Harry laughed and slowly ushered us out into the hallway.
“Doona be sorry, lad. Ye did what any good brother would do. Ye both need to rest after such a scare. We will see all of this settled come morning.”
Marcus nodded and turned to lead me away.
We both knew we were done sleeping for the night.
Chapter 14
Raudrich didn’t know if he’d ever been in such pain before. There was no part of him that didn’t ache dreadfully. He didn’t care at all. He would gladly accept such pain forever for the blessing it had brought him.
He could see. Not as well as he once had, but so much better than the day before. The man to his left was more than a blurry blob. If he strained and looked past the swollen knob between his eyes, he could see that it was Maddock.
“What are ye smiling for? Ye really dinna need anything to make ye any uglier. Yer nose was large to begin with. It will be even larger when this heals.”
Raudrich laughed but stopped abruptly at the sharp pain that shot through his side in response.
“I can see ye. Ye canna know how happy that makes me.”
Maddock’s brows pulled together in confusion and Raudrich delighted in the fact that he could see the gesture.
“What do ye mean? Marcus hit ye in the nose, he dinna poke yer eyes out.”
“I’ll tell ye all about it in a bit. First, I need one of ye to explain to me what happened last night. Who is the man that did this to me, and why did he wish to kill me?”
The entire night was a blur to him. It had been one of the happiest night’s sleep of his life. He rarely dreamt of anything, but last night—on his first night home in far too long—he’d dreamt of a woman. Naked and pressed against him, he held her warm breast in his hand as her silky leg rubbed against his manhood, stirring him to arousal. It had all ended much too abruptly as Paton kicked him from the bed. The next thing he knew there was an angry voice in his ear and a fist flying toward his face. Then, everything went dark again.
Maddock shrugged.
“I doona have any idea. Harry willna tell me anything. I doona believe Nicol, Calder, or Paton even know ye are back yet. Harry woke me…”
Raudrich held his hand up to stop him.
“What do ye mean Paton doesna know I’m back yet? Was it not he that I found in my room last night?”
Maddock’s eyes widened in understanding.
“Ach, no wonder he broke yer nose. Ye thought Paton was in yer bed?”
An uncomfortable sense of dread began to creep up his spine.
“Aye, ’tis what I said. ’Twas it not?”
Maddock started to grin.
“And ye crawled in bed with him?”
Raudrich nodded, his frustration growing.
“Aye. I was exhausted from the journey. I knew if I woke him, he’d wake the rest of ye and then I wouldna get to sleep until dawn.”
Maddock shook his head and Raudrich could see he was suppressing laughter.
“Paton wasna in yer room last night.”
“Then who the hell was?”
“Laurel.”
Raudrich’s body flooded with heat and horror. Was it possible that he’d not been dreaming? Had there truly been a lassie in his bed? Surely all that he’d felt—her skin, her breasts—it couldn’t have been real? But if it was…had it been his doing or hers?
“Who is Laurel?”
“What do ye mean, who is Laurel? Ye’ve known her since ye were a child. She came all this way to see ye, though I doona believe she expected the greeting ye gave her.”
He knew no one by the name of Laurel, but there were greater things on his mind.
“Is this Marcus her husband? Is that why he attacked me? He entered to find us asleep next to each other in the bed? I swear I thought ’twas Paton.”
“Marcus is her brother, though not by blood.”
The door to his room slowly creaked open as Harry stepped inside.
“Thank God, Harry. Ye were here last night, were ye not? Tell me what happened. Doona spare me anything.”
Harry leaned over the bed and gave his leg a quick pat.
“Doona worry, Raudrich. All is well. The lass understands what happened and she isna angry with ye. She says that ye dinna touch her. She woke in the night to see ye lying on the other side of the bed and it gave her quite the fright. Ye can thank her for yer broken ribs. I just had Quinn ready a bath for her, but she’d like to speak to ye a bit later if ye doona mind. She’s worried ye might be angry with her.”
Angry with her? Her assumption made no sense to him. It was he who had crawled into bed with a naked woman and given her what must’ve been one of the greatest frights of her life. Accident or not, he owed the lass an apology.
“O’course I doona mind, but tell the lass I’m not angry with her. How could I be?”
Harry shrugged and turned to leave.
“I know. I told her that ’twas she who should be angry, but more than anything, I believe she is embarrassed.”
“And she told ye that she knows me?”
Before answering him, Harry asked Maddock to bring him up some breakfast. The moment Maddock was gone, he leaned in close.
“Aye, though ’tis not true. Calder and I could tell straight away the moment we found her and Marcus out in our stables. She called ye the wrong name twice. She knows of ye, but I doona believe the two of ye have ever met. I thought it best to let the other men believe otherwise. Ye know most of them believe women to be a curse in this castle. If they thought her a stranger, they wouldna let her stay here. Because they believe she knows ye, they permitted it without question.”
His curiosity for this woman grew with each new thing he learned about her.
“Ye found her in the stables? How did she get past the gate?”
“I doona know. It confounds me, though I doona believe she brings ill will. I quite like the lass, actually. Though, she has her secrets to be sure. I thought I would have time to try and learn them, but ’twas only yesterday morning that I found her.”
