The Imposter (21 page)

I made the
clicking sound with my tongue as Devon had instructed, spurring Biscuit into
motion and she obediently ambled forward.  I hated to think of my husband going
off to war and I was glad to have permission to leave this discussion of the
details and plotting of the McClain clan’s first move.  I pulled my cloak
around me, balling it up around the pommel of the saddle so that I could hold
both with one hand.  I held the reins with my left hand, fingers numb and
stinging with the cold of the early winter air.  My breath came in billowy
clouds, curling into the gray air that had the distinct feeling of impending
snow.

 Feeling more
confident, I kicked Biscuit into a trot and she hesitantly began to pick up
speed.  I hoped that Devon was watching and that he would notice that I was
improving in my horse riding skills.  Biscuit began to veer to the left as
there was a small pond coming up in front of us.  At the last minute, I decided
to jerk her reins to the right, choosing to stay to the right of the pond so
that I would not go out of Devon’s path of sight.

Biscuit did not
agree with my split second change of plans and her front legs locked up beneath
me.  As she came to an abrupt stop that I was not expecting, the momentum threw
me up and over her head and I was flying through the air!  I landed with a
large splash right in the pond, and the icy cold water took my breath away. 

The water was a
shock to my body and my heart hesitated to beat and my lungs tried to regain
the ability to breath.  My skirts billowed about me in the frigid water.  I had
trouble coordinating the movements of my body in order to keep my head afloat. 
I knew that the pond was not deep and that I could easily stand up, but the
shock of the cold water on my system made my muscles slow to respond to the
directions of my brain.  I coughed and took in a fair amount water into my
mouth, which tasted of fish and seaweed.  My skirts became tangled about my
legs as I tried to stand up and get out of the pond. 

I finally forced
my muscles into obedience and my feet touched the squishy muddy bottom of the
pond.  My lungs ached from the cold and the ingestion of water that had
occurred as I struggled to right myself in the freezing water.  I stood frozen
in the water, gasping for air, and willed my body to put one foot in front of
the other to walk towards the shore.  My mind was hazy and my body was slow to
respond.  I no longer perceived the cold. 

My eyes struggled
to focus and the first thing that I saw was Devon riding like a madman towards
the pond.  There was a look of sheer terror on his face.  He brought Stanley to
a stop next to Biscuit and in one movement, he dismounted the horse and dove
into the pond after me.  His arms were around me, uprooting me from the mud
bottom of the pond and he lifted me up, carrying me to the shore.

My breathing was
ragged and I felt the water in my hair beginning to freeze into strings of ice
against my back and chest.  It felt oddly crunchy beneath my frozen fingers. 

“What happened,
lass?” Devon demanded, shivering as he held me to his wet body.  His shirt was
freezing beneath my cheek, but I had not the energy to move myself away from
the frozen linen.  His hands frantically searched my body for injury and his
eyes were wild with fear.

My lips moved to
answer him, but were silenced by the chattering of my teeth.  I could not
answer his question.

“We have tae get
ye back tae the keep.  Hold on, sweetheart,” he commanded setting his mouth in
a hard line, gathering me against him as he mounted Stanley and kicked him into
a sprint towards the Castle. 

I felt Devon’s
muscles quivering from the cold beneath me and I knew that he too was freezing
from the shock of the frigid water.  The rhythmic movement of Stanley’s hooves
beating the frozen Earth lulled me into a sleeplike state, allowing me to
almost forget about the chattering of my teeth.  I no longer felt the cold.  I
was numb.

“Doona go tae
sleep, Kate!” Devon barked, shaking my shoulder.  His fingers were like ice
against my skin.  I blinked a couple of times, driving the sleep from my brain,
knowing that he was right.  If I allowed myself to go to sleep, I might die.  I
began trying to move my fingers and toes, and found this movement to be painful. 
I forced myself to continue the movement, keeping my mind busy with the task so
as not to fall asleep.

We arrived at the
castle and Devon bounded off of Stanley with me in his arms, leaving the horse
standing in front of the castle reins dangling in the breeze.  Devon pushed
open the door to the keep with his shoulder and we were met by the wide eyes of
a young maid who had been caught off guard by our hasty entrance.

