CHAPTER 31

When Skylar woke up, she knew she had really overslept. Her room was much brighter, and hotter, than usual, so the sun had to be high.

She and Jamie had stayed awake quite a while longer the night before, just talking and really getting to know each other. He asked question after question about her life in the 21st Century, and he told her, almost, anything she asked. She was so happy to have been able to have that time to strengthen their relationship, and considering the birds had started chirping by the time they went to bed, she was very thankful no one had woken her up.

She forced herself from the comfort of her bed and got dressed. She had to literally peel her shift off since it was soaked with sweat and stuck to her skin. She draped it carefully on the back of one of the chairs to let it dry. She then found the thinnest and lightest blouse and skirt she had and put them on. She decided not to wear a clean shift because she knew if she was wearing layers of any kind, she would die of heat stroke.

No one will know unless they look up my skirt. And if anyone tries to, I'll kick them in the head.

She picked one of the ribbons Jocasta had given her and tied her hair in as high a ponytail as she could manage to keep her hair off her neck.

She looked herself over in the mirror, figuring she looked fine, and went downstairs heading towards the kitchen. All she could think about was how hungry she was and she hoped there was food leftover from breakfast.

As she walked past the parlor, she glanced in and saw Jamie talking to Ian. She paused and watched them. Ian's back was to the door so he couldn't see her. But Jamie saw her and from the look on his face when he looked up at her for just a moment before focusing back on his nephew, Skylar knew what it was they were discussing.

She continued on to the kitchen, not wanting to hover for too long and risk Ian seeing her. She felt nerves bubbling up in her stomach. She wished so much that she could be a fly on the wall in that room so she could hear what Ian had to say about the subject.

Guilt started to creep back into her mind for not wanting to get married right away. But she tried to drown it out by remembering what Jamie had told her, that she was not a bad person for feeling that way and it didn't mean she loved Ian any less. It was just a major bit of culture shock that she hadn't been prepared for.

When she walked into the kitchen, she saw Claire in there as well, gathering bowls and utensils to make herbs and medicines, Skylar guessed, from ingredients in the medical box Jamie had given her while on the boat.

Claire smiled at the teenager when she saw her. "Well, good morning. Or should I say afternoon?"
"Omigod, that was my mom's favorite thing to say to me every weekend. I would always try to sleep in as late as I could get away with."

"So would Brianna. Especially when she was in high school. God forbid I tried to wake her up before noon, and I would get a pillow or book thrown at me." Skylar laughed at that image. Claire set her stuff down and leaned back against the counter as Skylar picked up a muffin from a still half full platter and started to eat it.

"So, I heard you and Jamie had a nice talk last night," Claire stated.

Skylar swallowed and responded, when her mouth was empty, "He told you?" Claire nodded. "Yeah, I'm so happy I finally got him to really listen to me and we're able to go back to being normal again."

"He also told me about the second part of your conversation that you didn't seem so happy about."

Skylar let out a nervous laugh, knowing what she meant. "Yeah, um…well, that part is being dealt with now so…and God, it's freaking terrifying not knowing what they're saying."

"I'm sure you have absolutely nothing to worry about. No one, including Ian, is going to force you into something you're not ready for."

"It's not so much that it's…it's that I'm so scared I could lose him over this."

"That's impossible. I don't think Ian could ever stop loving you even if you killed Rollo in front of him." Skylar gave her a half smile, trying to believe that. Claire picked up her supplies and walked out, touching the girl's arm affectionately as she went.

Skylar finished eating her muffin slowly, then ate a peach in twice the amount of time it would usually take. She wanted to give as much time as possible for Jamie and Ian so they could talk through everything they needed to.

When she had picked the peach pit practically spotless, she figured she had killed enough time and needed to go out and face Ian.

She left the kitchen and headed for the parlor. She stopped abruptly when she walked in and saw Ian was not there, but instead Jocasta, Ulysses and Campbell were there with Jamie instead.

