Page 25 of The Highlander's Dangerous Bride

“Deadly. Why, ye’ve as good a chance of winnin’ as I have. It seems a fair way

of sorting out the mess ye’ve made by turnin’ up here again, demandin’ tae see the lad.”

She bit her lip, visibly hesitating. At last, looking as though the words had been torn from her, she said, “If that’s what I have tae dae tae see him, then all right, I accept yer wager.”

Arne smiled, but it in no way reflected his actual thoughts and the confused feelings warring inside him. He hated himself for giving her pain, but he also wanted to protect Thorsten and himself from falling into the trap again and then, one day, finding her gone again. “Good. Ye can fetch one of the chess sets from downstairs.”

“All right.” She rose from the bed, slipped on her shoes, and left the room. While she was gone, he cut himself a slice of the fruit tart and ate it. But it tasted like ashes on his tongue, and so he gave up, discarding it. When Raven returned with the chess set, he was brushing the crumbs from his fingers.

He moved the dinner tray aside as she kicked off her shoes and climbed back on the bed. “There ye are,” she said, setting out the board between them.“White or black?” he asked.

“White.” She set the chessmen out in their proper places, the whites at her end, the black at Arne’s. The air seemed to him to crackle with tension.

“Ye can move first,” he told her, because to do so made him feel marginally better about what he was doing.

She moved up one of her pawns, and he did the same with his. They advanced slowly upon each other’s pieces, and he noticed how quickly Raven brought out her big guns, skillfully blocking his projected moves with her knights, bishops, and castles, and most dangerous of all, her queen.

He observed her as she focused on the game. She was biting her lip, her beautiful, elfin face a picture of concentration as she battled him to win. It touched his heart to see how serious she was about winning and seeing Thorsten. He felt his heart melting a little more towards her.

He had not played chess since she had left him. His last game had been their last one together. He had not had the heart to touch the pieces since then because they brought painful memories and thoughts to mind. However, he still found it hard to lose on purpose.

When she checkmated his king, she looked across at him with a puzzled expression. “Ye could have won that, but ye let me lose.”

“Aye, I ken.”

“Why?”

He sighed, praying he was not making a big mistake. “Because every maither deserves tae ken her child.”

CHAPTER TEN

Raven had felt sick when Arne had suggested they play chess for her chance to see Thorsten. But in the end, she could see no way but to accept the challenge he set for her. She figured she owed it to him, and she was determined to win. When she realized he had allowed her to win, she was very confused and her heart had somersaulted in her chest. The urge to embrace him out of love and gratitude had been strong, but she knew it would be a bad mistake, so she held herself back.

They played a few more games of chess, but the atmosphere between them was still very tense. She did not want to do anything to make him change his mind. But when they had finished playing, and she brought him his willow bark tea, he suddenly informed her that he would not be sleeping on the floor that night.

“I need tae rest me leg properly,” he said, back to his gruff demeanor as he took the beaker of medicinal tea from her. “If ye dinnae want tae share the bed with me, then ye’d better sleep in the chair or on the floor. I dinnae care which.”

The pain in Raven’s stomach, which she had thought might be hunger, proved not to be, and it had worsened during the evening. She was in such discomfort, she felt she had no choice but to agree to share the bed with him. She told herself that she would keep apart from him and that he would fall asleep quickly because of the tea.

“I’ll share the bed,” she told him, trying to hide the pain she was in. She left the tray of dinner things outside their door to be collected, and when she returned to the bed, he had snuggled down under the covers.

Trying to ignore the cramps pulling at her insides, she undressed down to her shift and got in beside him but far enough away to make sure they were not touching. Much as she would have liked to snuggle up to his broad back and press her aching belly against his warmth, she knew it was out of the question. He despised her and would push her away. He might even decide she could not see Thorsten.

She lay there for a while, watching the shadows from the firelight dancing on the ceiling, listening to his breathing gradually slowing to a regular rhythm that told her he was asleep. After that, she felt relatively safe, and despite her discomfort, she too dozed off.

However, in the early hours of the dawn, she was awoken by burning cramps in her belly, and she realized what was happening. Her moon cycle was coming. At any moment, she would start to bleed. The thought of having Arne find out she was starting her monthly courses made her hot with embarrassment. They no longer shared that level of intimacy, and he already despised her. She did not want him to be There was no other choice but to get out of bed, use the chamber pot to empty her aching bladder and see if there was any blood, clean up, and find some clean, dry cloths to stem her flow. If she could do all that without waking him, then she thought she would be able to hide it from him.

She listened to his breathing for a few moments, to make sure he really was fast asleep. Then, with a minimum of movement, she slid stealthily to the side of the mattress, intending to slip from beneath the covers. She was just about to put her leg out when a muscular arm came over from behind her and wrapped itself around her waist, pinning her with its weight. He shifted in the bed, pressing the hot length of his body against hers as he held her with ease.

“Where d’ye think ye’re goin? Plannin’ on sneakin’ off in the middle of the night, are ye?” he said, his voice deep and husky with sleep next to her ear. The feel of him and the sound of his voice sent tingles rushing through her. Everything in her wanted to turn around, entwine her body with his, and dissolve into his kisses. It took all her will not to give in.

“Nay, I need tae answer a call of nature,” she whispered, cringing inwardly with shame.

“Then why are ye creepin’ about?”

“I wasnae creepin’ about, I just didnae want tae wake ye.”

“Aye, so ye could sneak off without me kenning, like the last time.”

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