“I need hot
water.  Send a bath up to my chamber immediately.  My wife has had an accident,”
he bellowed at the maid.  “It would be wise of ye tae hurry,” he added with an
air of threat in his voice.  He took the stairs up to our chamber two at a
time, carrying me in his arms as if I weighed nothing at all.

We burst through
the door and Devon sat me down in front of the dismal fire, which had nearly
gone out from lack of wood.  He grabbed kindling from the small pile next to
the fireplace and stoked the fire, blowing on the coals to ignite the flames. 
I stood frozen, watching him, unable to move, dripping the remnants of the pond
onto the flagstone floor.    The kindling took fire and Devon grabbed two large
pieces of wood and settled them atop the beginnings of a roaring fire. 

Having started the
fire to his satisfaction, he turned to me.  “Take off yer clothes,” he said. 
It was an order.  “We need tae get ye warmed up or ye’ll die from the cold.”

I was in such a
state of shock that I couldn’t move.  My teeth chattered and my muscles
quivered uncontrollably from the cold that had settled into my bones.

“Help,” I
whispered, turning around to expose the laces of my gown.  I knew that my
fingers were not up to the task of unlacing the gown, in fact, I couldn’t even
feel my fingers.

Devon struggled
with the laces of the gown, his own fingers half frozen, and pulled it from my
body, dropping the sopping mass of cloth onto the floor.  I was now clad only
in my thin chemise and I looked down to see the thin fabric clinging to my
body, highlighting the fact that my nipples were standing at attention from the
cold. 

“Ye’ll need tae
take that off too,” Devon said, tossing one of his clean linen shirts to land
on the overstuffed chair beside me.  “I’ll turn around,” he said, and turned
towards the fire.  I watched him without moving as he now turned his attentions
to himself and removed his dripping clothes.  He had to be freezing too, but
his focus had been to take care of my needs first.

He pulled his
linen shirt up over his head and tossed it onto the floor and then stepped out
of his soggy kilt, adding it to the pile of wet clothes.  I watched as the now
roaring fire cast shadows on his well muscled back and buttocks.  He let the
fire warm his body and I knew that he knew that I was watching him, but he did
not turn to look at me. 

I turned my back
to him and the fire and peeled the sodden chemise up over my head, and then let
it fall from my hand to the floor.  I took Devon’s shirt from the arm of the
chair and pulled it over my head, feeling warmer already.  Devon walked over to
the armoire and pulled on a new kilt, but left his chest bare. 

There was a knock
on the door and a fluttering of maids arrived bringing a tub, which was
followed with a brigade of buckets filled with steaming water.

  Devon pulled me
against his chest in front of the fire and I could feel the warmth spreading
back though my body. He kissed my wet hair and murmured something that I
couldn’t understand in Gaelic.  I spread my fingers on his chest and melted
into his body.  He felt so good.  My cheek rested on the warm skin of his bare
chest and I drunk in his heady masculine smell. My senses tingled with the
anticipation of a hot bath, knowing that it would restore the heat of my body
and stop the chattering of my teeth.  When the bath was finally full, the last
maid shut the door behind her, leaving Devon and I in silence.

“Well, get in! 
What are ye waiting for, lass?  I’ll turn around,” he said, releasing my
suddenly and turning to face the fire.

He didn’t have to
ask me twice.  I thought that it was funny that Devon was making an effort to
protect my modesty by turning away from me.  I would have stripped naked and
walked with my head held high in front of the entire McClain Clan if that’s
what it took to reach this tub of steaming hot water.   I pulled his shirt up and
over my head and lowered myself into the steaming water.  It burned my frozen
toes and fingers, but if felt heavenly.  I groaned as I lowered myself into the
water. I heard Devon chuckle.

“That good, it
is?” he said, still facing the fire, goosebumps still evident on his skin.

“Mmmmhmm,” I
mumbled as I closed my eyes and laid my head back on the rim of the tub,
enjoying the bliss of feeling the warmth return to my limbs.  I closed my
fingers into fists and then opened them again, trying to stop the stinging in
my fingers, returning blood to the farthest reaches of my body.

