tour
.
Knowing the castle would be incredibly dark, Catriona retrieved he
r
flashlight
from her purse
.
She would
try
not
to
use it
unless absolutely necessary since
s
he did not feel like having to explain future technology.

Upon exiting
her
chamber
, Catriona
immediately
headed
in the direction
of
Alasdair
’s room
. She
knew where it was simply because
it was the only room Ailsa had not shown her
. Sneaking along the wall, Catriona
found herself playing the 007 theme music in her head
.
I’ll have to watch a Bond movie when I
get back…or forward…or whatever—stupid semantics.

Cat
arrived
at
Alasdair
’s door without incident
. B
ut
, she
nearly had a heart attack when the door creaked loudly as she
attempted to open it with a push
.
She held her breath as she listened to see if she had alerted anyone to her presence.
When sounds of an
alarm
failed to occur
,
she
finished pushing the door open just enough to squeeze
through.
Cat
clos
ed the door gently behind her and then
massaged her upper arm. She would have to ensure she did not strain the wound too much during her search, it was already sore from her earlier efforts. Switching
on her flashlight
, Cat bega
n
her
perusal
.

***

As
Alasdair
rode
through
the outer walls of his keep
,
a strange light caught his
eye. The odd glow was coming from his room. He frowned—there was no reason for anyone to be
there.
Determined to catch the intruder, Alasdair hurried inside.

As he approached his bedroom
door, the
light
suddenly
extinguished
.
The trespasser must have become aware of
Alasdair’s
return and feared discovery.
Alasdair
readied himself as he heard
footsteps
approach
the door.
I have got ye now
,
spy!

***

Catriona
sighed;
t
his
ent
ire endeavor had been a waste
d effort
.
The
book was not in his room
, and now the throb in her arm was really pounding.
She turned off her flashlight and headed back to the bedroom door. She opened it very slowly to avoid any
excessive
noise.

“Oomph,” grunted Catriona as all the air was knocked out of her.
She was
now pinned
between
a large masculine
body
and the floor
.
Crap! H
e’s back early.

“What were
ye do
ing
?” demanded
Alasdair
. “Were ye spying on me? Do ye work for the Camerons?”

“No! Nothing like that—I have no reason to spy on you!”
insisted
Cat.

Alasdair
peer
ed into her eyes as if searching for the truth.
Cat knew he accepted her answer when the anger drained out of his eyes. But then, something almost as intense
replaced the emotion.
“
I believe ye
,”
he said.
“
But then, there
can
only one reason ye would sneak into my room in the middle of the night—ye were
looking for me,
”
he whispered against her
mouth
.

Cat briefly considered correcting his misconception
, but she had no better explanation to offer
.
And even
if
she
had had a better
one
, she would not have had time to voice it before her lips were
overtaken
by his.
There was no hesitation as he laid siege to her mouth. It was almost as if he were continuing from where their last kiss had ended.
All coherent thought
fled
as his sensual attack
caused Catriona’s toes to curl
. If Cat had been capable of reason, she would have been ashamed of her immediate response to his touch, but instead
she began to explore
his
chest
with her good arm
.

Alasdair must have been inspired by her actions, because he soon returned the favor
.
He slipped his arm under her shirt to fill his hand with her breast.
The shock of sensation as his thumb caressed its taught peak sent waves of desire through her. The tingle that had started in her toes was now radiating throughout her entire body. Wanting more, she wrapped her leg around his waist—pulling him in to the area most desirous of more contact.

“
Alasdair
?
Is that ye?” asked Ailsa from the hallway.
It was like a cold splash of water on their
fiery frenzy
.
Catriona
shoved
Alasdair
from her body
and dove
out of sight
behind the bed
.

Rising
hurriedly
to greet his sister he said, “Aye, tis me.
”

“
Why are ye back so soon? Did ye learn something of use
?”
she asked
, completely unaware of what had been transpiring just a moment before
.

“Aye, the
Cameron sent a
young lad
t
o spy on us.
I canna
e
say for certain, but I think he means to attack
,
”
replied
Alasdair
.

“Ach, why can that man nae
leave us alone?
Was killing our parents and
burning half of the surrounding land nae
enough?” rai
led Ailsa.
Catriona
silently
gasped upon hearing this revelation.
She
had
had no idea the rivalr
y with the Camerons was this serious
.
She knew clans often fought with one another during this
century
, but these actions were downright sinister.

“
I dinnae
know lass
ie
. T
he m
an is deranged and cruel. Now
,
back to bed
with ye
, we
can discuss it tomorrow
,” soothed
Alasdair
.

Ailsa left the room, but turned back after a few steps, “
I almost forgot!
Catriona is looking for her
book—the one ye thought was a
spell book.
If ye know where it is, kindly bring it to her in the morn.
We spent the entire day looking for it.”

Alasdair
faced
Catriona
as she
rose from her hiding place, “So this is why ye were sneaking about my room, ye were looking for yer book?”
At Catriona’s nod,
Alasdair
walked over to the far wall
and came back with the book
.
There must have been a secret compartment that Cat had not seen.
“Here ye
go
lass;
I honestly forgot I even had it.”
While Ailsa’s arrival had dowsed the flame of passion that had been i
n this room mere moments
before,
the mention of the Camerons froze it over completely.

“Thanks,” said Cat as he
handed her the book.
Placing her hand on his, she said,
“
And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your parents.
I
know how traumatic that can be.
”
She may not really remember her parents, but she knew well the hole left in her heart by their untimely demise—it could not be much different for Alasdair.