Enchanted Lover (20 page)

Skye grinned sheepishly and dropped the cover back in
place. “Sorry, he's very beautiful,” she said, her eyes wide. “Look how his
golden hair covers his chest. I never knew men were pretty without their
clothes.”

Asilinn hugged Skye. “My brother would take a switch
to you for calling him pretty,” she said. “But thank you for making me find
some humor in all this. Still I dinna think your brother would approve of your
curiosity so we'll let your newfound knowledge be our little secret.”

Skye rolled her eyes and giggled. Ian moaned and
Asilinn went back to the more serious business at hand.

After working over him for several hours she was
satisfied he was resting comfortably. She had even gotten him to take some
broth in one of his more lucid moments. Skye kept her company, watching her
actions while she tended the wound.

“I think I would be interested in some of this
healing knowledge,” Skye mused when Ian drifted off to a peaceful slumber.

Sitting back in a chair by the bed Asilinn studied
the young girl. “I'd be glad to show you all I know. How would you like to
start out by keeping watch over Ian for me? I need to find Jared and speak with
him.”

“Are you going to make him angry again with your wild
accusations?”

“No, this time I'll ask him what transpired before I
scream like a lunatic.” Skye giggled and Asilinn gave her a weak smile. “I only
hope he'll do me the courtesy of talking with me. I behaved very badly and
embarrassed him in front of his clansmen. I dinna know why it seems impossible
for me to keep a civil tongue.”

“‘Tis the Innes blood, no doubt. But I'll be glad to
watch Ian.” Skye smirked.

Asilinn wagged her finger at the girl. “No more
peeking.”

“Oh, I would not dream of it," Skye said. “And
I'll come for you at once if he grows restless.”

Asilinn was sure Skye would make at least one more
inspection of Ian’s privates, but somehow she just found it amusing. “Skye, do
you have any idea where I might find Jared?”

“By now he is probably soaking in the Dragon's
Spring. ‘Tis his habit to seek out the soothing waters after he has seen to his
men and his horse. Use the secret passage.”

“I have no clear memory of the way.”

“Go all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Turn
left and follow the passage until it dead ends. Jared's private bath is through
the door at the end of the passage.”

“Thank you.”

It was impossible to know if Jared would still be
angry with her but Asilinn was determined to get him to tell his side of the
battle before judging the situation. Her mind reeled in confusion. How was she
to know who to trust in this quagmire?

***

Jared closed his eyes while the steamy water eased
the ache from his body. It was wonderfully warm and he would have enjoyed it
enormously were it not for the pair of sapphire eyes that came to haunt him.
Why did he have to deal with such an obstinate, difficult woman?

He let out his breath slowly as the very thought of
her fired his body. He was surely cursed. Perhaps she really was a witch sent
to enchant him with her charms, controlling him with this fatal attraction
until he had no desire for any other woman.

The door opened and closed bringing Jared to
attention. A soft, female form hung in the shadows. “Who is it?”

Glenna walked from the darkness her bare body
glimmering in the torchlight. “I've come to give you pleasure after your long
journey, Milord,” she said in a sultry whisper. Dipping her hands in the water,
she cupped up the droplets and rubbed them seductively over bare torso.

“Go away, Glenna. Be gone and let me rest in peace.”

“There was a time you would have welcomed the comfort
I offer.”

“That time has ended. Now leave me and dinna return
to this place or I'll have to secure it with a key to prevent your intrusion on
my privacy.”

Glenna picked up her robe and wrapped it around her.
“You will rue the day you turned me out,” she threatened. “One day you will
regret the choices you have made.”

She turned just as Asilinn opened the secret door to
the chamber and stepped inside. “Is this why you send me away?” she asked,
turning back to Jared. “Your sallow-faced wife is comin’ to pleasure you
instead.” She swept past Asilinn and fled out a door to the left of the secret
entrance.

“And what have you come for wife? I canna take any
more barbs from your sharp tongue.”

