With Millie and her babe safe in the hands of the older women, Braya left the house in need of a break and some air.
She closed her eyes against the cool wood and thought of her bed.
A soft touch along her temple pried open her eyes.
“Torin!” She startled seeing him. Was she dreaming? She smiled into his beautiful green eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Your father told me where you were.” His voice played across her ears like a familiar, soothing song.
“My father?” she laughed softly. “He likes you, I think.”
She let him lead her away from Millie’s door and toward her own.
“We spoke at length, your father and I,” he told her as they walked. “He is a wise man.”
“What did you speak about? The war?” Her heart thudded in her ears. She felt more awake. Had she dreamed it all? Were the Scots still coming?
“Aye, the war.”
She felt a bit lightheaded and held on to his arm for support. “And?”
He crooked his arm and placed her hand inside his elbow, then covered it with his. “And he is still undecided.”
She sighed and rested her head on his upper arm while they walked, keeping their pace slow. “Galien wants to fight, of course.”
“Aye, I know. He sat with us.”
She lifted her head off his arm and looked up at him. If she weren’t standing so close that she could feel the heat from his body and count the number of hairs on his handsome face, she would have sworn he was a dream.
“What will we do, Torin? Millie just had a son and he will need his father.”
“We will convince your father not to fight.” His deep voice seeped through her to her bones. “Tomorrow. Tonight, you need to sleep. You have been awake for two days and will say things you will not remember when you wake up.”
He smiled at her. All the hours with Millie and before that fell away along with all worries of war. “I would rather stay awake with you.”
His smile deepened and his gaze on her warmed. “Do not tempt me to be thoughtless and whisk you away from your bed.”
Oh, how she wanted to tempt him. She wanted to tempt him to carry her away to someplace secluded and serene, quiet and coz—she opened her eyes. Had she just fallen asleep?
She suspected she had when Torin swooped down and lifted her off her feet to cradle her in his arms.
She squeaked and then laughed with surprise. The last man to pick her up was a Milburn with malicious intentions. She had rid him of those intentions with a knife to the eye. “You do not have to carry me, my lord.” She didn’t mean it. Her legs had gone out from under her.Andshe didn’t want him to put her down. He was strong and carried her as if she were but a breath of air. His arms were hard, but warm. They molded to her legs and back and pressed her close to his broad chest and tight belly with the fingers of one hand curled around her hip and the other, just below her breast.
She loved looking at him from this angle, his head a sensual slant over her, ready to plant the perfect kiss on her mouth.
Oh, why did she have to be so weary? She would beg him to take her beyond the trees—
“I will take you to your bed, lass.”
She heard his voice as if he were hundreds of leagues away. No. She wanted to be closer to him!
Did he just call her lass?
