Page 30 of The Highlander's Virgin Nun
Step after step, Rosaline felt the water rise to her body, and soon it wrapped around her legs and back. She tensed immediately, ready for a blow to land, for her muscles to cripple under the weight of some immense pressure. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.
But the hit never came. The water was cold, but it did not sting her skin like the ice baths. Her body was not shoved up against cold, jagged metal like at the convent, but cradled by a strong, careful man. Her head was not forced under but held consistently above the lapping water. If she focused on what she was feeling in the moment, rather than the memories of what she had felt in the past, it was all perfectly bearable.
Rosaline slowly opened her eyes. Caelan was gazing down at her with a warm smile.
“There ye go,” he said softly. “Ye’re doin’ it.”
Rosaline smiled, and her body relaxed a little. She let her head fall back and felt the water move through her hair. The consistency of it, the trickling sound, was actually quite peaceful when she surrendered to it. She felt the fear drain out of her muscles, bit by bit, washing away with the current. It had worked.
“All right, let’s get ye dry,” Caelan announced, seeing her fears diminish and the haunting memories float away.
He slowly turned them, and Rosaline felt the water sweep her skirt behind her and then gradually catch up. As the waterline slid down her body, she felt the warmth of the summer night’s air envelop her. The water dripped from her skin, hair, and clothes as they made their way back to the grassy bank.
Caelan put her down gently. He walked behind her, gathered her hair, and squeezed the excess water out of it. His touch on her bare neck, lightened already by the water, was sensational. He picked up a large fur and wrapped it around her body, squeezing her arms, waist, and legs to wring the water out of her dress, before coming round to face her once more.
“Warm enough?”
“Aye, quite.”
He wrapped himself in the other fur and guided her back to their cave.
“How was that?” Caelan asked softly as they sat down again beside one another on the log.
“I think it worked.”
“Aye?”
“Aye. I felt it—the fear floated out of me. I relaxed.”
Caelan smiled and placed a hand on her arm. “I saw that.” He took a deep breath before speaking again. “Before we put it all behind us, I need to ask ye one more thing.”
Rosaline looked into his eyes, confused. She had no idea what he would want to ask her, but she was going to answer honestly anyway. This man had just helped her overcome her biggest fear. She realized now that he really was going to protect her.
She was safe.
“Go ahead,” she said.
“I need their names.”
Rosaline furrowed her brow. “What?”
“The names of the nuns. The ones who hurt ye.”
“Why?” Rosaline’s voice came out slow and broken.
“Such cruelty cannae go unpunished. I dinnae ken why they were so harsh with ye, and they may come back for ye at some point. I intend to stop them before they can even think about it.”
Rosaline had hardly considered the possibility. She had always been of the mind that the nuns were cruel to her just because she was a burden to them. Her brother paid them to care for her, but they wanted the money for themselves. They did not want to support her, an unclean woman. They had to be so pious all day; they just needed someone to be vicious towards. She had never contemplated that they might want her for some other reason.
“I dinnae think they will come after me. They hated me,” she muttered quietly, feeling the doubt creep in as she considered it further.
“Then why were they chasin’ ye?”
She had known the question was coming.
Because they hate me so much that they couldnae handle the idea of me bein’ free.
But that didn’t add up either. They would be glad to be rid of her. They could continue to collect the payments from her brother if she never made it back home.
