Geordie’s expression dimmed at that, and then he said, “Ye should have left me in the woods and run for Buchanan.”
“I’d no’ have left ye alone, m’laird. If the other men had come looking for the two men ye dispatched, they’d have killed ye.”
“I suspect they did come looking,” Geordie said grimly.
Dwyn raised her eyebrows at that. “Why?”
“Because Aulay said their camp was empty when the men found it and they managed to escape Buchanan land before Simon and the other soldiers could catch up,” he announced, and then pointed out, “They had to have prior warning somehow, and it seems likely they may have grown concerned, looked for the two men and found them dead. That would have been enough to make them scramble off our land. Although it must have been close else I’m sure they would have pursued us, and with ye dragging me across the forest floor on a plaid, our tracks would have been easy to follow.”
Dwyn stared at him, recalling the sound of a branch snapping behind them just before she’d heard Aulay and the other men thundering toward them on horseback. Had one or even two of the men found their comrades and been creeping up on them when they too heard the approaching riders? If so, she was lucky he or they had decided to flee rather than try to drag her off again. She was also lucky they hadn’t taken the time to slice Geordie’s throat before fleeing, Dwyn thought with horror. Dear God, she shouldn’t have left him alone even for those few minutes while she’d run out onto the path to stop Aulay and the others.
“Lass, ye’ve gone pale. What is it?” Geordie asked with a frown.
Dwyn opened her mouth, and then paused and glanced to the door when a knock sounded. Sighing, she shook her head and set the bowl back on the tray, surprised to see that it was empty. Standing then, she moved to open the door, unsurprised when Geordie’s siblings and their mates greeted her.
Managing a smile, Dwyn backed up and let them in, realizing only then that she hadn’t thought to warn Geordie they were all coming up to visit him.
Chapter 14
“I noticed the rushes were growing a bit stale last eve when I brought up the sup fer yerself and Laird Geordie, and I was wondering did ye wish me to collect ye some fresh ones? Or mayhap some wildflowers to scent the ones ye have? Or both?”
“Oh, thank ye, Katie.” Dwyn smiled at the maid as they walked up the hall toward the room she shared with Geordie. “Fresh rushes and some flowers to scent them would be nice. ’Tis kind o’ ye to think on it.”
“Oh, well, Mavis most like would have thought on it the next time she came above stairs,” Katie assured her easily. “She just has no’ been in the room since the first day Laird Geordie woke.”
“Ye’re right,” Dwyn agreed, thinking the room had been too full of Geordie’s brothers and sisters for Mavis to get into the room the last three days. They’d had company with them in the room nonstop since shortly after everyone broke their fast until after the sup every day since Geordie had woken. Dwyn had seen Mavis look in on passing a couple times though, and suspected the first time she saw the room empty, or at least with less people, the woman would stop in for a visit. While Mavis had stayed in the background while the other would-be brides had been at Buchanan, once they were gone and Geordie’s siblings and their mates had arrived, she’d sat at the high table with them and visited often. It was how Dwyn knew the Buchanan brood saw Mavis as something of a second mother. She also knew the woman loved each and every one of the Buchanan brothers and their sister like their mother. It actually made Dwyn envious. She wished she’d had someone like Mavis as a child.
“Here we are,” Dwyn said, pushing those thoughts away as she moved ahead to open the door for the maid.
“Good morning, m’laird,” Katie said cheerily as she carried the tray to the bedside. “How are ye feeling this morning?”
“Better, thank ye, lass,” Geordie said, but his gaze was on Dwyn as she followed the girl.
Smiling at him, Dwyn let her gaze move over his newly shaved face and damp hair. She’d been concerned when he’d asked her to fetch Rory and Alick up to him when she’d woken this morning, and had waited anxiously in the hall, afraid that there was something wrong. She’d been pleasantly surprised though when Rory had stepped out and explained Geordie wanted a bath and had been asking if that would be all right, and if they couldn’t perhaps aid him with it. Dwyn couldn’t help but think that was a good sign, and had gone below to speak to Mavis about arranging one.
When the woman had suggested she might like one too, and said she’d have a second bath sent up to her sisters’ room for her to use if she’d like, Dwyn had nodded with relief. She hadn’t wanted to trouble the servants with a request like that. They were already doing so much for her and Geordie, but she hadn’t bathed since a couple days before Geordie woke. She’d been making do with washing up at the ewer since then, but had longed for a bath and the opportunity to wash her hair. She’d enjoyed that bath like none other, and had been grateful for Katie’s assistance in washing and rinsing her hair. The maid had even brushed it by the window where a warm summer breeze had helped speed the drying. Dwyn had left it down to help it finish drying, and knew it wouldn’t take long at all. It was already swinging around her rather than lying wet and limp.
Her gratitude made the smile she gave the maid a little wider than usual as Katie passed her to leave the room and pulled the door closed behind her.
“Yer brothers shaved yer face,” Dwyn said with a grin as she approached the bed.
“Did ye no’ like me with a beard and mustache, then?” Geordie asked with amusement.
“Actually, I did,” she admitted, her lips curving up as she settled on the edge of the bed next to him. “At least at first. ’Twas short and gave ye a sexy wild man look. But it did prickle a bit when we kissed.”
“Aye, which is why I shaved it off. I wanted to kiss ye without scraping yer sensitive skin,” he admitted, and then said, “Kiss me, lass.”
Her eyes widened, but Dwyn didn’t hesitate and leaned forward to kiss him. She sighed the moment their mouths met, and then opened for him when his tongue slid out to slide along the seam where her lips came together, a silent request for entry. She moaned, her back arching eagerly when his tongue filled her, and was pleased to hear Geordie’s answering moan. To her it felt like forever since he’d kissed and held her. He had only been awake three days, and was still weak, yet his response and the sudden wildness to his kiss matched her own.
When Dwyn felt his hand at her breast, she almost sucked his tongue out of his mouth with her gasp of shock. Breaking their kiss, she pulled back and stared at him.
Geordie grinned up at her with satisfaction. “I’ve been working at building me muscle at night, repeatedly raising me fingers, then me hands, then me arms, to regain me strength.”
“Oh,” she breathed, her eyes wide. His hand had followed her upright and he was toying with one erect nipple through the material of her gown.
“That’s no’ all I can raise,” he added with another grin, this one wider.
“Yer legs?” Dwyn asked uncertainly.