Highlander Most Wanted Page 0,56
problem, because I came here myself to wash.”
“Turn your back then, please, so that I may leave the water and dress, and then I’ll leave you to your privacy.”
He did as she bade him and presented his back. He could hear the splash of water, and he imagined her naked, water glistening on her skin. His body hardened as desire lanced through him like quick fire. It caught him completely by surprise.
He willed himself to regain control, but his body clearly had other ideas. His mind was filled with images fired by his imagination. And he had a rather vivid imagination where Genevieve was concerned.
Still, it made no sense that he had such a strong reaction to her. She bore the mark of another man—a man who’d made her his whore. There was much for her to answer to in regard to his clan, and yet he found himself making excuses for her. His mind sought a reasonable explanation for her actions, when there was nothing reasonable about her placing Eveline in such grievous danger.
Aye, she was all wrong for him, and yet he was drawn to her like a moth to flame.
“You can look now,” she said, annoyance still evident in her tone.
He swiveled around to see her perched on one of the boulders overlooking the water. She had a drying blanket wrapped fully around her, and he wondered if she’d bothered to dress or if she was unclothed underneath.
Her hair lay bedraggled over her shoulders, still wet from the washing and as yet uncombed. She looked like a nymph from the sea. A scarred nymph, with secrets swirling in her eyes.
Bowen moved toward the water’s edge, pulling his tunic over his head as he went. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Genevieve hastily look away. He’d planned to bathe in his leggings, but if she was going to afford him privacy, he’d fully strip and enjoy a good scrubbing.
When she started to move, the protest was out of his mouth before he could call it back.
“Nay,” he said. “Don’t go.”
She glanced back with a startled expression, which quickly became wary as she studied him.
“I would leave you to bathe, Laird. ’Tis not seemly for me to be present.”
“Aye, ’tis the truth—’tis probably not. But I would talk with you here, away from all the others.”
His hands paused before pushing down his leggings, and he looked in her direction. “Look away lest you be offended by my nudity.”
She nearly fell off the boulder, so hastily did she yank herself around. And yet, while he watched her as he removed the last of his clothing, she turned slightly to regard him over her shoulder.
He smiled, taking in the furtive glance. She looked shy, and he found it oddly endearing. Surely he would burn in hell for being so bold, all but inviting the lass to look at him. A better man would have walked away the moment he saw her bathing. But he wasn’t a better man, because he wanted nothing more than to spend a few moments with Genevieve, away from the prying eyes of others. Away from the judgment that awaited, and away from his duty not only to this new clan but to his own. Always his own.
He owed absolute loyalty to Graeme as laird of the Montgomery clan. He was Graeme’s representative, and he couldn’t fail to seek justice for wrongs done to his clan.
But who had ever stood up for Genevieve? Who had sought vengeance for all the wrongs done to her?
He couldn’t understand why the lass didn’t want her family to know she was alive, but then he could hardly understand the depths of all she’d endured. He understood pride. He understood it all too well. Every time he looked at her, he was struck by the unflagging and almost stoic pride with which she carried herself. Like it was all that she had left and she refused to be stripped of it.
As much as he thought she should send word to her family, how could he take away that choice when, for the past year, all her choices had been taken away?
The water was bracing, and he flinched as he waded in and it crept up to his more sensitive regions. There was nothing like cold water to chill one’s ardor. He shivered, and then plunged downward in order to have done with it.
As he hunkered down, he called to Genevieve. “You can look now, lass.”
She turned carefully, seeking him