Page 116 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
Virginia sat in Macrath’s library, a room so like him she could almost feel him there with her.
The fireplace on the far wall was surrounded by white marble. In the winter it would burn brightly, warming a room now pleasantly cool.
The large desk stretched nearly the length of the room, a leather chair sitting behind it. Lining the walls were shelves of books, most of them having to do with electricity or inventions of sorts.
She’d brought the book of poetry he’d given her, picked one of the leather wing chairs, and propped her feet on a footstool. For the last hour she’d been half involved with the book, and the other half engaged in thoughts of Macrath.
She’d been his guest, if she could call herself that, for a week now. Each day, he’d been charming and polite. Every night as she retired, she expected a knock on her door.
They should be lovers, he’d say. After all, they’d already been lovers. Why were they trying to deny themselves the pleasure each felt?
Except he’d never come.
In all these nights, he’d not once kissed her or teased her into passion. He’d not seduced her or driven her mad with his touch.
Instead, he’d done things that surprised her.
A rocking chair had recently been brought to the nursery, followed by another delivery the following day. A larger cradle was carried in by two burly men. To her horror, a live hen was tied inside it. She’d been told by Brianag, who seemed to have endless knowledge of such things, that it was unlucky otherwise. Nor could the cradle touch the ground before it was put in its permanent place.
Brianag also cautioned her that she shouldn’t talk to Elliot.
“He’ll learn to talk before he walks,” she warned. “He’ll be a liar for sure.”
Being unfamiliar with Scottish customs, Virginia would have liked to ask Macrath about some of them, but he’d disappeared. He not only avoided coming to her room, but rarely made a visit to the nursery in the last week. At least, he’d not come when she was there.
If she hadn’t been afraid the answer was yes, she might have found the courage to ask him if he was avoiding her. Was it because of Paul? Was he adverse to touching her because of what she’d told him?
Suddenly, like she’d conjured him up from a wish, Macrath was there, standing in the doorway. He entered the room like a gust of fresh wind. As she did every time she saw him after an absence of a few moments or hours, she marveled at her reaction. Her pulse raced and her chest tightened.
“I went looking for you,” he said. “I couldn’t find you, and for a moment I felt almost as panicked as a grandmother.”
She closed the book slowly.
“A panicked grandmother? The only grandmother at Drumvagen is Brianag, and I can’t imagine her in a panic. Ever.”
He grinned. “She likes you, you know,” he said, coming to sit beside her on the companion chair. He reached over and held her hand loosely, the first time they’d touched in days.
“Does she? I like her as well. Once,” she added, “I realized she wasn’t nearly as frightening as she first appeared.”
His laugh brightened the room. “She struck me that way, too. I wondered why she had such high recommendations. All she did was scowl at me, demand to know what I was going to do with Drumvagen, and then dictate terms of her hire.”
“She’s very intimidating, but no more so than you.” She moved her feet over so he could put his foot up on the stool. He nudged her foot playfully, then rested his shoe next to hers.
He raised one eyebrow.
“You’re very forbidding when you wish to be, Macrath Sinclair. You stand just so with your legs braced apart, and when you look at someone, it’s like you’re trying to see all the way inside them.”
He grinned at her. “I had no idea you noted my appearance with such interest, your ladyship.”
She glanced away.
Macrath stood and pulled her to her feet. He walked to the bookcase and pulled on the sconce, pulling the bookcase away from the wall.
“I’ve a yen to see the grotto,” he said, his smile boyish and without shame. “Can I lure you to my lair?”
Holding out his hand, he smiled at her.
The last thing she needed to do was go to the grotto with Macrath. He’d be able to easily seduce her then. She’d might even seduce him first. No, the very idea was foolish.
