Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

“ W hat’s the next lesson?” Ava muttered nervously.

Kai’s confidence wasn’t helping her believe she had done the right thing. He was now moving from one lesson to the next so swiftly, that she was beginning to wonder just how many things he had to teach her. Was he so adept at seduction that it would take days, maybe weeks, to get through all his lessons?

“A soft look,” Kai whispered.

“Soft?” She raised her eyebrows in suspicion. “I’m nae a damsel in distress if that’s what ye want me tae be.”

“That’s nae what I said, Ava.” The corner of his lips lifted in amusement. There was something endearing about that smile, there always had been. It was as though when Kai smiled like that, she knew everything would be all right. “But looking at a man with a touch more vulnerability, even demureness on occasion –”

“Demureness?” she spluttered, horrified at the thought.

“It might just encourage a man nae tae think ye are out tae murder him.”

“I’m nae that bad.” She folded her arms, feeling rather irked that he thought this about her.

“Ava.” His voice deepened as his hand loosened from the tankard and moved to take her arm. Gently, he unfurled her arms and shifted her hand into his grasp. She stared down at what he was doing, confused by it. “Desist with all this nervousness. It’s coming off ye strongly.”

“Oh aye, let me just get rid of it with a flick of my fingers.” Her irony made him smile as he shifted their grasp, holding her hand beneath the table. She stared down at that touch, uncertain if he was doing this as an act of comfort, of friendship, or if he was maintaining a feeling of intimacy between them for the sake of this lesson. Either way, his hand was comforting. It was larger than hers, warm too, so that her palm felt safe encased in his own.

“Now, look me in the eye, not at me hand, Ava.” Following the deeply spoken instruction, she raised her chin and looked at him. “It’s a good start.” He was smiling at her, completely at ease and confident. It was a sharp contrast to the way her stomach was somersaulting, as if a thousand butterflies had lodged themselves deep in her gut and were fluttering madly in an attempt to escape. “Look at me softly.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“That’s nae soft.”

“Och, I dinnae ken how tae be soft. I’ve been trained in battle.”

“Well, now ye’re being trained in seduction.” His hand suddenly entwined with her own, their fingers lacing together. She was so stunned, she fidgeted on the bench a little. “Lower yer chin a little, so ye’re nae raising a challenging look tae me.”

Slowly, she did as he said.

“Aye, that’s a little better.” He smiled again. “Now when ye look at me, imagine ye dinnae wish ye were sparring with me. Imagine that, fer a change, all ye want tae dae is be in me arms. Safe in me arms, Ava.”

How can he talk so well?

She felt her whole face soften. There was something so endearing about the thought of just being held by Kai, her spine lost its rigidness. She could easily imagine just how safe she would feel embraced by him.

Something happened across the tavern, it seemed. The bright orange candlelight dimmed to something softer, more like a burnt orange effect across the room. Something about that light made Ava lean ever so slightly nearer to Kai.

“See? That’s the look,” he whispered. His head tilted to the side. Her eyes couldn’t stop taking in the structure of his face, the storminess of those eyes, or the movement of his thin lips. “Look at a man like that, Ava, and they’ll be a pup at yer heels.” He looked away.

As if some sort of spell had been broken, Ava sat up straight again. She reset herself on the bench and tried to disentangle her hand from Kai. He slowly let her, then nodded across the tavern.

“Now, try it on another man. That young man ye were looking at earlier is clearly eager fer yer attention again.”

With a huff, Ava looked away. She didn’t like the idea of practicing on other men much. She was startled to see that Kai was indeed right. The auburn-haired young man who had been looking at her earlier from another stable was indeed still sneaking glances her way.

She looked at him, trying to soften her expression, but the thought of being in that man’s arms only discomforted her. She started to feel quite sick at the thought.

“Ye look like ye are plotting his execution.”

“Oh, in the name of the wee man.” She broke the connection of her gaze with the man and turned to face Kai. Determined to get it right, she went back to picturing being in Kai’s arms. She felt her face shift at once. Everything changed in her demeanor. She didn’t even blink as she gazed up at him, wishing he really would hold her.

Why dae I want him tae?

She reasoned that Kai always made her feel safe, that he was the only man she had ever had that feeling with after what she’d been through. Of all the men she had ever met, he was the only one she would trust putting his arms around her.

“Well…” He abruptly cleared his throat and looked away. “Ye can manage it with me at least, but nae with others.”

“It’s nae easy, ye ken.”

“Oh, it is.”

“Ye dae it then.” She felt sharp, tired of his lessons already.

“Very well, I’ll show ye how it’s done.” He stood from the table without another word. Ava was all too aware of the way his arm had disappeared from the back of the bench as he walked away.

She felt rather cold and pulled the cloak up over her shoulders, looking longingly at the fire in the corner of the room that had burned down to its embers. She looked away when she heard the easy laugh of a woman.

At the serving hatch, Kai was leaning against the wall. That air of charm and confidence was back, as if he had donned it as easily as he did a hat. He was smiling rather boldly at a young barmaid with long dark hair and eyes that were misty gray. She was truly beautiful, with strong cheekbones and a slight figure. She was very different compared to Ava’s athletic build.

Ava slumped in her seat as she watched. She tried to focus on how Kai smiled at the lass, the way he clearly made the barmaid feel special by devoting all of his attention to her.

Yet her mind kept slipping away. Far from studying Kai’s behavior, she stared at the woman instead. The barmaid’s responsiveness to him, the way she touched Kai’s arm, made Ava’s gut writhe.

