She floundered in the water, her skirts heavy, but blessedly her feet landed on rock. She stood, and looked about again. She appeared to be in a cave, the water about her waist. The opening was at least three feet above her head.
“Eliza,” Stone’s voice echoed around her and his head appeared above her.
“Down here,” she called, her voice breathy from the cold. She could barely force it to work at all.
“Are ye all right, lass?”
“Fine, b-but I don’t know h-how I’ll get out.” She had never been so happy to hear a person’s voice. And, she had to confess, his in particular. He was large and strong and somehow, she was certain if anyone could save her, he could.
“Move to the side,” he bellowed and the sound echoed around her again. In this moment, he appeared more like Zeus and far less the Aries she’d originally thought. .
She did as he bid without question and in a moment he was next to her with considerably more grace than she had displayed. “Ye…ye…ye’re he…he…here.” Her teeth chattered together in a way that made it more and more difficult to talk.
“I am.” Without saying another word he pulled her into his arms lifting so that only her calves and feet dangled in the water.
She’d been about to protest but the second her body came into contact with his, she could feel heat radiate through her clothes. “Ye…ye’re so wa…warm.”
“I was runnin’.” Even in the dark, she could hear his amusement. “Now let’s git ye out of here, shall we?”
“H…how?” she asked. But before she could stutter it out, he lifted her up and higher until her head poked out of the hole. But she kept going until most of her torso had cleared the earth and she was able to climb onto the grass.
The wind, which she’d barely noticed before, bit into her skin as she crawled away from the hole and then turned back to see how she might help Stone. But his hands appeared on the ground and she watched, blinking in awe, as he pulled himself up and out.
“Are you all right, Stone?” One of Lord Alban’s brothers raced toward them. She thought he was William, but she couldn’t be certain.
“Fine. Go tell them I’ve found Eliza and to meet us with dry clothes at the cottage.” Without another word, he scooped her into his arms and stood, turning away from where the manor was and moving in the opposite direction. “Wha…what—“
“Don’t try to talk. The cottage is just ahead. I keep it stocked and I can build ye a fire and warm you.” He held her closer and picked up his pace. “I can’t have ye catch yer death.”
She said no more, as she wrapped her arms about his thick, muscular neck. She might have argued that he’d keep her plenty warm on the trip back to the manor but within moments, a cottage came into view. It looked out toward the sea and, even as cold as she was, she gasped at the beauty before her. The splendor of the green grass against the crystal blue of the ocean might have taken her breath away if she weren’t already gasping.
But she only had a moment to appreciate it before Stone had swept her inside. “Take off yer clothes while I start a fire,” he said as he set her down in the middle of the room.
“What?” She cocked her head to the side completely confused. He couldn’t be suggesting she undress? “You want me to what?”
“Damnation,” he roared.
She blinked slowly, wondering if she should be afraid. It was then that she realized her mind was not working properly.
Before she could puzzle out what to do, he was next to her again and undoing every button on her dress, yanking the material off her body. It occurred to her that she should be afraid. This hulking fierce man was stripping off her clothes rather insistently. But that same feeling she’d had earlier returned. Rather than fear, she felt safe with him. “Th…thank y..y…you.”
Her petticoat came off in a soggy heap and then her corset. Only her soaking chemise remained. He disappeared for a moment and then returned with an armload of blankets. “Don’t thank me yet.”
In a single movement, her chemise sailed over her head and she stood in only her stockings in front of him before he wrapped one blanket and then another about her. He sat her on the couch, stripped off her stockings, then tucked her feet under her, then tossed a third blanket over her legs. “This room heats quick. Let me get a fire going.”
Had a man just seen her without her clothing? If she weren’t so cold, she might be embarrassed but she was already warming and all she could feel was grateful.
He walked back in, still soaked, and began lighting a fire as though nothing were amiss. His muscles didn’t seem the least affected. “Aren’t you co…cold?”
“I’ll be all right.” As a blaze began, he turned back to her, giving her a small smile. It lightened everything in his face. She’d known he was handsome in a fierce way but like this, he was devastating. His eyes danced and his teeth stood in perfect white rows. “Now close yer eyes, I’ve got to take off my wet clothes too.”
He didn’t wait for her response as he turned back to the fire and st
ripped off his shirt. She clamped her lips together to keep from sucking in her breath because her eyes were supposed to be shut.
But she couldn’t look away, even if she’d wanted to. Muscles rippled under dark skin down his broad back, tapering to a narrow waist. Her frozen body heated instantly, blood pulsing through her veins.
He kicked off his boots and pulled off his stockings. She held her breath, hoping that his kilt was next. She wanted to see his legs. Somehow, she knew they would be as powerful as the rest of him. She nearly gasped at the thought of seeing his backside. It made her ache between her legs.