Page 17 of A Temptress in Tartan

She looked for Lachlan. He wasn’t dancing. Instead he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Blue eyes watched her spin, then dip.

His attention from afar heated her. Suddenly her palms felt moist, her body hot, and her throat breathlessly tight. She forced her gaze away from Lachlan to focus on the motion of her feet. Cameron was an exquisite dancer. He twirled her about and the room flashed by her until she felt not just light-headed, but overly warm. Finally, the music slowed and came to a stop.

She looked over her shoulder trying to locate Lachlan, but he was no longer against the wall. “Thank you for the dance,” she said.

“Are you well?” Cameron asked, his brows coming together in a frown. “Your cheeks are flushed red.”

“The dancing.” She brought her hands up to cover her cheeks. “I must be more tired than I thought.”

“Of course.” Cameron took her arm and guided her to a chair. He sat her down. “Stay here. I will get you something to drink and find Lachlan.”

“Aye,” she said as she sank back against the chair, watching her host disappear into the crowd.

In the next moment, Lachlan was beside her. “Elizabeth, what is wrong?”

She pushed a loose tendril of hair away from her face. Her hands shook slightly. “I’m fine. Simply tired.”

Lachlan sat beside her, putting his hand to her forehead. “You feel warm.”

“I just need some fresh air and then sleep. It’s been a long day.”

“Aye, it has.” Lachlan stood and offered her his hand. “Come, let’s get you some fresh air.”

She put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. Together they left the great hall, walking slowly, silently, until they stepped into the chill night air in the courtyard. Elizabeth took a deep breath, and let the heather-scented air revive her. She could still hear the skirl of the pipes. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her head and contain the emotions that had tried to break free tonight. She could feel her contempt fading for this man who was her husband. But every time she let someone get close to her, they betrayed her. Every time she gave up a piece of her heart, she got hurt.

Elizabeth fought back the tears that threatened. She turned her head away so that Lachlan could not see them slip onto her cheeks as she remembered snippets from her past.

Most of her father’s betrayals had stemmed from the fact she had not been born male. At times, she would think she was finally making headway when he started treating her as his equal, asking for her help in making decisions for the clan. Then, in the next moment, he would call her a know-nothing female, and instead defer to the opinions of other male clan members.

And then there was Roland. He’d fostered with the Ruthvens and been raised as a member of the clan. She and Roland had been inseparable over the past five years and truly devoted to each other, or so she had thought until she learned two of the maids had borne his bastards. Still, she had swallowed her pride and forgave him his indiscretions, hoping someday soon he might ask her father for her hand in marriage. The night she thought he would do just that, he instead told her father he was leaving and had no idea when or if he might return.

The two most important men in her life had betrayed and dismissed her, leaving her feeling alone and unloved.

Forcibly shedding the memories, Elizabeth drew a deep breath, turned her head, and opened her eyes. Lachlan was there in the moonlight, studying her. “If it would help, we can stay here an extra day and let you rest.”

The cool breeze fluttered his hair back from his face. It wasn’t rest she needed. “Nay, let us continue as you had planned.”

He frowned. “If that is what you want.”

“It is,” she said, the words sounding thin and unconvincing.

Lachlan’s frown deepened. “What is it, Elizabeth? What aren’t you telling me?”

She turned back to the castle, before he could ask any further questions, before he could see how vulnerable she felt. For a brief moment tonight, he’d made her feel special, like she was no different than anyone else. But she was. She was a Ruthven. He was a Douglas. She didn’t quite know what all that meant anymore, because something inside her had definitely shifted tonight. She and Lachlan were not friends, exactly. Definitely not lovers. But also, not enemies. Could they continue like this, being friendly toward each other while still harboring feelings of resentment and rivalry that had been present their whole lives?

For the short-term, aye. But soon Elizabeth would have to pick a side. Would she remain true to her clan and their desire to keep the Ruthven-Douglas feud going, or would she be the peacemaker the king and queen wanted her to become?

Chapter Five

Upstairs in their bedchamber, Lachlan watched Elizabeth from the opposite side of the room. He’d wanted to kiss her after she’d finished her song in the great hall. Her voice had made him feel strangely weak, and filled with an emotion he couldn’t quite name. While the applause had sounded around them, he’d seen the look of shocked surprise in her tawny eyes. Innocent and unexpected pleasure. He could spend the rest of his life listening to her sing, watching that joy enter her eyes.

Aye, he’d wanted to kiss her, and so much more. He winced at the memory of the kiss he had forced on her earlier. He should not have done that, but she’d angered him so. He closed his eyes, swallowing back his desire, wishing his own emotions weren’t so close to the surface. He groaned. He’d never felt this odd sensation of not quite being in control of his emotions, his reactions.

As a warrior, he usually had a tight rein on his responses. He proceeded with logic and strategy. Around Elizabeth, all of that seemed to flee from his mind as he simply reacted as he never imagined he would.

Lachlan took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on something in the room besides Elizabeth. He stared into the fire, watching the play of light and shadow it cast across the chamber. Until, once again, his gaze returned to her as the light reflected off her hair, making it shimmer with streaks of red and gold as she, too, stared at the flames.

“Since we shall continue our journey in the morning, we should go to sleep,” Lachlan said.