“There,” she said. “Stay with me.”
His hands opened on the blanket. His lips parted. He looked at her as if she were a stranger.
“What did ye see?” she asked softly.
“Nae here.” His voice was the ground after rain, heavy and cold.
“All right,” she relented. “Nae here.”
They fell quiet while the rain pounded harder at the castle. The wind dragged a loose branch along the walls and left it. Kristen stayed close, just a few inches from him.
“Ye can sleep,” she coaxed. “The storm can finish its business without ye.”
Neil huffed what might have been a laugh, but it faded quickly. He drew another breath and let it out slowly, as she had shown him.
Lightning flashed, and for a heartbeat, the room turned white, their faces only a hand’s breadth apart. The space between them felt charged, bright as the sky. Kristen’s lips parted, before sense returned like a hand on her shoulder.
“Nay,” she muttered. “Nae like this.” She pulled back. “There are still a few hours till we have to get up. Best to sleep while ye can.”
He watched her, his eyes dark. “Aye.”
She climbed into the bed and curled on her side, facing the wall. Her heart misbehaved, wild and quick. She made it slow with her count. One. Two. Three.
The mattress shifted a few minutes later, and she heard Neil stand and cross the room. She did not turn until the next bolt of lightning gave her an excuse.
He had gone to the window. The flare of light outlined his figure, which hovered by the thin draft that steadily pierced the room. She traced the lines of his body through the thin white fabric of his trousers—the sinews of his thighs, the narrow V between his hips, the breadth of his shoulders.
Heat spread through her like fire.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Ye are a sensible woman. Daenae do something foolish.
The shutters rattled.
Neil leaned a shoulder against the stone wall and watched the sky tear itself apart.
“I daenae want ye to be afraid,” he murmured, as if to the rain.
Kristen kept facing the wall. “Then stop giving me reasons to be.”
The words hung heavy in the air.
After a brief silence, the thunder answered for Neil. He came back to the bed and lay on his back, careful not to touch her. Still, she could feel his warmth, and her body recognized the distance like a fingertip recognized a seam.
“Ye kept me from the dark,” he rasped. “Thank ye.”
She opened her eyes stared at a crack in the shutter. “Aye.”
Silence fell again. The storm refused to tire, and the wind battered the corners of the castle. Kristen knew at this point that the guards on the wall would be cursing their cloaks.
“Will ye sleep?” Neil asked.
“Likely nae,” she answered. “I am nae as clever as Maggie.”
“She is a learned beast,” he noted.
“She is.” A small smile touched her lips.
