Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

“ K ai? Kai!” Thora was hissing to get his attention. Kai turned, seeing Thora running toward him with her dark hair wild behind her.

“Careful, are ye trying tae break all the glass in this castle with yer shouting?”

“In here, now.”

“Thora!”

She had grabbed his arm before he could stop her and dragged him into his chamber.

“Well, I’m going tae guess ye really wanted tae talk tae me about something,” he mused as she shut the door behind them. “What’s wrong?”

“How can ye ask me what’s wrong?” Thora cried wildly. She walked across his room, then glimpsed the bath he’d asked to be prepared for him, then walked back toward him. “I willnae interrupt ye fer long.”

“Good, me bath will be getting cold.”

“This isnae time fer jests!” she hissed at him. “Ava has just told me what is happening.”

“Strange, I thought ye’d be supportive of her plan.”

“I am. Tae a degree.” She huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “I understand where she is coming from. I’d lay down me life fer Enya, ye, Magnus and Domhnall, but this…” She shook her head. “This is more complicated than that.”

“Why?” Kai walked around her. He reached for a flagon of mead that had been left for him on a table with some nuts and busied himself eating and drinking, hoping Thora would leave soon. He’d already had enough warnings from Domhnall that morning. He did not need warnings from Thora too.

“Because, when I look at yer future, when I try tae see…” She paused, waving in the air as if she was clearly struggling to put into words what she was feeling. “I see pain.”

“I could have told ye that. I dinnae need yer ability tae see things tae ken that, sister.”

“Dinnae be flippant.” She marched toward him and took the flagon out of his hands, planting it down heavily on the table again. “I’m saying that when I try tae see what will happen, I cannae see much. What is clear though is pain fer both of ye. Both ye and Ava. Dae ye ken what I think?”

“Nay, but I have a feeling ye’re going tae tell me anyway. Yer irritation is practically making the air hiss.” He gestured to the air around her.

“I think that what ye and Ava feel fer each other is nae just a friendship.” She placed her hands on the table between them and leaned toward them.

Kai stopped chewing and stared at his sister. He thought about denying it, but with Domhnall already practically reading on his face that he was head over heels in love with Ava, it would only be a matter of time anyway before one of them told Thora.

“Ye’re slipping in yer skill, Thora.” He adopted a jovial tone and continued to eat. “Ye’re only half right on this occasion. Maybe what I dae feel fer Ava is more than friendship, but has she ever given ye any cause tae believe that she feels more fer me?”

Thora released the table and stepped back, her skin paling to the color of the snow beyond the windows.

“Exactly.” He took a big gulp of the mead, inhaling the spiced honey scent and trying to distract himself with the taste. “I can control what I feel.”

“Can ye?”

“I will control it. On that ye have me word, but in the meantime, dinnae worry fer Ava’s sake. She has made up her mind tae be Laird Grant’s wife. I am nae part of this plan.” He downed the last of the mead. “Now, I’d like tae take me bath if ye dinnae mind.” He waved his hand rather enthusiastically at the door.

Thora huffed and walked toward the door. She opened it, but hovered in the doorway for a second, not quite leaving.

“Maybe she doesnae feel anything more fer ye now,” she whispered, her voice taking on that eerie note it sometimes had when she looked into the future.

“Nay tricks with me, Thora. Ye forget, I’ve seen ye dae this with others. This misty voice, the grand words–”

“It’s nay trick,” she snapped, her eyes full of fury as she turned to face him. “And if ye had seen what I had seen in me life, ye wouldnae belittle it.”

“I am nae belittling ye,” he hurried to say with full seriousness. “I just… I dinnae want tae have this conversation now, Thora. Och, I just want tae forget me woes. Can ye understand that?”

She nodded jerkily, the fury leaving her eyes.

“Then I’ll say one more thing afore I go.” She closed her eyes. “When I try tae see yer future, braither, I see two things. Two images. They flicker together as if they’re lit by a candle, one image in darkness, the other in orange light. In the light, Ava is beside ye, and she holds ontae ye in a way a friend wouldnae hold a friend. She grips tae ye as if her life depends on it.”

