Between (13 page)

I could hear the rhythmic crack of Aiden splitting wood outside over the sound of the music. Drying my hands on a towel, I walked over to the window to watch him. Facing away from me, he bent over to grab a new log from the woodpile, then placed it on the chopping block. He’d taken his shirt off and his back glistened with sweat. He pushed his hair away from his face with the back of one hand, concentrating. He pulled the heavy axe up easily with one hand, but brought it down with both, cleanly splitting the log in two with one stroke. He reached down and gathered the pieces, tossing them onto the pile he’d started. The axe had stuck in the block with the blow and he yanked it free, then began the process again.

He didn’t notice me watching him, as he was consumed by the repetitive and physical task, likely blotting out the bad memory and clearing his mind. I licked my lips, enjoying the way the muscles rippled in his back when he swung the axe. Finally, I tore my gaze away and went upstairs to change the linens, dancing and singing as I went.

I heard Aiden come into the cabin and drop off an armload of chopped wood while I was upstairs making the beds.
“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?”
I sang, along with Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim and Pink. Heat sprang to my cheeks and I wondered if Aiden had heard the song when he’d come in, but the cracking sound of splitting wood quickly resumed outside. Singing to myself and shaking my groove thing, I padded down the stairs and started cutting vegetables for our dinner.

Aiden’s voice cut into my thoughts.
I’m going for a dip in the lake. I’ll be back in a minute.

I caught a glimpse of him out the window as he started off toward the water. “Mmm, a swim before dinner. That sounds fabulous,” I said to myself, dropping the knife. I grabbed two beach towels off the hook by the back door and followed him down to the lake. A short rock stairway cut into the side of the hill provided easy access to the beach below and I stopped at the top, watching him as he walked down the stretch of the dock. He pulled off his shoes and undid his belt. In one swift motion, his kilt, dirk and sporran pooled at his feet.

I sucked in a breath and bit my lip. My pulse pounded so loud in my ears that I was sure he could hear it. As he stood at the edge of the dock, my eyes devoured his naked body, admiring his strong legs and firm round cheeks. His hair cascaded over his shoulders and his back glistened with sweat. A blissful sigh escaped me as he dove into the lake and swam under the water a good distance, then popped up like a seal and slicked his hair back with his hands. He closed his eyes and floated on his back, treating me to a delicious view of the rest of him.

Without even thinking, I dropped the beach towels on the stairs and tiptoed down to the dock, drawn to him like a magnet. He didn’t open his eyes as I came near but lay floating on his back, peacefully soaking up the late afternoon sun. I quickly pulled off my clothes and dove in to join him. He snapped upright at the sound of my splash and his eyes grew wide as he saw me swim near. I stopped just beyond his arm’s reach and tread water, my breasts bobbing in the lake, my hair slicked back against my neck.

“
That’s not very lady-like,” he scolded, though his tone was cracked and husky, his eyes drawn to my bare breasts.

“
What?” I asked, smirking at him. “You started it! Telling me you’re going to go for a dip in the lake and then standing there naked like a glistening Adonis. What did you expect me to do?”

He looked shocked at my teasing accusation. “I did not! What was I supposed to do, swim in my kilt?”

I shrugged, my eyes dancing with fire. “Fine then. You don’t have to swim with me, if you don’t want to.” I turned away and dipped my head down into the water to swim off, knowing full well that my bare white bottom flashed above the surface of the lake like a tantalizing bobber. I kicked my feet as I swam away, splashing him in the face.

Ah, ye cannot get away that easy, vixen.

I giggled back at him in my mind and swam with all my might to give him a good chase. He quickly caught up with me though, and his arms coiled around me like a snake. He pulled me up out of the water and I barely got in a breath before he possessed me with his mouth, his tongue demanding and pulling against mine.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and he moaned with pleasure, his hands running up and down my naked back. His kiss broke off sharply and he held me close, breathing hard and watching the water play over my breasts, pressed against his chest.

