Forevermore by Lauren Royal Read Free Book Online

through the transparent pale yellow fabric. "Tell me you didn't see that."
    "I didn't see that." But he had. Her breasts were beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful. Not only the way she looked, but her beautiful soul. And the beautiful way she felt in his arms.
    She shivered. "I…I don't know what came over me."
    "It was the cold," he said, offering her an out. "And the wet."
    But they both knew that something had changed in the water.
    "Yes, it must have been," she said. Her hair had come undone and hung in long, wet tendrils down her back. He wanted to wrap his hands in it. Her arms were still crossed over her chest. "I'm sorry," she added.
    "For what?"
    "For making you get wet. Ruining your clothes and boots. I hope…" She froze, and her face went white—whiter than the cold could possibly warrant. "Please don't be vexed with me."
    "Why would I be vexed with you, Clarice?"
    She looked like she expected him to be angry, and the truth was, that expectation in itself raised his ire. He wanted to kill the man who had taught her to be so wary.
    Lucky for him, the bastard was already dead.
    "You didn't do it on purpose," he said. "And truth be told, I would happily ruin my boots to hold you again." He moved closer. "May I kiss you again, Clarice?"
    She bit her lip, for all the world looking like she didn't believe him.
    He wouldn't push her, not now when she looked so cold and miserable. Moving to the other bench, he sighed and picked up the oars. With strokes made powerful by frustration, the boat was soon slicing through the water toward the docks.
    "Tell me, Clarice," he asked presently, "if you cannot swim, why weren't you frightened when you fell?"
    Her words were long in coming, and when they finally did, it was with a kind of wonder, as though she surprised herself with her answer. "I knew you would come after me," she said simply.
    Progress, he decided. It would have to do for now.

     
    "I'm thinking . . ." The horse in the stall before him flicked its tail, and Cameron forced his mind back to the discussion. "I'm thinking if I cross our Highland ponies with some of this stock, then—"
    "Why're you hanging around here, Cam?" Caithren grinned and took her cousin's hand, pulling him out of Cainewood's stables. "It's obvious your head is somewhere else."
    "I wanted to study English breeding methods." He followed her along the path back to the castle. "And the estate manager's theories pertaining to crops—why, there are all sorts of newfangled ideas that bear exploring, as long as I've taken the time to remain here in England until—"
    "Cam." Caithren paused on the trodden grass that led through a meadow sprinkled with yellow buttercups, her smile all too knowing. "You don't want to talk about crops."
    "Nay?" Cameron sneezed, then rubbed a finger under his nose. "Do you know, then, who around here might be considered the expert on sheep—"
    "You're not wanting to talk about sheep, either."
    He remained mute, cocking one sandy brow.
    "You've been distracted all afternoon," she declared. He never had been able to hide much from Cait. "Would you rather be somewhere else?"
    "Nay. Nay, of course not." He almost reached to tug one of her plaits—an old gesture of affection between them—before remembering she now wore her hair loose to please her husband. He crossed his arms instead. "How is married life treating you, Cait?"
    "So far I like it." She turned and started ambling over the drawbridge, her long, straight hair fluttering in her wake. "Very much," she called back, laughter in her voice.
    Behind her, his boots sounded loud on the timeworn wood. "I'm going to miss you." They'd been there for each other, always. "I can hardly imagine returning to Leslie alone."
    "You need someone to share it with." Exactly what he'd been thinking, but he could all but hear the wheels turning in her head. And they weren't running the same direction his did. "There is always Lady Nessa."
    "She wouldn't have me when I was