Timeless Mist (17 page)

"Where would you
like
me to begin?" Kris
eyed him a bit wari
ly
,
not
sure if she should
trust him or
not
, but
final
ly
consented with
a nod. "Which th
ing
would you
like
to hear
about first?"

"'Tis your choice,
lass." Iain gave her a negligent wave of his hand as he continued to eat. "Ye
decide what ye think would convince me."

Kris took a
not
her swallow of wine,
realized her cup
was
empty, and reached for the bottle to refill it again. As she touched the neck
of the bottle, however, Iain reached for it as well. Their f
ing
ers brushed light
ly
and she inhaled so sharp
ly
at the contact she just
about choked. The sudden impulse to reach across the table and touch more of him,
too maybe embrace him, stunned her. She looked up and her heart lurched mad
ly
at the open look of
desire on his face.

Through the fuzziness cloud
ing
her brain, Kris realized
that
he
had
felt the same explosive
currents rac
ing
about
in his veins as she did at
that
simple contact. She yanked her hand away as if burned and held out her cup,
not
look
ing
at him. Iain quirked a
brow at her, but complied in refill
ing
her goblet.

When she raised her eyes to look
at him again, he gave her a know
ing
smile but on
ly
said,
"please, my lady, continue wi' your tale. 'Tis
quite
fascinat
ing
."

The low huskiness of his voice
was
like
a caress as it reached out across the
table and sent a shiver of awareness through her. She took a few slow, deep
breaths, raised her cup in mock salute and drank half of it before she felt she
was
in control enough
to continue.

She then proceeded to tell him
about many th
ing
s the
future held. She explained about transportation in carriages without horses,
planes
that
flew in
the sky
like
birds,
and instruments
that
let you listen to music without any musicians be
ing
present. About flights to the moon in rocket ships, as well as computers and
telephones. Someth
ing
about all these th
ing
s
she told him of niggled at the back of his mind. He could
n't
determine what it
was
, but he would think of
it.

"Would you do me a
favor?" Kris asked sudden
ly
.

Iain looked at her, realiz
ing
her words
were
beginn
ing
to slur again. "If
'tis within my power, lass, then aye."

"I think you'll be able to
handle thish." She gave him a lopsided grin. "Do you think you could
make the room stop shpinn
ing
?"

Iain could
n't
help it, he laughed out loud. With a shake
of his head, he took the goblet from her and set it on the table. He stood and
gent
ly
picked her up. She
wrapped both her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, nuzzl
ing
into his neck. His
breath hitched in his throat and he near
ly
stumbled as he carried her across the room to her bed.

Gather
ing
her closer into his embrace, he held her
snug
ly
,
not
want
ing
to let go. This lass
made him feel th
ing
s
he'd never felt before. Th
ing
s
he
wasn't
certain he
wanted to feel. He wanted her,
that
was
undeniable. But
what
was
this soften
ing
he
had
toward her? He looked
down at her, baffled.

Such th
ing
s as emotions
had
never assailed him before, at least
not
of this magnitude. He shook his head. 'T
was
desire,
not
h
ing
more than
that
. Want for a beautiful,
attractive woman. Though
not
normal
ly
given to such
thoughts for he general
ly
had
them well under
his command, he knew he
was
not
immune to them. He'd
learned long ago
not
to
let his emotions rule him, instead, he controlled them with logic and common
sense.  

He lay her on the bed and
disentangled her arms from around his neck. He smiled, for she
was
already fast asleep. He
turned her over a bit so he could undo the laces of her gown. She mumbled
incoherent
ly
, but did
not
wake. Pull
ing
her dress off, he pulled
her shift down to cover her legs and draped the dress over a nearby chair.

Her shape, discernable beneath
the thin linen of her shift made his breath catch. She
was
a tiny th
ing
,
but her woman
ly
curves
showed him a lushness he would
not
have
imagined in one
so small. Maybe it
was
time to make a trip to the village to seek out a will
ing
wench. Sure
ly
that
would cure him of
this sudden desire to
have
a woman he bare
ly
knew
and who could well be a threat to his clan.

He brushed a strand of hair from
her face and gent
ly
covered her. He looked at her for a long moment, try
ing
to figure out what is
was
about her
that
drew him
like
a moth to a flame, then
turned and left before he thought better of it. He would tell Elsbeth to leave
the dishes until morn
ing
when Kris
was
awake so
as
not
to disturb her.

Chapter Ten

Iain returned to his chambers
after speak
ing
with
Elsie, who
wasn't
surprised to learn
that
Kris
had
fallen asleep
so fast, nor
that
she
had
been soused. She mere
ly
shook her head and
clucked a bit before Iain could escape, certain when she was done clucking in
disapproval she'd have a lecture prepared for him.