“
Wait,” he said, and I instantly began to argue until I saw the smile in his eyes. He kissed me once again and then swam away, leaving me quivering and confused. He swam over to the dock and dug something out of his sporran, then returned to me with a triumphant smile, taking me in his arms again. “I wanted to ask you proper and do this right, but you’ve forced my hand and called me out, as it were, so I cannot wait any longer.” His face got serious and he pulled one hand up to stroke my cheek.

“
I’ve wanted to make you my bride since the moment I laid eyes on you in that meadow, but I didn’t know how. I could kiss you and touch you, but I could never lie with you because I’d no way to offer you marriage. I’ve no priest for a ceremony and I couldn’t ask for your father’s blessing. I prayed to God every night and every morn as I sat watching you sleep.” I opened my mouth to protest and he put one finger to my lips.

“
And then, last night on the way back from the city, God answered my prayers and gave me an extraordinary gift when your father outlined the criteria of his blessing over your future husband.” His eyes were full of emotion as they held mine. “I’ve naught much else to offer but I do promise you, Lindsey Waters, before God himself and to your father on earth, that I love you more than my own soul, that I respect you, that I will always be honest and tell you the truth, even if it hurts me to say it. There is naught in this life or the next that I want more than your happiness, and I swear to you that I will stay with you as long as it is in my power, if you will be my bride.”

Tears streamed down my face as I nodded feebly, overcome with emotion. He took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers and holding it against his heart. “Many years ago in Scotland, couples would have to wait as much as a year for a priest to come through the Highlands before they could be rightly married in the eyes of the church. So we had a tradition called handfasting, where a couple could pledge their love for one another and be married in the eyes of God for a year and one day. And at the end of that time, they’d either be officially married by a priest or they’d go their separate ways.”

“
But I don’t want to be married to you for a year and a day. I want to be married to you for the rest of all time. And we may not even have another week.” The flame of hope within me started to dim with worry.

“
I don’t know how much time we’ve got, but I love you this moment and I’ll love you forever. The angel promised that love would redeem me and I don’t know how, but I know that it will. So I will not count the days if you’ll promise me the same, my love.” I nodded, slowly at first and then more emphatically, the tears beginning again.

“
I do. I do! I love you, Aiden MacRae.” I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him, my heart straining in my chest. I felt the warmth of God’s presence flow throughout my limbs and knew that He approved, however much time we had. Aiden held me close as we kissed, then pulled away, grinning.

“
And I love you, Mrs. MacRae.”

The title sounded strange and wonderful to my ears and I could tell he felt the same as he said it. He slid a ring on my finger and I realized it was what he’d taken out of his sporran earlier. An intricate looping design was carved into the gold ring, with a large emerald in the center and two brilliantly clear diamonds on each side. I squealed with joy and he laughed, swinging me around in a circle in the water.

He scooped me up in his arms like he was going to carry me across the threshold and walked slowly toward the beach, his eyes full of emotion and passion. I clung to him with my arms around his neck as the water fell away and he lay me down gently on the sand. He stood before me, dripping wet, and my whole body shivered with desire. I reached my arms up to him, and we made love in the sand, our bodies moving together in rhythm with the waves.

“
Oh, my love,
ma chérie, mo chridhe.
” The words tumbled out of him as we lay there panting, twitching with aftershocks. I was completely spent, physically and emotionally, lying there in the sand with Aiden in my arms, and yet I’d never felt more alive and in love than at that moment. I kissed his forehead and his breathing slowed to a deep, satisfied rhythm, and he rolled onto his side next to me.

“
You are amazing, my bride. I cannot even describe what you do to me.” He propped himself up on one elbow and smiled down at me with half-closed eyes. He ran a sandy finger down the length of my body from my neck to my knees and I returned his dreamy smile.

“
Oh, I think I know.”

He grinned at that, chuckling softly and lay back on the sand. I nuzzled up under his arm with my head on his chest and curled my leg around him, and we lay there talking and touching in the sand until the stars came out.

