Page 54 of Hit Me With Your Best Scot
“No,” she snapped, slapping him on the chest. “No one else can know about me.”
“I’m nae going to tell her anything,” he protested, her body shifting against his making him stir again.
“You are not a subtle man, Lord Glendarril.”
“Ye’d be surprised, lass. I generally dunnae have cause to be subtle.” Shifting his arm from behind his head, he lifted her squarely on top of him. “For instance, do ye notice anything about me now?”
The smile that curved her mouth very nearly stopped his heart. “Well, now that you mention it,” she murmured, lifting up on all fours and sliding down the length of him.
Perhaps she meant to distract him from asking questions. She’d spent over seven years keeping her secrets to herself, after all. As her mouth closed over his cock, Coll decided that questions could wait until tomorrow. Hehad a lass to pleasure and a future to consider. One that included her, whether she’d realized it or not.
Coll awoke in the morning to a black cat sitting squarely on his chest and staring at him. “I ken who ye are, Hades,” he muttered, staring right back at the wee animal. “Andyeken that I’m nae going anywhere. I reckon we’d best ally ourselves if we mean to save our lass.”
The cat lifted one paw, flexed it to show his claws, then set it down again.
“Well-played,” Coll commented, ignoring the light pricks. The cat could’ve done a great deal more damage if he had wanted to. “I’m glad we understand each other.”
With a sniff, Hades stood up and padded off the bed. Coll watched him glide across the room and disappear beneath the oak wardrobe. Then he turned to find Pers—Temperance—watching him from the dressing table, a pink and yellow silk dressing robe over her shoulders and knotted at the waist.
“Impressive,” she said with a smile, “considering you don’t smell like fish at all.”
Sitting up, he stretched his arms over his head. “Did Hades eat all the sandwiches? I’m half starved.”
“I’ve already asked Flora to make us something for breakfast.” She tilted her head, still gazing at him. “I expected—well, more of a reaction to you finding out my identity. It’s horribly scandalous, after all, for a marquis’s only daughter to become an actress.”
His main reaction had been the realization that he’d previously bedded her without knowing who she was, not that he’d now spent the night in the naked company of a marquis’s daughter. That generally meant a marriage was in the offing, even in the Highlands. This was all a wee bit more complicated than he’d planned for, but it had also become a great deal more interesting than he’d expected.
If he knew one thing, though, it was that pointing out that he’d ruined a lady and now had an obligation to marry her wouldn’t go over well. She’d run away rather than be forced into a match she didn’t favor, and he wasn’t about to attempt to force her into anything now.
“Ye’re a fine actress. It’d be another thing altogether, I suppose, if ye didnae have any talent for it.” He climbed out of the soft bed, looking for his kilt before remembering he’d been wearing Sassenach trousers. “I dunnae scandalize easily, Temperance, if ye’ve nae noticed. I’m more troubled that we cannae narrow down who might be trying to harm ye.”
“I don’t want to leave, you know,” she said, gesturing at the portmanteau they’d knocked to the floor last night. “I like my life here. I like the… friends I’ve found here. If I could narrow down the list of suspects, I would certainly do so.” She shed her robe, naked and glorious in the dim light from the edges of the curtains, then wrapped her arms around herself. “I haven’t seen anyone I know from my life before. And the idea that someone might have seen me without me noticing is unsettling, to say the least.”
Coll walked around the edge of the bed and wrapped her in his arms. “I dunnae mean to widen our search, but could it be someone who’s admired ye on the stage? Some lunatic who cannae accept that Rosalind paired off with Orlando or someaught?”
“Oh, good heavens, I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, I suppose it could be. I receive someveryinteresting letters sometimes.”
“Letters? I’d like to see them, if ye dunnae mind. Anything over the past fortnight or so, unless ye recall something untoward nearly happening to ye before that.”
“They’re downstairs. But Coll, while I’m exceedinglyrelieved you came to see me last night, you have other obligations. I don’t want you to lose your inheritance because I didn’t hide well enough.”
He looked down at her upturned face. Coll reflected that he owed Niall and Aden both an apology for making fun of their claims that they’d just “known” when they’d found their lasses and hadn’t been able to explain it any other way. “Dunnae ye worry about me finding a wife,” he said with a slight smile. “I’ve someone in mind already.”
“Good.” Abruptly, she shrugged out of his grip and went to retrieve her prim black wig. “I hope my suggestions helped.”
“Aye, they did. I still havenae kept up my end of the agreement, though. I’m yer protector, and I mean to protect ye. If ye’ve paper about, I need to send Gavin over to Oswell House with a note for a couple of lads to help me keep watch here.”
“Gavin’s here?”
“Aye. I left him outside last night, watching the house.” He bent to pick up a hairpin and set it on the table next to her. “And dunnae fret about him. He’s been asked to do far worse.”
“We should still have him come in for breakfast. But I’m not staying here all day, hiding under the bed. I have rehearsals.”
“Temperance, ye—”
“I’m not trying to be foolish,” she broke in. “I told you that I want to stay. I have an obligation to Charlie and the Saint Genesius. At the least, I need to tell Charlie that I may be putting the rest of the troupe in danger and give him the opportunity to find someone else to play Lady Macbeth.”
That made sense. If she stopped appearing at the Saint Genesius, whoever wanted to harm her would have a moredifficult time tracking her down. Keeping her safe mattered far more than a part in a play. “Ye should stay here. After I set some men on watch, I’ll go talk to Huddle.”
