Chapter 20
"Lex, get out! Out, out, out," Sandra shouted in frustration. She had worked so hard to keep her new gown a secret from Lex all week and in an instant he had ruined everything. She shoved him the rest of the way out of the women's quarters with a slam of the door, not hearing a word of his defense.
The clear morning sky, free of any snow clouds, had been her omen that today was going to be a perfect day to announce their acceptance of each other instead of the dissolution of their hand-fast as once planned. Now that the weather was clear, Lex was taking her home, and he had said he had a surprise for her later. She had risen early to prepare her surprise for him. Her butter-yellow gown was already on, but her hair still hung in loose curls around her face and down her back, not up in the fashionable London style she had been planning.
"How could you spoil my surprise?" she said against the closed door in a voice that betrayed her anger to him. Her left hand balled into a fist and gave the wooden barrier between them a swift pound.
"Maybe it was you who ruined my surprise," he answered back. His voice penetrated the rough fibers between them with ease, telling her he was pressed up against the other side.
Sandra heard the playful challenge in his voice and could not restrain the smile that came to her lips. Too often over the past days she had heard that tone, and it was always accompanied by that mischievous grin of his that promised pleasure for her. As mad as she was that her surprise had not worked out as she planned, she could not resist Lex's temptations.
"I will fall for none of your tricks, Lex MacLachlan," she said through the still closed door but with an obvious change of tone, one that more closely matched the playful mood that always descended on her whenever he was near. "If I have ruined your surprise then we are even," she said. "And what kind of gentleman comes calling so early upon the women's quarters with his surprise?"
"One whose surprise is contingent upon the lady not being dressed yet." Sandra could just imagine the dark, seductive glimmer in his eyes that matched his sultry words.
"Lex!" she exclaimed in feigned shock at his boldness. But there was nothing that would truly shock her delicate senses any longer, not after the endless nights they had spent in each other’s arms sharing everything of themselves in every delicious way possible.
"I promise, you will enjoy your treat as much as I did mine."
"You are the devil," she jested as she swung the door wide open, nearly causing him to fall into the room.
He gave her a remorseful look of a guilty child begging forgiveness while knowing it was already his. In a change as sudden as a Highland storm moving in, his eyes became dark with a familiar passion and raked over her as if she were wearing nothing at all. Even though his lips had kissed her on every part of her body, a warm flush crept up her neck to burn her cheeks. "Your surprise is even more satisfying now that I have my leisure to enjoy it thoroughly."
She did not think he could fluster her any longer, but his desire was raw and open across his features and she had to look away from his penetrating stare. "My hair is not even finished," she nervously said with a swish of her blonde locks over her shoulder.
"It is perfect." One of his large hands reached out and wove its way through the thick curls until he was cupping her head possessively in the palm of his hand. "This is how I like it, wrapped around my fingers and free to fall over my face when you lay with me." Strong lips met hers in the front as his hand gently pushed her head from behind. She was no longer thinking of her gown or her hair or any part of herself. His desire was overwhelming her at every point where their bodies touched, and that was everywhere down her front where his body was pressed up hard against her.
She let her head fall back to rest completely in his hand as he traveled over the open expanse of her neck with a torturous slowness of his lips.
"I thought you needed me undressed before you gave me my surprise," she purred huskily into his ear. Her eyes were closed and her body was already prepared for the delightful treat she had come to anticipate with the fall of every night and the rise of every morning since the winter snows had trapped them in.
He pulled back from her but held her close until she was forced to open her eyes. "I am glad to see you are as eager as I am." He placed one more soft kiss on her lips, then released her completely. "But you will have to be satisfied with this much smaller treat." From behind his back he brought around his other hand. In it was a lovely white handkerchief delicately embroidered with blue flowers and wrapped around a small round object. The four corners of the lovely fabric were loosely tied together to conceal its contents completely.
"What is it?" she asked shyly as her hand reached out and lifted the pretty gift from his palm. She had not really expected any kind of gift from him when she opened the door. She thought his offer was merely a ploy to get into her chamber.
"Open it and you will see how you have ruined my surprise."
Taking one corner between her finger and thumb she tugged lightly until it came free. With ease the remaining sides of the handkerchief fell open in her hand to reveal three of the tiniest soaps she had ever seen. The scent of pine drifted up to her nose as she picked up one of the precious little heart-shaped gems. "They are beautiful," she said as she inspected one closely. It had been whittled from the same fine soap cake that Lex used in his baths, with the added beauty of a tiny blue flower pressed into the top and the bottom of the perfect shaped heart. Someone had meticulously carved them down to their miniature size, and judging from the fingerprint embedded over the flower, she knew exactly whose large hands had sculpted these.
