“You two are just as guilty of lacking in common sense. Why didn’t you insist your brother return to his chamber the moment he stepped outside?”
“He isn’t a child to be coddled,” Ewan growled. “You’ll stop with your insults immediately.”
“This has nothing to do with being a child. The man clearly has no judgment. It’s up to you to lay down the law. You are laird, are you not? Would you allow one of your other warriors to endanger his health by rising too soon from his sick bed? Would you then explain a defeat in battle away by saying that the warrior wasn’t a child to be coddled when he wasn’t present to help you defend your keep because he lies in a cold grave?”
“The lass has a solid point,” Caelen pointed out. “And I’d also like to offer that ’Twas me who suggested you were a dolt for being up.”
Ewan scowled. He clearly had no liking for being reprimanded by a woman. By this time, Mairin and Cormac had arrived in the courtyard and Ewan looked even less happy that his wife was present.
“Mairin, you should not be out in the cold,” he said sternly.
Keeley gaped at him. “Oh, so you’d reprimand your wife who is hale and hearty, but not your brother who has only just recovered from his fever and has many days to go before he is well enough to be out of his bed?”
“God spare me,” Ewan muttered.
Keeley returned fiercely to Alaric. “Are you trying to kill yourself? Have you no care for your well being?” She poked him in the chest and rose up on tiptoe so she could look him more squarely in the eye. “If you tear my stitches, I’ll not repair them. You’ll have to bleed to death. The wound will fester and your flesh will rot away, but don’t expect any help from my quarter. Stubborn, infuriating man.”
Alaric placed both hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently. “Keeley, lass, please. Calm down. I’m feeling quite well. My side still pains me. I know I’m not fully recovered, but if I spent one more moment behind the closed door of my chamber, I’d go mad. I needed but a bit of fresh air.”
“Well you’ve had your fresh air,” Ewan grumbled. “Now get your arse back to your chamber so that we can restore peace around here.” He pinned Mairin and Keeley both with the full force of his glare. “And the both of you will return indoors immediately. When I agreed to a tour, I didn’t mean the whole of our lands, Mairin.”
Mairin smiled serenely but didn’t look in the least intimidated by her husband.
“And you!” Keeley said, directing her outrage toward Gannon who was standing on Alaric’s other side. “Was your duty not to make sure Alaric didn’t do anything foolish?”
Gannon’s mouth popped open and his lips flapped up and down but nothing came out. He looked to Ewan for help, but the laird was too busy shaking his head.
Keeley didn’t waste a moment longer. She latched on to Alaric’s arm and began pulling him toward the steps entering the keep. Alaric chuckled but followed behind her and allowed her to guide him inside and up the stairs.
All the way up to his chambers, she lectured him about taking better care of himself. How else was she to impress upon him the seriousness of his injuries? ’Twas no small scrape he’d suffered. If the cut had gone any deeper, it would surely have gutted him. He would have bled to death long before he could have sought aid from her.
She shoved him inside his chamber and then slammed the door behind them.
“You’re mad,” she said. “Completely and utterly mad. Now we must get those boots off you. How on earth did you get them on? It must have been agony. And your tunic.”
Alaric eased onto the edge of the bed and extended his foot to her.
“You want me to take your boots off? You put them on. You can bloody well take them off.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have what could possibly be the most outrageous, delectable, enticing, incredible mouth?”
She halted her tirade and stared dumbly at him. “I—you—what?” she sputtered.
He grinned, making a dimple appear in the side of his cheek. Lord, but the man was simply irresistible.
“Come here,” he ordered, crooking his finger at her.
Too befuddled to do anything but obey, she closed the distance between them and came to stand between his thighs.
“That’s better,” he murmured. “Now come closer.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in until his mouth was a breath from her bosom. That knowledge did peculiar things to her ni**les. They hardened and stabbed relentlessly at the bodice of her dress, and they ached as if they’d been stroked by fire.
“You won’t ignore me and pretend I’m not here,” he reproached. “You won’t shut me out.”
She placed her hands on his shoulder and looked down at him with a look of consternation. “Is that why you came out of your chamber?”
“ ’Twas the only way to get you to attend me again,” he said lazily. “Think you I’d put on those boots just to get a breath of fresh air when it’s fair freezing out there? You were right, lass. Those boots damn near killed me.”
Something twisted in the region of her heart and she shook her head helplessly. “You sore try my patience, warrior. I had tasks to attend to this morn. Including getting the right of things from your brother, and then Mairin showed me around the keep. ’Tis important to meet the people I’m expected to tend to.”
“Your first priority is me. I find I don’t like it when you’re away, lass. You’ve become as important as the air I breathe. Don’t venture far next time. I find I think daft thoughts when left to my own devices.”
She sighed. “I think what you are is spoiled. Has anyone ever told you nay?”
“I’m sure they have but at the moment I cannot remember.”
“I’ll tend you, warrior. You give me no choice if you are to survive. Your impulsiveness is going to kill you.”
The triumph in Alaric’s eyes sent a giddy thrill down her spine. He pulled at her waist, running his hands up to her nape, grasping and then lowering her until his mouth was on level with hers.
“I know you told me not to kiss you, lass, but I should warn you that I’ve never been good at taking directions.”
Chapter 13
He sensed her surrender after a short hesitation, and he took full advantage, pulling her closer until their lips touched. For a moment he remained still, simply absorbing the sensation of her delectable mouth against his. Then he pressed in, moving sensuously over her mouth, harder, deeper until they both gasped for air.