If this is who Maude has to talk to, I don’t blame her. My sister is horrid. I’ve told her to mind what she says at court. She never knows who might be listening.
As if to prove his point, something moved in the shadows on the other side of the doors. Kieran peered through the dark, but it was impossible to see who lurked there. He heard whoever it was draw in a ragged breath. It was too loud in the Great Hall for anyone to hear it, but it seemed to echo in the still air outside. Kieran changed course while he was still invisible to the gossiping ladies. He approached on silent feet and attempted to discover who stood eavesdropping. As he approached, the first thing he noticed was that it was a woman. As he drew closer, his breeks tightened at the lush form. He hated wearing the pants but acquiesced to courtly standards of dress. His breacan feile, or great plaid, would be more comfortable as his rod continued to swell. He hadn’t had this reaction to Lady Bevan when he met her in the gardens only minutes ago. The woman was attractive and lusty, but her body looked like a twig compared to the woman in front of him. He couldn’t see her face, but lust and curiosity drove him forward.
“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping. Curiosity killed the cat,” Kieran whispered. He didn’t miss the hypocrisy of his own statement, but he was too intrigued to ignore the young woman.
The woman gasped and spun around. She seemed about to take a step back but remembered doing so would put her in the doorway's light, where the women would catch her. Kieran realized that she had the most incredible bosom he had even seen, one which heaved because she was sobbing. It took little deduction to realize he must be staring at the unfortunate Maude. Without a clue what possessed him, he pulled Maude into his embrace and sheltered her against his chest. She attempted to pull away just as she should, but she settled as he caressed her head.
“Shh, lass. They’ll see or hear us,” he murmured against her ear.
Maude nodded and allowed her body to relax against this strange man. She hadn’t sensed his approach and nearly screamed when she realized she was no longer alone. When the man pulled her into his arms, she had a moment of terror that he would accost her, but his gentleness reminded her of her father, though nothing about how he made her feel was like her father. His steady heartbeat thudded against her ear, and his fresh scent of sandalwood and pine made her think of home, a place she would much rather have been than at court.
Kieran discovered his error within a heartbeat of embracing Maude. His cockstand was rampant, and he feared she would feel it and go running for the hills screaming bloody murder. He kept his hips away from her and prayed the thick material of her kirtle would serve as a buffer. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to release her. Her arms were tentative as they wound around his waist. Her frame was rigid until he whispered to her again, and then she melted against his chest. His heart broke all over again as he realized how what he thought of as a simple embrace comforted her. He likened her to an abandoned kitten brought in from the rain. He wondered what it would take to make her purr.
“Wheest, buttercup. I’m here. Don’t cry. They aren’t worth the salt in your tears. Don’t listen to those harpies,” he crooned. She rewarded him with a small nod of her head. One hand continued to stroke her hair as the other ran circles over her back.
“Her father will have to buy her a husband,” Laurel’s voice floated to them. “What mon would pick her?”
Maude went still, the breath in her lungs stuck. Fresh tears threatened to fall as the conversation continued inside. The stranger’s arms tightened around her, and she burrowed her face into his chest as though she might tunnel her way to escape. She noticed his breath catch, and it did little to reassure her.
“They called Elizabeth Fraser a spinster, but at least she was beautiful. The real spinster will be Maude. She’ll be on the shelf if her father doesn’t bribe someone to take her off his hands,” Madeline sneered, and if Kieran hadn’t been unwilling to unwrap his arms around the trembling woman, he would have wrapped them around his sister’s throat. “Maude on the shelf. That’s what we shall call her. Maude on the shelf.”
Kieran cringed as the other two heartily agreed. He understood how the ladies-in-waiting could be. His sister had been one for three years, and to his great misfortune, he had to visit court more often than he would like. Kieran was aware the new epithet would spread and be on everyone’s lips by morning.
“Maude,” a woman’s voice hissed. “Maude, where are you?”
The jerk of Maude’s head was so unexpected it snapped Kieran’s jaw closed. He’d been leaning his head down as he whispered to her and was unprepared for her sudden movement. He stifled a curse as Maude pulled away. Even in the dim light, he could see her eyes widen.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I must go. Thank--”
Maude froze when Arabella stepped near them. Maude couldn’t see the man’s face, but she was certain Arabella had seen them embracing. After all, his arms were around her waist, but as Arabella drew closer, Kieran shifted so his larger frame partially hid her.
He’s trying to protect me.
Maude tapped his arm and nodded when he looked down at her.
“It’s all right. She’s my friend.” Maude stepped around him and stumbled as Arabella grasped her hands and dragged her away from the doorway into the light of a wall sconce burning at the end of the terrace. She was certain she looked a fright when Arabella gasped.
“Why’re you crying? What happened? What did he do?” Arabella demanded. She glared at the shadowy figure who followed them.
“Hedidn’t do aught other than offer me a moment of sympathy.”
“Sympathy for what? Why was he embracing you? And you still haven’t told me why you’re crying.”
“I overheard something I wasn’t intended to, and it saddened me. He heard, too, and comforted me when he found me upset. Naught more.”
Kieran listened to the two women, and his heart slowed when he was confident Maude wouldn’t accuse him of any untoward behavior. However, he couldn’t agree with her summation that there was nothing more. There had been plenty more for him, and his semi-aroused rod agreed. He’d never enjoyed holding a woman more than he did Maude. He regretted that his sister and her friends upset her, but his arms ached to encircle her again. She felt perfect.
“Maude, what did you overhear?” Arabella’s voice softened, and Maude wanted to cry yet again. She hated the pity that colored Arabella’s voice.
“I don’t want to talk aboot it. At least not right now and not here.” The other women humiliated Maude enough without having to repeat everything so her unknown protector could hear her shame again.
Arabella pulled Maude into her arms, and while her friend’s embrace comforted her, it wasn’t the same as the one she had received in the dark.
“You haven’t introduced yourself,” Arabella squinted at the hulking figure. She hadn’t realized the man was so large until he stepped into the light. His face seemed familiar. Maude turned to face her mystery protector and couldn’t believe she could be so unlucky in one night.
“Oh dear God, no.” Maude shook her head as she tried to back away. Her humiliation was afait accompli. While she wasn’t acquainted with the man, he was easy to recognize.
“What? Do you know him?” Arabella looked between the man and Maude several times.
