“How are things with you and Mari?” Lach asked, nodding toward where she was laughing with her friends. “She seems happy enough. Why do you look ready to bust through the castle walls?”
“Aye, she seems happy. But she’s not. She’s terrified.”
“Of what?”
“Me.”
“You?” Lach looked to Bryce and Liam, who also looked confused. Three sets of eyes glared at him. “What did ye do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything to her, and you well know I never would. Wipe that look from your faces right now or I’ll help you do it.”
“My mistake for thinking you rough.” Lach rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know what to do with her. She goes along with everything I say. She doesn’t want to cause any trouble.”
“My, that sounds wretched.” Bryce smirked.
“It is. She’s afraid of me. Her late husband was a right bugger the way he treated her. She flinches and cowers whenever I come near her. I can’t stand it.”
“You need to push her until she pushes back,” Liam suggested. “Like a timid horse.”
All three men looked at the boy and laughed loudly at his suggestion.
“Have ye even kissed a lass yet?” Bryce teased.
Liam’s face and ears went red, and he scowled at them, then jumped up to go find another place to sit.
When their laughter faded, Cam rubbed his chin and shook his head. “It might not be a bad idea, at that.”
“I was just thinking the same,” Bryce agreed.
“If it works, I’ll have to apologize to the lad,” Cam admitted.
“If it works, I don’t think you’ll mind.” Bryce gave him a wink.
Nay. Cam wouldn’t mind at all.
…
“And he hasn’t done more than kiss you?” Kenna asked as they sat in her solar later that morning.
Mari had seen Cameron at the morning meal, but he’d hardly looked at her, let alone come to speak to her. She didn’t know what to do to set things right between them again, but she was certain Kenna could help her figure it out.
Mari tied off on a piece of embroidery while Kenna watched.
“No. He’s been a proper gentleman. Which is quite infuriating.” She’d liked kissing Cameron, and she wanted to experience what came next. The way he’d looked at her last night made her think he was ready to take that next step.
Until she’d frightened him off.
“He said we should take our time, to make sure we’re comfortable with one another. We held hands.”
Kenna smirked. “Held hands? You’ll not get very far at that rate. You may need to kiss him.”
“I couldn’t.” Mari shook her head quickly. It would be much too risky. What if he found such unladylike behavior forward and disgusting, like Endsmere? He was already annoyed with her for being such a coward and scooting away from him in terror.
No, she would have to wait for Cameron to make the first move.
She only hoped he would try again soon.
“Have you told him you want him to touch you?”
“No. Of course not. Proper ladies don’t ask men to touch them.”
Kenna nodded. “Mayhap that’s why proper ladies don’t get touched, whereas I get touched all the time.”
“You ask your husband to touch you?” Mari asked, trying her best not to appear appalled.
“Ask? Nay. I walk up to him, grab him by the ears, and pull him down so I can kiss him. Then I reach under his kilt and grab him by—”
“You reach under his— Kenna Elizabeth!” So much for not being appalled. “You behave like a wanton!”
“I am wanton, I guess, since I’m wantin’ my husband to touch me.” She laughed with a wink.
Mari pressed her lips together, trying to hold in her own mirth. “You are still the wild one, even though you’re also beautiful.”
“The English call us Scots savages for a reason. Mayhap it’s time for you to put propriety aside and grab what you want.” She chuckled. “By the ears, if need be. Or the—”
“Kenna!”
Mari was certain her younger sister enjoyed deviling her with bawdy talk. But when she was done laughing, she took the embroidery from Mari and set it aside to join hands.
“You have every reason to be afraid of a man’s touch. So far, it’s not been a pleasant experience for ye. But I promise, once you find your way into Cam’s arms and his bed, you’ll not be sorry.”
Mari nodded and took a deep breath. “The truth is, I want his touch,” she confessed. “I have even had thoughts of reaching up under his kilt, as you’ve said. It drives me mad thinking about it at times. But when he’s there in front of me, I lose my nerve completely.”
Kenna released her and got up. For a second, Mari thought she’d said too much and repulsed Kenna, but her sister was riffling through papers on a small desk.
“There’s safety in distance,” Kenna explained. “I wrote to Lachlan when he was fighting for the French. In a letter I could say things I would have been afraid to say in his presence. You should write to Cam. Tell him what you want, so there’s no misunderstanding.”
Mari regarded her sister with a blossoming smile. “That is a wonderful idea.”
With newfound excitement, she sat down at the desk and studied the blank page before her. Dipping a quill in the ink, she poised it over the paper and…nothing.
“Perhaps if I leave you to it,” Kenna suggested, and went for the door. “Take as long as you need.”
It took Mari most of the day and a fair fortune in paper and ink to get her feelings down in a way that sounded sincere and also alluring.
Later that evening, she paced in front of the fire in nothing but her thin shift. Her hair was down and brushed smooth. However, she was still pretending to brush it so she would be caught in the open when Cameron came up to bed.
She realized when she stood in front of the fire, the light shone through
