Page 62 of The Wrong Highlander (Highland Brides 7)

“I can manage on me own,” she said quickly when Geordie started to release the hold he had on Conran. Smiling at the man, she added, “And Rory needs ye to help with Conran.”

When Geordie hesitated, she patted his arm and stood to shuffle to the bed, not leaving him a choice. Evina managed the short walk, but was glad to reach the bed when she did. She was still ridiculously weak. Sitting as she had been, she’d felt fine, but the moment she exerted the least little effort, her strength slid out of her like water out of a tipped bucket. Although she hadn’t seemed to have that problem when she’d urged Conran across the room to the table. She supposed worry and adrenaline had given her strength then.

Sighing, Evina lifted the linens and furs and climbed into bed without removing Saidh’s gown. She hated to do it, but she wasn’t taking it off with Conran and his brothers there. As it was, Evina half expected that she’d be so uncomfortable in the gown that she’d have trouble falling to sleep. She thought she’d lie awake until the two brothers left and she could remove it, but she’d barely slid into her bed, curled up on her side and closed her eyes and she was drifting off to sleep.

Conran woke up abruptly. He wasn’t sure at first what had drawn him from sleep, until something moved against his groin, drawing his attention. Glancing down with confusion, he stared at the furs stacked on top of him and noted that they looked somewhat lumpy. Reaching for the linens and furs, he started to lift them as one and froze as he realized the lump was Evina. She was completely buried under the coverings, even her face hidden where her cheek rested against his chest. The woman was curled around him like a cat, her arm across his chest, and one leg thrown over his hips. She was completely dressed, he saw, but the gown she wore had risen and was tangled around her hips. And while he was in his shirt, which when standing reached past his groin, it too had risen and was presently tangled around his hips as well, leaving his family jewels exposed.

Sighing sleepily, Evina shifted again, her leg sliding across his groin once more, and Conran eased the linen and furs back into place and just laid there. Unmoving. Hardly breathing, as he debated what to do.

He didn’t want to disturb her, but now that he was awake, Conran was becoming aware of several different needs. He was hungry. He was also thirsty, but more importantly, he had a serious need to relieve himself just at that moment. On top of that, the way she kept rubbing up against him was stirring other needs as well.

When Evina murmured sleepily and shifted restlessly against under the coverings, Conran almost groaned, and then couldn’t take it anymore and carefully eased out from under her and the coverings both. He was immediately sorry when the movement sent sharp pain through his shoulder, but didn’t stop until he was out and standing next to the bed.

Conran peered down at the stack of furs then, wondering how Evina could breathe under there. His next thought was to wonder how he had ended up in bed with her. The last thing he recalled was Rory working on the wound on his back at the table by the fire. He had a vague recollection of a discussion about his moving to her room to make way for Dougall and Murine, but thought the suggestion had been for him to sleep on a pallet on the floor. How had he ended up in the bed rather than on a pallet?

Shaking his head over that, Conran turned away from the bed and headed for the door. He needed to use the garderobe quite urgently. Any other questions could be dealt with after that.

Conran found Geordie and Alick outside the door when he opened it. Geordie was sleeping on a pallet across the doorsill, Alick on another in front of him. It made it impossible to get out without stepping on one of them, which he supposed was the point. No one could get in past them either. He was considering retreating into the room to see if there was a chamber pot anywhere when Geordie’s eyes suddenly popped open. Spotting him, his brother immediately sat up.

“Ye’re awake,” Geordie said softly as he got to his feet.

“Aye,” Conran murmured, slipping into the hall and pulling the door closed as Alick rolled over and started to rise as well.

“Ye must be hungry,” Geordie commented. “Ye slept through both the nooning and the sup.”

“Aye,” Conran admitted, but he was already moving past his brothers toward the end of the hall where the garderobe was. “I’ll be right back.”

Leaving them by the door, he hurried away to tend to his needs.

Geordie stood alone outside the door to the bedchamber by the time he returned, and when Conran raised his eyebrows, he explained, “Alick went below to search out some food and drink fer ye.”

Conran grunted at that, and asked, “What happened when Aulay and the Maclean searched the passages again? Did they find the bastard who tried to drown Evina?”

Geordie shook his head. “There was no’ a trace of him in the passage or the clearing.”

“Damn,” Conran breathed with a frown, and then muttered, “Where the hell did he go?”

“The best we could come up with is that he slipped out before the men got to the clearing, or that he managed to hide himself until they gave up and left the area,” Geordie said, and then added, “But Laird Maclean and Aulay went down and locked the outer entrance from inside when they got back. He’ll no’ get back in the keep that way.”

“Well, that’s something anyway,” Conran murmured, and then asked, “Did he have any idea who it might be?”

“They all seem to be going with the idea that ’twas the bandit who got away after attacking ye and Evina outside the bailey,” Geordie said with a shrug.

“Aye, but why?” Conran asked grimly. “Bandits generally stick to attacking travelers or people caught outside the gates. They don’t take the risk of following their victims in the castle. And if they did get in the castle, you’d think they’d steal something and sneak back out, no’ try to drown the lady of the house and leave empty-handed.”

“That’s true,” Geordie agreed, a frown now curving his lips too. “’Tis odd behavior at best.”

“Aye,” Conran murmured. They were both silent for a moment, considering that, and then Conran asked, “How did I end up in Evina’s bed? I thought I was to take a pallet in her room?”

“Ye were awake for that part, were ye?” Geordie asked with amusement, and then explained, “There was no pallet there when Rory finished working on you. No one thought to bring one up. The bed was big, and Evina wasn’t taking up more than a quarter of the one side, so we just put yer shirt back on ye and tucked ye in on the other side.”

Conran arched an eyebrow. “Does Laird Maclean ken?”

“Aye,” Geordie assured him. “He was pleased to ken ye’re in there in case of another attack.”

A footfall caught his ear then and Conran glanced toward the stairs to see Alick just stepping onto the landing carrying a tray of food and drink. It looked to be enough for two, he noted.

As they watched him approach, Geordie murmured, “Aulay said to tell ye that Dougall and Murine arrived today in case ye hadn’t heard that. He also said to tell ye that he expects Niels and Edith to arrive tomorrow, so he hopes ye’ve completed that project ye were working on.”

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