the swells to see if they were as soft as he thought they might be.
“I canna help it. Ye’re a passionate woman, Jenny.” God, he hated himself for saying it, for wanting her.
“I have no’ given ye leave to use my given name in public.” The words in any other tone than the one she used could have been a rebuke, but spoken as low as they were, as huskily, they came off entirely different.
“I am willing to take any punishment ye might give.”
Her gaze moved to his lips, staring the way she had the night he’d encountered her in the corridor. There was no mistaking what she was thinking about. Mo chreach, but he wanted her to want him. At the look she was giving him, he felt his blood heat and funnel southward. The air around them thickened, as did the appendage in his trews. This was the one flaw in wearing them versus his kilt. His kilt and sporran might hide his arousal, but the breeches gave no leeway to his thickening shaft. If she were to glance down…
“I should think ye would quite enjoy any punishment I were to mete out, meaning it was no’ a punishment at all.”
He grinned. “’Haps.”
“Perhaps the best punishment would be to leave ye to suffer in your brooding, sir.”
“I suffer many things, Mistress.”
“As I said.”
Toran leaned forward, dragging in a lungful of her intoxicating scent. “Ye’ll kiss me one day.”
“Upon your death, I’ll place a kiss right here.” She reached up and pressed a delicate fingertip to his forehead.
“Will ye be the one to mete it out?”
“Ye’re impossible.” Her lips curled with mirth.
“Ye mean incredible.”
“I think ye’re unique, Toran. Whether ye’re incredible has yet to be determined.”
“In time ye will find just that.”
“I would expect nothing less.”
He leaned against the wall more casually, not wanting her to go. “Tell me your plans.”
She shook her head. “So forward.”
“Come now. If I am to fight for ye, the least ye can do is tell me what I’m fighting for.”
“Ye’re too curious for your own good. Besides, I’ve no’ shared them with everyone else. What makes ye special?”
He leaned a few inches closer. “Does Dirk know?”
“Will ye try to beat them out of him?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps.”
“I canna allow it.”
“Ye’re both verra close.”
She raised both brows at him now, a knowing smile curling her lips. “What are ye getting at, Fraser?”
She only used his surname when she was irritated or taunting him. In this moment, he thought it might be a bit of both.
“He cares for ye a great deal.” He let all the playfulness fall from his face as he studied her, wanted to know if she returned Dirk’s affection.
“We are blood, Toran. Cousins. Like brother and sister. Like ye and Simon and Archie. We fight for the same cause.”
“And that is all?”
She let out a short laugh. “Ye want to know if we’re lovers.” It was a statement rather than a question.
Fine, he’d be honest if it would gain him an honest answer from her. “Aye. I want to know.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, a sign she was closing off to him. “Perhaps that is none of your business.”
“Ye’re right, ’tis no’. But I still want to know.”
“And if he is?” She cocked her head.
“Then I’ll challenge him.”
“For what? A place in my bed?” She stiffened, and he sensed he was losing her.
“No’ if that’s who ye’d prefer.”
Her frown deepened, and he regretted his line of questioning immediately. Jealousy was not attractive on anyone, and it didn’t suit him at all. “I’m sorry, lass. I take it back.”
“Ye canna take back that which is already spoken.”
“I can try.”
“Listen well, Fraser. Dirk is my cousin, my second-in-command, and my dear friend. I love him like a brother. I would kill for him, and he the same for me. I have no lover, and I dinna intend to take one. I am fighting for my country, and I have no time for distractions of any kind, especially no’ from ye.” She whirled around then, giving him her back as she stomped away, her gown swishing in short bursts that seemed to mirror her irritation.
“Those are words ye may wish to take back some day, Mistress, and then ye will see what I mean,” he grumbled under his breath.
He could sense the whip of her anger in the air. He didn’t doubt she was thumbing her nose at him as she moved out of sight.