He opened the shutters on the
large window in his room and stood star
ing
out at the stars. It
was
a clear night, the moon near
ly
at its peak. A soft breeze curled around him br
inging
the scent of heather and wildflowers.

He thought over all the th
ing
s he'd learned about
Kristianna tonight. One, she could
not
hold her liquor. A smile tugged at his lips. Elsbeth said Kris
had
on
ly
had
two small cupfuls of the potent usquebaugh
before Elsbeth
had
retrieved it from her and returned it to his study. Although with Kris' size,
that
would
have
been enough.

He looked down at the bag he held
in his hand, her bag. Some of the th
ing
s
she'd spoken of
had
sounded vague
ly
familiar to him, and now he realized why. His
màthair
used to entertain him and his brothers with stories about such th
ing
s when he
was
a
very
small boy.

He
hadn't
thought about those tales in well over twenty years.
Not
since he deemed himself too old to believe
such fantasies. When he'd reached the age of eight or nine, he'd decided
that
train
ing
to be a knight as his
father
was
more
important than listen
ing
to fables invented by his
màthair
to entertain him before he slept. Bedtime stories she'd called them.

He remembered them now, however,
vivid
ly
. His favorite
had
been the story about the
astronauts travel
ing
to space. He'd told his
màthair
when he grew up he would invent a rocket and take her on a trip to the moon. She'd
laughed and ruffled his hair, tell
ing
him she believed he could do anyth
ing
he set his mind too.

He'd been fascinated by her tales
of horseless carriages and the ease in which people could travel over great
distances in a matter of hours instead of days. How
had
she known about such th
ing
s?
Had
she invented the stories
as she'd said? Or
was
there mayhap more to it than
that
?
Did she, in reality,
have
first-hand knowledge of all these wonders?

He would never know the truth of
it unless he asked her. But did he dare to question her now with e
very
th
ing
else she
was
go
ing
through? He'd always
thought she
had
a
vivid imagination, but could it be more than
that
?

He looked again at Kris' bag and
thought about what he'd discovered inside. The marvels he'd seen within it,
from the portrait of her to the heavy, round item
that
had
bellowed at him so rude
ly
,
all attested to the truth.

With a sigh he put the bag back
into its hid
ing
place
beneath a loose stone in the wall beside the fireplace. He would sleep on it
all. Mayhap in the morn
ing
he'd
have
an answer or
two to his many questions.

*          *          *

Kris groaned and rolled onto her
back, her hand go
ing
to her head. Oh man, what
had
she done? She did
n't
remember too much past
that
second drink of whiskey. Wow, somebody should
have
warned her what potent stuff
that
was
.
Not
that
it would
have
helped or swayed her much. She'd
really
wanted a good, stiff drink. But goodness, she paid the price for it now.

She should
have
known better anyway. Mix
ing
her drinks
was
always a no-no. If she'd
had
those first couple
of glasses of whiskey and stopped there, she more than
likely
would
have
been fine. She rare
ly
suffered
a hangover, unless, of course, she mixed her drinks.

She
wasn't
much of a drinker to begin with, so the
whiskey
had
hit her
hard. The last time she drank
like
that
was
right after she'd broken
up with David. It
had
been warranted then, too. It
had
also hit her just as hard.

Figured
that
both times she’d been literal
ly
driven to drink it
had
been because of a man. This
time, however, she did
n't
have
any kind of
aspirin or Aleve too at least help dull the pain a bit.

She groaned again. This
was
not
good.
Not
good at all. What she
really
wanted to do
was
pull
the covers up over her head and hide for the day. She sighed. As appeal
ing
as
that
thought might be, she
realized
that
spend
ing
the day in bed would
probab
ly
not
help the situation in
the least.

She pushed back the coverlet and
careful
ly
edged
herself to a sitt
ing
position. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hand to her head, wait
ing
until the room and her
stomach stopped whirl
ing
before she put her feet down to the floor in an attempt to stand. She
had
just g
ing
er
ly
begun to put a foot on the floor when the
door opened a bit and Elsbeth peeked her head in.

"Good morn
ing
, Elsie." Kris
attempted a smile, but realized it came out a bit on the wobb
ly
side.

"Good morn
ing
, lass. And how are ye
feel
ing
this fine
morn?"

Kris grimaced, "I think you
know perfect
ly
well
how I'm feel
ing
. You
do
n't
happen to
have
anyth
ing
for this hangover do
you?" Her tone as hopeful as she could make it.

Elsbeth chuckled. "Aye,
lass, I do." She bustled over and handed Kris a mug. "My advice,
lass, is to no' smell it, just hold your nose and down it quick as ye can. 'Twill
be easier to take
that
way."