“And what of Calder? He canna be pleased with this.”
“He’s not. But he willna say anything to the other men. He has his own secret that I keep for him.”
Raudrich knew better than to ask.
“How bad does my face look, Harry?”
“I willna lie to ye. Ye look foul.”
Harry turned to leave but called back to him as he left.
“I canna believe ye had a naked woman in yer bed and dinna know it. That must have been some journey. I doona believe I could ever be so tired.”
Chapter 15
“Marcus…”
“Yes, Laurel?”
Marcus was sitting on the floor, his back against the side of the bed so that I was entirely shielded from his view as I bathed. He didn’t want to be forced to answer questions about last night alone and I didn’t want to be alone. I had to spill my secret shame to someone or I feared I would burst.
“I did a bad thing. A very bad thing.”
“What could you have possibly done?”
He didn’t sound like he believed me at all.
“You remember how I said that when I woke up, Raudrich and I were both on separate sides of the bed?”
“Yes. What about it?”
Thoroughly clean and freezing—the water had cooled quickly—I stepped out of the tub, dried myself off, and slipped back into my dress.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly true.”
“What?” Marcus flew off the floor and I had to run to block him from charging out the door.
“Hang on. Let me explain.”
He was shaking again.
“What’s there to explain? He either touched you or he didn’t. Last night, you said he didn’t. Now, you say he did. I’m back to wanting to kill him.”
“Don’t jump to a conclusion. There’s a lot to explain, actually. You see,” I couldn’t even look at him while I said it. I stared down at my bare feet. “When I
woke up, I was in his arms, my head on his chest, my legs intertwined with his. It was…intimate.”
I glanced up at Marcus to gauge his reaction. He looked like he was about to blow a gasket. I held up a hand to stop him.
“Hang on. Let me finish. You see, I had a very interesting dream last night. At least, I thought it was a dream until I woke up in Raudrich’s arms. Initially, I freaked out, which you already know. But what you don’t know is that as I stood there watching you and Harry hash this out, I remembered something from the beginning of what I thought was a dream. Raudrich didn’t initiate contact with me. I was the one who rolled over in the bed and snuggled into him. I touched him. He didn’t touch me.”
Marcus stepped back and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.” I threw my hands up to cover my face. “I know I was sleeping, but still…I shamelessly felt him up. I even…” I hesitated and then lowered my voice as if I were worried the stone walls wouldn’t keep my voice inside, “aroused him. Then I freaked out and broke his ribs.”
A smile slowly spread across Marcus’ face as he silently crossed his arms and stared at me.
I dramatically slid down to the floor. “Why are you smiling?”
“You think this man will be angry about this?”
“Of course, he is.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I’ll admit that I’m sure he’s not too pleased about the cracked ribs, but if you think he’s upset you rubbed yourself against him, you know nothing about men. Besides, he was asleep until you kicked him off the bed. He may not even remember that you touched him.”
That was true. Perhaps, I could get away with pretending nothing happened.
“You think?”
“Just go talk to him and say nothing to him about your sleep-induced fondling. Do you mean to apologize to him?”
An apology had never crossed my mind. I was embarrassed and felt guilty for what I’d done to him in my sleep, but I wasn’t sorry. Accident or not, my reaction had been perfectly reasonable. What woman wouldn’t have reacted in much the same way?
“No. I’m not going to apologize for kicking a man that crawled into bed with me while I was sleeping. I just need to talk to him. We both do, really, but I think it best if I visit with him alone first. I’m going to tell him what Morna told us to. And then we’ll just,” I shrugged, “see how he responds.”
*
It was midday before the string of men stopped entering and exiting Raudrich’s room on an endless rotation. Each of the men seemed anxious to visit with their friend who had been away for so long. I was also sure they all wanted to know exactly what happened last night. It was fine with me if they visited with him all day. I wasn’t really looking forward to the awkward conversation.
After more than an hour of creepily hanging out in the hallway outside of his room, I finally worked up the nerve to knock. His response was immediate.
“Come in.”
His voice sounded weary, and for a moment, I wondered if perhaps I should wait until another day to speak with him. He had to be exhausted, and there was no question that he was in pain.
Hesitantly, I stepped inside and said nothing for a few seconds as I looked him over. Even with his swollen nose and face, I could see that he was handsome. He sat propped up on the bed, with fabric wrapped tightly around his chest to help stabilize his ribs.
“Hi.” I gave him a little wave, but stayed standing in the doorway. “I know you’ve had visitors all morning. I can come back later, or even tomorrow, if you’d rather.”
He shook his head and waved me toward him.
“Nonsense, lass. I’ve been waiting for ye all morning. Do ye mind coming a little closer so I might tell ye how sorry I am, and so that I can properly see ye. Ye look like little more than a ghost from there.”
I cocked my head to the side in confusion. The distance between us wasn’t far at all. It couldn’t be more than ten feet. Had Marcus truly hit him so hard, or was the man’s vision naturally weak?
“Of course. It…it’s not the injury that is making it difficult for you to see, is it?”
