Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

" T hat's all?" Elara asked. "That's all ye're going tae dae?"

Kaden swallowed the last of the ale in his tankard then placed it down on the table, looking at Elara beside him.

They were the only two sat at the table in the great hall of his castle. Usually, he had Marcus accompany him at his meals, but Marcus still hadn't returned from his search for Lydia. Judging by the note which had arrived from Inverness just a half an hour ago too, Lydia had managed to steal a horse. Marcus intended to go after her.

"It's nae all I intend tae dae," Kaden said coolly to Elara. "Now, eat up. Ye've barely eaten anything." He gestured to the trencher before her.

The great hall was clad in mahogany paneling, rich with paintings of his parents and even earlier generations across the walls. Flanked by burning candles, it was usually a warm and comforting space. The great hearth bearing the vast fire was making it insufferably hot this evening, though Kaden couldn't be certain if that was down to the fire or the way that Elara kept looking at him.

"Why dae ye care if I eat enough?" she said under her breath, scraping up more food from her trencher all the same.

"Ye arenae me prisoner here, Elara. I am keeping ye here so we can work together tae find a killer. That doesnae mean starving ye." He raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure yer braither would have something tae say on the matter if when I return ye tae him, ye were nothing but skin and bone."

"Ah, trying tae protect yerself, now I understand. Cassian is fierce in a fight. I doubt ye could beat him."

Kaden shifted in his seat. He'd never met a man yet who could beat him in a fight.

"Tae answer yer question, I am nae only going tae send out me spies. There are other things we can dae tae look intae the past. First of all, we need tae talk tae the man that read the invitation tae me parents in the first place. We need tae visit one of me faither's old advisors, Liam. That can wait until the morning."

As Elara finished, putting down her knife, he gestured to the door.

"I suggest we retire fer the night. Neither of us have had the easiest of days." He rubbed the back of his head pointedly. As he stood, she did too, though her expression was one of fury. "What now?"

"Surely ye dinnae mean tae stay by me side all night too. Ye cannae have been serious when ye said that."

"I was perfectly serious." He stood straight, folding his arms as he glowered at her. "Ye struck me, and ye knocked out me maid."

"I didnae hurt her!"

"Dae ye honestly think I can trust ye around any of me help? That I would willfully put them in danger?" Kaden shook his head. "I would be the mad man then. Now, shall we?" He gestured to the door. He had no wish to carry Elara around on his shoulder yet again.

She seemed to have decided she had no wish for such an incident to be repeated either, for she led the way out of the room, her chin held high in a dignified manner. As they walked through the corridors of the castle together, him carrying a flaming candle, he found it rather difficult to tear his gaze away from Elara. When she wasn't shouting or putting up a fight, she had this way of looking quite regal. He was reminded of that innocent look he had first seen in her the night before at the inn.

As they walked up the stairs together, he glanced to the side, watching her face closely.

"The grief," he whispered. "It is never easy, is it?" She hesitated in walking but nodded all the same. "It lingers. Like a shadow."

"An overbearing one, aye."

There is that innocence again.

He glimpsed it as she chewed her lip, keeping her gaze forward. As they entered the corridor near his chamber, he shook his head, realizing something quite mad. Had their positions been reversed, had he been the one to suspect her of murder, then he probably would have been capable of doing even worse things than she had done.

He held the door open to his chamber and gestured inside, but she didn't enter. Instead, she stood fussing on the threshold, her hands fidgeting together.

"I'd like to bathe," she said begrudgingly. "I take it I have tae ask yer permission fer such a thing."

"Aye, ye can bathe. I'll arrange a bath tae be prepared fer yer, but I'll have tae be in the room."

"What?" She rounded on him fast.

"Ye knocked out me maid," he hissed at her. "I dinnae trust ye nae tae hurt her again. Or to use the bath as a ploy.

"I didnae hurt her," she said, a pleading tone suddenly entering her voice. "I was desperate. Nae violent."

"Then what did ye dae tae her?"

"This." Elara suddenly reached for his neck. He brushed her off, but she cast her eyes to the heavens in impatience. "Dae ye want tae ken, or nae?" He lowered his hand, allowing her to trail her fingers across his neck. The touch was soft, all too teasing, as she laid her finger and thumb on a vein in the base of his neck. "I squeezed this," she whispered.

He'd heard of it before. It restricted the blood supply to the brain long enough for a man to be knocked out.

"Are ye going tae let go of me?" he asked. "Or are ye thinking of knocking me out too?"

She remained silent.

Elspeth soon came to prepare a bath. Kaden set up screens to divide his bed from the bath set up beside the fire, then he sat on the bed, his arms folded. He caught a glimpse of Elara stepping behind the screens along with Elspeth, but nothing more.

"Thank ye," Elara said, when Elspeth must have helped her with something.

The next thing Kaden saw, Elara's gown was flung over the top of one of the screens. He shifted on the bed, staring at that gown, wondering just how much of Elara was revealed now. He heard the splashes of water next as she must have stepped into the bath.

"Elspeth?" Elara whispered to the maid, as if trying not to be heard by Kaden. "I wanted tae apologize. I am sorry fer what I did. I hope ye ken…" She paused, pain in her voice. "It was nae an action against ye. I was just afraid fer me sister."

Kaden tilted his head to the side, listening intently. There was that innocence again, a hint at a pure heart, even if it was hidden down beneath fire.

"I understand," Elspeth answered eventually. "Though I cannae condone what ye did, I understand why ye did it. I shall leave ye tae it now. If ye need anything, ring this bell."

"Thank ye."

Elspeth left the room. The moment the door was closed, Kaden was all too aware how alone he and Elara were.

And she isnae wearing a stitch.

He released an uneasy breath, staring fixedly at the screens between them.