"If it will help, I'm will
ing
to try anyth
ing
at this point." Kris
held her nose and drank down the contents before she thought better of it. The
aftertaste
was
horrible. She shuddered and handed the mug back to Elsbeth, who handed her a
piece of bread. "I wo
n't
even ask what
was
in
that
. It's probab
ly
better if I do
n't
know."

Elsbeth nodded. "Gi'e it few
minutes and eat
that
bread slow
ly
, lass. You'll
feel better soon."

"One can on
ly
hope," Kris
whispered. Even the sound of her own voice seemed too loud
ly
resonate through her
head.

"Now, lass, what may I ask
ye, got into ye last eve?"

Kris shook her head and offered a
shrug. "I
had
a
headache and
really
wanted someth
ing
stronger than normal to drink. I needed to relax and forget e
very
th
ing
for a while."

Elsbeth pursed her lips and gave
her a sideways glance, "and here I
was
think
ing
the laird
might ha’e been the cause of such behavior.”

"I'll admit
that
he
had
a th
ing
or two to do with
it." Kris met Elsbeth’s smile with one of her own.

"I thought as much,"
Elsbeth laughed.

"Do
n't
worry, though, it's
not
someth
ing
I do
very
often. I
usual
ly
do
n't
like
to drink anyth
ing
stronger than milk or water. Maybe a soda
now and then, or a glass of weak wine. Sometimes, though, I feel
like
I want someth
ing
more."

"Aye, there are times when I
ha'e felt the
like
as
well." Elsbeth watched her close
ly
for a moment or two before she nodded. 'Tis good to know ye dinnae indulge
often in the practice though."

"I could
n't
take the morn
ing
after effects." She
grimaced. "I do
n't
like
pain, especial
ly
from a headache and I
hate feel
ing
sick to
my stomach. A hangover causes both." She nibbled on the bread, beginn
ing
to feel better. She
watched as Elsbeth cleaned up the remnants of last even
ing
's meal.

"When ye
have
broken your fast, the
laird wishes to speak wi' ye."

Kris' head shot up. "Again? I
wonder what about this time."

"I ha'e no' the slightest
not
ion." She finished
collect
ing
the dishes
and headed for the door. "I shall return in a moment wi' your meal and a
pitcher of water for ye to
was
h
wi'. Why dinnae ye pick out what ye wish to wear today whilst I see to
that
for ye."

Kris nodded absent
ly
, wonder
ing
if she'd done or said
someth
ing
last night
to Iain
that
she
should regret. She shrugged. There
wasn't
anyth
ing
she could do
about it now if she
had
.
She'd apologize for whatever it
was
if she
had
to and hope
that
would be enough. He
probab
ly
just
had
more questions for her.

She moved to stand up, unsure as
to whether her legs would hold her or
not
.
Lett
ing
go of the bed,
she tested her walk
ing
ability and found it
not
unmanageable. F
ing
er
ing
the dress she
had
worn last night, she
hoped Elsbeth
had
someth
ing
to get the
stains from that ham glaze out of this beautiful gown. She'd feel terrible if
it
was
ruined thanks
to her carelessness.

Then she realized the gown
was
draped over a chair and
she
was
dressed in on
ly
the simple linen shift
she'd worn under the dress.

How
had
she gotten this way? Who undressed her?

She sat down in the chair and
cradled her head in her hands. Oh man. She must
have
been more intoxicated than she'd realized if she could
n't
even remember how she'd gotten undressed.

She recalled much of what she'd
done and said, but the more she struggled and thought on it, the more she
realized
that
there
were
some
very
large gaps in her
memory.

This
was
so
not
good.

She could on
ly
pray
that
at some point Elsbeth
had
come back and managed to
help her at least get
that
gown off. She did
not
even want to think about the alternative.

Hear
ing
the door open, she turned, expect
ing
Elsbeth. Instead, Iain
stood there, a tray of food balanced in one hand.

"How is it," Kris began
as she jumped up and reached for her robe. Once it
was
tied secure
ly
in place, she put her hands on her hips, "How is it
that
you
have
the uncanny ability to
always show up when I'm expect
ing
Elsbeth?"

"I stopped Elsie on her way
back up to your chambers." Iain
almost
laughed out loud at the look of utter irritation on her face. He bit the inside
of his cheek and shrugged. "I know she
had
some other th
ing
s to
tend too, so I offered to br
ing
your food up to ye."

"Oh, well." Kris chewed
her lip. She did
n't
want to be a burden on anyone. "Well," she said again, "I
realize she's probab
ly
got
a lot
of th
ing
s to do and I
have
been tak
ing
up
a lot
of her time late
ly
. I'll need her help again
too, to get into
that
gown."