Barbara ignored her muttered words, but lowered her voice. “What was it like?”
“Barbara!”
“Wheesht, dinnae go all pious on me. The mon is a near legend amongst the women here.”
“Aye, I ken it. Tis one verra good reason why I should ne’er have allowed it.”
“The other being that ye liked it too weel.”
There was little reason to deny that. Not only had thinking about that kiss kept her awake late into the night, but she had woken up several times all asweat and aching for the man. Her maidenly dreams about Jankyn were no longer maidenly.
“Weel, he wouldnae be the best catch ye might make, but—”
“I dinnae want to catch him.” The look her cousin gave her told Efrica that the older woman did not believe that any more that she herself did. “Come, Barbara, ye ken what he is, what the MacNachtons are.”
“It suits your sister verra weel.”
Efrica sighed and slumped against the cool stone wall, staring at the brightly clothed courtiers filling the great hall. “She loves her laird. I refuse to love Jankyn. I love the sun, flowers, and songbirds. To live with a mon who can ne’er leave the shadows, who dwells mostly in the dark bowels of Cambrun castle? Twould smother me, I think. And he will long outlive me, will probably still look a young mon as I wrinkle and gray.” She caught sight of Jankyn entering the great hall only to be immediately approached by a fulsome redhead. “And he is a lecherous bastard,” she hissed, feeling a strong urge to break the hand the woman was caressing his arm with.
“My dear child, he is an unwed mon. Unwed and unpromised. He is also beautiful, a sleek, dark mon who can stir any woman’s blood by simply walking into a room. From what I have heard, the women here set after him the moment he arrived. Show me a bachelor who claims he refuses such freely offered sweets, and I will show ye a great liar.”
That was a truth Efrica preferred not to think about. Men started to seek such experiences the moment their voices deepened. It was one of those hypocrisies that often so irritated her. Men grabbed as much bedsport as they could, but considered any woman who did the same a whore. They strove to cast aside their virginity as quickly as they could, but demanded their chosen wives still have theirs.
“Tell me, who does Jankyn claim David is?” she asked Barbara.
“His son. He says he was wed, briefly, at but thirteen.”
“Ah, clever. Gives David legitimacy and keeps everyone believing Jankyn is but thirty and a bit. Just how old is he?”
“I have no idea, except that he is at least ten years older than his laird.”
“Oh.” Barbara grimaced. “I think that would trouble me as weel. Aging is hard enough, but to do so whilst your husband remains strong and untouched by time would be verra difficult. Of course, there could be some verra delightful advantages to that.”
“Wretch. Who is that woman with him? She looks like the one who directed me to the gardens.”
“Ah. Tis Lady Eleanor MacBean. She isnae to be trusted. Sly, vicious, and has no morals at all. Last year, she tried to seduce my husband. Worse, she battered me with sly words, whispered lies, and spread gossip until I began to believe it.”
“Nay, Barbara, your husband would ne’er—”
Barbara silenced her with one sharp gesture. “I ken it. E’en as jealousy began to gnaw at my innards, a sane part of me kenned it was all lies. Fortunately, my mon was rather flattered by my jealousy and was quick to bring me back to my senses. I tell ye this to give ye a warning. Tread warily round that one.” She frowned as she watched Jankyn shake free of the woman and move toward them. “Ye might warn that bonnie lad, too. Both of ye have far too many secrets to protect. Ye dinnae need the trouble that vixen could bring ye. Aye, and we both ken her part in that attack upon ye may nay have been so innocent.”
Efrica smothered the urge to flee before Jankyn reached them. Burying the feelings that kiss had caused would be difficult if he thought to pursue her, but she refused to run and hide. There was also the chance that such cowardice would tell Jankyn far too much about how she felt. A woman immune to his allure did not flee from him. It was difficult to remain calm, however, when Barbara slipped away soon after greetings were exchanged.
“I am pleased that ye havenae allowed what those two fools tried to do to ye to make ye hide yourself away,” Jankyn said as he leaned against the wall by her side.
It did not please Jankyn that he had felt so compelled to see her. Nor did it please him that he had felt no inclination to answer Lady Eleanor’s less-than-subtle invitation to indulge in a night of lechery. His body ached for a woman, but he had the feeling it now hungered for just one. He needed to cure himself of that affliction, but he was not sure how to do so. Just standing near Efrica had him taut with need.
“I refuse to let them think themselves of any importance to me,” replied Efrica.
“But ye will avoid them, aye?”
“Like the plague.”
Jankyn nodded, thought about what he should or should not say, then decided that being direct was best. “I think we need to talk about what happened last eve.”
“Ye rescued me and then I rescued you.” She tried not to blush beneath his stare but suspected she was not completely successful.
“Ye ken what I refer to, lass. We need to discuss what stirred between us when we embraced.”
“Twas but a kiss, Jankyn. I have been kissed before.”
For a brief moment, Jankyn almost believed she had felt little, had not experienced the depth of hunger he had, but then he noticed how she avoided his gaze. “And did ye let any of those men get ye beneath them? Did ye purr for them, Efrica?” He nodded with satisfaction when she glared at him. “We both felt it. We both felt the heat, the need.”
Efrica refused to be flattered by his admission that the kiss had stirred him as well. “Lust. Tis no great thing. I am nay a child now so ’tis no surprise a skilled mon might stir a lusting within me. And from what I have heard, stirring a lusting in ye just requires a woman to give ye a smile.”
“Curse it, Efrica, cease condemning me for taking what was freely offered, as any mon would do. I am without bonds and owe no one any explanation or apology.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, wondering how she could make him feel so guilty, even ashamed. “Aye, when I first arrived here, the interest I drew was a heady thing. I have ne’er left Cambrun save to go to some kinsmon’s lands. It was a pleasure which waned verra quickly for I soon realized it wasnae truly a simple giving and taking of pleasure.”
Although she truly hated hearing him speak of the other women he had been with, curiosity prompted her to ask, “What else could it have been?”
“The scent of new prey? The scent of mysteries and secrets? I was the dark, dangerous lover, the mon of shadows. A bold dare accepted. A challenge. Who could uncover my secrets? I was but another pelt to collect.”
“Ah, I see. The women treated ye as men so often treat women.”
That was an uncomfortable truth he had faced himself just recently, but refused to admit it. “I thought I had slipped into this life with ease, had become one of them, but realized that wasnae so.”
“Is that one of the reasons ye came here? To see if ye could become one of them?”
Jankyn shrugged. “The thought had crossed my mind. Ye ken Cathal’s plans to bring the MacNachtons out of the shadows,” he began.
“Aye, he plans to breed the MacNachtons out of their caves.” She forced herself not to blush with guilt beneath the condemning glance he gave her.
“Ye ken as weel as I that Cathal and Bridget