Tears were again filling her eyes but this time it was from a deep happiness welling up inside her. "Where did you find your clan flower this late in the winter?" She wanted him to know she had not missed the importance of the flower he used and had joined to the pine-scented soap.
"One rainy night long ago when I first arrived, a wee waif of a girl scattered them across my room when she let herself into my chamber…and my bath."
"You kept them all this time?" Her heart ached in her chest from the touching thought. Everything about his gift was a loving gesture of their time together.
"That fairy so intrigued me with her magical spell that I had to hold on to something that was real to prove she had ever been with me at all." Again a shadow of desire fell over his face and his eyes lazily roamed over what he had most certainly claimed as his.
"I will not let your surprise be wasted," she said in a seductive tone of her own. With her free hand she slipped one shoulder of her yellow gown down to the crook of her elbow. Another quick push brought the other side down to match and left the already low bodice clinging only to the tips of her breasts for support. A few twists of her body and the velvet strips would merely fall away and reveal what his eyes and mouth were openly longing for.
He swallowed hard but his mouth opened again. "What tricks are you about, MacEwen? You have everything you want from me already." His eyes never left the smooth ravine of skin that plunged between her breasts.
"There are some things you have...a woman...can never get enough of in a lifetime." Each pause in her words was accompanied by a sensual arch of her body, almost as if she were crawling out of her gown. The thick cord trim that she had so painstakingly stitched to the neckline of the bodice was still caught just over the top of her nipples and held the gown in place. She took a deep breath and expanded her chest until her breasts were on the edge of bursting forth from their confines. From the darkening of his eyes and the flick of his tongue to moisten his lips, Sandra could tell he knew what was going to happen when she let out her breath.
Yes, she had everything she wanted right in the palm of her hand, and that included more than just the tiny heart-shaped soaps. She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled the deep breath that held Lex mesmerized. The deep blue trim brushed over her sensitive peaks as the buttery fabric fell away and pooled around her waist.
Her senses twitched with anticipation as the cooler air of the room touched her exposed skin, skin that was nearly on fire waiting for his wet mouth to dowse her burning.
Just as she felt his hot breath almost upon her skin, the loud blow of a horn shattered her state of desire. Her eyes flew open and she saw that Lex was no longer looking at her offered bounty but over at the window where the sound came from. The black scowl furrowing his brow did not bid well for whoever had interrupted their bath time.
Lex took three long strides and was across the small room with his face leaned close to the window. "Damn!" His oath frosted the cold glass with his heated breath. "He was not supposed to return here," he said more to himself than to her as he headed for the door, not even giving her half-clothed body another glance. "Stay here. I will be back." His harsh tone made his words sound very much like an order. His eyes never met with hers again before he slammed the door.
A multitude of emotions burst forth all at once. She was angry, unfulfilled, and even a little hurt. One at a time she tugged the sleeves of her gown back on with none of the grace she had just removed them with. How could he just leave her like that? And for whom?
She marched over to the window to see who indeed could pull his attention away from her so easily. Her jaw dropped open and a small gasp escaped her throat. The tiny soaps rolled from her shaking hand and hit the wooden floor like rocks.
Lex was already outside standing in the snow greeting his guests with a smile. From the hardy handshake she saw them exchange it was clear the visitors were welcome.
Like waking from a dream to find only the dark empty night had replaced something wonderful, Sandra turned from the sight of the English banners waving above the soldiers' heads. She closed her eyes tightly and tried desperately to find reason in what was happening.
"That devil is back and it looks like our Lex is inviting him in from the cold," came Iain's lecturing voice from right next to her. He was peering out the window just as she had a moment before, but his breath left no fog on the glass, reminding her of what he actually was.
"It has been many years since you were involved in the politics of this land. Maybe things have changed that require Lex to negotiate with the English King." Sandra heard the desperate sound of her defense and knew instantly she was lying to herself. "Oh, what is happening, Iain? Why has he invited them back, and why today of all days? I thought he was going to stay. I thought everything had changed." She twisted the delicate white handkerchief from Lex's gift in her hands until it resembled a rough rope. Then a sickening thought came over her. He had promised her a surprise she would never forget today. She trembled inside and shook the negative thought from her mind. It could not be. He would not do this to her.
"I could be getting you your answers if answers are what you truly want." Iain had a look on his handsome face that said they both knew what the answers were already, but she would not...could not settle for them.
Derrdra appeared and looped her arm through Iain's, clearly showing her support for what she believed to be the truth now too.
