A Stranger at Castonbury(53)

Catalina couldn’t bear seeing the stark pain in his eyes. ‘Jamie, whatever you did in Spain, whatever happened, it is past.’

‘Is it?’ Jamie shook his head. ‘We carry our past with us wherever we go, Catalina. Surely you and I know that better than anyone. It’s why I cannot condemn Alicia Walters.’

‘But what she did to your family...’

‘Was not entirely her own doing,’ he said. ‘Do you remember a man called Hugh Webster?’

Catalina shuddered at the mention of that name. It was a name she had not heard in so long, but she remembered him. The horrible panic she had felt when he grabbed her. ‘Of course I remember him, the vile man.’

‘It was he who concocted the scheme of setting up Alicia as my widow at Castonbury,’ Jamie said. ‘He who had taken my lost signet ring. She began because she was desperate to protect her child, but he forced her to continue. And now he has disappeared.’

‘Webster?’ Catalina cried, appalled. ‘But what has happened to him? How could he have done such a thing and just vanished?’

‘That is what I am trying to discover. And Alicia has agreed to help me. Once Webster has paid for his crimes, I will help her start over somewhere away from here.’

Start over. Somewhere with him? Did he truly care about Alicia? She had seen how they greeted each other at that house....

No. She shook her head. She had no right to be jealous any longer, no matter who he cared about or what he did. She had to put all that aside, to forget everything that had happened. At least for now. One day he would have to tell her what happened in Spain.

‘I want to help you,’ she said quietly. ‘I know we can find Webster if we work together.’

‘Catalina, no,’ Jamie protested. ‘The man is clearly mad. I won’t put you in danger.’

‘I would be in no danger, not with you,’ Catalina argued. ‘Webster did terrible things, both in Spain and here. I want to see him stopped, just as you do. I know I can help.’

‘We can talk about all this later,’ Jamie said, and Catalina recognised the stubborn set of his jaw. He would not argue with her, yet he would stand very firm.

But she was as stubborn as him. ‘Yes, we will assuredly talk about it later,’ she insisted.

A rueful smile touched his lips. ‘It’s late now, Catalina. You should rest a little longer. The rain will surely stop soon.’

Catalina nodded, suddenly realising that she was indeed very weary. So much had happened, her mind was spinning with it. ‘Only for a little while. We must be back at Castonbury before it grows too late.’

‘I will keep watch,’ he said, and she knew he would keep his word. She lay back down on her side facing the fire and let its warmth and heat wrap around her.

As sleep closed in on her mind, she felt Jamie tuck the blankets over her and she smiled. For the first time in a very, very long while, she felt safe....

* * *

Catalina’s slender body was relaxed and warm in the circle of his arms, her hair falling like a skein of dark satin across his chest. He ran his palm gently over her hair, along the curve of her back. She shivered against him in her sleep and he drew her closer.

They were as close as a man and woman could possibly be, their bodies wrapped around each other after the heated rush of sex, yet it seemed like she was still a thousand miles away from him. His Catalina—more elusive than ever. He had almost thought he was drawing her close to him again, that they were almost as they had been in Spain—able to read each other without even speaking. Then she had pulled away from him again.

Ever since he had first glimpsed Catalina across that camp in Spain, she had intrigued him, drawn him in with just one glance from her dark eyes. Talking with her had only made him want to know more and more, craved her presence, within the spell she wove with her smile and her touch.

And his memories of their lovemaking, memories he had treasured on so many lonely nights, were as nothing compared to the reality of tonight. The reality of being with her, touching her, feeling her against him. Never had he felt as he had this afternoon, when his body had joined with Catalina’s, and he had opened his eyes to see that she really was there beneath him, her head arched back, her lips parted. That reality was beyond pleasure, beyond merely satisfying his body’s cravings. Beyond just the two of them, Jamie and Catalina, at that moment.

He had thought his heart would burst with the joy, the triumph of holding her again.