Page 80 of Laird of Smoke
She reached into the satchel with timid hands, as if she trespassed into his secret world.
She pulled out a garment of pale linen and held it up to her face, inhaling the freshly laundered smell, hoping for a trace of Adam’s essence.Then she held it up in the candlelight.
With a startled gasp, she dropped it again.
Braies.
She stared down at the undergarment, lying like a pale flounder on the pallet.
She stifled a giggle.
Was this a spare garment?Or was Adam walking around with no braies?Had he been compelled to ride on a horse without his braies?
This suddenly struck Eve as terribly amusing.And when she thought about what she’d left behind inhersatchel, it became even more hilarious.
Would he have to resort to wearing her leine?Her stockings?Her gowns?
The image of Adam stuffed into her scarlet velvet made her burst into laughter.
“Are ye all right, Sister?”someone called from the cell next door.
“Oh aye, fine.”
But she couldn’t get the grin off her face as she imagined his disgust at what she’d left him.
Eve, on the other hand, found his satchel a treasure trove of possibilities.There were useful tools, exotic weapons, leines and robes, belts and pieces of armor, assorted beards and boots, bottles and casks.
She fell asleep with the gleam of adventure in her eyes and the pair of linen braies nestled against her cheek.
Chapter 13
Aillenn had been taken.That was the only logical conclusion Adam could come to.
His heart clanged against his ribs like the harsh strike of a broken bell.
Someone had stolen his satchel.Perhaps Aillenn had awakened and caught the outlaw in the act.Perhaps he’d decided to steal the lady as well.
How could Adam have dozed through it all?
Riddled with guilt, he raced to the stable.
Both horses were there.If Aillenn had fled of her own accord, she would have taken one of them.
There was no other conclusion to be drawn.She’d been abducted.
Adam felt sick.
He saddled up his horse with trembling fingers and slung Aillenn’s satchel over the saddle, leaving the second animal as payment for the lodging.
Mounting up, he headed for the road, uncertain which direction to go.
Adam had one purpose.He was a protector.He protected those he loved and those who were too weak to protect themselves.
But this time he’d failed.
Worse, he’d failed the person he was beginning to think might be, as his romantic cousin Isabel liked to say, The One.
The idea had begun whispering in his ear long before they consummated their affection.Even before that first kiss, he’d had the sense that Aillenn was special.Unique.Exceptional.
