Page 42 of Love Beyond Time
“But I swear to God, Eoin. If you look at anything but that sticker, I’m going to give you a swift kick in the balls. Do you understand me?”
“Aye, lass. I give ye me word! Now turn around and bend over.”
As soon as she turned away from him, he let go of the tight rein he’d been trying to keep on the corners of his mouth and gladly let them slide upward as he grinned at her white rear end, beaming in the moonlight.
The sticker was easily visible and, with one swift pull, he dislodged it, flinging it onto the ground.
“Alright, lass, ye can let yer dress down now, even though I’ll be sorry to see ye do it. Now, let’s get back on Griffin and make our way to see yer da!”
* * *
I’d never been more humiliated in my entire life. Not only did I get a giant sticker stuck in my ass crack while peeing in the middle of a forest, I had to have the most beautiful man I’d ever seen pluck it out.
At least, it would be easier to keep him in the friend zone now.
We’d just arrived at the castle, and Eoin was handing Griffin off to the stable master, when what I could only assume was my ‘dad’ burst through the large main doors of the castle.
“Blaire! Ach, I’m so pleased to see ye, lass! I doona like not having ye here by my side.” Mary was right about his screaming, and as he picked me up around the middle and swung me in a circle, I was sure my eardrums would burst.
When he sat me down and stepped toward Eoin, I nearly choked on my own spit when I got a good look at his face. No wonder Blaire and I resembled one another so strongly. He looked exactly like my own father. Same dark hair, same blue eyes, same small, circular patch of gray which stood out among his otherwise ebony-colored hair.
I had to blink quickly, swallowing hard to fight back the tears that threatened to break loose at the sense of overwhelming nostalgia. While my parents had divorced when I was young, I’d stayed incredibly close to my Dad up until his death only three years ago.
It turned out that I’d no real reason to worry about fooling Donal. He gave me little time to speak or respond to him in any way, immediately jumping into a conversation with Eoin and ushering us inside for supper.
As we sat down at the grand dining room table, I sat sipping on the glass of ale I’d been given and listened to the two men converse.
* * *
As he’d expected, Donal had immediately consented to bring all of his men to Conall Castle to help with their defense on December twenty-sixth, two days before the expected attack. In fact the agreement had been made before the first course was laid out, and the rest of the evening passed easily as the two men reminisced about his father and years past.
Eoin had known Bri had no reason to worry. Donal did not converse easily with women, and he’d have little to say to his daughter, despite his claims of how much he’d missed her.
Worry about Bri filled him. As Eoin glanced in her direction, he tried to cast a frown at the servant who was silently refilling her goblet for at least the sixth time. Bri’s eyes were visibly glazed, and she looked unsteady as she rested her chin against the hand she’d propped on top of the table. She’d said nothing throughout the meal, and with the amount she’d now drunk he greatly hoped she would continue to stay silent now.
He’d never seen her drink more than one cup-full during meals, but then again, Mary never allowed any of them more than that. Mary always said that Arran did a fine job of finding drink on his own. She wasn’t going to aid him in his task.
A large belch from Bri’s end of the table was enough to make him certain it was time for him to make his excuses and take her away to their shared bedchamber. He could only hope no one else had heard the location of the unladylike sound.
Raising his voice so that Donal would hear, Eoin stood from the table. “I find myself weary from the long day’s travel, Donal. If it pleases ye, I believe I will take my wife upstairs so that we may retire for the evening.”
His old friend stood and clasped him on the shoulders. “Aye, o’ course! It was wrong of me to keep ye so late after the long ride. We will talk more tomorrow. Would ye accompany me on a hunt?”
Eoin smiled and nodded as he walked to Bri’s side. “Aye! I shall look forward to it.”
He bent to place his hand under her arm and help steady her as he pulled her up out of her seat.
“Goodnight, daughter. I’m glad to have ye home, if only for a short time.” Donal stood waiting for Bri’s response, and Eoin bent to whisper in Bri’s ear.
“Tell him, goodnight. Doona say anything else.”
“Goodnight.” She smiled sloppily, and Eoin found himself glad that the old man’s sight wasn’t much better than his hearing as he watched him turn and leave the room.
“God, lass! What the hell do ye think ye’re doing? I’ve no had that much to drink since I was a young lad.” He took one step away from her, but quickly reached to grab her once more as she swayed on her feet.
“What are you talking . . . ?”
She left off the end of her sentence, but Eoin understood her meaning well enough. “Ye are mighty drunk, Bri. Ye have no stopped drinking since we sat down to eat!”
