Page 23 of Darach

“Of course, my lady.” The chieftain bowed.

“Good man.” Emery winked at Charlotte. “See you later.”

“I’m sorry,” Charlotte said as she walked back into the castle with Darach. “Once I learn my way around Dun Lasair I won’t impose on you so much.”

“Ah, so you wish to avoid me now.” He nodded as if he’d expected as much. “I reckoned you’d soon grow weary of my company.” He gave her a sideways look. “Or mayhap ’tis my face that tries your patience.”

“Lady Emery tires me out,” she said, opting for blunt honesty over politeness. “I’m more comfortable around quiet people like you. I also know you have better things to do than serve as my personal escort.”

“I’m your protector, Charlotte, for as long as you stay,” he reminded her. “I promised you that.”

She wanted to tell him to assign her to someone else, someone who didn’t have so many responsibilities. Yet in her heart she wanted to be selfish, and have him stay by her side for as long as she could. Just being close to him made her relax, and when she looked at him she forgot about the terrors and horrors that she had faced in her time. With Darach she could be herself, the way she had been before this nightmare had begun.

“If this becomes unmanageable, please tell me,” Charlotte said as he led her through a passage to a tower staircase, and then followed him up. “I don’t want to be a nuisance.”

Darach didn’t say anything as he opened a door halfway up the stairs, and gestured for her to go inside. Small glass balls filled with blue glowing light illuminated the chamber, which had several tables and many racks and shelves of scrolls. He closed the door as he came in, and then went to uncover the narrow windows.

“With all the parchment we cannae bring any flame inside the chamber,” he told her, and then rolled up a map on the center table and set it aside. “The sun, ’tis past zenith, so the windows shall provide good light until sunset. I shall return when ’tis time for the evening meal.”

Does he have to be in such a hurry to get away from me? Maybe I am nothing but a nuisance to the man.

A strange irritation came over Charlotte as she set down her bag, and then went around the table to stand before him. “Don’t bother. You can just send one of the maids to get me. Emery said there are plenty.”

“’Tisnae any trouble for me to escort you, my lady,” he said, and took a step back.

“I’m already a problem for you, aren’t I? Because of other issues I don’t know about, and whatever else you’ve decided to keep from me.” She waited, and when he said nothing she nodded. “Just admit it.”

His jaw tightened. “You’ve endured too much, and I dinnae wish add to your troubles or worries.”

“You offer one truth to avoid another.” She moved closer, until only a few inches separated them. “I’m not as stupid as you think. There is more to this than what you and the laird told me. Emery explained about the hostility between your clan and the Carack, and the murder of that jewel-setter being blamed on Luthias so the clans would go to war. You still haven’t caught whoever killed her, right?”

Darach shook his head.

“I can’t force you to be honest with me.” She stepped back. “I can look after myself from now on. You can go, Chieftain.”

He didn’t move for a few moments, which she understood. She wanted badly to apologize for being so unpleasant and pushing him away. She also wanted to smack him for keeping her in the dark.

Still not saying a word, Darach reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Charlotte froze. When he bent his head and kissed her, she just stood like a statue. This sort of thing never happened to her, so she had no idea how to react. Should she shove him away? She should. Just because he had held her and soothed her and carried her around he had no right to manhandle her whenever he wanted.

The hot hunger of his mouth on hers melted through her shock and surprise, making all of her senses come alive with a vengeance.

Darach held the back of her head with his hand as he kissed her so deeply the heat of him seemed to surge down into her breasts and belly. She was a modern woman, not some medieval ninny too ignorant to stand up for herself, only she could not turn off her body. She wanted his hands as well as his mouth on her. Her thighs knotted as she went wet between them, and her sex swelled and throbbed like the sweetest, most unbearable wound.

He wants me as much as I want him, but we can’t do this. Not here, not now.

The kiss ended by some strange unspoken agreement, with first their lips parting and then their hands dropping and their bodies moving back from each other. For a moment the chieftain looked as if he didn’t recognize her now.

Inside she reeled, aghast and ablaze. One kiss and he destroys me like this.

“Forgive me,” Darach said, his marked eye looking like a bloodstained coin as he walked past her and left the room.

“Oh, Darach.” Charlotte abruptly sat down at the table, her mouth still tender and hot from the ferocity of his, and propped her head against her hand. “I don’t think I can do that.”

After a few minutes she regained some of her composure, and unzipped her bag. Taking out everything to see if anything had been damaged during her trip through time, she soon discovered she’d been lucky again. The box in which she kept her watercolor pans, brushes, pencils and pens remained intact, and water hadn’t gotten into the bag, so her sketchbook and field journal hadn’t been ruined. The notepad she used to jot down notes during meetings with publishers wasn’t the one she’d used when she’d met with Seona Kerrich, but it had plenty of blank pages. She even had a handful of ballpoint pens for writing.

She unzipped one bulging pocket she didn’t remember stuffing with anything, and found a bundle of toffee bars with plaid wrappers, along with a note.