Asilinn stood rooted in the doorway with raw emotion
clouding her reasoning. She was glad he sent Glenna away but why should she
care? If Glenna shared his bed maybe he would not devour Asilinn’s body and
make it his own. “If you dinna want me here, I shall leave, Milord.” Asilinn
started back up the passage.

She heard splashes in the water behind her but kept
going. She remembered all too vividly her time in the bath with Jared.
Obviously, he had shared his bath with Glenna as well. She didn’t know why but
the thought cut her deep.

A strong hand grabbed her arm and whirled her around.
Asilinn stared dumbfounded at her wet husband.

“Jared, you're naked.”

“Aye and you have seen and felt all of me before,” he
said, grasping her other arm with his free hand. “You sought me out. I was
wrong to send you away. I would put to rest this confrontation at Cock Bridge with the truth."

“All right,” she agreed. “It is what I came for.”

He pulled her back into the private bathing chamber
and motioned for her to sit on a small, wooden bench near the water then sat
down beside her. She scooted away from his nearness.

“Milord, would you do me the courtesy of returning to
the bath?” she asked, averting her eyes from his muscular body.

Asilinn was in true agony—tortured by the thought of
him inside her. His nakedness even now elicited memories of the pleasures she
had experienced in his bed.

She heard him sigh and looked his way in time to see
his strong back as he sank into the steaming waters.

“I'm sorry you find my body so distasteful I must
hide its ugliness from you.”

“You know that isna the case, Milord.”

“Do I?”

“Aye, Milord, you know full well I dinna find your
body repulsive. ‘Tis your wicked mind and your infernal MacLean blood that make
you repugnant.”

A hint of a smile crossed his face. “Love the
pleasures my body brings, hate me? I dinna know whether to be flattered or
not.”

“You know full well the power you hold over me. I
think ‘tis some perverse spell you cast to consume me with wanton desire.” This
was not what she came here to discuss but plainly, Jared was enjoying the
conversation. He sat in the water devouring her with his eyes.

Now he arched a dark brow in mock speculation.
“Perverse? I canna remember sharing any intimate moments I would deem perverse.
Mayhaps you could refresh my memory?”

She could feel the flush of a deep blush creeping up
her neck. Hopefully he could not see it in the dim torchlight. “I dinna come to
discuss such things.”

“What would you discuss? Would you tell me how much
you hate me for what I've done to your life?"

“No, Milord, I believe you had the best of
intentions.” She paused and gazed at her hands folded in her lap. “I have not
talked honestly with you nor given you any chance to explain to me what is
going on.” She raised her eyes to look at him. “I need your explanations now. I
have learned I've been hasty in my judgments. I wish to understand my true
situation not guess and be blinded by appearances.”

A fleeting look of indecision flashed across his
face. Asilinn waited, heart pounding, for his response. “The situation is that
you are my wife and I wilna have you parted from me.” He drew a deep breath.
“And I havena betrayed your clan or our marriage vows, no matter how it might
appear. Will you take my word on this?”

“I wish to accept your word, but… it is difficult
when my father has urged me not to trust you and much hangs in the balance.”

“What would you have me do to prove it? I cannot. I
can but tell you.”

“What happened at Cock Bridge?”

“It was the masked riders who began the fighting.
Granted a few were injured and fewer still were killed, but it was not an all
out battle. I asked your father to retreat with his troops and study my peace
proposal. He obliged. Even now Liam travels to tell him Ian is safe in my
care.”

“I'll wait to hear if Ian's story agrees with yours.
I canna risk the fate of my whole clan on my reckless decision to marry.”

“That decision was out of your hands.”

“Aye, so, and what of the attack on my father and
brother the night they first came to Dunbocan? Why did you not tell me the
night it happened instead of hiding it from me while you… educated me on
alternative pleasures?” She struggled to still the shiver that ran through her
at the memory.

“As I recall, fair Asilinn, you drugged me and fled
without giving me a chance. When I caught you running away I was too angry to
discuss it.”

“Mayhaps it was partly my own fault,” she admitted.

“It was entirely your fault.”

