CHAPTERTEN
Lorna shifted in her bed, and her eyes stared out the far window. It was sunny, and she had slept well, almost too well. She wondered if it was late in the day. Sitting up, she brushed her hair out of her eyes and put her plait down her shoulder, and then she froze. She wasn’t alone in the room, and it was not Kyla’s familiar presence. She could tell. Slipping out of bed, she found her woolen dressing gown laying over a chair, and she pulled it on before turning to face the man in the chair.
“Bryce,” she said, edging closer. He was asleep, and he was leaning his head back in the chair. He didn’t hear her, and she paused, watching him for a few moments. Normally, she might have been outraged that someone was sleeping in her room, but instead, she felt a thrill of pleasure. Why had he come?
Her eyes trailed down from his handsome face, stubble-covered jaw, to his neck, strong shoulders, and arms, which hung over the chair, and all the way to his booted feet. He filled the chair, due to his lovely, large size, and his body seemed to dwarf it. He was so very mucha manin Lorna’s mind, and that was part of the reason, she knew, why she was drawn to him.
Och, tae be a man and to simply exude strength. Nae one would ever doubt ye!
Realizing that she had stared at him long enough, she reached over and touched his arm. “Bryce,” she whispered and then again before he woke, opening his eyes and staring up at her as if he wasn’t sure who she was.
“Lorna,” he said suddenly, and sat up straighter, pushing his hands through his hair and over his beard. “Yer awake.”
“Aye,” she said with a smirk and sat down in the chair across from him. If her parents were to know about this little situation, then they would be fuming, but she was going to enjoy the moment while she could. “But I do have a question. Why are ye in me room? When ye have a very comfortable bed in yer own chamber, where ye could get a better night’s sleep?”
She waited, with her arms crossed if for no reason other than to keep that little prick of longing from being too obvious. He was far too handsome in the morning and finding him in her room was becoming only more and more delightful. Even mentioning the word ‘bed’ in his presence had her blood moving faster.
“Aye, well, I should thank ye for yer hospitality,” he chuckled, rubbing a hand through his beard, and smiling at her.” She ignored the little tingle of pleasure she found in his handsome smile being directed her way. “Ye have a lovely room here.”
“Bryce,” she said with a laugh. “Come now, why are ye here? Is something wrong?”
“Nae, nae, donnae worry. I just wanted tae make sure ye were all right. I ken it sounds strange, but I remember the way it was when I first saw a brutal death in front of me. It has an effect on a person. I didnae want ye tae be alone, having terrible nightmares about it. And,” he added, looking down at his feet. “I didnae want tae be alone either. Are ye well now that the night has passed?”
Lorna tried to remember Kyla’s words about Bryce being dangerous as he was known for his skilled flirtations all the way to France. And, since he didn’t have the pressure of taking over the Lairdship, he could almost do as he pleased. But she was touched by his kindness. It seemed that he was the only one, besides Kyla of course, who was treating her with any sort of solicitousness.
“Aye, I feel a bit better, thank ye. It was a shock, and it will always be so, but I think that I will be fine. It is Mrs. Creech I feel sorry for. She was such a good and kind woman. She didnae deserve such a fate.”
“There are few who do, and yet it seems tae happen all the time.” He turned his gaze to the empty hearth, and Lorna could tell he was thinking about his time as a warrior.
“Ye have seen much death, I am sure. I am sorry for what I said about it, focusing only on the freedom ye had as a man tae travel and fight in France. I made it seem like it was easy when it most certainly was nae.” Her chair was not far from his, and before she could stop herself, she reached over to touch his arm.
When she did, his eyes snapped back to hers, and he gave her another smile. Lorna felt heat pulsating through her, and something new began to throb inside of her. She swallowed, trying to get it under control. Slowly and reluctantly, she pulled away from him, her fingertips skimming along his skin.
He caught her hand and turned it so that her palm was face upward. As he looked down at her hand, he said, “Aye, there was a lot of death, and so much of it was pointless. Even the great Joan of Arc was killed for nae reason. Only for fighting for what she thought was right. And then there were so many townspeople and villagers, cut down by the soldiers. Smoke and blood. Those are the scents that I know well.” He nodded to himself, tracing a fingertip in her hand.
Lorna ached to be closer to him. Never in her life had she ached for someone, their actual presence. She ached for Watt to return her love, or what she’d thought was love, but this was different. She wanted Bryce, to be close to him, to make him feel happy again, to make him never have to think about war or death ever again. The feeling was so overwhelming that she had to look away, anywhere else but at his face or the way his hand was so lovingly touching hers.
“I am sorry for that, Bryce. What a terrible thing tae have experienced. And so, ye must think me foolish, that still deep down, I envy ye yer freedom. That ye were able tae go and serve where ye could. And I must stay here and find a man who actually wants me back.” She laughed and leaned back, pulling out his grasp. Finally. It had grown far too intimate, and she didn’t understand it.
Clearly, he didn’t want her, since he had not yet kissed her or told her anything. She thought he was going to, but he still hadn’t, and she knew that it was because of some flaw in her. And she felt guilty for worrying about such a thing, when she had just spouted off about women wanting more freedom.
Bryce had folded his hands on his lap and was now leaning back too. It was as if they were now trying to force distance between themselves. “Nae, I donnae think ye foolish. I would go mad if I had tae live a woman’s life, forced to think only about the future, about marriage, about making a home. And yet,” he smiled, making her heart beat fast. “Ye have found a way tae fight against some of those things. Ye are a great reader, so I hear, and ye are a fighter. Which ye still have tae show me.”
He wagged a finger at her in faux scolding, and Lorna laughed. “Aye, and apparently I allow strange gentlemen intae me room in the evenings.”
Bryce smiled, but he didn’t laugh. He leaned closer. She swallowed hard. It was far too close. Or perhaps it wasn’t close enough. “I hope ye donnae think me strange,” he said, his eyes flicking to her mouth. “And,” he cleared his throat, pulling back, making the room feel just a little bit colder, “how are ye feeling about the situation with Watt? I ken ye have been asked over and over about it, but I willnae scold ye. I promise.”
Lorna looked at him, and he had such eagerness in his eyes, that she wanted to tell him the truth. That Watt was strangely behind her, and she had a new future to think about. She also wondered where on earth Kyla was, but she was oddly grateful that her friend and lady’s maid had not yet knocked on the door to interrupt them.
* * *
Bryce felt like an idiot, but he was glad that Lorna wasn’t upset to find him in her room like a lecherous old man wandering about the castle in search of young maidens to deflower. His tension released as soon as he saw her first smile, and now he could see that smile falter, since he had asked her about her feelings for Watt. But he couldn’t keep it in. He was desperate to know about the state of Lorna’s heart.
Would there ever be hope for him? He had loved before, and now, he never thought he’d think it again, but Lorna had opened a new desire in him, one he thought had been dormant for so long. Would she consider him? Or would she be ‘given away’ as Athol put it, to some strange man, and be lost to him forever?
She sighed, and Bryce hung on every moment, waiting to hear what she had to say. Frowning, she said, “I believe that I donnae ken exactly what tae think. It is behind me now, for I ken that Watt is happy, and that is a good thing. I wish tae forget all about me embarrassment and move forward with me life. I want there tae be new things tae focus on.”
Bryce looked down so that his smile wouldn’t be too obvious. Her words were vague, but they filled him with hope. There was a chance of something, perhaps, and while he was there, working with Tobias, he could maybe get Lorna to see him as an option. “I understand what ye mean, if ye can believe it.” He smiled. “There was someone once, a woman, whom I loved. Loved dearly.”