"I will listen to their conversation for myself," Sandra said with a brave tilt of her quivering chin. She headed for the door but was cut off by Iain.
"You will still need me, unless you have recently learned to speak the English tongue."
Sandra studied his face. There was no laughter or reveling on it at all. He almost seemed sad that he might be right about Lex. She knew neither Iain nor Derrdra would be affected by what happened in this life any longer. Their concern for the issue was purely out of care for her now.
"Very well," she said as she cracked the door open slightly and squeezed out. "But do not be adding anything more than what is actually said between them...and do not leave anything out to save my feelings either."
"You have my word as a Highlander," Iain pledged, bringing his hand over his clan buckle with pride.
She brought her own hand over the matching clan buckle Lex had given her that she wore at her waist as part of her surprise. With a deep breath to steady her shaking limbs, she nodded to Iain to lead the way. Silently, she followed him to the banister of the staircase and situated herself tightly against the wall. She heard voices but could not understand their words. The harsh English dialogue seemed so out of place coming from Lex's mouth, as did the laugh he shared with the man he called Worthington.
"They are just exchanging pleasantries," Iain said. Sandra desperately wanted to get a better look, but she dared not move any farther from the wall and chance Lex seeing her eavesdropping.
In her limited view she could see both men standing before the hearth, not making themselves comfortable as if Worthington were going to stay for any length of time, thank goodness. Please let it be so, she silently prayed. Let him be an unwelcome guest who would be gone from their lives as fast as he had shown up.
Suddenly the smiles were gone from both men's faces and Lex's whole body became rigid. His arms came up and crossed over his chest, while Worthington seemed to take on a slightly more relaxed stance, even going so far as to hold his hands out to the fire for comfort.
"That one is evil indeed," Iain hissed back to her.
"What did he say?" she asked nervously and cringed as she waited for his answer that she knew she did not want to hear.
"He wants to know when the king of England gets to have a Highland chief in his tower as a guest. Says he has already paid for the right in gold."
Sandra fell back against the wall and slid to the floor in a puddle of yellow wool and velvet. Inside she felt as cold as the stones pressed against her back even though her heart was racing faster than ever. She had believed Lex when he said that was all in his past. She had believed every word he had whispered in her ears in the dark of the night. Now she wondered if they ever held any truth, or was she just another stone to be stepped on as he crossed the Highlands in search of chiefs for his new king?
"No...no...no." Iain's voice sounded as frustrated as her battling emotions.
"What?" Sandra barely got out of her aching throat that was tightening with every “no” he spoke.
"Not the sword."
She did not wait for further interpretation once she heard that. She was again at the very edge of the rail straining to see what was going on below.
She watched in a daze as one would watch the flames of a fire, standing closer than she knew she should if she did not want to be burned. Without a moment’s hesitation after what seemed like an order from Worthington, Lex reached up above the hearth and took down the MacEwen claymore from where he had placed it after their first night of being snowed in. For a mere instant she thought she saw him pause over the MacLachlan sword, a sword that was his to give, but he passed it over and grabbed her clan's with a grip that she felt tight around her heart, one that was squeezing the very life out of all her dreams of happiness with him.
It looked so wrong as he laid it in the hands of an English soldier. Worthington's finely gloved fingers fondled the blade as if it were his most valued possession. Everything the sword stood for flashed before Sandra's eyes as she watched Worthington stroke it with pleasure. Her father was in that man's hands and so was the future of her clan. She wanted to run down the stairs and rip it from his hold, then slash both of the traitors with its MacEwen edge. But she knew she would not.
Tears dropped from her eyes instead. She could never turn that blade on Lex, not even after what he had just done to her and her family. Her own guilt reared up to block out what she did not want to blame on Lex alone. If she had listened to Iain's reason instead of her silly heart, this would have never come so far. Her clan could have run him out before his plans were set. Maybe she could have even changed his mind if she had admitted the truth to herself.
She let her head fall into her hands as she contemplated what she knew she had to do, but what her heart was still fighting with every beautiful memory it could dredge up.
"I am sorry, lassie. Really I am. He has handed over the charter to yurr lands as well, and all but sworn on his honor that he will deliver a chief to that tower before they meet again. I believe he means to use this very special day, and you as well, to gain his prize," Iain said with a comforting touch to her shoulder.
The memories were blown clean away with the frosty bite of betrayal. Giving her nose a final sniff, she raised her head. "You are not the MacLachlan who needs to be sorry, Iain...or who is going to be when my clan finishes this new feud he has begun."