Asilinn snorted. Something she had apparently picked
up from him. “I should have known it was my fault. Whatever was I thinking?”

“You were not, but you are very young and a woman, so
I can see your confusion.”

Asilinn stood up her fists knotted at her sides. The
ignorant ass didn’t even see he had insulted her with his ridiculous opinion.
“But I am to submit and get myself with child so an innocent may suffer the
strife dividing our people?” She advanced toward him wanting desperately to pummel
him with her fists.

Jared rose from the steamy bath and came up beside
her. She could see the water glistening off of his muscular body, feel the heat
of him. “I do the work of king and country despite having a difficult wife who
will never admit she finds pleasure in our union.”

She struck him squarely on the chest with her tight
fist, but he only grabbed both her arms and pulled her to him. “Would you deny
the moans of need and satisfaction I hear when we join?”

Asilinn struggled to hit him again, but he jerked her
into his arms and kissed her, a kiss that took her breath her away and left her
clinging to his wet shoulders. “I hate you,” she said with conviction.

“I wouldna know it from the way you perform your
wifely duties.” She tried to shove away from his chest, but he held her tight
against him, caressing her neck just below her left ear.

“I do hate you,” she said more shakily. Somehow, his
hand had found its way beneath her dress and even now, he pushed up her skirt
to give him access to the heart of her. “Dinna do this,” she moaned. He lifted
her and pressed her back against the stone wall. Her breath was coming short
and fast as she felt his hands explore her—make her ready to receive him.

“Accept your fate, Asilinn. You are mine.”

As if to verify his statement, he entered her and
gazed directly into her eyes while he began slow deliberate thrusts. She
whimpered softly and pushed him deeper with each invasion. All desire for
restraint left her. “Bastard,” she breathed. She found his lips and kissed him
deep. The frenzied mating that ensued made her insides quake with sated desire
and left her clinging to him damp and disheveled.

Jared slowly eased out of her and let her feet slide
softly to the ground. “What is it you feel, Asilinn? I would know now.”

“I desire you with a lust that consumes me. Under
your skillful hand my own wishes disappear and I can do naught but satisfy the
need you nurture.” She pushed back from him and jerked her skirt down feeling
her swollen lips with her fingers. “I forget myself so completely there are
parts of me that ache later from what we have done… and yet I am weak and
cannot deny you. And I am ashamed of this weakness.”

His expression had grown very stern. He had what he
wanted—succeeded in making her want it too. What displeased him now? “‘Tis a
rare thing, this passion neither of us can control,” he said. “Dinna take its
power lightly.”

It had never occurred to her he might not want to
feel the sparks ignited when they were together—but why? Weren’t all men only
out for their own pleasure?

With one hand, Jared brushed her tangled hair away
from her face. He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “If the peace is to work
sweetling, your mind and heart must embrace me the way your body does.”

She shook her head. “If that be so let me come to you
in my own time as you gave me leave to do on our wedding night.”

“Go and see to your brother. We’ll speak of this when
the heat of passion’s flame no longer fogs my head.”

“Aye,” she murmured, feeling the stickiness of his
seed clinging to her thighs. She hurried toward the door and paused at the
threshold. “Milord, if Ian continues to improve and I feel comfortable leaving
him in another's care, I need to go into the mountains to fetch some herbal
remedies for his recovery. Would you allow it?”

“I'll take you myself, Asilinn.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a small smile when she left
the bathing chamber.

Jared groaned and plunged back into the hot water.
The woman was driving him mad. He couldn’t trust her as far as he could see her
and yet, more than anything, he wanted her to trust him.

***

Much to Jared's chagrin, Asilinn spent the night
slumped in a chair in her brother's room. He found her there in the morning
when he went to check on Ian. When he entered, she did a little cat stretch and
rubbed her eyes.

“Ian seems much improved,” Jared commented, running
his hand over the soft tendrils of her hair. “You should sleep in bed, not in
the chair.”

“I will tonight if his progress continues. Skye has
offered to stay with Ian while we go to fetch the herbs. Can you take me today?
I'm sure it would speed his recovery.”