Amanda Scott (31 page)

On the next level, they found a chambermaid waiting to assist Sidony, so at Hugo’s suggestion, Sorcha left her sleepy sister to the young woman’s ministrations.

When Sidony’s chamber door had shut behind the two, Sorcha said, “I’m tired, sir, so pray say what you want to say to me and let me go to bed.”

“Such pretty manners,” he said in a teasing voice as he put his arm around her shoulders and urged her back toward the stairway. “We cannot talk here or in your chamber, so come upstairs with me. I want to show you the ramparts.”

Fetching her cloak from her chamber first, she went up the stairs ahead of him. Halfway, recalling what he had told her about Waldron, she said over her shoulder, “I hope you are not so vexed with me that you mean to toss me into the river.”

“Nay, Skelpie, I’d never do that.”

At the top, he leaned past her to open the door. A light, icy breeze stirred the air as she stepped onto the moonlit walkway and nearly bumped into a guardsman.

The young man nodded politely, then stiffened to attention, saying, “Good evening, Sir Hugo.”

“Good evening, Jeb Elliot,” Hugo replied. “Are you alone up here?”

“Nay, sir, me brother Tam be a-watching from the east wall. All seems quiet enough, though. We havena seen a soul since Sir Edward arrived.”

“Excellent,” Hugo said. “I would have a few moments alone with the lady Sorcha, however, so you may do your watching from the north hoarding for a time. I’ll keep watch for you to the west.”

“Aye, sir. Just give a shout when ye want me to watch both bits again.”

When he had disappeared around the corner, Hugo guided her nearer the southwest corner of the keep, which also proved to be the southwest corner of the curtain wall. Standing at the parapet, Sorcha looked down to see moonlight glinting on the river as it tumbled noisily from right to left around the promontory’s base.

“ ’Tis a long way down,” she said.

“Aye,” he agreed, moving so close that she could feel his body’s warmth. “It flows north from here and empties into the Firth of Forth.”

Without looking at him, she said, “I hope your intention is not to scold me for aught that I said to your father and the countess.”

“Sakes, lass,” he said with a chuckle, “I’m not daft. I know too well what it is like to suffer interrogation by that pair. Indeed, I doubt my part of it is over yet.”

“They seemed displeased more often with me than with you.”

“Perhaps, but you’ll recall that my father wants to speak further with me.”

“I doubt you fear him much.”

“Do you? I promise you, he has a fearsome temper.”

“But words cannot hurt you. I doubt he would try to put you over his knee,” she added, glancing up with a sudden grin at the image her words brought to mind. Meeting a sudden intensity in his gaze, she looked quickly back at the river.

“ ’Tis true I’m a mite large for skelping,” he agreed. “But I do not want to talk about that.” He turned her so she faced him and put his hands on her shoulders.

She could feel their warmth even through her wool cloak and gown. He stood so for a long, silent moment while she stared at his broad chest. Moonlight gleamed on the silver aglets of his doublet lacing.

“Look at me,” he said softly.

His tone stirred sensual warmth in her that had nothing to do with the touch of his hands or with the likelihood that, despite his promise not to scold, he meant to say something that she would not want to hear.

Dampening suddenly dry lips, she obeyed him, and her lips parted in response to the unmistakable look of hunger in his eyes.

H
ugo had not had any intention of kissing her until she grinned at him, impishly showing her dimple. Even then he had hesitated, calling himself several kinds of fool, but he had wanted to see her face again, to see if the dimple still showed. He wanted to see, too, if moonlight would ignite silvery fire in her eyes.

So he’d asked her to look at him, never realizing what a mistake it would be.

She did look, warily, almost shyly, her moist lips parted as if in expectation of kissing, and his body if not his good sense leaped in response. His hands gripped her shoulders, pulling her close, and his head lowered so his lips could claim hers.

He could not say he’d made the decision to kiss her. He did not stop to think or consider consequences. He simply did as instinct compelled him to do.

To his delight, she responded in kind, her full, tender
lips softening under his, her body meeting his as naturally as if they had made a long practice of such behavior. He moved a hand to cradle the back of her head and felt the silky soft veil she wore over her beautiful amber-golden hair. Pulling the veil off, he let it float to the river below. The gold netting followed, and as soft curls entwined his fingers, her lips moved under his. He savored their slightly salty taste.

As he moved his free hand to the center of her back and delighted in the taut suppleness of her slim body, his imagination stirred pictures that he knew would shock her if she could see them. Lust stirred again, and feeling her body tense, he knew she had felt its stirring.

She did not pull away, and with a low groan, he slid his tongue gently across her lower lip, then to the opening of her mouth. Her lips parted, but when his tongue slid inside to explore its velvet softness, she tensed again, and when he stroked her and pulled her tighter against him, she moved her hands to his chest and pushed.

“What are you doing?” she asked huskily as she shot a glance northward, evidently remembering that Jeb stood guard round the corner.

“You know what I’m doing,” Hugo murmured. “You were doing it, too.”

“I was not!”

He raised his eyebrows and felt his lips twitch.

She grimaced. “Aye, well, for a moment, perhaps I was. But I certainly did not instigate it, and ’twas gey wicked of you to.”

“Why?”

