tightened his lips, clipping his words.
Jillian stepped back as if he’d flung something more substantial than an insult in her direction. She narrowed her eyes and studied him suspiciously. “Curiously, it sounds like you care.”
“Not a chance. I simply doona wish to have to force you into marrying Ramsay before your da returns. I suspect Gibraltar might like to be present to give the
maiden
away.”
Jillian was watching him intently, too intently for his liking. He wondered desperately what was going on inside her head. She’d always been far too clever, and he was perilously close to acting like a jealous suitor. When she’d been young, he’d needed every ounce of his will to carry on a convincing charade of dislike. Now that she was a woman grown, drastic measures were necessary. He shrugged his shoulders arrogantly. “Look, peahen, all I want is for you to take your bloody flute off somewhere else so I can get a bit of sleep. I didn’t like you when you were a wee lass, and I doona like you now, but I owe your da and I will honor his missive. The only thing I remember about Caithness is that the food was good and your da was kind.” The lie practically burned his tongue.
“You don’t remember anything about me?” she asked carefully.
“A few things, nothing of any significance.” Restless fingers twined through his hair, tugging it free from his thong.
She glared at him. “Not even the day you left?”
“You mean the McKane attacking?” he asked blandly.
“No.” She frowned up at him. “I meant later that day, when I found you in the stables.”
“What are you talking about, lass? I doona recall you finding me in the stables before I left.” He caught his traitorous hand in mid-rise to his hair and crammed it into the waistband of his kilt.
“You remember nothing of me?” she repeated tightly.
“I remember one thing: I remember you following me around until you nearly drove me mad with your incessant chattering,” he said, looking as bored and long-suffering as possible.
Jillian turned her back on him and didn’t utter another word.
He watched her for a few moments, his eyes dark with memories, before pulling the shutters closed. When a few moments later the haunting silvery notes of her flute wept, he held his hands over his ears so tightly that it hurt. How could he possibly hope to remain here yet continue to resist her when every ounce of his being demanded he make her his woman?
I doona recall you finding me in the stables before I left
.
He’d never uttered a greater lie. He recalled the night in the stables. It was seared into his memory with the excruciating permanence of a brand. It had been the night twenty-two-year-old Grimm Roderick had stolen an unforgettable taste of heaven.
After the McKane were driven off and the battle was over, he’d desperately scrubbed the blood from his body, then packed, flinging clothing and keepsakes without care for what they were or where they landed. He’d nearly brought destruction upon the house that had sheltered him freely, and he would never again subject them to suchdanger. Jillian’s brother Edmund had been wounded in the battle, and although it seemed certain he would recover, young Edmund would bear scars for life. Leaving was the only honorable thing Grimm could do.
He found Jillian’s note when his fingers had closed upon the book of Aesop’s fables she had given him his first Christmas at Caithness. She’d slipped the note with her big, looping scrawl between the pages so it protruded above the binding.
I will be on the roof at gloaming. I must speak to you tonight, Grimm!
Crumpling the note furiously, he stomped off for the stables.
He dared not risk seeing her before he left. Filled with self-loathing for bringing the McKane to this sacred place, he would not commit another transgression. Ever since Jillian had started to mature, he’d been unable to get her out of his mind. He knew it was wrong. He was
Jillian stepped back as if he’d flung something more substantial than an insult in her direction. She narrowed her eyes and studied him suspiciously. “Curiously, it sounds like you care.”
“Not a chance. I simply doona wish to have to force you into marrying Ramsay before your da returns. I suspect Gibraltar might like to be present to give the
maiden
away.”
Jillian was watching him intently, too intently for his liking. He wondered desperately what was going on inside her head. She’d always been far too clever, and he was perilously close to acting like a jealous suitor. When she’d been young, he’d needed every ounce of his will to carry on a convincing charade of dislike. Now that she was a woman grown, drastic measures were necessary. He shrugged his shoulders arrogantly. “Look, peahen, all I want is for you to take your bloody flute off somewhere else so I can get a bit of sleep. I didn’t like you when you were a wee lass, and I doona like you now, but I owe your da and I will honor his missive. The only thing I remember about Caithness is that the food was good and your da was kind.” The lie practically burned his tongue.
“You don’t remember anything about me?” she asked carefully.
“A few things, nothing of any significance.” Restless fingers twined through his hair, tugging it free from his thong.
She glared at him. “Not even the day you left?”
“You mean the McKane attacking?” he asked blandly.
“No.” She frowned up at him. “I meant later that day, when I found you in the stables.”
“What are you talking about, lass? I doona recall you finding me in the stables before I left.” He caught his traitorous hand in mid-rise to his hair and crammed it into the waistband of his kilt.
“You remember nothing of me?” she repeated tightly.
“I remember one thing: I remember you following me around until you nearly drove me mad with your incessant chattering,” he said, looking as bored and long-suffering as possible.
Jillian turned her back on him and didn’t utter another word.
He watched her for a few moments, his eyes dark with memories, before pulling the shutters closed. When a few moments later the haunting silvery notes of her flute wept, he held his hands over his ears so tightly that it hurt. How could he possibly hope to remain here yet continue to resist her when every ounce of his being demanded he make her his woman?
I doona recall you finding me in the stables before I left
.
He’d never uttered a greater lie. He recalled the night in the stables. It was seared into his memory with the excruciating permanence of a brand. It had been the night twenty-two-year-old Grimm Roderick had stolen an unforgettable taste of heaven.
After the McKane were driven off and the battle was over, he’d desperately scrubbed the blood from his body, then packed, flinging clothing and keepsakes without care for what they were or where they landed. He’d nearly brought destruction upon the house that had sheltered him freely, and he would never again subject them to suchdanger. Jillian’s brother Edmund had been wounded in the battle, and although it seemed certain he would recover, young Edmund would bear scars for life. Leaving was the only honorable thing Grimm could do.
He found Jillian’s note when his fingers had closed upon the book of Aesop’s fables she had given him his first Christmas at Caithness. She’d slipped the note with her big, looping scrawl between the pages so it protruded above the binding.
I will be on the roof at gloaming. I must speak to you tonight, Grimm!
Crumpling the note furiously, he stomped off for the stables.
He dared not risk seeing her before he left. Filled with self-loathing for bringing the McKane to this sacred place, he would not commit another transgression. Ever since Jillian had started to mature, he’d been unable to get her out of his mind. He knew it was wrong. He was
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