Ava pushed her whisky away, not wanting anymore to drink as she stared at the pair in wonder. Kai seemed utterly intoxicated by the woman’s presence. He even leaned toward her, whispering something playfully in her ear. The barmaid giggled, all bashful, pinkening, and then gazing up at Kai with eyes that were sparkling in excitement.

An ugly feeling shot through Ava. All at once, she longed for Kai to be back there with her. She wished that barmaid didn’t exist, or that Kai hadn’t noticed her at all.

She refused to acknowledge it, but the more she tried to push it away, the stronger it came through, until she found it impossible to sit still on the bench at all. She kept writhing and fidgeting, adjusting her gown and her cloak. She was dressed very differently to the barmaid. Where Ava was dressed for battle, her tartan gown pulled tight, a little high on her neckline too, the barmaid’s gown was open in places. The laces of her kirtle were obvious, a slit in the skirt revealing a flash of pale calf, and the neckline so low that her bosom was practically being served up on the trencher she carried with her.

Why would a man like Kai ever notice me when there is a woman as beautiful tae capture his attention?

The sudden thought made Ava realize exactly what emotion she was tussling with.

Och, I’m jealous!

Knowing the way Kai could read her emotions so easily, she panicked when she saw him walking back toward her, only sparing a few seconds to drop another whisper in the barmaid’s ear before he left.

Trying her best to mask what she was feeling, Ava downed her whisky. She figured her best bet was to show anger and frustration. They were emotions he would be very familiar with reading on her by now.

“What made ye so angry?” Kai asked as he sat down beside her. “Did ye nae like what ye saw? I demonstrated what ye wanted tae see.”

“I ken ye did.” She was clipped in her response. She whirled around to face him, determined not to offer him a glimpse of her jealousy. “I cannae believe ye can seduce as easily as ye can breathe and I struggle tae hold a man’s gaze. It’s insufferable.”

He chuckled softly and just shrugged, as if it was an innate part of his being.

Dinnae be jealous. She shouted the thought in her head. She knew Kai was a rake, everyone knew. It was hardly a secret that he had bedded many women. Should I nae be glad that I am the woman he wouldnae bed? That I’m the woman he wishes tae be friends with instead?

Yet she couldn’t be glad. A morose feeling took up residence in her gut, one that made her wonder what was so wrong with her that Kai had never even considered her bed. Not that she wanted to sleep with him, of course, that would be madness. But still, she was a woman, right?

“That’s nae all, is it?” Kai abruptly leaned toward her. Matching his movements, Ava leaned away, trying to move along the bench. “Ava, what is it ye are nae telling me?”

“Nothing.” She sidled away, coming increasingly closer to a corner where she would be trapped between Kai and the wall. He followed her.

“Kai, I’ll be trapped against the wall.”

“Good, then ye cannae escape.”

She elbowed him again, but he continued, halting mere inches away from her.

“What has made ye so angry?”

“Maybe yer gift tae read emotions isnae always a trustworthy one,” she said tartly. “It infuriates me ye can dae this so easily and I cannae. That is all.”

“Is it?”

“Aye!”

“Nay, there’s something more here.”

“Oh, enough of this.” She tried to stand, to somehow walk past him and out of her trapped corner, but the table was in the way. She was simply forced to sit back down again, only this time, they ended up even closer to one another, with Kai planting one hand on the table and one on the back of the bench, so she was blocked truly by his body.

Her eyes flitted over the strong shoulders. When she gazed a little bit too long, she had to force her gaze back toward his face. He had stilled completely. For one awful minute, she thought he had seen the way she had looked at him, seen the weakness, but he stayed silent, just staring.

“Are ye going tae let me out or nae?”

“Where will ye go?”

“I…” She halted. In truth, she didn’t know. She could ride home, though at this time of night and in this snow, she would be susceptible to injury and being attacked by bandits. She also knew that she needed more lessons from Kai. Even if she mastered the knack of holding Blair Grant’s gaze and softening her expression, it would not be enough to make him offer marriage.

“Stay the night here.”

“What?”

“Stay the night here in the tavern. In the early morning, we’ll go tae yer home and ye’ll pretend as if ye had never left. Then I will show up and pretend tae have come tae escort ye tae see me sister. Yer faither willnae say nay,” he reminded her with ease. “There, we’ll have more privacy fer our lessons.”

“Ye will continue with these lessons then?”

“Of course. Even if ye are angry at me fer flirting with a barmaid –”

“I didnae say I was angry at ye,” she protested, but Kai was already on his feet, a mischievous smile in place.

“I’ll get us two rooms fer the night.” As he walked away, Ava seriously considered defying him and refusing his request. She could go home again, damn all the lessons, and try to seduce Blair Grant alone, but then she reasoned how bad a job she would do if she had to.

Standing to her feet, she determinedly avoided looking at the dark-haired barmaid as she crossed the room to talk to another lass.

Kai was waiting for her at the bottom of the tavern staircase, two room keys in his hand. The dark-haired barmaid was trying to get his attention, but oddly, Kai didn’t seem to have noticed, he was only looking at Ava as she walked through the crowds of drinkers toward him.

“One room each,” he said, handing her the key.

“Is this so yer new friend can keep ye company in the night?” Ava nodded in the direction of the dark-haired beauty. The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it. She felt both petulant and jealous.

What has gotten into me?

Kai led her up the staircase, tossing the words casually over his shoulder.

“I may enjoy fighting with ye, Ava, but I have never liked making ye angry. The only one in me bed tonight, will be me.”

Ava wasn’t sure whether to smile at the thought or not.