Page 18 of Sutherland's Secret
Brice Sutherland was lying on his side, leaning on his elbow, his head supported by his hand, smiling at her with twinkling eyes. “Good morning to ye.”
She could only stare at Sutherland, a million questions crowding her throat but never to be spoken.
“Ye’re wondering what I’m doing in yer bed, aren’t ye?”
She nodded.
His expression softened. “Every night ye call out in the middle of the night, writhing with horrible nightmares. Ye have since I found ye on the road. The only way to calm ye is to hold ye in my arms.”
Her eyes widened. No wonder she hadn’t been able to sleep when he was gone. He’d been coming to her room every night andsleepingwith her.
“Ah, now. Do no’ look so enraged. Most nights I lay on top of the bedsheets, but last night I must have been so tired, I just climbed right in. I can promise ye that nothing untoward happened.”
She huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes, causing him to chuckle.
“O’ course ye knew that, right?”
She nodded and lowered her gaze.
“I’ll, uh…” He slipped out of bed, and she was relieved to see that he was dressed in his kilt and shirt from the day before. “I’ll be leaving ye now.”
Eleanor stood and rounded the bed until she was before him. He looked down on her, those soft blue eyes so clear.
She opened her mouth to say thank you, but of course no words emerged. She blew out a frustrated breath, wanting to express her thanks. Not many men—none she knew—would have done what Sutherland did. Especially with a woman he barely knew and didn’t trust.
She rose up on her tiptoes and placed a quick kiss on his lips, closing her eyes as their lips touched. A frisson of sparks raced down her back, and she opened her eyes to see that he had not closed his at all but was looking at her with a heat that made her tremble. She dropped down and stepped back.
“Ye’re welcome,” he said in a husky voice.
He walked toward the closed door on the other side of the bedchamber—not the door that led to the hall. She supposed this one opened into his bedchamber. He paused and turned back to her. “I’m sorry, lass, but I’m leaving again today and won’t be back tonight.”
She nodded, although inside she yelled her objection. Part of it was because she didn’t want to face her nightmares alone, but there was another side. She didn’t like when he was gone. There was a hole in her life and in the fabric of castle life when Sutherland was absent.
He left, closing the door silently behind him.
Cecilia entered from the hall door, and Eleanor rushed to her, grabbing her arms. Cecilia pulled back, her eyes widening. “What’s wrong, my lady?”
Eleanor mimed writing on a piece of paper. Cecilia stared at her with brows drawn. “I do no’—”
With a frustrated sound, Eleanor moved her hand across her palm as if writing.
Cecilia’s brows rose. “Oh, ye want paper and a pen?”
Eleanor nodded and pushed Cecilia toward the door. Cecilia dug her heels in, and Eleanor made another frustrated sound.
“Be calm, my lady, I believe there are writing implements in the escritoire right here.”
Eleanor raced to the escritoire and pulled a drawer out so hard that it fell to the floor, along with a quill and a few sheets of paper. She quickly scooped them up, found an inkwell that had a few drops of unhardened ink in it, and wrote. She folded the paper, then motioned for Cecilia to help her dress.
Cecilia chattered while she laced Eleanor into her gown, and all the while Eleanor fidgeted, afraid Sutherland would leave before she could give him her note. As soon as Cecilia finished with the laces, Eleanor bolted out the door. She didn’t have shoes on; nor were her feet bound.
She raced down the steps and out the front door, barely aware that the servants stopped what they were doing to watch her.
—
Sutherland was just about to mount his horse when the lass came flying out of the castle. He dropped back to the ground and watched her make her way to him. For a moment he feared something was terribly wrong, but the look on her face didn’t confirm that.
She stopped in front of him. Her bare toes peeked out from beneath her gown, and her unbound hair fell in unruly waves around her shoulders in a beautiful tangle of golden blond.