Everyone's head turned to her and she felt her face heat up. "Oh, um, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just barge in."

"It's quite alright lass. Ye've interrupted nothing," Jocasta assured her.

"I was looking for Ian. I thought he was in here." She looked to Jamie for an answer.

"He went off lookin' fer ye as well," he told her. "He has somethin' he wants te talk with ye about."

"He does? Okay." Jamie gave her a small smile that was meant to calm the anxiety he sensed rising in her, but it didn't do much. She gave a quick curtsey to Jocasta and Campbell and promptly walked out.

Her heart was pounding as she went from room to room trying to find Ian.

Please don't break up with me. Please do not be wanting to break up with me, kept repeating in her head.

When she circled back to the parlor, she heard a call of, "Yank!" as she passed the stairs. She looked up and saw Ian coming down. Her stomach settled a bit and her heart started to calm when she saw his eyes bright and his smile taking up half of his face as usual.

He doesn't seem angry or upset. So that's a good sign.

She met him at the bottom of the stairs and he said to her, "I was lookin' everywhere fer ye. I thought ye might still be asleep."

"If only." Needing to bring it up but wanting to seem like she had no idea, she asked him, "I passed by you and Jamie talking a while ago. It looked kinda serious."

"He said he needed te sit me down and-"

"Lad," Jamie spoke, coming out of the meeting he was in right next to them, "if ye and Skylar could take yer conversation elsewhere, I'd thank ye."

"Of course. Sorry, Uncle Jamie." Jamie nodded at Ian in response and gave Skylar a kind look before disappearing back into the room. Ian turned back to her and suggested, "Let's go outside, aye?"
"Okay." He took her hand and they walked off.

They stopped in the servant's quarters where Rollo was being kept, knowing he would want to get out and run around. He was very happy to see his humans. He jumped on them and licked their faces, making them smile and laugh.

They went out the back door into the large expanse of bright green grass with small wildflowers of blue, purple and yellow littered through it. There were tall pine trees that framed the backyard and seemed touch the sky.

Rollo bounded ahead of Skylar and Ian who were walking at a very leisurely pace hand in hand.

"So, what was it that Jamie was talking to you about?" she asked, bringing them back to the main subject pressing on her mind.

"He told me that ye had brought a matter te him that ye felt ye couldna talk wi' me about." She held her breath as she waited for him to continue. She focused intently on her feet while she felt him looking at her. "Why did ye not just tell me yer no ready te get married?"

She swallowed, trying to wet her desert dry throat. "I just-I was…um…I-I, I had thought-I…I don't know. It was stupid. Do you hate me now?"

"Hate ye?" He stopped suddenly, causing Skylar to stop too. He dropped her hand. "Why would ye think I'd hate ye?"

"You-you had said last night…you said we were supposed to get married, like, really soon. And I…I don't want to yet. You don't hate me or want to leave me or…whatever?"

"Did ye take me sayin' that as a proposal right then?" She shrugged. "Because I didna mean fer it te come out as one. I was jokin' about what everyone seems te be sayin' since we stepped foot here. Skylar, I don't hate ye. Ye should ken by now that there is nothin' ye could do that would make me not love ye. I don't need ye te marry me te prove how ye feel fer me. I dinna think I'll ever truly understand why ye would choose me, but I ken that ye have. And not wantin' te get married right now doesna make me think ye love me any less. I actually want te wait on that as well."

That surprised Skylar greatly. "You do?"

"I saw many of my siblings be so eager te follow in our parents' footsteps and live their lives exactly the same. But I want us te be able te have a life that's just ours that's excitin' before we settle down and have a family. I've been tryin' te find a way te talk te ye about that, because I was thinkin' ye were wantin' the opposite this whole time."

"You know that I do want to marry you, Ian, right? I don't want anyone else for the rest of my life. But I just am not ready for the whole formal official marriage thing yet."

"I feel the exact same way."

