Tempting the Highlander (9 page)

When Raelynd did not respond, Meriel added, “Well, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Raelynd finally responded, with a bit more bite than she had intended.

“For leaving you alone today, especially when you and Crevan do not like each other.”

“I was fine.”

Meriel did not believe her sister even a little bit. “Well, I promise from now on to do what I can to help you with Craig’s brother.”

“Don’t worry about it, Meriel.”

“But, Lyndee, how are you and Crevan going to pretend to get along once we reach the McTiernay home?”

“Thankfully, I don’t have to.”

Meriel stifled a yawn. “What about when the four of us socialize?”

Raelynd rose up on her elbows and peered in the direction of her sister. “Socialize? I only have to exchange pleasantries with the man.
You
are engaged to him. It is I who should be pitying you.”

Raelynd heard Meriel’s quick intake of breath and winced at the harshness of her tone. Meriel had no idea that it stemmed from a place of jealousy, and until now, neither had Raelynd. “Listen, Meriel, Crevan and I will be fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night. But I am glad that you and Craig are getting . . . along.”

Meriel heard the question buried in understated observation and she realized that the friendship growing between her and Craig was being misconstrued. “We are getting along,” she admitted. “We’re . . . friends and I respect him, but it is nothing more than that, Lyndee. And when it comes to Crevan, I’m going to talk to him tomorrow about how he treats you.”

“Please do not do that.”

“Well, I’m going to, starting with him calling you Lyndee. He knows you don’t like your full name.”

Raelynd shrugged and lay back down. “He can call me whatever he wants. Now let’s go to sleep.”

Meriel yawned an agreement, rolled over, and in minutes, her breathing became deep and rhythmic, confirming she had joined Craig in slumber. Crevan must have thought Raelynd was asleep as well, because he quietly rose and slipped off in the direction of the river. Raelynd watched his silhouette disappear, hoping that he had not heard her and Meriel whisper on the other side of the fire.

She reclosed her eyes, but like last night, her mind would not let her rest. She had no idea how to explain to Meriel or anyone else the nearly palpable tension between her and Crevan. More importantly, she did not want Meriel to interfere. She wanted Crevan to treat her differently because he
saw
her differently. Unfortunately, all Crevan could see was a little girl when he looked at her, not a woman. He certainly did not think of her sister as young and immature. Then again, he had kissed Meriel. Maybe that made the difference.

Raelynd sat up as the idea fully formed. That had to be it! Crevan thought of Meriel as a woman
because
of that kiss.

Raelynd threw off her plaid and quickly donned her slippers. Finally, she had a plan when it came to dealing with Crevan McTiernay. By the time they parted ways tonight, the man was going to know she was every bit as much of a woman as her sister.

Crevan approached the banks of the river, listening to the strong current as it splashed over its rocky bed. Unfortunately, a swim was not an option. Compared to last night’s campsite, the river had considerably narrowed. Still, Crevan hoped the waist-deep water might provide a temporary reprieve for the turmoil he was feeling inside. He did not blame Meriel, but hearing the whispered exchange between her and her sister had not helped.

Yanking his leine free from his waist, Crevan pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it aside where it would remain dry. He cursed Craig for being blissfully asleep as well as his constant bad timing. Last night, Crevan had almost succumbed to the desire to kiss Raelynd. And he would have, if Craig and Meriel had delayed their return one minute longer. And that minute had plagued him all day with one question. If he had kissed Raelynd, would she have kissed him back?

It was almost too easy to believe she would have. Her hazel eyes expressed her every emotion as she felt it and what had been reflecting in those dark green pools was passion and entreaty. But, each time he mentally played out the idea of kissing Raelynd, he could hear her chilling words, declaring him to be the kind of man women did not want. And yet, he believed her when she had told him that his speech was not among his flaws. But if not that, then what could they be?

Women had never flocked to him like they frequently did with Craig and his younger brother, Conan. But that didn’t mean he was ignorant of their charms. Just because he was not constantly accosted by single women did not mean that he was ignored by the fairer sex. More than that, when he wanted to, he knew how to be and could be exceedingly charismatic. He just rarely felt the compulsion.

