Page 42 of Hunting for a Highlander (Highland Brides 8)

Sighing, Dwyn rolled away from him onto her back, and stared up at the royal blue bed drapes briefly, but then frowned as she became aware of another need that wanted tending. Grimacing, she glanced to Geordie and then sat up and glanced around. Her wrinkled gown was lying on the floor by the tub, as was one of her slippers, but the other slipper was next to the bed, she saw. It was for the wrong foot, but . . .

Shrugging, she leaned off the bed to scoop it up, and pulled it onto her left foot. It didn’t feel quite right, but it was a soft slipper and would do, she decided, and then crawled to the end of the bed and along to the bottom corner closest to the door. Once there, she slid her leg down and got carefully to her foot. She then took a hop, grimacing at the noise she made. Pausing, she glanced back to the bed, but Geordie hadn’t stirred. Letting out a relieved breath, she turned forward and took several hops this time, her hands out and pinwheeling for balance. She’d meant to just take three or four hops and stop to look around and check on Geordie again, but was afraid she’d lose her balance and fall so continued forward, picking up pace as she went in an effort to keep from tumbling forward. Even so she was a couple feet from her chest against the wall holding the door when she did tumble forward.

Fortunately, Dwyn was close enough to catch herself on the edge of the chest. Holding on to it, her body like a board leaning against a low wall, she glanced back to the bed to be sure Geordie still slept, then dragged herself forward to sit on the chest. Dwyn took a minute to regroup then, but finally heaved herself back to her foot and opened the chest.

The gown on top was a royal blue color, much like the drapes of Geordie’s bed. Smiling, she pulled it out, and then grabbed a shift, closed the chest lid and sat on it to draw her naked foot up onto the chest with her so she didn’t accidentally set it in the rushes. Dwyn then set the dress next to her and quickly dragged her shift on. Her sisters had lowered the neckline on her shifts so that she could wear them under the dresses with the lower necklines, but the rose gown was so low she hadn’t been able to wear a shift under it. She was hoping to have better luck with the blue.

Finished with the shift, she shook out her dress in front of her, and then found the bottom and began to drag it over her head. Normally, she would have stepped into it, but she wasn’t trying that on one foot. Tugging it into place so that it gathered on top of the chest behind her and dropped to cover her legs in front, she quickly did up the lacings and then peered down at herself. A thin line of her shift showed, but she pushed that down under the neckline of the gown, and then stood on her foot and looked down again.

“Good enough,” Dwyn muttered, and then realized she’d spoken aloud and glanced toward the bed. Geordie hadn’t moved.

Relaxing, she hopped the couple of feet to the door, one hand against the wall to balance herself as she went, and then opened it and hopped out. Much to her relief, the hall was empty. She could hear talking and laughing from below stairs and supposed everyone was still down at the tables. That made her wonder what time it was, but it was hard to tell. She didn’t even know what time it had been when she’d woken up the first time to find herself fully clothed in Geordie’s arms. If she had to guess, she would have said she thought it had been mid- to late afternoon. The sun had still been up and shining brightly then, and was still up now. Not fully though; while there had been enough light coming through the window to see around the room, it had been the dimmer light of a setting sun. So, she supposed it was probably time for the sup, or shortly after it.

Knowing that was as close as she was going to get to figuring it out on her own, she turned and hopped up the hall to the garderobe, using one hand on the wall to steady herself as she went. Much to her relief, she made it there without encountering anyone or falling over, and then hopped inside to tend to matters. She had come back out and paused by the door to carefully examine the floor to be sure there was nothing that might cut through her slipper or otherwise hurt her when she heard movement ahead of her. Raising her head, she spotted Geordie’s brother Aulay even as he spotted her.

“Dwyn,” he said sharply, and moved quickly toward her, a scowl twisting his scar so that he looked quite ferocious. “What are ye doing out here by yerself, lass?”

“I had to use the garderobe,” she said with an exasperation that was as much at herself for the sudden fear his angry face caused in her, as at him for being short with her.

“Yer foot is no’ bandaged,” he pointed out in a growl.

“Nay, but I—”

“And where the hell is Geordie?” Aulay snarled with annoyance, scooping her off her feet without warning.

“He’s sleeping, but—”

“Sleeping!” he barked. “Well, I shall wake him up, and—”

“Ye will no’!” she snapped, and when he stopped walking to look down at her with amazement, she warned, “M’laird, do ye no’ stop snarling and growling at me like a vicious dog and start listening, I shall do what I do with me Angus and Barra, and put ye on yer side with me teeth at yer throat.”

“Now, I should like to see that.”

Dwyn glanced up the hall at those amused words and flushed as she watched Jetta walk toward them from the stairs. Sighing, she shook her head. “I am sorry. I should no’ have lost me temper like that,” she said to them both, and then turned to peer up at Aulay and added, “But ye should no’ be angry at Geordie. I did no’ wake him. Had I, I’ve no doubt he would ha’e bandaged me up and carried me to the garderobe. And I do no’ want ye to wake him now, because I was rather hoping to speak to ye and me father together anyway, and without him there. I suspect he would interfere if he was awake.”

“Ah,” Jetta said with understanding, and then glanced to her husband. “Should I go fetch her father?”

Aulay was silent for a minute, and then let his breath out and relaxed. “Aye. And Rory too, please, wife. Send them to me study. I shall take Dwyn there. Rory can bandage her foot ere we talk.”

Jetta nodded, and then offered her a reassuring smile before turning to hurry to the stairs.

“Who are Angus and Barra?”

Dwyn tore her gaze away from the departing woman, and met Aulay’s curious gaze. Grimacing then, she admitted, “Me dogs. They’re huge beasts. Deerhound and boarhound mix.”

His eyebrows rose at that, and then he started to walk and asked with amusement, “Do ye really put them on their sides and bite their necks?”

“Aye,” she admitted, and then explained, “They did no’ like to listen much when they were young, at least no’ to me. But they always obeyed their mother, and she used to grab them by the throat and force them to the ground when they misbehaved. I knew they were going to be big dogs, and I’d best get them used to listening to me while still small enough I could handle them, so one day when Angus was being difficult, I grabbed his legs, whipped them out from under him so he landed on his side and then leaned over him and bit his neck. Not hard,” Dwyn added quickly, lest Aulay think her mean. “I just closed my teeth on him firmly, so he knew they were there. He stopped moving at once, but I waited until he relaxed and submitted as he did with his mother, and then let him up.”

“And it worked?” he asked with interest.

“Oh, aye,” she assured him. “Surprisingly well. He started obeying me at once like his mother. So I did it to Barra the very next time he would no’ listen to me and they both became very good dogs.” Dwyn paused briefly, and then admitted, “I do have to pull them to the ground and bite their necks again on occasion when they get rambunctious. But that’s only about once every six months or so now. Thank goodness,” she added with a wry smile. “Because they each weigh more than I do and, do ye stretch them out, are probably taller than me too. But they’re very obedient pups for the most part.”

“Pups?” he asked dubiously.

“They’re not quite three years old now,” she said.

“Hmm,” Aulay murmured, and then asked, “And is that how ye brought Geordie to heel?”

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