“Why? She say something about leaving?”
“Nay, and probably wouldnae say it to me. But I tell ye plain, there is only so long a lass will wait around before she decides the mon doesnae want marriage and there are better places to be.” Iain stood up and stretched then looked down at Matthew. “Make up your mind, fool.”
Watching Iain leave the room, Matthew grumbled a vast array of insults toward the man’s back.
Family was supposed to give one support, he thought, and shook his head. Since Iain said pretty much the same thing everyone else did, he guessed he better accept that as the best advice possible. It was a shame it was useless to him.
Abigail walked in still holding her book.
She stood by the side of the bed and stared down at Matthew, her head cocked slightly to one side. “You look better.” She placed her hand on his forehead. “Definitely cooler still. So might be that you don’t have to linger in bed for weeks. Just a couple of days.”
“That’s good, as I would go crazy.”
“That’s what they all say.”
He reached out, grabbed her round the waist, and pulled her down onto the bed. “But if I had something to keep me pleasantly busy, I might be able to endure it.” He kissed her throat as she laughed.
“Such pleasantries can do harm to your stitches.” She dragged her fingers across his belly, along the line of the stitches.
“Not if one takes it easy.”
“Afraid no one is sure just what stress can break the stitches.” She rested her cheek against his chest. “Best to err on the side of caution.”
“Then we will indulge in cautious play.”
“Not with the door wide open.” She hopped off the bed and went to shut the door, then hurried back across the room to crawl into bed beside him.
“Isn’t it a bit early in the day to be indulging in such things?”
“Never too early and never too late.” He unbuttoned the bodice of her gown.
The feel of his hand gently petting her breasts had Abigail shivering. Then she thought of where she would like to touch him. As he brushed warm kisses over the swell of her breasts, she undid his shirt and gently tugged it off him. For a moment she studied his broad chest lightly sprinkled with hair. Red hair, she thought as she studied it.
“Why do you have red hair here?” she asked as she idly smoothed it down only to watch it spring back up.
“I dinnae have red hair anywhere.”
She sat back a little and frowned at him as he hurriedly redid his shirt. “That hair is red.”
“It was just the light that made it look a bit red.”
“No, it was red. Really red. Cannot hide it away red.” She undid his shirt again, slapping away his hands when he tried to stop her. “There. Brilliant red.” She began to look very carefully at the hair on his head. “I wager in the right light I could see some red here, too.”
“Nay,” he began to say and a growing familiar wail went through the house. “Damnation, Abbie,” he said as she jumped off the bed, buttoning her bodice all the way to the door.
“Playing will have to wait. Can’t let him wake up the whole house,” she said as she opened the door and sped down the hall to the small nursery.
Matthew fell back into the bed and cursed. Then scolded himself for being a selfish man. It would have been nice playing with Abigail but she could not ignore the scream of a hungry bairn, and he should never expect her to. Play would have to wait.
Then again, he did not think she was aware of where her place to sleep was. He hurriedly smoothed out the sheets and made sure the blanket was in place and tucked in. Matthew shed his pants and shirt before he settled on his back and waited for her to realize. Forgetting how long feeding a child, cleaning him up, and settling him down to sleep again could take, Matthew slipped quietly into sleep.
It was late when Abbie came back to the room. She sighed because she could tell he had gone to sleep. Not that she blamed him. He was still sick even if he chose to ignore it. Jeremiah had not been cooperative. He had wanted to take his time then wanted to be held again. She had almost fallen asleep in the nursery. It was then that she realized she had not been shown to a room for her. If she was going to sleep in a bed for the night she had to go back to Matthew’s room.
Slipping off her shoes, she rubbed her feet a little so they were not cold. She carefully removed her gown and laid it on the chair near the bed. Then she eased beneath the blankets. Once her body warmed up she rolled close to Matthew. He mumbled something and pulled her close. Abbie smiled, snuggled even closer to his warmth, and closed her eyes.
Chapter Sixteen
Matthew yawned and opened his eyes. There was something soft and warm in his bed. He could not believe he had gone to sleep then decided his injuries and recurrent bouts of fever had taken their toll as everyone had warned him they would. He glanced down and realized the soft warmth he was clutching close was Abigail. He grinned. The night may have been lost but the new day had only just begun, he mused.