On the topic of character flaws, his brothers had a lot more faults than he. The McTiernay anger was just one example. Of the seven brothers, he was the calmest and least likely to lose his composure. Crevan prided himself on his control and ability to handle the most difficult situations and people. To his recollection, only one person had been able to push him beyond his patience level—Raelynd Schellden.

Cursing under his breath, Crevan scolded himself for musing over a woman whom he should not care about and reached down to unhook his dagger from his leather belt. He was just about to toss it onto his shirt when a branch snapped and caught his attention. He immediately pivoted and prepared to throw the dagger at the creature that was approaching. But the moonlight revealed no animal, or at least not a mortally lethal one.

Spinning the blade handle in his hand, he tossed it effortlessly on his shirt before placing his fists on his hips. He waited for what felt like several minutes for Raelynd to explain why she had come after him again. They had barely exchanged a few dozen words that day, and while the indefinable strain between them had not diminished, at least it had not risen. Her coming to meet him, alone, now, was about to change that, and not for the better. Especially with her openly staring at him. He wanted to rid himself of his thoughts about her; something he could not possibly do with her around.

“Stop staring and go back to camp.”

Raelynd’s reaction to the brusque order was instinctive. “You’re engaged to Meriel, not me. I can stay if I want.”

“Fine,” Crevan yielded, and leaned down to splash water in his face, hoping it would help cool his rising temper.

Raelynd continued to stare at Crevan, unable to stop herself. She knew she was openly ogling him and wanted very much to stop. Looking away, however, was impossible. Never had she seen Crevan without a leine before, and she had not been prepared.

Over the years, especially when she had been young, she had ridden out to spy on the soldiers who were training under her father. As a result, she had seen many men half naked, and a couple of times, she had innocently witnessed them fully unclothed. Being soldiers, they were in shape and muscular, but her memory could conjure nothing like what she was seeing now in the partial moonlight. Crevan was something magnificent.

Not only was he significantly broader and more powerfully built, his torso was tan from the summer sun, hinting that he often did not wear a leine when he trained. Regret filled Raelynd for not riding out to the training fields more often this past summer.

“What do you want, Raelynd?”

Raelynd gave herself a mental shake at the reminder of just why she was there—to teach him a lesson. But before Crevan would agree to kiss her, she needed to end hostilities between them. “I came out here to tell you that I don’t want to argue anymore. I would like us to be friends.”

Her offer was met with silence as he kept his back to her. Deciding the man was impossible and to just accept defeat, she added, “Well it is obvious that everything I say or do makes you angry or at the very least further irritates you. So my only other option is to just stay away and hope you do the same.”

Still crouched from splashing water on his face, Crevan studied the fast-running stream rolling over and sometimes colliding with the terrain. It was interesting, even invigorating—far more so than the calm river it would become before it merged with the loch. Meriel was like those boring waters ahead and for the next month, her uninspiring personality would be his companion. “You can be aggravating, Raelynd, but you don’t need to stay away.”

Just about to turn around and go back to camp, Raelynd halted before taking a single step. “I don’t?”

“Aye,” Crevan murmured, throwing a rock into the turbulent water. “You don’t try to make excuses for me.”

“Why would I do that?” she asked, clearly puzzled by his explanation.

Crevan sent her a quick telling look. “Exactly my point.”

For a brief second, Raelynd remained confused and then his meaning dawned on her. To her, Crevan’s speech was just a part of who he was. To excuse it would be just as ridiculous as pardoning his blue eyes. Still, Crevan had just practically admitted there were some out there who had trouble accepting him because of how he spoke.

Raelynd was unsure of what to say or do with Crevan’s semiconfession. She was tempted to go to his side, kneel down and comfort him, but part of her also wanted to reproach him. His pitiable belief that people judged him for how he spoke was repellent. Her plan for proving to him that she was a woman was going to have to wait.

“The only person I have ever heard make excuses or even mention your speech is you.”

