Page 17 of Sutherland's Secret
She pointed at him, then put her hands together as if in prayer and leaned her cheek against her hands.
His bright blue eyes twinkled. “Are ye telling me to go to sleep, lass?”
She nodded and grinned. The twinkle in his eyes faded. He looked at her so seriously that she stopped grinning and her stomach clenched in apprehension.
“What am I to do with ye?” he whispered.
She looked down at the ground. He couldn’t have known that those were her thoughts as well. It was frightening, having nowhere to go and no one to go to. She felt so alone in this world she knew nothing about.
She touched his arm and pointed up the stairs, then used her sign for sleep.
He chuckled. “Aye, I believe ye’re right in that, at least. I’m powerfully tired.” He looked at her again, the silence between them palpable. “Go back outside and enjoy the sunshine. Ye look like ye haven’t seen it in a long while.”
She watched him walk up the steps, then she turned back to the door and headed out into the sunshine, contemplating a future that looked very bleak, indeed.
Chapter 8
In his chambers, Brice unbuckled his scabbard and dropped his broadsword next to the bed. He stretched again. Every muscle ached, and he looked longingly at the bed. What he wouldn’t give to fall into it right now. But he had one more thing to do before sleep could claim him.
“Ye called for me, my lord?”
“Come in, Angus.” Brice turned to the man who was in charge of the castle when he was gone. Angus had been a fierce warrior in his day, but an old injury had incapacitated him. He was not able to ride long distances, but he was very well suited to his present position.
Angus stood with his hands clasped behind his back, causing Brice to smile. “You can relax, Angus. I trust everything went well in my absence?”
“Aye, my lord. Nothing to report.”
“What about the woman?” Brice was conflicted when it came to the lass. He was attracted to her. It was too powerful for him to deny. The grin she’d bestowed on him down in the great hall had weakened his knees. And the crude form of sign language she’d used had warmed his heart. She was willing to converse with him in her own way, and that cheered him. At the same time, he wasn’t willing to completely trust her. She was English, he knew, though he hadn’t proved it yet. And until he learned who she was and why she’d been on that road for him to find, he would remain cautious. So he’d had Angus keep an eye on her, and Cecilia had orders to report anything suspicious to either him or Angus.
“She remained in her chambers most of the time, my lord. Occasionally she ventured to the great hall but never partook in meals with us. Today Hannah managed to coax her out to eat.”
Brice hesitated to voice his next question, but he had to know. “And at night?” Angus had been ordered to put a guard on her door at night.
“If she slept, it wasn’t much. She was heard to roam the rooms at night. Sometimes the guards could hear her…” Angus looked away as color crept into his creased face. “Weeping.”
So her nightmares continued. Sutherland felt guilt for not being there to soothe her. However, he couldn’t run back to the castle every night to hold the lass in his arms—much as that thought appealed to him.
“Thank you, Angus.”
Angus hesitated. “Should I keep a guard on her tonight as well, my lord?” Though his expression was neutral, Brice got the impression that Angus knew Brice would go to her on the nights when he was home.
“Yes, please.”
Angus nodded and left. Brice fell on the bed and was fast asleep before his head hit the pillow.
He was awakened by a scream and was up and heading toward the lass’s chambers before he knew what was happening. The guard looked torn about whether to enter. Brice waved him away and strode in. He knew what he would find, and he was correct. She was writhing on the bed, her mouth open but no sound escaping other than a garbled moan. Brice, still half asleep, lifted the covers and crawled into bed beside her to take her in his arms.
She calmed immediately and snuggled to his chest, her nose pressing against his nipple. In the back of his mind, before sleep claimed him again, he marveled that it was the middle of the night and he’d slept all day.
—
When Eleanor awoke, she was warmer than she had been in a long while; in fact, she was almost hot. It was a wonderful feeling. She also felt rested and was pleased that she hadn’t had another nightmare. She wasn’t certain she could have handled another night of roaming the rooms in order to avoid sleep.
She kept her eyes closed, stretching her legs, arching her feet. She groaned at the exquisite feeling of lying on a feather mattress under a pile of heavy blankets with a soft pillow under her head. Except the pillow wasn’t as soft as she remembered it to be. It was quite hard, but oh so warm.
She opened her eyes and screeched, jumping out of bed so fast that the bedsheets twisted around her legs and she went crashing to the floor.
She lay there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling, while beside her the bed ropes squeaked. She scrambled to her knees and peered over the edge of the bed. Her heart nearly faltered.
