Page 52 of Draped in Plaid
Chapter Sixteen
Emma
Finally.
I sat on the large chair before the hearth in my bedchamber. A candelabra had been lit in place of a fire given the summer months. While the castle could still be drafty at night, I didn’t fear the cold, for Logan would be here with me soon, warming me up.
Saor slept peacefully in his nursery, his nursemaid beside his cradle, shaken but not broken, and a dozen guards watched over them both. Moira had whipped up a nice sleeping draught for the nursemaid, one that would help her to sleep peacefully, without any nightmares at what had occurred.
I’d rocked Saor to sleep, holding his tiny, silky-soft hand until he’d grown heavy, his breathing deep, and then I’d placed him in his cradle and watched him dream for a little while. At that moment, I thought there could be nothing more beautiful in the world than watching my baby sleep. His long lashes fanned over his creamy cheeks. His perfect lips partially opened as he breathed, and a tiny fist up by his face, another stretched wide.
What dreams did he have? Would he have? What type of man would he be?
I smiled into the dim light of my room knowing that whatever the answers were to those questions, he’d be a good man. A man like his father. A leader. A tender heart. A loyal man, to his family, his people, his love. A man free from the enemies we’d fought.
He’d be strong. He’d be smart. He’d be handsome.
And I’d be fine if we buried the time key in a chest within a chest within a tomb within a dungeon within a deep, dark hole. Never to be found again. Lost forever.
With our enemies vanquished, mind’s scraped clean of memory and hundreds of years in the past, there was no one left to destroy our peace. Well, except for the usual rivals of the Highlands.
I smiled. How funny it was to think that a clan raid, or a battle with the English seemed so much less scary than the time traveling hell we’d endured.
I tucked my knees up against my chest, resting my chin on top. Perfectly content in this world that I’d not been born into, but had found my peace within.
The door to my bedchamber opened and Logan ducked through, taller than the frame, his shoulders as wide as the door. His long dark hair was free of his queue, settling around his shoulder in mysterious waves. His dark eyes roved over mine, and his wide, delicious mouth quirked into a grin.
Even now, he still took my breath away.
“Hello, husband,” I said.
“Hello, wife.” His voice was a deep, gravelly burr that always excited me.
“Has Rory returned with Ranulf?”
Logan nodded, coming to join me in a chair before the hearth. I loved to watch him walk, the way his muscles worked. So tall and strong, and yet full of grace.
“Ranulf has been locked in his room, for his own protection, just in case he suddenly remembers his hatred. There are a half dozen guards posted. He knows and seemed fine with it. Rory and Moira have barred themselves within their chamber as has Ewan and Shona.”
I sighed, relaxed. “We are all where we belong.”
“Almost.” Logan crossed one long muscular leg over the other, giving me a glimpse of his thigh beneath his plaid.
“Almost?” I raised a brow in question.
“Well, Rory and Moira will want to return to Castle Dunleod. He’s much to attend to over his clan. Much to repair after his son’s treachery. The elders of his council will likely ask for Ranulf to pay with his life.”
“That will be a tricky situation for him to navigate.”
“Aye. But he’s equipped for the job. At least, in the terms of speaking to his men as equals. Remember, for a long time he lived in the woods as an outlaw.” Logan steepled his fingers, pressing the tips to his mouth, drawing my attention to those kissable lips.
“True,” I said. “But in some respects, doesn’t that make his men resent him?”
Logan shrugged, his own eyes roving over my tucked knees. “Perhaps, if he’d been one of the outlaws stealing from them, but he wasna. Simply a man living on his own.”
“With Shona as his sister.” I vacated my seat in favor of his strong, sturdy lap, settling on his hard, warm thighs. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, toying with the back of his neck. “I’m still amazed at what a small world this is and how interwoven time is with all of our stories. Mayhap with what’s happened with Ranulf, there will be none of this strife with the clan. Perhaps none of them will remember.”
Logan curled a tendril of my hair around his finger. “’Tis rather fascinating.”