Hearing these words come from him, relief flooded over her and she felt she could breathe again. They could continue to be happy together and enjoy their still fairly new relationship without any worries about being on the same page about their future. And that was all Skylar wanted.

Ian continued saying, "Even after I explained all'a that, Uncle Jamie said he still wanted te know my intentions wi' ye. He said he didna want me te marry ye just so I could bed ye, and that he wouldna hesitate te really beat sense inte me if that was my plan."

Skylar laughed. "And is it? Is that the only reason you would want to marry me?"

"Not the only reason," he admitted, coming in closer to her and taking hold of her waist.

She fake gasped and told him, "I am a lady, Ian Murray. You cannot speak of such things to me." She smiled at him and pulled his face to hers, kissing him deeply. When she pulled from him, she said, "There has been way too much discussion over us getting married since we've been here. Let's just not talk about it at all for a very long time."

"Agreed."

They then dropped the subject completely and just played with Rollo. They let him chase them and jump on them, and they threw sticks for him to fetch.

After close to an hour of them being outside, Ian said, "Christ, it feels like it's 1000 degrees out here." He wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his dark wool jacket.

"Well no wonder you're hot. You're still wearing your jacket that's meant for summer in Scotland, where on its worst day you couldn't even get a sunburn. Here in America, especially in the South, the heat can get real bad real fast. Let's get this off you. You'll feel a lot better."

She got in close to him, closer than she needed to be, and started to undo his buttons. She had only gotten through three when she suddenly became very aware she was taking a piece of clothing off of him, and the last bit of their previous conversation came into her head again. Though just taking off his coat was a perfectly innocent action, she felt her cheeks get very warm, and not from the sun.

She realized Ian was likely thinking the same thing when she could hear his breathing pick up and saw his chest rise and fall a lot quicker and heavier.

She finished unbuttoning the coat and pushed it off his shoulders. As she did, she looked up at him and saw his eyes were locked on her, his pupils having grown very wide despite being in the bright sunlight. He pulled on his sleeves to get his jacket fully off and let it fall to the ground. He put his hands gently but very deliberately on the middle of her back. She watched as he dropped his gaze to her lips, down to her chest, and back up to her eyes.

"Ye must be burnin' as well. Is there anythin' ye want te take off?" He ran a finger just above the waistband of her skirt and played with the one simple button holding it in place.

His voice dropped nearly half an octave deeper when he asked that, which made tingles and chills spread throughout her whole body. She lowered her look to his chest, placing a hand on him. She traced the opening of his shirt that was tied semi-closed with a very loose knot. She twisted the string around her finger, feeling a major urge to pull it and open the top of his shirt.

She looked back up at him and the sight of him took her breath away. Back in the 2000s, boys would just look gross and dirty when they would sweat. Skylar never understood the girls who would trample people in the halls after school to watch various sport teams and athletes practice or workout in a smelly gym and just drip with sweat. But Ian was different. He didn't look gross or dirty at all right now. The beads of perspiration on his face being hit by the sun made it seem like he was glistening and only made him look more beautiful.

Skylar wanted him, in every way; and having shared a bed with him for so long and them not being able to do anything in said beds made her want him that much more. She would be lying if she said it was excruciatingly tempting to act on those feelings now. It was more than obvious how badly they both wanted it, and they were safe from Jamie since he would be busy for probably hours. Plus the land on the estate was so big that there was no way he'd be able to find them if he tried.

There's people everywhere though, she thought with the small part of her brain that wasn't lost in a thick ardent fog. If it wasn't Jamie, someone else would likely walk in on us and that's a risk too humiliating to take.

Though her body was screaming at her not to, she pushed back from Ian and forced a playful smile on her face and a normal laugh.

"I think the heat is getting to our heads, Youngin'. Let's catch up with Rollo and then we can sit in the shade for a while and cool down."

"Aye. That's a good idea."

