Page 99 of Bride of Fire
Alicia flounced in the bed, biting out, “What kind of nurse can’t keep a babe quiet?”
“What kind of mother—”
Morgan clapped a hand over Jenefer’s mouth just in time. “Go on, now, please. Lady Alicia needs her rest. There will be time later to—” He sucked a sharp breath between his teeth as she clamped down on the tender flesh of his palm.
Forced to release her, he was grateful at least that she didn’t finish what she’d started to say. Not that she needed to. Her expression said everything.
Jenefer was disgusted with Alicia. Disappointed in him. She might go along with his deception for now. But she wasn’t going to play nursemaid forever.
Sucking at his injured flesh, he gave her a nod of understanding.
Then she exited with a final jab meant to bruise. “Come along, lad. We’re not wanted here.”
Morgan stared at the door long after she was gone. When his gaze returned to his wife, who had now shifted under the coverlet to commandeer the entire bed, he couldn’t help wonder if the same could be said of him.
Chapter 45
“Something’s not right with that woman,” Jenefer declared as soon as she returned to the nursery.
Feiyan creased her brows. “Shewasn’tbreathtakingly beautiful?”
“I didn’t notice.”
That was a lie. Jeneferhadnoticed. Beneath the cuts and bruises, Morgan’s wife was lovely. She had cream-pale skin and coal-dark hair, enormous black eyes, and a delicate chin that made her look fey and frail. Next to her, Jenefer had felt like a sun-baked giant.
“So what’s wrong with her?” Feiyan asked.
“She acted as if…” Even though she knew Miles wouldn’t understand her words, it felt wrong speaking in front of him. She tucked the drowsy lad tenderly into his cradle. Then she whispered to Feiyan, “She acted as if she didn’t want Miles.”
“Are you sure ’tisn’t just wishful thinking on your part?”
Jenefer’s eyes went flat. “Nay.” Then she shook her head in wonder. “She wouldn’t even look at him—her own babe.”
Feiyan’s brows popped up. “Truly?”
“’Tis three months now. What mother wouldn’t want to see her child after all that time?”
“Maybe she’s just tired?” Feiyan shrugged. “The Highlander said she’d been treated badly by her captor.”
“Maybe.” But Jenefer thought it was more than that. The woman had seemed almost fearful of the lad.
“I’ve been thinking, Jen,” Feiyan said in low tones, sitting on the edge of the bed. “The return of Lady Alicia may be a good thing.”
“How?” She sat beside her cousin.
“Think about it,” Feiyan confided. “The English lord who took her—he can’t live very far from here, aye?”
She shrugged. “Aye.”
Feiyan lifted a slim brow. “Wouldyouwant to live so close to the man who’d abducted you?”
Jenefer carefully considered the question before responding, “Absolutely.”
“What?” It wasn’t the answer Feiyan expected. “Why?”
Jenefer thought that was fairly obvious. “How else could I exact revenge?”
“Ah, of course.” Then she leaned toward Jenefer to confide, “But you saw the lady. Did she look like the sort of woman to exact revenge?”
