touch her in other places. What would happen if they were back up in that darkened corridor with no one around? This time if he’d challenged her to kiss him, would she?
“I could shake your hand, my Mistress J, but I would not be a gentleman if I didna kiss the hand of a lady.” And then he was bending forward, his lips pressing to her scraped knuckles, warmth fanning deliciously over her skin.
Jenny’s mouth went dry, and she forced a tight smile on her lips when all she wanted to do was gasp. To tug him closer and finish what they’d almost started so many times—a kiss.
She yanked her hand away, forcing herself to remember her vow. The prince was coming soon to Scotland; she could not waver now. She had to prepare for battle, prepare to take a knee before her rightful king. However much Toran caused her to forget, she couldn’t allow him to distract her from that.
“Good fight, sir,” she said. “I am impressed.”
“As am I. ’Twas an honor to be chosen.”
“Let us not forget that ye stepped in.”
He winked. “And a pleasure it was to have done so.”
From the corner of her eye, she watched Dirk huff. Though they weren’t at each other’s throats at the moment, it was clear the men still did not see eye to eye.
“Continue on, lads,” she said, tearing her eyes from Toran and forcing herself to concentrate on the men’s training. “Ye too, Fraser.”
Toran grinned as he backed away from her and called his brother over to parry.
Jenny took up a stance along the perimeter, watching the men fight, her heart still pounding. Though she was no longer exercising, she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Her hand still burned where he’d kissed her, and all she could think about was his large palms sliding over her skin, his warm lips pressing to hers.
This was ridiculous.
Perhaps she should just bed the man and be done with it. Like a sweet, the more she pined for a treat and denied herself, the more she wanted it. Was desiring a man the same way? Could she get over the craving once she’d had him?
Jenny’s gaze followed him on the field, watching the way he talked to his brother, all seriousness and calm. He was a good teacher. And damned fine-looking. His buckskin breeches hugged his arse in a way that made her itch to grip him, to squeeze and rub. Blazes, she was going to hell for thinking such things. Where had that thought even come from? She’d never touched a man’s arse. Never even thought about it. But Toran’s…
Dirk sidled up beside her, drinking deeply from a waterskin. “Did ye know he killed a couple of redcoats the day he deserted us?”
Jenny stared at her cousin in shock, all thoughts of arse rubbing gone. “Nay.”
Dirk grunted, took another long sip. “’Tis probably safe to say he’s one of us. If he wasna before, he is now.”
Eleven
Toran didn’t join the others in the great hall for the evening meal. In fact, he didn’t join them for the next three nights running. Instead, he volunteered for guard duty on the wall, and during the day he kept himself busy both with training and hunting Sassenachs with Dirk. He barely slept, and even the few times he tried, it was all for naught.
He told himself that he was keeping busy to gain the favor and trust of the men. But in truth, he was avoiding Jenny. She was also the reason behind his lack of sleep. Every moment that passed, he questioned more and more whether she could have truly been involved in his mother’s death. She was obviously able to defend herself, but cold-blooded murder now seemed beyond her. Even condoning it. She was so protective of everyone within her clan and each of her rebels. Until he found out the truth, it was probably best he didn’t keep enjoying her company. The more distance he put between them, the better.
The problem was he genuinely liked her. It went way beyond the desire to press her hot body to his and toss them both down onto the nearest surface where he could give her screaming pleasure. Nay, he liked her passion, her determination, her strength, her humor. The lass had already surprised him in so many ways, and, damn it, but he admired her too.
It was no wonder the men fancied themselves half in love with her. Hell, if he spent any