“And the other image?” Kai asked in spite of himself, his curiosity suddenly burning.

Thora opened her eyes.

“I see ye standing alone, as ye watch Ava take another man’s hand.”

“Then that is the future that will happen.” Kai spoke with firmness.

Thora sniffed, then turned away, leaving swiftly through the open door. The moment the door closed behind her. Kai bent forward, as if he had been punched in the gut.

Her musings on the future arenae always right. I’ve seen that, time and time again. These images shift like a wind.

Yet there was a longing deep inside of him, a wish that the image where Ava clung to him would come true.

Throwing off his clothes as hurriedly as he could, he flung himself into the bath, plunging his body and his head under the hot water. As it washed over him, he tried not to think about Ava and what the future held, but his mind betrayed him anyway. In seconds, he was picturing Ava in the bath there with him, and though he was rock hard for her, his length straining, all he did was hold her, whisper in her ear and kiss her neck, promising that he would keep her safe forever.

Ava pulled the fur cloak tightly around her body as she left her guest chamber and tiptoed across the landing of the castle. She crept toward a vast staircase, not daring to bring a candle with her, but navigating using the moonlight alone that glimmered through the windows. She shivered as she walked, constantly looking around for any sign of a guard.

It was hardly the first time in her life she had crept into the Dunvegan Castle kitchens for some food in the middle of the night. When she was younger, she had often done it with Kai and the twins, the four meeting in the dead of night, talking into the early hours of the morning before they went to bed.

Why am I doing this tonight?

She wasn’t sure she could answer herself. Perhaps it was a longing to go back to that time when life seemed so much simpler, or maybe she was indeed just hungry. Either way, she was determined to get there tonight.

She found a second staircase, this one made of spiraling stones that led deep down into the belly of the castle. As she reached the bottom floor, she crept along on her tiptoes, getting increasingly close to the open doorway of the kitchen, when a light caught her eye. This was not the silvery light of the moon, but the warm orange glow of a candle.

Someone was moving around in there. Their tall shadow walked past the open doorway.

Ava was just beginning to think she should return to her chamber when she heard a curse from within as something was dropped.

“Och, in the name of the wee man.”

“Kai?” she whispered his name, pushing the door wider.

It was indeed Kai, his face and dark hair lit by the candle he’d placed on a table. He’d dropped some sort of iron cauldron on his toe and was picking it up. When he saw her, he smiled broadly.

“Remembering our younger days too?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she whispered. “Ye hungry?”

“Thirsty. Warm milk? If I dinnae destroy the kitchen making it.”

“Aye, please.” Ava felt a rush of excitement as she closed the kitchen door behind her and moved toward Kai. He was making up a fire as she went to a storage room in the corner and pulled out a pale of milk. Together, they tipped the milk into the cauldron, then placed it over the low embers that were just beginning to catch light.

As Ava’s arm bumped Kai’s when she put down the pale, her eyes turned to what he was wearing. Dressed in trews and a loose shirt, the neckline was open, revealing a flash of skin on his chest. The shirt wasn’t tucked in either but hung loose, emphasizing the narrowness of his hips compared to his toned shoulders.

Ava stepped back, realizing how much she was staring at Kai and struggling to keep her focus on anything else.

“Ye all right, Ava?” he whispered, prodding the embers of the fire with a poker.

“Aye, aye,” she said rather quickly.

“That’s a nay, then.”

“Why dae ye ever bother asking if ye can just read me emotions anyway?”

“Because I like the idea of ye being open with me.” He looked back at her and winked.

She flinched, wondering what he meant by that. He turned back to prod the fire as she took a seat by the table, doing her best not to keep staring at him.

“Couldnae sleep?” he asked.

“Nay. I had… dreams.” She couldn’t tell him those dreams. They had startled her in their power. She had dreamt she was back in that cave with Kai. He had drawn up her skirt, then his fingers had trailed up her thigh. The mere memory of that dream now made the hair stand up on the back of her neck. She had dreamt he had reached between her legs, his fingers exploring that most sensitive area as her head tipped back and she moaned. Would it excite her, she wondered? Would she have spread her legs wider, desperate to feel more of him?

