Page 34 of The Sinner
“In the morning, I’ll catch us fish for breakfast,” he said as he handed her dried meat and another oatcake. “We’ll make a quick meal of it tonight and get to bed.”
The oatcake caught in her throat. He’d spoken as if both the meal and bed were activities they would share. Glynis took a big gulp from the flask of ale and told herself this was not a good time to remember how he’d kissed her against the castle wall.
And yet, now that the memory had come into her head, there was no removing it.
Alex tugged at the blankets in her lap, reminding her that she still had them. When he laid them out side by side, she took another swallow of the ale. Would she have the strength to resist him?
A new question fluttered across her mind. Did she want to resist him?
* * *
Alex lay awake staring at the dark clouds moving against the darker sky and forced himself to think of his parents. Reliving their screaming battles in his head was his only hope for keeping his hands off the woman beside him.
His cock, however, didn’t want to listen to reason.
He knew damned well that Glynis did not want marriage any more than he did. And yet, she tried his will. Though she didn’t touch him, he could feel her leaning toward him in the darkness. Her desire vibrated through him. That made it damned difficult to keep his parents in his head.
Ye cannot have this woman. Ye cannot have this woman. He chanted the words over and over to himself. He gave up on his parents and imagined swimming through icy cold water.
Then he and Glynis were naked in a warm loch, with her hair streaming around them in the water …
Alex shook his head. There were no warm lochs in Scotland. Ach, this journey to Edinburgh was going to kill him for certain.
CHAPTER 13
Alex called on every saint he could think of to give him strength. Three days and nights alone with Glynis—especially the nights—and he was losing his mind.
He felt a prickle at the back of his neck again. He was so twitchy from unrelenting lust that he didn’t know if someone was on the trail behind them or if a flea was scratching itself a hundred miles away.
“We’ll go off the trail here to make our camp,” he said, in case there truly was someone coming up behind them. He was glad it had begun to rain, for that would wash out their tracks.
A short time later, he was cursing the weather. Only in the Highlands would it hail in mid-July. Now he’d have to make a lean-to for them to sleep under with one of their blankets—leaving them one blanket to share. The fairies were making mischief and laughing at him in their fairy hills.
“I’ll look for dry moss to start a fire,” Glynis said.
“No fire.”
“But I’m freezing,” she said, clutching her cloak close about her.
Alex refrained from suggesting the obvious method for two people to keep warm on a cold night.
“There might be someone behind us on the trail,” he said. “’Tis nothing to worry about, but we’ll wait until morning to build a fire.”
The icy pellets caught in her hair as Glynis helped him tie two corners of the blanket to a tree and stake the other corners to the ground with sticks.
“Duck inside while I take care of the horses,” he said. “I’ll be back shortly.”
The wind was picking up as he led Rosebud and Buttercup into the brush by the creek that ran along the base of the valley.
A mix of hail and icy rain pelted his face as he hurried back to check on Glynis. When he crawled inside their makeshift lean-to, he found her shivering so hard that her teeth were chattering. Alex swore he could hear the fairies laughing as he put his arms around her and rubbed her back. The scent of her hair filled his nose. How could a woman smell so good after a long day of riding? He forced himself to release her as soon as she stopped shivering.
He opened the bag with their dwindling supply of food. “I’m afraid it’s dried beef and oatcakes again.”
“It tastes wonderful,” Glynis said, ripping a hunk of the meat off with her teeth.
She ate with an enthusiasm that had him imagining her other appetites. Lord above, sleeping in such close quarters with her was going to make this an even longer night than the others.
“Have some ale,” he said, handing her the flask. Ach, he needed whiskey.
