The Libertine (Taskill Witches 2)

“I didn’t say that.” A wry smile passed over his expression. “Troubles lie ahead for the south, too. The Jacobites are growing restless. They are ready to rise up and fight once again, to restore a Stuart king to the throne. The English will be ready for it, but our country may once again witness many fierce battles.”

Chloris inwardly recoiled at the idea of more violence for Scotland. As a child she had grown up listening to her father relating stories of feud and resistance. The union with England was not accepted willingly by most she spoke with in Edinburgh, but she had not heard talk of a new uprising. “How do

you know these things?”

“When I am away I travel from village to village, and I listen. With King James in exile and supported by the Jacobites, rebellion has been inevitable.”

Uncertainty surrounded them, and it took many forms. As she looked at him she knew one thing with certainty. She did love him. If he wanted her, as he said he did, could she risk her heart and go with him? Hardships ahead, yes, but there would be hardships aplenty if she stayed with Gavin.

There was more to it than that, though. This could be a whim on his part. She reminded herself that there were others he had responsibility for, and they would not readily accept her. “I will bring trouble to you and yours if I go with you.”

He shook his head, reached out and took her other hand in his. When she met his gaze, he continued. “It has always been a matter of time. Leave now and we will go together.”

“If that was your plan, why have you not left before?”

“I stayed only to find my two sisters who have been missing here in the Lowlands for many years.”

Chloris was dismayed. Not only for his lost siblings and the obvious pain that caused him, but also because he had not shared this information with her before. That saddened her. She did not know him well enough. She knew him as a lover, but there was so much more. Would they ever have the chance to learn everything there was to know about one another? “I am so sorry. Tell me more. Why are they lost to you?”

Lennox released her hands. He inhaled deeply and ran his fingers through his hair, then turned away. It was not easy for him to discuss the matter with her, Chloris could see that. Was it because she was not of his kind? Did he discuss it with his people, his coven? That only made her feel further away from him.

A moment later he turned back, but he had a distant look in his eye. “Our mother was put to death when we were bairns, on a charge of witchcraft.”

Chloris covered her mouth with her hand, shocked to the core by his statement. Shaking her head, she tried to take it in. “Oh, Lennox, I am so sorry.”

The nature of his family history held so many implications. In particular it made her even more afraid for him. He had come to Torquil House to be with her, time and again, the very place where he was in deep danger. Tamhas would happily see a similar ending served on Lennox and his people. She knew that without a doubt. Yet so much of what she was learning about him made sense of the man she did know, his rebellious nature, his strong will and his tenacity.

“We have always been ready to take our leave, but I had hoped to find my kin before such time. It has not happened, but I have found you.” He sighed, then gave her a gentle smile. “There seems a certain destiny in our meeting at this point in time. Locating my sisters is the only barrier to perfect contentment.”

“That’s where you had been, wasn’t it, looking for your sisters, when I first visited Somerled?”

“It was.” He stared at her in silence a moment and she could feel it, his affection for her. He truly did believe in it. “Chloris, we are meant to be together. You cannot stay with a man who treated you so badly.”

“It is the way for many women, as well you know.”

Anger shot through his eyes. “It is not the way for the women under my protection.”

Chloris saw and felt his dream, but she knew it for what it was, a dream, at least where they were concerned. “You want to make me one of your women,” she whispered.

“Yes.”

Her eyelids lowered. A heavy weight pressed upon her chest, emotion swelling in her. When he went to say more she put her finger to his lips. “Lennox, say no more.”

One of his women...

As if she could ever be like those women, gifted and magical. Chloris thought about Ailsa, who had opened the door to her that first night, so wild and sure with her misty eyes and knowing ways, even though the threat of discovery stalked them.

No, he grew bored of the women who weren’t of his kind. The affairs that he had with the women of Saint Andrews were pastimes to him. That is what Jean had indicated in her warnings. That was the way of it, and that’s what would happen between them. If she went to him he would soon tire of her, and she would be cast aside. Too long she had avoided the truth about her situation in life, and now that she had faced it so thoroughly she would not shy away ever again. How it hurt, though, because she craved him badly. Knowing that he wanted her, too—and it could never be, that it was doomed to failure—only served to make her feel as if her life was forever ill-fated.

“It is too much, all of it.” She turned away, covering her face with her hands. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes and she didn’t want to cry in front of him again.

His arms were around her inside a heartbeat and he kissed the top of her head. “Why? We will be happy together, I promise you.”

“Stop,” she whispered. Covering his hands with hers, she rested her head back against his shoulder, allowing herself to absorb the feeling of being comforted in his arms safely while he made promises that neither of them could guarantee.

He turned her to face him. “There is council business to take care of later today. We will meet again tomorrow morn, and you will give me your answer then.”

There was hope in his eyes, perhaps even a touch of desperation.