He suspected that she was only a dream and that he had wished her into existence, but it still gave him comfort to know that she was there, whether she was a figment of his imagination or not.
However, when he felt Keira kissing his lips and laughing softly, he realized that he was not having a vivid dream because when he opened his eyes, she was still there. She began to rub herself against him, moving her body harder and faster against his throbbing shaft until he could stand the pleasure no longer and spent onto the ground, calling out her name as he did so.
He was immediately awake, then felt himself blush all over as he realized that any of the men in the camp could have heard him. He supposed they all had the same experience from time to time, but it did not make him feel any better, especially since he had revealed his desire for Keira.
You are such a sad creature, Murdoch,he thought angrily, then turned over and tried to go to sleep again. But it was a futile effort because sleep would not come, no matter how hard he tried. If the night had been fine and moonlit he could have counted the stars, but the weather was cloudy, utterly devoid of light, and sunrise was still hours away.
He sighed and sat up, thinking about the night ahead.
* * *
Keira managed to catch a few hours’ sleep before that night’s raid because she simply could not stay awake. She banished all thoughts from her mind and closed her eyes, falling asleep at once.
Even as Murdoch was dreaming about her, Keira began to dream about him. It was the moment before they kissed again, but this time she did not pull away. This time she had offered him her lips willingly and fearlessly. She had never had a kiss from an experienced man before and her imagination could not do it justice. She wished with all her heart that she had followed through on that first impulse to touch her lips to his, but she could still smell him and feel his hands on her face, and it was enough to set her body on fire.
Keira squirmed uncomfortably in her bed for what seemed like hours before gradually falling into a fitful doze. Then she woke, as she always did, at the moment when her body told her to. She had always had the ability to wake on command, even without the mechanical assistance of a clock.
She was already dressed in her boy clothes since she had donned them before she went to bed, so she only had to tuck her hair into her cap, then she scrambled out of her window. She had become so adept at this, using a rope that she kept underneath her bed, that the fifty-foot drop held no terrors for her. Her horse, Diamond, was ready, waiting patiently outside the castle under a great spruce tree where she was completely out of sight of the guards.
It was the busiest night in their war of attrition against the laird that there had been for a long time, and Keira was nervous in the extreme. At least one of the grain stores had to be raided, and if there was not enough rye and barley, a second would have to be targeted too. Keira would not normally have attempted one raid straight after another, but there was not enough in each barn to go around the tenants.
Damn her father! If he had not been such a miser, if his arrogance and self-conceit had not been so bad, she would never have had to embark on her life of crime.
* * *
A few hours earlier…
Adaira had wanted to go with her that night, but Keira had flatly refused to allow her.
“No.” Her voice was firm. “You are not yet trained for this, Adaira. Your job is to spy on my father and, if possible, distract him, but since he has already drunk himself into a doze, I do not think you will have to do either of those things tonight. But stay alert, please. You know the code word for any messages I may need to send back.”
Adaira nodded, but she looked anxious. “Be careful, Keira,” she had warned. “I know you have done this many times before without being caught, but there is always a first time.”
“It will not be tonight, Addie,” Keira assured her. “Stop worrying. I will be back soon, then we can drink wine and eat cakes to celebrate because in a few months we will all be eating and drinking well. And I forgot to tell you, there is a ship which will be ‘running aground’ at Morton’s Cove soon, and we can sell all the wine on board…well, maybe not all!” She winked. “No one will be going hungry then.”
Adaira had hugged her tightly. “You are the sister I never had, Keira,” she said warmly. “I love you. Take care of yourself, please.”
Her lovely face was tense and anxious, as was Moira’s.
“I will, and I love you too, Sister,” Keira replied. “And you, Moira.” Then she kissed both of them and was gone, leaving Moira and Adaira to stare after her fearfully.
“One of these days she wilnae come back.” Moira’s voice sounded sad, and tears stood in her eyes.
“You cannot say such things,” Adaira said angrily. “She will be back.” However, she sounded more convinced than she felt.