He picked up his coat and they went to Rollo who was currently jumping to catch a butterfly. They got the dog to follow them to the shade under the closest tree. Skylar and Ian were relieved to be out of the direct sun and sitting on the cool grass. But Rollo didn't want to sit still. He continued to run around, chasing after squirrels and rabbits.

The two sat with their backs against the tree. Skylar closed her eyes and focused on taking long breaths. Her heart was still racing from the near indecent moment with Ian. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at him next to her. His eyes were shut too, but his face was twisted like he was upset about something.

"Are you okay, Ian?" she asked him, touching his leg.

His eyes shot open and he looked at her hand on him. He swallowed hard and, not looking away from her hand, said, "Aye, um…yes, I'm fine."

"You should know by now that I can always tell when you're lying."

He licked his lips and looked at her for a moment. But he then turned bright red and brought his gaze back to the grass.

She took her hand off him and said, "Youngin', you're making me nervous. What is it?"

"It's too embarrassin'."

"We're going to see plenty of each other's embarrassing moments over the rest of our lives. So, out with it."

He took a beat, then said, "I'm feelin' verra ashamed because, back a minute ago when ye were takin' off me coat, I was havin' verra…impure thoughts. Of ye." Ian's face turned redder with each word he said until he was nearly purple. "I ken we were jokin' about it before but, I shouldna be thinkin' of ye like that. Not before we're married. I shouldna…tempt meself wi' such things."

Skylar tried to hold it in, but she couldn't help but laugh. She covered her mouth with her hand to stop it, but she couldn't. She saw Ian get even more embarrassed at her reaction and turned his body a little away from her.

She immediately felt really bad and tried to explain, "Omigod, no. Ian, Ian, love, I am not laughing at you. Please, believe me. I am not at all. I just think it's really sweet that you were nervous to tell me that." She went around and sat in front of him. He was still staring at the ground. "But you don't have to be ashamed. You're human, those kinds of thoughts are normal. If it makes you feel any better, I was also having some very impure thoughts about you too."

That got Ian to look at her. "Ye were?"

She blushed and answered honestly, "Yes. And this wasn't the first time." Ian's eyes widened like he was shocked at that statement. Skylar chuckled. "Did you think girls don't feel lust the same as boys, Youngin'? Because trust me, we do." She went on her knees and kissed him, placing her hands on the outside of his thighs. She pulled back not half an inch and added, "And we absolutely do not have to wait until we're married. Because if we do, I think it might just kill me."

His jaw dropped when she said that. He tried to respond, but could let out a few stutters, focusing too hard on trying to control the images flashing in his mind again rather than forming words.

She giggled at his reaction and pressed her lips to his again and Ian kissed her back, letting that last bit of what she said fully sink in. He went up on his knees and Skylar followed. He put his hands on the small of her back and pulled her as close into him as he could while she wrapped his arms around his neck.

They continued their kiss very slowly, every movement of their heads and mouths, every breath deepening it and doing nothing to lessen their long suppressed desire. They had made out before with much more fast paced excitement, but this was the most passionate and intimate they had felt with each other since they got together. They felt as though they were getting drunk off the other's lips.

They quickly sobered up however when they heard someone cough. They looked and saw Mary standing very awkwardly a few feet away. They bolted to their feet and put some space between each other. Skylar's face was now as red as Ian's had been before.

"I apologize fer…interruptin'. But yer aunt, sir," Mary said to Ian, "needs ye te bring her medical box te her immediately."

"Is somethin' wrong?" Ian asked.

"One of the slaves has been gravely injured and Mistress Fraser is tryin' te help him. And so she needs her medical box."

Skylar turned to Ian and told him, "Go, now! I'll get Rollo and catch up with you." Ian nodded and ran toward the house, Mary following him.

Skylar looked around for Rollo but didn't see him. She ran around to the front, calling for him, and found him drinking water from the river.

"Rollo! Come here, boy! Come!" Rollo bounded to her and she brought him in through the back door to drop him in the servant's quarters.

CLICK NEXT! ONWARD TO PART 2!