“Well?” she prompted. “What do ye think? That’s every detail of me dream. Is there anything else?”
He shook his head slowly. “We didnae spend much time together on our wedding day, if ye can believe it. Yer recollections will differ from mine.”
She seemed to deflate, her shoulders sinking, and bit down on her lip.
“I just cannaeremember,” she whispered. “I rack me brains all the time, but nothing falls out.”
“Ye cannae rush these things. I ken it is hard, but ye must wait. Memories will return when ye least expect it, hen.”
She threw him a wry look. “Ye are very logical. I am grateful.”
“So…” He crossed one ankle over the other. “What more do ye need from me?”
She raked a hand through her hair. It hung loose over her shoulders and looked as though it had been brushed. Janie must have had the good sense to lay out a hairbrush along with the nightdress.
Stop looking at the nightdress. The thin, translucent nightdress.
“Me head aches,” she murmured. “Me heart pounds, and I… I’m looking for danger in every corner. That dream has only confused things more for me. Who took me, Evander? And why? If they wanted me gone, why nae kill me? Why… Whykeepme for a year? And how long do I have before they take me again?”
Abruptly, he got to his feet, striding over to where she stood. She stared up at him, her eyes huge and almost pleading. She didn’t back away or flinch or even blink.
Swallowing, Evander wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He pulled her toward him, testing the waters. She went limp in his arms, sagging against his chest.
Her warm weight pushed against him, her cheek resting just over his heart. He could smell the roses and lavender from the bath in her hair. Her eyes fluttered shut.
Silently, he tightened his grip, flattening his palm against her back. The nubs of her spine pushed against his hand, and he resisted the urge to click his tongue in disapproval. She’d lost some weight, then. Whoever had been tending to her over the past year hadn’t fed her enough.
That thought sparked a curdling fire of fury inside him.
How dare they? Howdarethey?
Shifting, she rested more of her weight against him, her arms tentatively coming up to curl around his waist. She let out a slow, ragged sigh.
“It’s all right, lass,” Evander whispered, rubbing slow circles between her shoulder blades with the heel of his hand. “I’m here. Ye are safe, do ye hear me? Ye are safe. Whoever took ye, they’ll nae take ye again. I wasnae prepared before. I left ye alone, and I hadnae thought of the danger. Well, no more. No detail will escape me. No would-be kidnapper will slip past, do ye understand? Do ye understand, lass?”
“Aye, I do,” she responded, her voice low and tired.
Silence enveloped them both. It might have lasted only a few minutes. Evander could have let it stretch out all night. Skye was the one who moved first, clearing her throat.
“This feels… familiar.”
“Familiar?” he echoed.
“Aye. Have we done this before? Hugged, I mean,” she added hastily.
He pressed his lips together. “We havenae.”
“Nae even once?”
“Barely more than a handshake.”
She shifted again. He thought he could feel her frown, her face contorting against him.
“So, me dream was real, then. I was taken on me wedding night.”
“That’s true enough, but nothing would have happened in any case. We’d already agreed on that. As ye ken, ours was to be a political match.”
He expected that would be it. The conversation was finished. She’d be relieved, surely? Pleased, but would take care not to show it.
