Page 24 of Scot of Deception
“Dinnae laugh!” Kathleen shouted, her voice ringing loud and clear over the rushing stream. She slammed her hands onto the water, splashing it all around her as she glared at Blaine, and despite his best efforts all he could do was laugh even harder.
For a moment, he watched her struggle to stand, her soaked clothes limiting her movements. It was only a matter ofseconds before he took pity on her and rushed to her aid, planting his feet firmly on the slippery mud by the bank and offering his hand to her.
Kathleen took it, her fingers firmly grasping his palm. But just as Blaine was about to pull her out, her other hand joined the effort and before Blaine knew it, he was falling into the waters.
There was an instant in which Blaine had the delusional hope he could stay upright. Even as his feet slid on the mud, his boots getting dragged right through it, he thought himself too strong compared to Kathleen. Surely, a girl her size couldn’t muster the strength to pull him in the creek! All he had to do was use all those muscles he had spent his entire life honing.
And yet Kathleen was not like the noble girls who spent their days in the drawing room of their castle, painting and embroidering for fun. He should have known better; she was not only a skilled rider, but she had also told him she did anything her cousins did—and that had made her deceptively strong.
Blaine cursed the muddy ground as he found himself flying through the air. His other arm flailed wildly as he tried to keep his balance only for him to finally give up and accept his fate. The first splash of water on his skin was almost refreshing, but soon the pins and needles from the chill settled intohim and he quickly stood on his knees in the creek in a vain attempt to warm himself. Even if his torso and arms were out of the water, though, his clothes were still soaked in it and clung to his body, chilling him to the bone.
Silence stretched between them as they stared at each other in shock. Then, Kathleen burst out into laughter as well, the sound sweet and melodic in Blaine’s ears.
There, in the cold, shallow creek, he realized—not for the first time ever since he had first met Kathleen—that he was in too deep. He had known her for a short time, but even that short time had been enough to make him desire her with a force that scared him.
It would be so easy to kiss her. All he had to do was lean a little closer, touch her waist and pull her to him. He found himself moving before he even knew it, treading water to reach her, and at the same time, she approached him, her eyes falling shut as if she was preparing for a kiss.
High above, a bird cawed, its call breaking the silence of the woods—a vulture seeking prey. Blaine pulled back suddenly, clarity returning to him with the force of a rushing wave, his heart leaping to his throat at the thought of what he had almost done.
How could I ever allow this? It’salready gone too far.
Judging by the deep red of Kathleen’s cheeks and the way she looked at him, with wide, almost terrified eyes, she was thinking the same thing. Blaine could hardly blame her for it; she was young and, more likely than not, naive. Girls like her didn’t know the ways between men and women. The most she could have done in her short life was share a kiss with a boy, tucked somewhere in a dark corner, away from prying eyes. Even if, for a single moment, she had thought sharing a kiss with him was a good idea, it wasn’t long before she had come to her senses.
It was better this way. It was better knowing that Kathleen wanted nothing of the sort with him. A rejection would do him plenty of good, even if it would sting.
Pushing himself up to his full height, Blaine waded through the water until he reached the bank and pulled himself out of the creek. Then he offered Kathleen his hand once more and this time, she let him help her out of the water.
Neither of them spoke. It was nothing strange for Blaine, but he was used to hearing Kathleen’s voice—if not talking about anything that came to her mind or asking questions, then humming softly to herself just to fill the silence. Now, more than ever, he wished that he could hear that voice just to reassure himself that his actions hadn’t spooked her too much.
In the end, it was he who broke the silence.
“We should let our clothes dry,” he said.
Kathleen nodded and the two of them walked over to the horse, dripping water on their way. Blaine rummaged through the bags and found himself a change of clothes and Kathleen did the same. He then stepped back to removed his soaked garments.
But when he caught Kathleen’s gaze just as he was about to remove his shirt, he thought better of it.
He was so used to traveling alone and when he didn’t, he was around other men. But this was neither a man nor a commoner, and it occurred to him that he should probably not change in front of her.
Clearing his throat, Blaine turned around and walked a little farther away. Even with the distance, even with his back turned to Kathleen, he could have sworn that he felt her gaze on him and the tension that hung heavy in the air between them. It was as though her look was a physical sensation on his skin, like a touch, a caress.
Shaking his head to clear it of such foolish thoughts, he began to undress quickly, shedding his soaked clothes and replacing them with the dry ones without bothering to dry off his body. That would simply take too long, and he was unwilling to spend more time than he had to even half-nude in front of Kathleen.
He pulled on a pair of trews, then his tunic, and then turned around as he thought himself sufficiently dressed. What he failed to account for, though, was the fact that Kathleen’s clothes were much more complicated than his own, and she hadn’t had the time to dress.
In fact, she hadn’t even completely undressed. Right as Blaine turned around, she was removing her shift, letting it pool on the ground around her feet. And Blaine, despite his best intentions, was frozen in place as the expanse of her body was revealed—her pale skin, the dip of her waist, the curve of her buttocks as she leaned down to pick up her dry shift.
Blaine whipped his head around so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. His heart raced in his chest, beating like a drum of war and threatening to leap right out of his mouth. He had seen plenty of women nude before, so it wasn’t so much the sight itself which had excited him—though there was no denying Kathleen was beautiful and under different circumstances, he would have enjoyed few things more than staring at her all day. Rather, it was the allure of the forbidden fruit; the knowledge that no matter how much he desired her, he could never have her.
It was also the fear that if she turned around and caught him staring, she would rightfully be disgusted by his behavior. It was the last thing he wanted, bringing her discomfort. And so instead, he stared at the tree right in front of him, counting the knots on its trunk until Kathleen called his name.
Look away. Look away.
Again and again, Kathleen tried to force herself to avert her gaze and yet she seemed to have lost the basic and important function of controlling her own body. Her gaze kept straying back to Blaine, trying to catch a glimpse of his body—the rippling muscles as he moved, the taper of his waist above his trews, those strong thighs she so desperately wanted to feel underneath her as she’d sit in his lap. It was maddening, having him so close and knowing that she could never have him the way she craved.
It took all her willpower for Kathleen to turn around and shed her own clothes as quickly as she could, busying herself with the task so that she wouldn’t end up doing anything terribly foolish. She focused on each part, straightening her shift and tying all the laces carefully, making sure to fasten them securely around her body. It was harder without a maid helping her, but the repetitive motions gave her something with which she could occupy both her mind and her hands, and by the time she was done dressing, she had regained some of her composure.
When she glanced at Blaine over her shoulder, he had his back turned to her and was staring straight ahead. He held himself stiffly, straight-backed and with his hands clasped behind him, reminding Kathleen of a soldier awaiting orders.