Devon turned
around and moved the overstuffed chair, repositioning it so that he could soak
in the warmth of the fire and talk to me at the same time.  His hair was still
wet, but beginning to dry from the heat of the fire, subsequently curling at
the ends.

I suddenly felt
guilty for not sharing the bath with him.  “I’d invite you in, but there’s not
enough room,” I said guiltily.  “I’ll hurry and get out so that you can warm up
too.”

“Nae, I’m fine,
lass.  Enjoy it,” he said. “It’s my fault that ye ended up in that pond in the
first place.”

“How could you
possibly think that that was your fault?” I said, sitting upright and starting
at him over my knees.

“I should have
never told ye tae ride ahead.  I kent ye werena ready, but I didna want ye tae
be troubled with the business with the Camerons, and I thought ye’d be alright
and…” he trailed off, running his hand through his almost dry hair in
frustration.

“I was doing fine,
thank you very much.  Biscuit wanted to go left and I wanted her to go right,
and well, she tossed me off into the pond,” I explained.  “It had nothing to do
with you.” I added for good measure.

“Maybe so, maybe
no, but it is my job tae keep ye safe, and I failed,” he said
matter-of-factly.  “My heart just about stopped when I saw ye go ass over tea
kettle into that loch.”

“I’m fine,” I
assured him.  “Maybe I’m just not meant to ride a horse.”

He laughed,
firelight glinting off his handsome face.  “Maybe no, but I’m still planning
tae teach ye.”

We sat for a few
minutes in silence, lost in our own thoughts, enjoying the feeling of warmth
returning to our bodies.  I was disappointed by how quickly the heat dissipated
from the water of my bath.  The water was now only luke warm, and I felt the
chill beginning to rise again within my body. 

“Could you please
hand me the towel?” I asked Devon who was lost in thought, head supported by
his fist, starting into the flames of the fire.

He tossed it in my
direction and looked back into the fire, affording me with privacy while I rose
from the tub and toweled off.  I pulled his clean linen shirt back over my head
and walked over to where he sat on the large overstuffed chair next to the
fire.

He was so handsome
with his hair unbound and his chest bare, even though he was brooding and
berating himself for not preventing my unexpected swim in the lake.  I wanted
to touch him.  I needed to touch him and to let him know that I was alright.  I
wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek to the hot skin of his
shoulder.  He felt so good, so warm and solid beneath me.

“Thank you for
saving me,” I whispered.

“The thought of
losing ye is more than I can bear, Kate,” he confessed, still looking into the
fire.  “I doona ken how I will leave ye tomorrow when all I can think about is
the accidents that might befall ye while I’m no here tae protect ye.”

“I’ll be very
careful,” I promised, enjoying the warmth of his skin on my face as I hugged
him to me and I spread my hands across the muscles of his waist. 

“Ye’d better be,”
he said.  “That’s an order.”

I bit my lip and
looked up at him.  I was not used to taking orders from a man, in fact I had
risked my life jumping into the sea to avoid being tethered to a man’s orders. 
I was surprised to find that I liked that Devon was telling me what to do,
trying his best to insure my safety.  His concern made me feel cherished,
wanted.

“When ye do that,
it drives me mad,” he said huskily.

I released my
lower lip from the grips of my teeth and continued to look up into his eyes. 
He was so beautiful, so masculine and strong.  I felt a burning growing
deliciously deep in my belly, between my thighs as I looked up at him.

“And tae see ye in
my shirt, knowing that ye’ve nothing on underneath…” he trailed off, looking at
me intently, eyes a flame with desire.  “Seeing ye like this makes it awful
difficult tae keep my word about letting ye choose when tae allow me tae take
ye tae bed.”

  His hand reached
down and caressed my cheek, drawing me closer to him for a tender kiss.  I
loved the feeling of his day’s growth of stubble beneath my fingers, and his
masculine smell stimulated my senses, causing me to tingle all the way down to
my toes. 

He pulled away
slightly, lips hovering millimeters from mine, noses touching.  He then claimed
me with a hungry kiss, staking claim to my lips and demanding that I meet his
fervor.  I kissed him back with equal hunger, wanting him, needing his touch. 
My fingers danced over his warm skin, pulling him closer to me.