“You know perfectly well why,” she said. “Sakes, but I am here under your aunt’s protection if not your own,
and you are promised to Adela. Well, mayhap not promised exactly,” she amended swiftly. “But—”

“I have no obligation to her now that she has gone willingly with Waldron,” he interjected. “I won’t say I’m sorry, either, because much as I have struggled against the inclination, I am growing daily more attracted to her younger sister.”

Her mouth dropped open before she said indignantly, “Hugo, you are daft, and I’d be daft to believe you. Well, I do believe the struggling part,” she said. “Nevertheless, you are still Adela’s only hope to recover her reputation, and you know it. What’s more, you don’t know that she went willingly rather than to save Isobel and the child. Indeed, we do not even know where she is.”

“Waldron is at Edgelaw, and we know that she is with him.”

“We do not,” she retorted, “because if he even suspects that you or I think she went with him willingly, he is likely to decide he has no further use for her. Indeed, he may already have abandoned her or given her to his men, or… or he may even have…” She clapped a hand over her mouth to stop the words before she could finish the thought, and he saw tears sparkle in her eyes.

He reached for her to draw her back into the comfort of his arms, but she pulled away, saying, “I’m going to bed, sir. Goodnight.”

As she turned to go, he caught her arm. “One moment, lass,” he said. “I have something else I want to say to you.”

“You have said enough for one night,” she snapped, jerking her arm free.

“Wait,” he said as she strode to the stairway door. “I
want to apologize. I was a fool to stir your anger, especially when you are so tired. Also, you are right. I should not have taken advantage of my position here, or of yours.”

She had stopped moving at the word “apologize,” but she did not turn.

Gently he added, “I do know that Waldron did not abandon Adela or harm her. They are both at Edgelaw now, and she was certainly alive when they got there.”

Sorcha turned, brushing a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand as she eyed him narrowly. He had never given her reason to doubt his word, but when the topic shifted to Adela’s safety, unexpected emotion had jarred her into realizing how worried she was about her.

She knew she was not thinking straight. The last thing she had expected was for him to kiss her, right up to the half second before he did. And even when she had seen that he meant to do it, she had felt no urge to stop him.

That thought floated in her mind for a moment before honesty intervened. She might pretend to him that his kiss outraged her. She might even persuade him. But she could not expect to persuade herself—not when just the thought of his marrying Adela made her want to sink down to the stones of the walkway and squall like her new nephew had squalled at his first glimpse of the noisy, battle-filled world he’d popped into.

But she could not curl up and cry. She had to maintain her dignity and her resolution. Adela loved Hugo. How
could she not, when anyone would? And, too, sacrifice was noble. Everyone said so.

Everyone was mad.

Sacrifice was horrid when you were the one who had to do the sacrificing.

Hugo was still watching her, waiting for her to speak, and she knew he had seen the tear and could easily guess how close she was to a collapse of one sort or another—simple exhaustion if nothing else. She had slept some in the tent with Isobel the previous night, but not nearly enough.

Drawing a deep breath, she let it out, then asked the questions that she knew she ought to have asked straightaway. “How can you know that Adela is at Edgelaw? For that matter, how did you learn that Waldron is there?”

“Einar followed them.”

“But how could he? Was he not one of the men who crept up on Waldron’s encampment with you? Did you not tell the countess and Sir Edward that all of you left your horses behind?”

“He took one of the enemy horses,” he said. “If Waldron left men to guard them, either Einar dealt with them first or they had already died or joined the fight. I did not ask him which it was. He is one of the best men I have for such tasks, so they’ll not have seen him, but he followed the two of them closely enough to see them ride through the gateway into Edgelaw’s forecourt.”

“But—”

“Moreover,” he went on firmly, “I can assure you that if Waldron did not abandon or kill your sister straightaway so that she could not hinder his escape, he will not do so at Edgelaw whilst he still has any use for her.”

“Thank you, that does make sense,” Sorcha said, gathering her dignity tightly around her. “I will sleep better, knowing she is safe. Now, goodnight, sir.”

“Not yet,” he said, stepping closer to the door to stop her. “I have more to say, and because I have told you where they are, you
will
listen to me.”

She sighed. “Very well, but I warn you, if you do not say it quickly, I am likely to fall asleep just standing here.”

“I would suggest that you pay close attention,” he said. “I have told you where your sister is because I agreed to tell you as much as I could about that. And I have told you how I know because you asked me. Now I will tell you one more thing. You are not to try to find your way to Edgelaw to visit her, to try to rescue her, or for any other purpose that might occur to you. Do you understand me?”

“Aye, but if you think I’ll abandon Adela to that horrible man, you are much mistaken. She is
not
there willingly, and we are her only hope for rescue. To abandon her now would be a betrayal of the highest order. I won’t do it.”

He caught her by the shoulders again before she realized his intent, and gave her a shake, saying, “You will obey me this time, lass. I say that as your protector, guardian, or whatever you have made me with your persistence in following Waldron and your sister. If you will not promise, I’ll see that you have no choice but to obey.
Now
do you understand?”

“How would you do that?” she asked, curious to know how far he would go.

His grip tightened until she feared she would wear
bracelets of bruises on each arm. But although she continued to gaze steadily at him, he seemed to realize he must be hurting her, because with a growl of exasperation, he released her before he snapped, “Don’t be a fool. Who do you think commands Roslin’s guards? Do you really want me to issue orders that would make you a virtual prisoner here?”