And she absolutely refused to think about it.
The moment Davina disappeared behind the screen to change, Baird scrubbed a hand over his face.
Marriage. A shared chamber. A sharedbed.
He had survived battles, ambushes, winters, and his father’s temper, but nothing had prepared him forthat. He was still wrestling with his own nerves and the grief he was burying in himself for his brother’s death when she emerged, wrapped in a soft night-robe, with her hair falling loose around her shoulders. She looked even more lovely like this. And the sight of her stopped him mid-step.
She froze too, as if seeing him out of his armor, in only a linen shirt and loose trews, was equally startling.
Baird cleared his throat. “Are ye ready, then?”
She nodded uncertainly. “As I’ll ever be.”
Then she promptly marched around to the far side of the bed and began… constructing something. He watched her for several seconds as she was piling pillows, stacking cushions and dragging every available piece of softness into a barrier down the middle of the mattress.
“Davina… what are ye daeing?”
“What daes it look like?” she told him without looking up. “I’m building a wall.”
“A wall,” he repeated, staring at the ever-growing mound. “Lass, ye’ve brought half the pillows in the keep intae our bed.”
“It’s called strategy,” she pointed out. “Ye as a laird should appreciate that.”
He snorted. “I appreciate many things. But where, in all this brilliant strategy, am I meant tae sleep?”
She paused, glanced at the wall critically, then added another pillow to the top.
“On yer side, of course.”
“Thereisnae side left fer me.” He gestured broadly. “Ye’ve stolen the entire bed.”
She frowned defensively. “It’s nae me fault ye’re such a giant of a man.”
He stared at her, then burst into a low laugh he couldn’t hold back. “A giant, am I?”
“Well…” She gestured vaguely at him. “Yearevery… large.”
Baird raised a brow. “Should I take that as praise?”
“Nay,” she said quickly. Then, she added. “Maybe. I dinnae ken yet.”
He ran a hand over his face again. He felt that this woman would be the end of him.
“Fine,” he said, giving in with amusement tugging at his mouth. “If ye need a wall, keep yer wall.”
He eyed the remaining sliver of mattress. “A wee corner. Barely large enough fer a cat.”
She pursed her lips. “Ye’ll fit.”
“Will I?”
“Aye,” she said firmly, as if stating a law of nature.
He shook his head but climbed in anyway, taking great care not to disturb her fortress of cushions. He stretched out, only to hit the barricade immediately.
“Davina.”
“Hm?”
