“Meghan,” he said. “He wed her little more than two months past.”
She peered down at the table and then up again.
He placed his heart in his eyes and willed her to see it. “I willna let you down, Elizabet. Ye have my word.”
“Very well,” she conceded at last, “I will stay. With one condition. You must seek out my brother and tell him where I am. Bring him to me if you can.”
Broc swallowed his guilt, nodding agreement. “I’ll do it first thing on the morrow.”
That gave Broc a single night—not enough time—but he had no choice.
CHAPTER 9
Her guardian angel stayed with her, giving her the blanket and the pallet and slept on the floor across the room.
Jesu, but she had never been more aware of a man’s presence in her entire life. She could hear every breath he took, knew every time he tossed in his sleep.
Or was he asleep?
They doused the lights over an hour ago, but still she could not close her eyes. Every time she did, she saw her brother lying upon the forest floor.
Since his return, he hadn’t been the least familiar with her, keeping to himself, in fact, as though she were cursed with some terrible disease. She might have thought he was repulsed by her, except that when he looked at her, she didn’t see revulsion at all. She saw that same look he’d given her earlier... before he’d kissed her.
She had been so certain he would expect payment for his troubles. And she had hesitated to remain alone with him for fear of it, yet he had treated her with nothing but respect and kindness.
Aye, she did believe him as he didn’t strike her as a man who would lie. Nor could she perceive one single reason he would lie simply to have her alone when intruth he could have had his way with her when he first encountered her in the woods.
Jesu, but how could he sleep so peacefully when she was wide awake?
Above her, slivers of moonlight stabbed through the roof like fine-edged knives. Tiny flying insects dove into the light and out again. Elizabet watched them with a sense of growing agitation.
He’d promised to seek out her brother first thing in the morn. Likely he was anticipating a quick end to this ordeal. After all, this wasn’t his problem. It was hers.
And she still didn’t know his name.
She wasn’t certain why she hadn’t simply asked, except that somehow it seemed too personal. They were hardly friends.
“Are you sleeping?” she whispered before she could stop herself.
There was no answer.
She said it louder. “Hey... are you sleeping?”
Still no answer.
“Well, of course you are!” she muttered to herself, and couldn’t explain the sudden sense of disappointment she felt at discovering it was so.
“Jesu!”
Why should she care if her presence wasn’t enough to keep him awake. Why did she feel so vexed that he was sleeping so contentedly in his little corner of the room when she could not?
She kicked the too short blanket down over her feet. She just couldn’t sleep, and it was colder than she’d ever remembered it being in her life. And she couldn’t fathom how he could sleep so obliviously! He must be made of stone! Her fingers and toes had long since gone numb. And her teeth were chattering. She pulled the covers up and curled her legs more tightly beneath her, trying to ward off the chill.
“You never troubled yourself to tell me your name!” she hissed into the darkness.
“Ye never bothered to ask,” he replied at once.
Her heart jolted at the sound of his voice. “I... uh... thought you were asleep.”
