Chapter 11

Three days had passed since that kiss—three days during which Macauley was certain Cathleen was avoiding him. He had seen her twice, and both times were so that she could tend to his wound, but after she had declared him perfectly healthy, she had disappeared. Besides, both times they had met, Kian was there and the two of them had important matters to discuss, so Macauley hadn't gotten the chance to speak to her at all.

Did somethin' happen? Why is she avoidin' me?

Cathleen continued to confuse him. Ever since she had first shown up in that town, she had been a mystery to him, one he still hadn't managed to untangle. He couldn't understand why she was so guarded sometimes when others she seemed so open, so eager to be near him. She had even kissed him and yet since then, they had hardly exchanged a word.

Perhaps that is why. Perhaps the kiss frightened her.

Still, he couldn't understand why it would. She had been the one to initiate it. Surely, it couldn't have been so bad that she decided she could never speak to him again. Macauley was a lot of things, but a bad lover was not one of them.

He tried not to think about it as he walked to the healer's quarters, a picnic basket ready in his hands. He had promised her a day with the two of them together and he was going to deliver. Some awkwardness between them would not be enough to stop him. If anything, excitement coursed through him, his heart beating erratically as though he was a boy once more, courting a girl for the first time.

I suppose it is the first time I've been this serious about a lass.

When he knocked on the door, Cathleen opened it, momentarily surprised to see him there. Then, her gaze fell to the basket in his hands and understanding dawned on her suddenly, as though she had forgotten all about their day together.

Perhaps she had. Perhaps Macauley was the only one out of the two of them who was so eager for this and Cathleen was only indulging him because she didn't want to let him down.

"Macauley," she said, lips stretching into a smile. It seemed too warm, too sincere to him to think that she was faking it.

"Good mornin', lass," he said. "I came tae give ye the day I promised ye."

"Och aye," said Cathleen, glancing back into the room over her shoulder for a moment. "Give me… give me a few minutes. I will be right out."

With that, she disappeared back inside, closing the door. Macauley paced near it, his mind coming up with all sorts of terrible scenarios—Cathleen finding an excuse to not come with him, Cathleen finally rejecting him for good, or perhaps even sending Bonnie to tell him to leave.

None of that happened, though. Shortly after, she reemerged and looped her arm around his, the gesture intimate and familiar in a way that made him think she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

She truly is a mystery.

"Lead the way, then," she said, and Macauley took her to the stables where he had already prepared a horse for them. When Cathleen saw it, she frowned, looking around as if searching for something. "Only one?"

"Aye," said Macauley. "The road is treacherous where we're headed. It's better tae take one horse since ye've never ridden there before."

Though Cathleen seemed reluctant, she still allowed Macauley to help her up on the saddle. He soon followed, jumping behind her onto the horse, and the two of them headed out of the castle grounds to take the path that led towards a nearby lake.

It didn't take long for Macauley to notice that the sudden proximity could prove to be problematic for him. As they rode down the path, the natural movement of the horse and Cathleen's uncomfortable squirming meant that she continuously pressed herself against him and he could feel the heat and the softness of her body, the curves that she kept hidden under her clothes now very obvious to him every time their hips met. It was the most exquisite torture, with Macauley torn between staring down at the swell of her breasts and keeping his gaze firmly in the distance, hoping she wouldn't press so close as to feel his hardening length.

He did his best to focus on something else, anything but the feel of her supple body against him. He forced his thoughts to remain with the strange men who had been sighted in their lands rather than straying to Cathleen, to all the ways he could enjoy her and please her in return. Still, he couldn't help but imagine her underneath him, naked and writhing as he took her for the first time, her plush lips parting in a scream as he brought her over the edge, her body tight like a vice around him.

Lost in thought as he was, he almost missed the turn to the lake and he had to steer the horse quickly, bringing it to a branching path. Soon they reached the end of it, the lake spreading wide in front of them, its cool waters disturbed by the waterfall at the far side of the bank.

In front of him, Cathleen gasped, a hand coming up to her mouth as she took in the view. It was a truly beautiful place, green grass sprawling all around them, birdsong and water the only sounds they could hear.

"Macauley… this is the bonniest place in the world," she said.

Her words drew a laugh out of him. He sincerely doubted it was the most beautiful place in the world, but it was certainly one of them. "I've been comin' here fer a long time," he said. "Some others dae as well, but it's usually empty like this."

"It's all fer us?" she asked. "Nae one else is here?"

"Nae one else," Macauley confirmed. "Come."

Jumping off the horse, Macauley helped Cathleen do the same and then tied the reins securely around a tree. After picking up the basket, he took her hand and led her close to the bank, laying out his plaid for them to sit.

As Cathleen took in the view, Macauley had eyes only for her. He took in her blue eyes, the slope of her nose, the curve of her reddened cheeks and the line of her jaw, all of it painting a picture that rivalled that of the lake in beauty. No other woman had brought these feelings out in him. No other woman had made Macauley want her so desperately and not only for a night.

He didn't simply want to bed Cathleen. He wanted her to be his and he wanted to be hers in return.

