“I hate cold skin,” I muttered it under my breath, half to Adwen, half to myself as I continued the warm friction. Just touching his freezing fingers made me cold all over. “I know people always say, ‘cold hands, warm heart,’ but I think that’s a bunch of pancakes.” I laughed, thinking back to Cooper’s use of the phrase, but when I glanced up to see Adwen didn’t understand, I shook my head and continued. “Anyway, seriously, it’s a stupid saying. You know what sort of things have cold skin? I’ll tell you. It’s things like snakes, and lizards, and sharks.”
He started to pull away, but I was moving my hands too quickly over his own. “Are ye trying to call me a snake, lass?”
“No.” I stopped rubbing his hands quite as frantically and went about massaging some heat into them instead. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it at all like that. I was just saying that I don’t get the saying. And…I really don’t like cold body limbs.”
He laughed and smiled down at me, knowingly. “’Tis true then, I see. The lad knows ye verra well.”
“What’s true?”
“Cooper told me that ye dinna care for cold toes.”
I frowned. His fingers were now warmer than mine, but I didn’t release them. They were large and strong. I had to resist the temptation to guide his palm straight to my breast. “You talked about my toes?”
He smirked and I glanced up to see a smile on his face that worried me very much. “No yer toes. Only toes in general, but ’tis no all we talked about.”
“Oh no.” I laughed, despite my nerves at the thought of Adwen and Cooper discussing me. Cooper had enough material about me to fill an encyclopedia with embarrassing stories. I always said, if anyone ever wanted to blackmail me, all they would have to do is go ask Cooper for a few stories, and he’d be happy to oblige them with whatever they needed. He loved to talk about his Aunt Jane.
“Aye,” he pulled his right hand away and tilted my chin up so that I looked right at him, “ye should be verra worried. I know all of yer secrets now, Jane.”
A large gust of wind shot across the windows, creating a loud whistle that caused me to jerk away as I spun to look outside. The motion caught my neck wrong, and I cried out in pain.
“What is it, lass? Did ye hurt yerself?”
I bent my neck, rubbing it with my hand as Adwen moved up behind me. “No, it’s just a crick that pulled funny when I moved. I think I slept on it wrong.”
“Allow me to rub it for ye.”
His hands moved to my neck before I could give permission. Even though I melted against the feeling of his hands, I still tried to protest.
“I don’t want your cold fingers rubbing on me.”
He chuckled, the warmth from his mouth shooting down my spine as he continued to squeeze and rub it so that my head rolled back and forth with the motion of his hands.
“They are no longer cold, Jane. Ye have warmed them through just as ye have my heart.”
I snorted and laughed. His hands paused in surprise for a brief second as I spoke. “Oh brother. You’re pretty sneaky, you know it? What did you do, go stick your hands in ice before you came up here just to give you a reason to create some physical contact?”
“No, I dinna go near any ice. And what of ye? Did ye spin yer neck and cry out just so I would touch ye?”
I jumped as he hit a tender spot on the base of my neck. “Ow. It’s right there. See? You know I didn’t do that on purpose.” Slowly, he ran his thumb over the spot.
“Aye, and neither did I. Ye know I am no smart enough to think of it.”
He bent and wrapped his arms around me, and I thought I felt his lips quickly touch the base of my neck, although I couldn’t tell for certain. He pulled me close and my head lay against his chest.
“Well, I know you’re smart enough to know that it’s hard for a girl to pull away after you’ve just massaged them so well that their brain has turned to goo.”
He chuckled, a deep, seductive noise that caused my legs to clench in response. “Do ye wish me to step away from ye, Jane?”
I was finished giving him a hard time—at least for the day. He’d been kind to me, and I loved the way his arms felt around me. “No.” I said the word in a mere whisper and allowed my eyes to drift closed as we stood there together, listening to the storm.
I’d started to drift when the sound of Cooper’s scream reached my ears followed by the sound of his frantic footsteps as we turned to see him running up the stairs toward us.
His face was white as a sheet and his words breathless as tears filled his eyes.
“It’s Isobel…she…she fainted. Oh, Aunt Jane, come help her. There’s blood everywhere.”
I brushed past him as Adwen went to Cooper’s side, scooping him up in mid-stride. Together we fled down the stairs, my heart thumping painfully with every step.
CHAPTER 19
Gregor had Isobel gathered up in his arms by the time we reached the bottom of the stairs. He held a small handkerchief to the top of her right brow, where the blood flowed freely enough to soak the rag in seconds. Gregor’s eyes pleaded for assistance the moment he saw us.
“Here,” Adwen turned and marched quickly around the corner and into my room, “’tis the nearest bed.”