“Christ, mo chridhe.” He sat on the bed with her in his arms, dipping his face in her hair. Roses and oranges and vanilla. He wished he could stay there forever.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said as she hiccuped softly. She wiped her face. “I’m not like this.”
Alistair smoothed his hand over her hair. “You had a fright. A nice, hot bath will make you feel better. Wait here.”
“Let’s get you out of those clothes,” Alistair said, coming out of the bathroom. “Your bath is ready.”
Alistair helped her out of her nightie and underwear. “Come on, sweetheart.” Alistair stood up with her in his arms and carried her into the bathroom, setting her gently down into the steaming water.
She hissed as the water hit her tense body.
Fuck. “I’m sorry, mo chridhe,” he whispered. “It’ll get better.”
“No, it’s okay. You were right. This is wonderful.” She gingerly leaned back and closed her eyes.
“Do you hurt?” Alistair knelt beside the tub.
“All over,” Sophia said wryly as she rubbed her right hand over her heart.
“Scoot forward. Let me wash your back,” Alistair murmured, while she pined her hair on top of her head.
Let go, Sophia. Gabriel won’t come back. There’s nothing you can do. Sophia bit her bottom lip for a second and then drew her knees up and rested her chin on them. “I must say, you make a wonderful nurse.”
His lips curled up, “I never thought a woman would say that to me.”
“Alistair Connor...” Sophia sighed. “I don’t want this to ruin Alice’s birthday.”
“For Christ’s sake, Sophia!” He reined in his impatience. Fuck, Sophia, be a bit selfish.
“No. I mean it.” She raised her head, but couldn’t turn it from the stiffness in her muscles. “Please? Promise me you aren’t going to stay with me in your bedroom all day.”
“We’ll see,” he muttered. “Lean back. Careful...” He placed a towel on the edge of the tub, making her rest her head on it and grabbed the sponge again. “Now, let me finish this.”
Oh. No. That’s enough. “No way, nurse MacCraig. Out with you.” She shooed him away with an elegant flick of her hand. “I’ll finish this. Give me five minutes. I’ll call if I need you.”
He smiled amazed at her blushing cheeks. “You’re not embarrassed, are you?”
I am. She blushed and threw drops of water on him. “Out. Before I splash you.”
Stubborn woman. He stifled an aggravated grunt and walked to the dressing room, taking off his pajamas and returning to the bathroom.
Sophia’s eyes were closed, her head resting against the towel on the rim of the tub. She seemed so small and fragile to him that his irritation ebbed away. He silently stepped into the tub.
Sophia gasped and opened her eyes as a shallow wave of water washed over her breasts. She gapped at Alistair, “What-”
He sank down into the water and picked her up in his arms, gently swirling her around and settling her between his strong legs, her back against his chest. “If you don’t see me, you won’t be shy. I want to take care of you, sweetheart.”
His chest rose and fell in an even rhythm under her back, while his hands affectionately roamed over her body, cleaning her, washing away her shyness.
With her head on his shoulder, she stated, more than asked, “Nurse MacCraig, do you always have your way?”
Lovingly, he smiled at her and whispered, “Always, Beauty. Always.”
Chapter 19
Sunday, April 4th, 2010.
1.30 p.m.
Above Sophia’s head, on a branch of one of the ancient oaks that graced the backyard of Ells Hall, a bird chirped and flew to the ground. She kept very still on the bench and it came closer eating small crumbs of bread Gabriela and Ariadne were throwing.
Alistair’s arrival scared it and the bird fluttered away.
“My favorite lasses,” he grinned and dropped to his haunches to kiss Gabriela and Ariadne on the cheek and sat next to Sophia, kissing her lips. “Girls, Maria is going to take you riding later. Your mother can’t go today, Gabriela.”
“That’s okay.”
Ariadne jumped down from the bench, “Let’s call Michael to come play.”
Gabriela joined Ariadne, their laughter filling the air as they threw crumbs to the birds on their way back to the manor.
He smiled at the girls’ carefree happiness and turned to Sophia examining her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” she gave him a little smile. “Tavish Uilleam gave me something stronger this morning to help with the pain. I barely feel a thing.”
“Good,” he took her hand and stood up, motioning to the basket he had put on the ground. “Come on. I’ve brought lunch.”
“Lunch?”
“Aye. A picnic. Just the two of us today.”
“Are the kids are going to be all right?”
“Sure, they’ll be fine. Besides, Ariadne knows Ells Hall like the back of her hand and Maria is waiting for them.”
Sophia looked at the girls skipping happily together and at Alistair, “If you’re sure...”
“I am. Come on.”
Alistair took Sophia to his favorite spot. The grass was smooth at this time of the year, and he set everything up under the old oak he liked to climb when he was a kid. A luscious carpet of bluebells was laid out in front of them.
“This is so beautiful. Really amazing,” she said, turning around and gazing at the view. “I have never seen such a... Beautiful is too mundane a word for it. It’s otherworldly. Just... Unbelievable.”
“This is my secret place. I’ve never brought anyone here before,” he said quietly. He knew she would love that spot as much as he did. “You are the first, in thirty-five years.” He stood there looking at her for a long time before lowering his head to kiss her slowly and gently, letting his passion kindle their fire little by little. When he broke the kiss they were panting. He breathed on her hair. “One day, I will make love to you here.”
Naughty man! “You’re always planning weird things,” she smiled and shook her head at him. “In the open?” I will think about it.
He chuckled wickedly as he spread a big blanket on the grass. The sweet smell of the flowers surrounded them.
“Let me help,” she said as they sat on the blanket and he started to take the food out of the basket.
“Nae, I can do it.” The intense happiness he’d been feeling these last months was due to her presence, the way she made him laugh, the way he burned for her. He’d tried to tell himself once that it was just potent lust, that it would fade in time, but now he knew that wasn’t true. Alistair knew he would never have enough of Sophia. He, who had thought love was a dead emotion for him, had discovered that Sophia could awaken it inside him, like a phoenix arising from the ashes of his black soul. What Heather had killed, she had resurrected and made flourish, even when he had tried to smother it.
Her laugh tinkled under the canopy of the woodland trees startling him from his reverie. She stared at the blanket where he was laying out some bread, cheese, foie gras, Pata negra ham and many other things he kept taking out of the basket. “How many people are you going to feed today?”