Goose bumps rose on my flesh in the cool evening air, though Aiden still felt warm to the touch. “Brrr… how do you stay so warm?” I asked.

He rubbed his hands over my back to try and warm my skin. “I can’t say for sure. I’ve just always been that way. I very rarely get cold and when I do, it doesn’t take me long to get warm again. It’s no wonder that you’re chittering though, since you’ve skin as thin as paper, my bride.”

“
Well, it’s going to be freezing,” I said, “but I’ve got to rinse off all this sand.” I jumped up onto the dock, ran to the edge and dove in. Gasping from the shock of the cold water, I emerged to find him smirking at me. When I dared him to follow suit, he shrugged and slowly walked into the lake, eyes locked onto mine, his face never registering the chill of the water. “How do you d-d-do that?” I asked.

“
The lochs in Scotland are colder than this by far and we lads used to jump in when there was snow on the ground,” he said as he pulled me into his arms. The warmth from his body wrapped around me, drawing out the chill and heating my blood. Moonlight reflected on the water and in his eyes as he held me. I ran my hands over him, rinsing off the sand. He dipped his head back into the water and sighed contentedly as I worked my fingers through his hair. He did the same for me, then scooped me up into his arms and started walking back toward the beach.

“
Again? Already?” I said. His chest shook with laughter as I held onto his neck.

“
I had in mind to carry you to the cabin so you wouldn’t get sand on your feet. But aye, I would love to do it again whenever you like.” Heat flashed in my cheeks at having mistaken his gallant gesture.

Once he set me on my feet inside the door, he cast himself back into a dry kilt and linen shirt, though he left his feet bare. I didn’t exactly have a trousseau but remembered that this was, in fact, my bridal night, so I imagined myself in a floor-length white silk nightgown with spaghetti straps. Aiden set to work rebuilding the fire and I sat on the couch, watching him with my feet tucked under me.

“
You know, I’d never seen a man in a kilt before I met you,” I said.

Aiden kept working with his head in the fireplace as he arranged the logs and paper. “Aye?” he responded.

I think it’s really sexy.

He froze for a second, then dropped the wood into place and turned to me, one eyebrow raised. “Aye?” he repeated. I nodded and giggled. His eyes swept over my nightgown and he smiled appreciatively. He lit the fire and then sat next to me on the couch. I put my legs over his and he stroked them under my nightie.

“
You have the softest skin,” he said.

I played with his hair, enjoying the warmth that had begun to emanate from the fire. “Well, I haven’t had to shave at all since I came here, which is nice.”

“
You shave your legs? Like a man shaves his face? With a straight edge?”

I chuckled at his perplexed expression. “Sort of. My armpits, too.”

“
I noticed you’ve no hair in your oxters. But why would you do that?”

“
For the same reason you just said—because it’s soft and smooth. And because guys like it.”

“
Hmph.” He frowned and pulled my nightgown up to my knees, exposing my legs. After running his hands over them, he sighed, his eyes meeting mine in surrender. “You’re right. I do like it.”

I grinned and he leaned forward to kiss me softly. I held his face as we kissed and the firelight glinted off the gems in my wedding ring. “Where did you get this ring? It’s so beautiful,” I said.

“
I’m glad you like it. It belonged to Uncle Alex’s mother, Nanny Fraser. My aunt and uncle didn’t have any children, so he gave the ring to me. My brother Duncan had Graunie MacRae’s ring to give to his bride, but since the Frasers were very wealthy, my ring was worth a great deal more than what Duncan had. I never showed it to him, though. I didn’t want him to punch my face in.”

“
Come on, he wouldn’t really.”

“
Oh, indeed he would. Mam used to call us wild dogs because we were always bloodying each other over something. We had an unspoken rule that we couldn’t use our weapons against each other, but anything else was fair game. Mind you, he was a fair bit older than me but I held my own.” He barked out a laugh then, his face breaking into a huge smile. “In fact, once I even…” His face flushed red and he turned away, waving his hand in dismissal. “Never mind.”