She was guileless, though. He always forgot just how guileless she was. He still couldn’t fathom that there were people in the world decent enough to be motivated by cares for folk other than themselves. But she was such a person, and that innocence had lured him in, ever closer, until he’d lain over her, wondering at the brief flickers of lightness and happiness he’d begun to feel in his heart when she was near.
God save him, but she’d seemed to want him. She’d been a dream beneath him, responding to his every word, his every touch, as though a woman starved.
He’d never met her like. He’d never touched a creature so fine, so delicate, unsullied by guile, greed, or any of the cheap tools of seduction with which he was familiar. No fans, or perfumes, or coy laughter for Elspeth. She was all that was right and true and good.
And he’d wanted to ravish her.
Until they’d heard a noise, and she’d stiffened beneath him, and he was reminded who he was: coarse and uncivilized, a dangerous man on dangerous business, with no right to endanger an innocent like her.
He’d perched near the edge of Dunnottar Rock, hundreds of feet above the roiling water. His hired man came into view, and though the man was far from the ledge, he shuffled toward Aidan, looking terrified he might somehow slip and tumble to his death.
Naturally, Gregor had to appear too, close on his heels. “Is everything all right here?”
Aidan knew his oldest brother couldn’t resist throwing himself into the fray. The man had probably been lurking outside the guardhouse, waiting for Aidan to misstep. So much for familial trust. “Just because I got kidnapped once doesn’t mean I can’t take care of myself. ”
Gregor put his hands up in surrender. “No need to take umbrage. Simply trying to do the brotherly thing. ”
“Then go brother one of our other siblings. ”
Most men would bristle, but Gregor only laughed. “As you will, Aid. ”
He watched his brother head back the way he came, thinking it was time to remember himself. The farm he toiled on wasn’t his own. The woman he toiled with not his wife. He needed to stop acting the morose and heartsick fool and get back to the business at hand. Revenge.
He turned to his hired hand. “You’d best have the names. ”
The man held a rumpled sheet of paper, and Aidan snatched it and began to read.
Dougal Fraser, Knitted Goodes
Aberdeen Burgess of Guild
sacke wool: 11
wool in cloth: 7
There was a signature and wax seal at the bottom of the page, with the words Weighted and Approved, Dean and Assessors of Guild.
It appeared to be a trade receipt, and though Aidan couldn’t make sense of every single word, he managed most of it. He found himself once more pushing thoughts of Elspeth from his mind. That he could read anything at all was thanks to her skill and patience.
“What’s this to me?” he asked, his voice gruff. “This isn’t the man I asked you to find. This is some merchant. ”
“Aye,” the man replied nervously, “but a merchant, I’m told, who sends his goods away on some verra peculiar ships. ”
There was a rustling in the bushes behind the man. He didn’t notice it, but Aidan did and sighed. If he peered hard enough, he imagined he’d be able to make out a head of blond hair among the leaves. He folded the paper and shoved it into his sporran. “You can go. ”
“But you says if I bring back a name …” The man looked encouragingly at the sporran.
“So I did. ” Aidan plucked out half a crown and tossed it to him. “The name best have some merit, or I’ll find you and take my coin back with interest. ”
The man nodded with gusto, and with an anxious survey of the rocks around him, he began to edge away.
“Ho,” Aidan said, stopping him. “I’ll throw in a tanner next time, if you can manage to get your daft head in and out of here without raising such a ruckus. ”
Once his hired man was out of sight, he said, “You can come out now. ” He waited in silence, then added, “I know you’re there, so don’t think to hide from me. ”
Elspeth’s head popped up over a low rise.
“And so you should look abashed. ” He crossed his arms and tried to look stern, but it was difficult in the face of her endearing blush. “My business is just that, luvvie. Mine. ”