“Dae those dreams startle ye?” he asked, busying himself with finding tankards.

“Aye, they did.” There was no point in denying it when he could read the feeling on her. “I could dae with a distraction.”

The last time she had ever had such a sensual dream was before she had been attacked, years ago. Since then, she had shut down any such thoughts, until tonight it seemed. Over the last few days, Kai had wormed his way into her mind.

I had nae expected him tae be in that dream.

Part of her had wished to go back to sleep and for that dream to return, to see what her mind wanted to do with Kai next.

“Distraction, ye say? I’m sure I can offer that up.” Kai appeared on the other side of the table and placed down two tankards. “How about I give ye yer next lesson?”

“Here? Now?”

“Where better? How many times have ye and I sneaked down here in our lives? We ken we’ll nae be disturbed.” He winked at her conspiratorially.

“Aye, as ye wish. What’s me next lesson?”

“Casual touch,” he whispered, resting his elbows on the table.

“Touch!? I asked fer a seduction lesson, nae lessons in what tae dae in the bedchamber.”

“That is nae what I’m going tae dae.” He laughed, shaking his head as they both sipped from their milk. “But if ye ever have any questions about that, ye ken ye can always ask me.”

“Oh aye, ask the men who kens everything about the bedchamber.”

“I dinnae ken everything.”

“Ye ken a fair deal, dinnae ye?” she said sharply, to which he smiled, roguishly. “That’s nae something tae be proud of.”

“Why isnae it? Would ye nae want a lover who was experienced and kenned what he was doing, Ava?” His laughing question made her fidget.

“What did ye have in mind fer this lesson?”

“Brief touch as flirtation. Here, let me show ye.” He looked at perfect ease as he rested his elbows on the table. “Say I was Laird Blair Grant and ye were sharing dinner with me. If I had placed me arms so near tae yer own, like this…” He shifted, so they were holding their tankards close together. “Ye ken how easy it would be tae touch me, tae tease me. Try it.”

“How?” Her voice was sharp. “I’m nae just going tae grab Laird Grant’s hand.”

“Nae, please dinnae dae that.” He laughed, shaking his head. “If I wanted tae get yer attention in conversation, I might dae this.” He lifted one hand from his tankard and delicately brushed the backs of his fingers against her hand. A pleasant tingling sensation shot up her arm. “I might even dae this, if I was asking something about ye, something personal, wanting ye tae confide in me as yer friend.” He trailed his fingers on the inside of her wrist, so delicately that the weird feeling between her legs grew stronger. “Now, ye try.”

He placed his hands back around his tankard, smiling at her.

“Yer smile doesnae help things,” she said tartly.

“Why nae?”

“Because I feel like ye’re laughing at me.”

“Never.” His face became serious. “I laugh with ye, Ava. Never at ye. Now, trust me.” He had deepened his voice to that same tone he had used that morning in the cave.

She fidgeted a second, then she gave in. She wasn’t going to truly learn from him unless she committed herself to these lessons. Lifting her hand, she ran her fingers across the inside of his wrist.

“Softer, ye’re trying tae seduce me, love, nae check if I still have a heartbeat.” He smiled at her. She couldn’t help smiling back as she softened her touch further.

He called me love. He did that once before. Is this all part of his act? Is it what he daes with every woman he seduces?

“There, now ye have it,” he said in a richly gravelly tone as he looked down at their hands.

She trailed her fingers up to his palm, then feeling bold, slid their fingers together.

“Ye’ve mastered that particular skill,” he whispered, raising his eyes to meet hers as he continued to entwine their fingers together.

“Can I ask ye something?” Ava murmured into the air between them.

“Ye can ask me anything. Ye ken that,” he encouraged, and she believed him. With Kai, she was always free and open. In this kitchen, back in the place where they had spent so much time when they were younger, it felt as if there were no barriers, no walls at all.

“Ye can seduce as easily as ye breathe, Kai,” she whispered softly. “Why dae ye use this skill tae seduce many women and nae just one ye want tae marry?”