“You wouldn’t understand, growing up as you did with only a sister and a doting father, but my whole life, people have judged me or thought I was less of a McTiernay because of the way I talk.”

Raelynd let go a gentle scoff of disbelief. “Even if that were true, why not confront them? Prove them wrong?”

Crevan rose and turned to face her. “I decided long ago to not fight people’s mistaken opinions of me.” And before she could counter, he added, “But that does
not
make me a coward.”

“Coward? No,” Raelynd agreed as she leaned back against a large boulder. “But you
assume
people are judging you and therefore, you look for anything to prove you are right. I always heard you McTiernays were confident to the point of arrogance—you see yourself as a victim.”

Every muscle in Crevan’s body froze while Raelynd was speaking. The restrained fury in his now blackish blue eyes was unmistakable. Crevan took a step forward, narrowing the space between him and his accuser. “You have no idea what you are talking about. You have never been on the receiving end of looks of disappointment or pity.”

Raelynd let go a denigrating scoff and pushed herself off the rock. “
I
have no idea? Of all people, I know exactly what you mean. But at least I try to defend myself and gain their respect.”

“And yet you still have none.”

Raelynd paled and stumbled back as if she had been physically assaulted. The simple statement had verified her deepest fears. No longer would she be able to dismiss her feelings of inadequacy as being just her imagination. Her servants acquiesced because of her father and all those times she suspected people were yielding to her just to get rid of her were true. People did not admire her—or even like her. Letting go a small cry, Raelynd pivoted and ran back toward the campsite.

Crevan uttered a curse directed at himself and snatched his leine and dagger off the ground before going after her. He called out, but she refused to stop. By the time he caught up with her, she was nearly back to the group.

Grasping her arm, he immediately pulled her to his chest and buried his hands in her hair. “I didn’t mean it, Raelynd. I was just upset.”

Raelynd shook her head, crying, but did not pull away. “You are right. I’ve always known people didn’t like me. Not even the men Father wanted me to marry.”

Desire spiraled low in Crevan’s belly, licking every nerve in his body. Raelynd’s hair was soft and thick and even after two days of travel, it smelled of flowers and the tantalizing scent of woman. He caught himself wanting to pull her back and kiss the smooth white skin of her throat, so he could take a big, deep breath of her. It had been far too long since he had been this close to a woman and unfortunately, Raelynd Schellden was completely unavailable.

“Well, then those men were fools,” he finally managed to say.

“Thank you.” She sniffled and tilted her head back. “Besides my sister, you are probably my only true friend.”

Her green eyes were misty with tears and he felt his throat tighten. Hair messed and cheeks streaked, she looked more desirable than ever and he could not stop himself from wondering how she would taste if she were to open her mouth beneath his. His unease drove him to chuckle and he let her go. “Friend? We fight all the time,” he said, reminding himself of that fact.

Unaware of his growing desire, Raelynd nodded, licked her lips and started wringing her hands. Crevan watched in fascination, imagining how they would feel massaging his naked flesh. “You actually see me. Hear me,” Raelynd began. “You know me better than anyone . . . maybe even better than my father. Meriel knows me in some ways, but she is oblivious to so much that takes place around the castle. She doesn’t want to know. But you do—and you listen to me.”

Swallowing, Crevan took a token step back, hoping the distance would help him maintain control. “But you don’t listen to me.”

Newly formed tears began to burn the back of Raelynd’s eyes. She gazed up at him through a swimming blur. Instinctively, Crevan reached out to her and pulled her close, stroking her spine until her stiff, resisting body relaxed against his hard frame. He closed his eyes, for not a single battle wound compared to the torment of holding her in his arms. Had he really forgotten how wonderful a woman’s touch could feel?

Crevan splayed his hands wide against the sides of her face. Tangling his fingers in her glorious hair, he made her look up at him. “Kiss me,” she whispered.

Crevan longed for much more than a kiss. He wanted to learn all her secrets, to satisfy himself deep inside her. Realizing the dangerous direction of his thoughts, Crevan abruptly let her go and took a step back. “Practice on your arm,” he said tersely, waving a finger at her bicep.