"Ye are awfully quiet," Elara suddenly called from her place in the bath, splashing in the water.

"I think it best," he said, grudgingly.

"I dinnae ken. Conversation might diffuse some of the tension."

"Ye are still naked in me chamber, Elara. Nothing is going tae diffuse that tension," he whispered.

Judging by further splashes, she had put her head under the water.

Kaden could feel himself harden beneath his trews. He shifted on the bed, trying his best not to think of Elara, but he couldn't help himself. They were completely alone and the more he thought about what it would be like to bed Elara, the more he thought it would be a passionate thing indeed. Someone as fiery as her would have to be passionate. Maybe sometimes she'd like to dominate and run things, other times, perhaps she would like to be dominated by him. With his length now so hard beneath his trews, he stood up, needing to release the tension from his body.

More splashes sounded a few minutes later, showing she was climbing out of the bath.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Kaden took a small step forward. It brought him just close enough to peer around the edge of the screen.

Elara climbed out, her back to him, her body completely on show. Smooth and creamy like alabaster, she shone in the firelight with water droplets gleaming on her body. The curve of her hips was matched by the glimpse of the sides of her breasts. The petite waist and slim legs drove him mad. As she squeezed her hair, allowing the droplets to fall back into the bath, he had this wild imagining of brushing the screen aside and going to her, of bending her back down over that bath and showing her exactly what they could have done the night before if she had never suspected him of murder.

"Ah, ye are the death of me," he muttered to himself, putting his back to the screen and turning away.

When she appeared a few seconds later, she was wearing only her chemise. Her pale hair she was still drying in a towel.

"Are ye all right?" she asked, for he had not moved to acknowledge her presence. He sat at the end of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees. "Ye look rather tense."

He glowered at her, praying that his hard length would not be visible beneath his trews when he stood.

"I think I'll have a bath too." He swept past her fast, needing to calm his body down.

Elara dried her hair, sitting on the edge of the bed as she heard Laird Stuart undress himself. When his shirt appeared over the top of the screen, she halted, looking at that shirt with an open mouth.

Laird Stuart is undressing…

It was pure weakness, she knew that. A weakness that she should not be giving into. Before she could stop herself though, she dropped the towel and stood from the bed, moving to the very edge of the screen.

Laird Stuart was topping up the water with a fresh bucket from the fire. Still dressed in his trews, his torso was bare.

Elara's eyes first shot toward that toned chest. It was even more muscular than she had imagined it being, urging her to bite her lip as she watched him. As he returned the bucket to the fire, he turned at such an angle that she saw something glimmer across his abdomen.

What is that?

Then it struck her. Etched in a black tattoo across his stomach muscles was a fire. The flames curled across his skin.

What does it mean?

Then he reached for the fastening of his trews, intending to undo them. Realizing what would be beneath that fire, what he was about to reveal to her, she backed up fast. The floorboards creaked beneath her, but she covered her mouth, muffling any sound that wanted to escape her in surprise.

If Laird Stuart heard her, he gave no sign of having done so. He bathed as she retreated to the bed, pulling the furs and blankets up around her chemise-clad body to hide from the chill. Lying flat on the bed, she fidgeted constantly, her hands writhing together as she waited impatiently for him to finish his bath.

"Laird –"

"Kaden." His voice came swiftly. "Me name is Kaden."

"I cannae call ye that," she called toward the screen. "What would people say?"

"I will nae be addressed as a laird in me own chamber. Any woman who comes here uses me name."

"I am nae like the other women who come tae this chamber," she reminded him coolly.

"Ye nearly were." His words made her fidget again. In another life, if she hadn't thought him guilty of murder the night before, she couldn't help being curious what she might have done with Laird Stuart.

"Laird –"

"Kaden," he said again.

"In the name of the wee man, I'm trying tae have a conversation here," she said, sitting up in the bed.

"Then ye best call me by me name," his answer was swift.

"Fine, Kaden," she said firmly.

"What is it?" His voice had softened.

"Ye are nae going tae sleep in this bed too, are ye?" Her question came uneasily.

He didn't answer. The next thing she knew, he was climbing out of the bath, for she could hear the splashes. He spent a few minutes drying himself, then appeared around the screen in fresh trews and a loose shirt. The sight of him so unbidden made her writhe a little on the bed. She fooled herself into thinking she didn't want him in the bed, despite the fact she kept rubbing her thighs together, wondering what would happen if he did.

"Move up," he urged with a wave of his hand.

"Oh nay, ye must be kidding me." She moved to her knees and pushed him firmly in the chest. His eyes widened. "I am nae sharing a bed with ye."

"I already kissed ye, Elara. Me hands were in all sorts of places last night at that inn." His reminder brought up the image of the way his hands had moved from her waist to her hips, squeezing in the most delectable of ways. She shuddered on the bed, trying not to think too much about why she did it. "Sharing a bed is hardly a big deal now, is it?" he asked. "We'd just be sleeping side by side."

Elara didn't answer. She fidgeted again on the bed. Despite her curiosity, she could not allow it to happen.

"Wait…" He cocked his head to the side. "Are ye telling me that fer a lass who could flirt so well, who could wear such a dress and seduce me intae going tae her chamber so easily last night, ye dinnae actually ken what it is like tae share yer bed with a man?"

"That's beside the point –"

"Ye are untouched." His eyebrows shot up across his temple.

"Kaden!" she snapped.

"Well, I'm glad ye're using me name at last."

"Ye're sleeping on the floor. I have acquiesced tae ye keeping a watch over me all night, but I willnae be sharing yer bed." She thrust a finger at the floor.

For one tremulous minute, she thought he would refuse, then he grabbed a pillow and one of the furs then threw them on the floor. As he lay down, turning his back toward her, slowly, Elara lay down in the bed.

She had not expected to win that particular fight.