"What have ye prepared, then?" Cathleen asked after a long stretch of silence, as she reached into the basket, pulling out cakes and jams and cream. Macauley helped her, pulling out some fresh apples and some wine, but his hunger for any of it paled when compared to his hunger for Cathleen.

His desire hadn't ebbed yet. He could hardly focus on the taste of the food as he brought an apple to his lips, teeth digging into its flesh. All he could think about was the way Cathleen's tongue darted out to wet her lips and then licked the pad of her finger clean as she ate a piece of fruitcake.

He imagined tasting those lips, sweetened by the food they shared. He imagined that tongue on him, dragging up his neck, pressing against his own, teasing his length until he begged her for more.

"Are ye alright?"

The question caught Macauley by surprise and he flinched, quickly averting his gaze. He had been staring at her, he realized, and he had been caught.

"O' course," he said, words slightly choked. "Why?"

"Ye're red."

Red? Am I blushin'?

"Hot!" he exclaimed, a little too loudly. Then, he cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm very hot. It's hot. Today is a hot day."

Cathleen, naturally, frowned. There were no hot days in their part of the world—at least not hot enough to cause this.

Macauley shot up to his feet, though for a moment, he didn't know what to do next. Then, his gaze fell to the lake and he decided it was the only thing that could help him. "Come," he said, taking her hand with a mischievous smile.

Cathleen let him pull her up and followed him without question, though there was a bit of hesitation in her steps as he dragged her along. Once they were right by the water, Macauley started stripping, tossing his shirt aside as Cathleen swiftly looked away.

"What are ye doin'?" she asked, sounding more curious than offended.

"Let's swim," he said. "Unless ye're too afraid tae come with me in the water."

It was the right thing to say, Macauley saw. Cathleen's face hardened as she accepted the challenge and began to remove her own clothes, eager to prove she wasn't afraid. Once she was in her shift, though, with nothing else to cover her body, she stopped.

"Turn around," she said.

Macauley gave her a teasing grin, unabashedly allowing his gaze to roam over her body. "If I must turn around, then ye must turn around, too."

With a roll of her eyes, Cathleen turned to face away from him and Macauley chuckled, turning around as well. He removed the rest of his clothes and then jumped into the lake, the freezing water making his lungs seize for a moment before he got used to the temperature. It was always cold in that lake, much more so than the air above, but he was used to it, swimming in lakes like this ever since he was a child.

Keeping his back turned to Cathleen as he had promised her, he waited to hear the splash as she jumped into the water. Only then did he turn around to see her swimming closer to him, her long, chestnut hair loose and pushed back from her face, her eyes sparkling under the light of the sun. She shivered from the cold, her lips trembling just slightly, but she didn't complain. She only laughed, delighted as she swam around him, circling him like a shark.

"Ye swim well," he said, craning his neck to keep track of her as she moved around him. "Who taught ye?"

"Me gov—" Cathleen said, her words cut short. "Me grandfaither. He was a very skilled swimmer."

"Was he?" Macauley asked. Not for the first time, he thought about how little he knew, how much Cathleen hadn't told him about herself. Then again, she hardly knew anything about him either. "Nae many ken how tae swim like this."

Cathleen didn't respond. She simply moved in front of him once more, the two of them treading water lazily, happy to be near each other. When she spoke once more, it was a question he hadn't expected.

"What matters the most tae ye in a person?"

Macauley had to consider it for a second. Then, he said, "Honesty. Honesty is the most important thing tae me. I dislike lies an' I make a point o' never lyin' tae others, so it's important tae me that others dinnae lie, as well."

A shadowed look crossed Cathleen's face, something Macauley couldn't quite decipher. She didn't seem pleased, so he added, "I didnae trust ye at first, ye ken. I thought ye were hidin' somethin', even when ye insisted me suspicions were wrong. But I ken better now."

As he spoke, he swam closer to Cathleen and pulled her to a shallower part of the lake, where he could stand with the water reaching his neck. He had to hold her up out of the water, her body warm and supple under his hands, flesh yielding as he pressed his fingers into her waist. The entire time, Cathleen said nothing. She only looked at him with a dark, hungry gaze, as if waiting to see what else he would do.

There was nothing else to do but kiss her then. Cathleen wrapped her arms around his neck, holding onto him as he slipped his tongue past her lips, deepening the kiss, her soft breasts and thighs pressing against the hard planes of his body with nothing between them to dampen the sensation.

When they pulled apart, they were both panting, Cathleen's breath ghosting warm over his lips. Tentatively, he moved his hands lower and lower, testing the waters, and when Cathleen didn't stop him, he grabbed her rear and pulled their hips flush together, drawing a soft, barely audible gasp from her. He was desperate for her, his manhood twitching as it brushed against her silky entrance, the desire that had plagued him ever since they left the castle coalescing into this moment.

"I want ye," he whispered in her ear, gently nibbling on her lobe until she moaned, hips rolling against him as she sought out friction. One of his hands moved lower still, fingers teasing her opening and making her jump a little in surprise. "Tell me I can have ye. I think I'll become insane if I cannae have ye."

Cathleen nodded, still clinging tightly onto him. "Please," she whispered.

Macauley didn't need to be told twice.