A chair sat right next to his bed, left there by the last man to visit with him. Following his gesture toward it, I took my seat next to him.
“No, though my nose is swollen enough that I do see more of it than anything else at the moment. I’ve been nearly blind for many weeks now. ’Tis healing though, now that I’m home.”
That made absolutely no sense to me. I’d never heard of someone’s vision improving based on location, but I said nothing of it. There were lots of things about the last few days that defied reasonable logic.
I decided it was best to start off with a proper introduction. I extended my hand.
“I’m Laurel.”
He took it, and as he gripped my hand, I couldn’t help but remember the way that same hand had felt cupped around my breast. My cheeks warmed at the thought, and I was certain my cheeks blushed. Thankfully, by the way he was squinting at me, I didn’t think he could see it.
“I’m Raudrich.” Releasing my hand, he began to apologize as I relaxed into the seat.
“Lass, I canna begin to tell ye how sorry I am for frightening ye last night. I promise ye, had I known that a lass was in my bed, I wouldna have entered it uninvited. As I told ye before, my vision is poor and at night, I canna see a thing. I did hear someone inside when I entered, but I truly thought it was Paton. I’ve been away from here for sometime. I thought perhaps he had decided to make himself at home in my chambers while I was away. If ye knew what his own room looks like, ye would understand why. In hindsight, I know that I should’ve awakened him to check, but we doona ever have lassies here. ’Tis a shock to me that Harry allowed ye entry. Ye must have charmed him more than ye know. I never dreamed that the person in my bed was someone I dinna know. I am sorry, lass.”
His tone was remorseful, and I knew looking into his eyes that he meant every word. If I hadn’t already been convinced of his innocence, his speech would’ve done the job.
“I know. There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”
He started to interrupt me, but as he leaned forward, the muscles across his chest tightened and he groaned at the sharp pain that ran through him. Taking in a pained breath, he leaned back into the pillows before speaking.
“There is much reason for me to be sorry. ’Tis bad enough that I entered the bed as ye slept. ’Tis another wrong entirely that I pulled ye against me. I swear to ye, I did so unconsciously in my sleep.”
My breath caught uncomfortably. He did remember, then. Asleep or not, he was aware of the way we’d touched. In an uncomfortable panic, I set out to make him think otherwise.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You didn’t pull me against you.”
He smiled sympathetically.
“Lass, ye owe me nothing. Ye doona need to attempt to make me feel less guilty. I know I held ye in my arms.”
“I’m not trying to make you feel anything. Our handshake was the first time we ever touched. When I woke up, I was on one side of the bed and you were on the other.”
He didn’t appear to believe me, but I could see by the way he started to speak but then bit his lower lip that he’d decided not to argue with me.
“If that is the way ye remember last night, I am glad of it, for I dinna care for the way I felt about myself this morning. The thought that I frightened ye or made ye feel unsafe wounded me greatly. I’m glad that we may put all that happened last night behind us.”
I smiled and crossed my arms as I leaned back in the chair. With that discussion out of the way, I felt much more comfortable.
“Me, too.”
He nodded in agreement and then took a deep breath before speaking once more. His tone this time was more direct, and far less friendly.
“Now, lass, forgive me for being so blunt, but why did ye lie to Harry? I doona know ye. I know with certainty I’ve never seen y
e before in my life. So what are ye doing here, and how do ye know my real name?”
So much for being comfortable.
Chapter 16
Raudrich watched Laurel closely as she shifted in the seat. She was beautiful. With blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders and thick, dark brows that framed icy blue eyes—even blurry—she was more attractive than he imagined she would be. It made his dreamlike memories of the night before come to life in a way that made it impossible to deny what had happened.
He’d not been dreaming. When the lass had woken, she’d not been on the other side of the bed. Why then, did she wish to pretend that nothing had happened? He believed her when she said she wasn’t trying to ease his guilt. What then wasn’t she telling him?
There were so many things he wanted to ask her, but he thought it best to start with the most pertinent question. They all needed to know why she was here.
“Why…why am I here? Would you believe me if I told you that I’m not quite sure?”
He shifted and then cried out as the pain in his side ricocheted down his body. His damn ribs were going to be a problem. He didn’t have time to lay in bed while they healed. He would have to call on the other men to use power they truly didn’t have to spare to heal him. There was so much they all needed to do to protect their home and people now that Timothy was gone.
Before he knew it, Laurel’s hands were on him. Gently she leaned toward him, placing her arms underneath his. Her movement was so intuitive, so natural, that he didn’t question it as she spoke gently near his ear. The feel of her breath against his neck sent shivers down his spine.
“Here.” She lifted him off the pillows, as she reached behind him to adjust them. “That doesn’t look like the best position for those ribs.” After a few moments of maneuvering, she released her grip and encouraged him to relax. “See if that is any better.”
It was. He sighed as he relaxed into the greater support that was now built up behind his back.
“Aye, thank ye.”
Smiling, she resumed her seat next to him.
“You’re welcome. I’m sure you were about to tell me no—that you wouldn’t believe me.”
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