Page 24 of Love Beyond Words
There was a man in my bed, and I was naked.
Shrieking, I raised and scooted to the edge of the bed, bringing my knees back until I kicked him in the side with so much force that he landed on the floor with a loud thud.
I continued to scream, then remembering that Marcus was only a room away, I began to call for him as I scuttled off the bed and pulled the mound of blankets onto the floor with me to cover myself.
The man I’d pushed to the floor began to scream, too. Not the same loud, panicked scream I was emitting, but a deep cry of pain and confusion.
The door to the bedchamber burst open. As I heard Marcus call out to me, I stopped screaming. If he was here, I was safe. I trusted Marcus with my life.
“Laurel! What’s happening? Are you okay?”
Shaking, I stood and wrapped the blankets around me and held them tight with my arms.
“I woke to find one of them,” I paused and pointed to the stranger who was now lifting himself off the floor, “in my bed.”
In between groans, my assailant spoke.
“Paton, ye sound like a lassie. Why in God’s name did ye kick me? Ye’ve broken at least one rib, I’m sure of it. And ye woke me from the bonniest dream.”
Completely baffled, I walked around the edge of the bed to look down at him. His voice didn’t match that of any of the men we’d met at dinner, and I couldn’t deny that he sounded genuinely confused.
Just as he tried to stand, Marcus moved from the doorway and shoved him back to the ground.
“You stay right there, you son of a bitch, or I’ll kill you.”
I’d never heard Marcus so angry.
“Broken rib or not, I’d like to see ye try, lad.” Pushing Marcus back with surprisingly little effort, the man did manage to stand. “Who the hell are ye, and what in the name of God is going on?”
Marcus held a lantern in his left hand and shoved it toward me just as he threw his right fist into the man’s nose. The crack of it made my own nose hurt. There was no way it wasn’t broken.
The impact sent the man tumbling backwards as the back of his head cracked against the stone wall a few feet behind him.
Just as the man crumpled to the ground, Harry, Ludo, and Quinn appeared in the doorway, each with a candle in hand.
Harry took one look at me and then at the man lying unconscious on the floor and quickly turned toward Marcus.
“Lad, I doona know what happened here, but I’m certain ’tis not how it appears. Take Laurel to yer room and tend to her. My men and I will tend to Raudrich, and I assure ye we will get to the truth of what happened here. If I am wrong about his character—if he did intend the lassie harm—ye can rest assured that we will see him duly punished for his crime.”
Marcus was trembling with rage.
“Of course he meant her harm. He crawled into bed with her while she was sleeping. What else could he have meant?”
Harry’s tone was sympathetic but he remained calm as he pointed to the unconscious man Quinn and Ludo were now lifting off the floor.
“He dinna know the two of ye were here, and ’tis his room that Laurel was sleeping in. Perhaps, he dinna know she was inside when he crawled in bed.”
With the adrenaline slowing wearing off, I was able to think more clearly. I wasn’t all that hard of a sleeper. If he’d tried to hurt me, I would’ve woken much sooner. And as loathe as I was to admit it, I could recall the beginning of my “dream,” where I’d rolled toward him and slipped into the space between his arm and chest.
Gently, I stepped between Marcus and Harry and placed a light hand on Marcus’ arm.
“I think he’s right, Marcus. He didn’t hurt me. It just scared me to death when I woke up and saw him. I thought…I thought I was dreaming. I truly do think this was just all a big mistake.”
Marcus let out a breath that made me throw my arms around him in comfort. I knew what it felt like to be so worried for someone that when you learn they’re okay, breath that you didn’t even know you were holding comes out so quickly that it’s hard to stay standing. It was the same way I’d felt when Mom had told me that Kate had woken from her coma.
His arms came around me quickly, holding the blankets up around me.
“Are you certain, Laurel? He didn’t touch you? Didn’t put his hands on you?”
