Page 24

C rystal's eyes fluttered open. She felt the chill of the night on her skin. The blanket had fallen off her and onto the floor. Then she remembered that Jamie was in the cottage with her.

She sat up in bed and noticed that the fire had burned down to embers. She fixed her hair with her fingers and pinched her cheeks. She put her hand in front of her mouth and breathed on it to check her breath. Then she tiptoed out of bed and pulled the blanket back on it.

Crystal moved as quietly as she could to the table and poured herself some mead and took a drink gargling and swishing it around in her mouth just a little before swallowing.

Then she walked over to the chair that Jamie sat in. He was asleep and she took a moment to look at his gorgeous face with a strong jawline and pale blond hair. He really was an attractive man.

She took the blanket off her bed and placed it on him, before stoking the fire. She grabbed a log ready to put it on when it was taken out of her hand. "I'll do that, lass," Jamie said. He leaned over in the chair.

"Oh no. I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you," she said.

"Tis all right. I was bound to wake if it got any colder," he said. Then he took the blanket and handed it to her. "Thank you for that."

She took the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, then she moved to the table and poured some water into the kettle. Once Jamie had the fire roaring again she placed the kettle on the iron hook and swiveled it over the fire to boil.

Crystal grabbed a chair and placed it next to Jamie's and sat down.

"Are you not going back to sleep?" he asked.

"I don't think I can, at least not for a while. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Of course not, I am glad for the company," he said.

"Good. I'll make us some hot tea as soon as the water boils to warm us. Tell me about the castle, do you live there?"

"Aye, I do. I am fortunate enough to have a comfortable chambers inside the castle and not in the barracks. Most single men have a shared room, but as a higher rank in the Watch, I have been afforded one above stairs. "

"Your last name is Grant, right?" she asked.

"Aye."

"Are all of you related?"

Jamie shook his head. "No, not all of us. There are some who are clan by choice. The Laird is a distant cousin to me, as is Brendan."

"Really? So you're royalty?" she teased.

He chuckled. "No, lass, none of us are royals."

"I'm worried about meeting your Laird. Is he harsh?" she asked.

"Aye, he can be when it tis deserved. But he is a good and honest man. Of course, every Laird needs to be fearsome or be seen as weak by his enemies." Jamie winked.

"Of course, how silly of me." She laughed.

Crystal grabbed a cloth to take the tea kettle to the kitchen table. She put a spoonful of fresh tea in two cups and poured hot water on top of it. She gave one to Jamie and took her place sitting down at the fire.

"I like this. It is simple." Jamie gazed into the fire holding his teacup.

"What is simple?" She took a sip of the tea.

"Sitting by the fire with good company and a hot cup of tea. It is simple and enjoyable."

"I think I have to agree with you on that, Mr. Grant," she said playfully.

"Oh you do? That is good to know. It will be light in about an hour, so I am enjoying this moment before we return to chaos."

"Ugh, I don't want to think about it anymore.

My brain is exhausted from thinking about all of it.

I will process it more once the sun comes up and we can figure out the mysterious motivation of if or why Cameron did these things.

But for now I only want to talk about this hot cup of tea and the weather. "

Jamie chuckled. "The weather? Is that so?"

"Yes." A small amused smile played upon her lips.

"And I suppose you will be wanting to talk about something as mundane as the seasonal planting and harvest. Perhaps even the milking of goats," he teased her back.

"Yes absolutely that is the only thing I want to talk about. I love goats they are very cute."

"Cute? they smell not so cute."

"Tell me everything of the goats and the planting." She her body toward him.

Jamie looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes. "You really are excited about it, are you not? Look at you," he said. Then the smile faded from his lips as he locked onto her gaze and said softly, "Look at you…"

Crystal felt the chemistry between them rock through her body. The smile fell from her face and all she could do was look directly at him. Locked in a hypnotic spell, for a moment she thought that he might have magical powers as well because he had overcome every sense in her body.

"Jamie…" she said in a whisper.

He didn't respond to her except to lean in and press his lips against hers.

She put one hand on his chest feeling the hard muscles beneath her fingertips.

She kissed him back with a slow and sensual pace that grew until she was kissing him hard and passionately.

He wrapped his hand behind her head and pushed his fingers into her hair.

She moaned into his mouth and felt her nipples grow hard as he touched and kissed her.

She lost all sense of everything. There were no thoughts about the murder or the fact that she had been displaced from her own time into a completely new one.

All she could think about was Jamie kissing her and how much she ached for him.

At that moment she wanted nothing else than for him to pick her up, place her on the bed, and make love to her.

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Crystal immediately jumped back feeling scared of who might be at the door. The sound was loud, just as it had been when Cameron knocked the door in. Jamie stood up fast and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Jamie, tis Shaw."

Jamie groaned in annoyance. "I will have his head if this is not important." Then he looked at Crystal, his gaze traveling over her with lust in his eyes. "I'm sorry to have to leave you. I'll return as soon as I can."

He unlocked the door and opened it. "What is it? It is not yet dawn," Jamie said.

"I thought you should know that we have detained Brian and his sister-in-law. They are being held at the tavern."

"Why have they been detained?" Jamie asked, his voice filled with confusion.

"They were headed toward Cameron in the prison wagon. Brian had his sword out and was in a rage. His sister-in-law was trying to dissuade him from running Cameron through, so Brendan thought it best to arrest them both and hold them at the tavern until Cameron was brought to the Keep."

"Courteney has been arrested?" Crystal said coming to the door over hearing everything.

"Aye, and Brian. Rory is guarding them with two others. Brendan is preparing the prison wagon to leave at dawn. I thought you would like to know," Shaw explained.

"Thank you. I will come straight away. Crystal get your cloak and boots," Jamie said.

Within moments, Crystal had her boots and cloak on.

The three of them walked down the lane toward the center of town.

Her mind was back on the case as she went over the facts.

It was funny to her that she had just talked about not wanting to speak of the investigation for at least a few hours and suddenly there were new developments.

The crime continued to unfold around them.

She wondered why Brian would take it upon himself to try to go at Cameron when he must know that he would be under guard.

She couldn't blame Brian for wanting revenge after what he did to Maeve, but she wondered why he would put himself in jeopardy with the guards.

That didn't sit right with her, and she aimed to get some answers as soon as she could.