For a moment she allowed herself to feel only that, the tenderness of his embrace and the succor he offered.
“What of your father?”
“Oh, I asked about him in every inn in Dundee, but none knew him, or at least none that would admit to it.”
“I will ask, when my ship returns. If he is still alive I can help you find him.”
Jessie pressed a finger to Gregor’s lips. “I fear the moonlight has touched your mind and addled it,” she teased. “If he is still alive, he will be a stranger to me. I have long since given up hope. The best I can do is return to the Highlands, where we were once happy and safe, and where Lennox and Maisie may be waiting for me.”
“Your kin?”
“Maisie is my sister, and my twin. Lennox was several years older than us.”
“Twins often have a bond.”
She nodded, once again touched by Gregor’s sensitivity on such matters. He was curious about her siblings, and yet he had said he had none. “Sometimes I feel her close to me, as if her thoughts and mine collide. I think she has fared better than I have, but I know that might just be hope and wishes leading my thoughts.” Jessie pressed her hand to her heart when the familiar ache passed through her.
“And your brother?”
“He was a wild one.”
“Wilder than you?”
“Oh, aye.” Lennox sometimes appeared to her in dreams, and those dreams were always filled a dark sense of foreboding. “He had the gift even as a lad, and he played with it more than we did, learning fast.” It had brought him trouble, as it had her, perhaps even more so. She pushed away the clouds that hovered, offering Gregor a smile. “It’s been a long time now I’ve been trying to earn a purse to carry me back to my beginnings.”
“And whoredom was the best way?”
Was that a note of disapproval in his voice? Now, after all that had gone between them? The notion intrigued her. Was he jealous, curious, or simply disapproving? The latter was not unusual; most people considered whores no better than vermin. Yet he had been much more possessive of her since she had left his side. The times they had met secretly at Balfour Hall were even more passionate than before. These two nights had been her happiest ever, yet the two of them were on a knife’s edge. The threat of discovery lurked, her condemnation far too recent to ignore, and even when they were free of this task and Gregor’s burden had been lifted, that moment would bring pain, because he would be gone. “You disapprove of whores, even though you use them?”
“I am curious about your reasons, that is all.”
“People pay less attention to harlots, and wherever I went suspicion about my craft followed. Besides, I had run out of choices…there was no other option.” It smarted, for she had pride, even though she’d had to bury it. She and Gregor were being honest with one another now, however, and Jessie saw no reason to pretend her life had not been hard.
But he was listening to her silently, and her discomfort about her confession grew. “Surely you cannot hate me for being a whore, when you seem to enjoy using me as such.”
“No.” There was regret in his voice. Why?
“If I had not been a whore,” she added, “you would not have found me.” She reached for him, wishing she could see him better in the gloomy stall, watching for his reaction. As she did, her heart beat a little faster.
He narrowed his eyes, but she could just see his faint smile. “You are a provocative woman, Jessie. Do you want me to be angry?” He rested his thumb against her chin, his mood thoughtful. “Or jealous, perhaps, the way I was when you dallied with Mister Grant?”
They were dancing around one another again, just as they had the night before, and she had to work hard to feign denial a moment longer. “Why would you be jealous? I am a servant to you, no more. You were annoyed about Mister Grant only because you had invested time and money in me. You need me to seduce your enemy. That’s my task.”
In a flash he was over her, pinning her down with the weight of his body. “Leave this place. I want you to come back with me now.” He rained passionate kisses on her neck while he rocked his hips against hers. “I know enough already. There is no need for you to seduce Wallace.”
Jessie smiled into the darkness and drew her lower lip between her teeth, her hips rising to meet his. “Why, Mister Ramsay, I think you are allowing your cock to think for you.”
The laugh he gave was gentle. “Perhaps, but I hold the same opinion as my cock.”
Closing his handsome face between her palms, she shook her head. “I do not have to seduce him in order to hold sway over him.”
Gregor peered at her, then stroked his hand over hers, meshing their fingers. “Magic?”
“I have today influenced what he will sell. As you saw on the list, it will go to auction soon. If you want your father’s land back, you can bid on it.” She thought that would please Gregor, but his frown remained.
“It is dangerous, using magic. Word may have come from Dundee about your escape. Your name will be whispered.”
It was true. A raw sense of clarity descended upon them. “No one has witnessed my actions, only the results.”