Minna stood up and paced around the cabin, her fists clenched. “He tried to kill me! What do you think? My brother is a drunk who does not care about anyone but himself,” she replied. “He is evil and I despise him.” Then she turned to look at him again. “Do you still want revenge? Would you like to have your land back?”
Gowan looked up and was mesmerized for a moment by the bright blue eyes that were staring back at him questioningly.
“Of course,” he replied, sighing. “I hate the way it is being run - or not run. But I am only one man. I admire you for standing up to James Darroch. Perhaps if I had been so brave I would be the master of my own estate.”
“You were barely even an adult,” Minna pointed out. “What could you have done?” She shrugged, then yawned.
“It is time you slept,” he told her. He pulled over a thin pallet from the corner. It was made from dried fir leaves over which a thin blanket had been stretched, and looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Minna was also uncomfortable. She was trapped in a small enclosure with a very big man whom she had only just met. He could do anything he wanted with her and she would be powerless to stop him, but somehow, perhaps naively, she felt that she could trust him.
Having arranged another blanket on the mat, he turned to her and saw her fearful expression. “You are in no danger from me, Minna. I have never, and will never harm a woman. I remember too well what happened to my mother. Goodnight.”
He lay down on the floor and closed his eyes, and a moment later, Minna did the same.
15
Halfway through the night, Gowan was awakened by the sound of the wind howling through the trees and the crash of thunder and the patter of raindrops on the thatch above him. He hated nights like this. As a boy they had always given him nightmares, but now they merely made him wake up with a start. Even so, he became uncomfortably aware of how flimsy his hut was, and how easily it could be damaged.
Presently, however, he heard another sound - the noise of a woman crying out in her sleep, and he looked over to see Minna thrashing around on her thin pallet. He sat up and moved over to her, intending to wake her up, but as he reached out to her she curled into the shelter of his body, and with a soft sigh, she fell asleep again.
For a moment, Gowan was uncertain what to do. Her head was awkwardly trapped between his head and neck, and he was afraid to move in case she thought that he was creeping in beside her to take advantage of her.
Eventually he managed to shift sideways until her head was pillowed on her chest. He tried to lie still, but he could not help himself from wrapping his arms around her. They were completely entwined, pressed against each other from head to foot. At once he was assailed by a rush of feelings. There was the very obvious reaction of a man to a woman’s body, which he felt as a sudden stiffening of his shaft, but that was not all. However, there was something else.
A sudden wave of tenderness washed over him; she felt sorightin his arms. Her body was so soft, so pliant and so warm. Every part of her fitted snugly into every part of him, and it was glorious. It had been so long since he had held a woman in his arms that the sensation almost overwhelmed him. He looked at her full, tempting lips, so close to his that he had to use all his willpower to resist the impulse to kiss her. Her lashes were long and dark, and he could see by the flickering light of the one candle in the small room that she was dreaming. It must have been a vivid one, since he could see the swift movements of her eyes from side to side under her eyelids. He wished he could see what she was seeing.
She smiled and gave a soft chuckle, and this made Gowan want to laugh too, although he stifled the urge in case she should wake. She turned and snuggled further into his embrace, giving a little sigh of satisfaction, then draped her leg over him. It was a long time before he surrendered to sleep, but it was the deepest, most undisturbed sleep he had had for a long time. Holding a warm woman in his arms, even on an earthen floor, was much, much better than sleeping alone.
* * *
Minna was dreaming. She was wrapped in something soft and warm, but at the same time she knew that it was strong, and she felt safe and protected. She opened her eyes, and for a moment, nothing made sense. Her cheek was resting against something that felt like wool, but was hard underneath. It was rising and falling in a steady rhythm, and she could hear the steady thud of - a heartbeat?
She leaned on her elbow and looked around to get her bearings, and that was when she found out that she was pillowed on the chest of Gowan Hepburn, and it was his heartbeat she could hear. Minna felt a flash of indignation; he had said he would not take advantage of her, after all! Then she realized that she was untouched, her clothes were not disturbed, and she was in a very comfortable place indeed. Gowan’s chest was solid, firm and muscular, yet it made an excellent pillow.
She studied him closely, noting his high, sloping cheekbones and square jaw, which was already sporting the first golden bristles of a new day’s growth of beard. She wondered why he had not grown one. Since no-one ever saw him, what difference did it make if he was clean-shaven or not, and what did he use to shave with?
Her gaze drifted to his slightly aquiline nose and the golden eyelashes that rested on his cheeks. His brows were arched like the wings of a bird, and she knew that when he opened his eyes she would be staring into eyes the color of chocolate.
She wondered for the hundredth time how such a fair man could have such dark eyes. Then inevitably, she came to his lips, the sight of which made her feel strangely hot and moist in her secret place. He was simply beautiful, and his scar enhanced his beauty in a strange way, contrasting with the perfection of the rest of him. She was about to lay her head on Gowan’s chest again when he opened his eyes and stared straight into hers.
At first he looked confused, then he remembered the events of the night before and gave her a tentative smile. “Did you hear the storm?” he asked.
“I thought I had dreamed it,” Minna answered, surprised.
“You seemed to be in distress, but I did not embrace you,” he told her. “You came to me all by yourself, but you calmed down when I held you. Rest assured I have done nothing inappropriate.”
“I believe you,” Minna smiled at him, but could not tear her gaze away from his dark eyes.
Suddenly, his full lips were on hers. At first, she was too surprised to move, then she realized what was happening, and after a moment of hesitation, she gave herself up to them wholeheartedly. She had never felt anything like the soft but firm pressure of the lips that caressed hers with such assurance.
When Gowan pushed his tongue gently into her mouth to taste her, then rolled over so that she was half pinned underneath him, Minna clung to him desperately. She had never been kissed properly by a man before, and it was quite the most glorious thing she had ever felt.
She began to imitate him, stroking his tongue with hers, and heard him grunt with satisfaction. He started to rub his hips against her and she felt something hard pressing against the part of her that was moist and throbbing.
Presently he lifted his head and looked down at her, studying her face minutely, taking in the blue of her eyes and noticing the flecks of green in them for the first time. “You are so lovely,” he said hoarsely. “I am sorry - I should not have kissed you that way - I took advantage of you.”
“No,” Minna shook her head. “I would have pushed you away if I had thought that.”