“W-what happened?” Deirdre queried weakly, her father reaching down to stroke her cheek, his expression grave.
“You nearly drowned, Deirdre—aye, when Liam rode into the stronghold with you, I feared the worst.”
“Liam?”
A host of nods greeted her, which made Deirdre swallow hard and lick her dry lips.
Everything was still so fuzzy, but she remembered swimming as furiously as she could until something happened…aye, a terrible leg cramp that made her sink into the lough in pain and then she was choking and coughing?—
“Liam O’Toole saved your life, Deirdre,” Ronan spoke to her gently, and then glanced over his shoulder before turning back to her. “He is here, aye, by the door, if you wish to speak to him.”
Deirdre glanced beyond the foot of the bed to see that Liam, indeed, stood at the entrance to her bedchamber, his face half in shadow from the flickering candlelight.
A face so handsome as he stepped forward, before she said a word, and came closer, his hair appearing damp and he still wore only trousers—dear God, had he brought her to her dwelling-house so recently? It felt like an eternity had passed since she had felt herself sinking into the lough’s cold depths, and then someone had yanked upon her hair, Deirdre grimacing at the memory.
Aye, yanked upon her hair and dragged her upward, though she remembered nothing afterward…well, other than the sensation of being held so tightly and the pounding of hooves as if from a great distance.
“Are you in pain?” Odhran queried as she reached up to run her hand across her scalp, her hair still damp, too.
“No, no, just remembering—Jesu, Mary, and Joseph, I’m amazed I’m not bald for how roughly you grabbed me,” she murmured, locking eyes with Liam as he drew closer still.
Amazingly enough, her muted grousing made him smile, though he sobered when she gestured for him to come aroundthe bed. Nora and Eva stepped back to make room for him, Deirdre reaching out to clasp his hand with all sincerity.
“You have my thanks, O’Toole—ah, forgive me. Liam. I will not call you by your surname again, I promise.”
That comment summoned a fleeting smile again before he grew serious while squeezing her fingers.
“What happened, Deirdre? You were swimming so powerfully and then I lost sight of you while I was racing side by side with Darragh.”
“A fierce cramp in my leg, though it’s never happened before. It seized upon me so suddenly I just sank, swallowing water?—”
“Deirdre, by God, are you all right?”
Darragh’s shout from the doorway made everyone turn as he strode into the room, wearing only trousers and his tangled black hair still wet—confirming to Deirdre that it hadn’t been long at all since Liam had brought her back to the stronghold.
She felt strangely bereft when he let go of her fingers and stepped aside as Darragh rushed toward the bed to grab the hand that Liam had just held.
“My beautiful lady, I was already to the other side of the lough before I realized anything was amiss.”
“Aye, you kept on swimming with no thought for anything except winning,” came Liam’s voice that had grown harsh, his expression somber as Darragh rounded upon him.
“It was a race, aye, and that was the purpose of it, to win and impress my bride-to-be?—”
“Yourbride-to-be?” echoed Liam, scowling now with his fists clenched.
The two men stood so close to each other that their bare chests were only inches apart while Deirdre gasped, certain they were going to come to blows.
Nora and Eva had rushed to the other side of the bed to flank Ronan, Niall, and Conor, who came around at once to push his way between Liam and Darragh.
“Enough, you two. My sister has only regained her senses and here you’re both threatening a brawl at her bedside.”
“Aye, both of you wait for me outside,” Ronan ordered as his stern gaze swept over everyone else in the room. “The rest of you leave as well. I want to speak to my daughter alone.”
Liam didn’t hesitate, though he walked slowly and cast Deirdre a look filled with emotion she couldn’t fathom—and then he was gone with Conor right behind him.
Darragh, meanwhile, didn’t readily obey Ronan but came back to her side to bend down and press a kiss to her forehead.
A kiss that startled Deirdre, and felt lacking in any warmth even though he again clasped her hand and stared down at her.
