Chapter 23
Eileen sat by Reid’s bedside. She’d expected him to wake up by now, but he still lay unconscious, grunting and moaning in his sleep. The only time he’d stirred was to tell her that she was an ugly cryer.
It had been humorous at the time, but the longer he went without saying anything else, the sadder the words became. They could be his last words.
“Is there nothin’ else that can be done?” Eileen asked the healer, who sat in the chair behind her.
“I’m sorry, Me Lady,” the healer replied. “We’ve done everything we can. It’s a great sign that yer braither is still breathin’. The longer he’s alive, the greater the chance he’ll recover completely.”
“Dinnae mince yer words,” Eileen muttered without looking at her. “Will he make it?”
The healer sighed. “I still cannae say for sure, but I had little hope when he was brought to me, and I have a lot of hope now. The worst of it is over.”
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, and she got up to answer it.
“Good day,” she said to a guard.
“Good day, Ma’am,” the guard returned. “We’ve been sent to see whether ye need anythin’.”
“Nay, we dinnae.”
“The two of us will be right outside if ye do,” the guard told her. “Ye only have to ask.”
“Thank ye,” the healer said.
She closed the door and returned to the chair behind Eileen without saying a word.
Eileen sat for a moment before she grew so restless. She stood up from the chair, looking at Reid before turning to the healer. “I need to step out for a moment,” she muttered.
“Aye, that’s nae a problem. I’ll be here with yer braither.”
Eileen nodded.
And the guards outside the door are for Reid’s protection. Nae that I could have stopped someone if they tried to get to him.
Her hand went to her waist as if the dirk was still there, but it was not. Hadn’t she hidden it in the music room? She couldn’t remember now.
She left the healer’s chambers and smiled at the guards as she passed. Then, she wandered through the castle in search of Archer.
Outside, it was getting dark. She’d barely slept the previous night, and as the light dimmed, she didn’t feel sleepy in the slightest.
As she walked, she felt she was being followed. She stopped and looked behind her, seeing no one lurking in the shadows. She felt no fear, even though she was sure someone was watching her. She looked into the shadows for another moment before turning around and walking on.
Eileen checked the council chambers first and found them empty. Most of the castle was quiet, what with the late hour, so she headed toward the Laird’s study. That was where she found him.
She saw the flickering light beneath the study door as she headed toward it. The orange light bounced off the opposite stone wall, making the shadows dance like ghostly wraiths. She made it to the door and tentatively poked her head around it.
If Archer had noticed her, he showed no sign of it. She watched as he read a letter. The light brought out the green in his eyes and accentuated the sharpness of his stubbled jaw.
His stubble had grown a little longer, suggesting he hadn’t the time to shave it, but she liked the rugged look. She also liked the broadness of his shoulders and the pinkness of his lips in the candlelight.
Lips that I so dearly want to kiss again.
Yet, beneath his strength and power, she saw a deep sadness, a growing chasm that plunged to the very depths of the earth. If she were to drop a rock down, it would fall and fall and fall forever and ever until it finally sank into a well of despair.
Eileen desperately wanted to kiss him again, to feel the tingles his touch left in its wake, but before that, she desperately wanted to soothe his troubled heart.
She cleared her throat.
“Aye, I see ye there,” he murmured without looking up.
“Am I in danger?” she asked as she entered the room. “Is Reid?”
“What makes ye think that?” Archer asked.
“The two guards ye have posted outside the healer’s door, and the ones ye have followin’ me at a distance through the castle.”
“There are always precautions to take,” he said airily.
“There’s a threat of war with O’Gunn,” Eileen pointed out.
“There’s always a threat of war.”
“Will ye please speak to me,” she begged. “Ye’re treatin’ me like a stranger.”
“Well, ye are a stranger, are ye nae?” Archer boomed, finally looking up at her. “It’s nae yer place to ken what’s goin’ on outside these walls—or within them, for that matter.”
Eileen was struck by his tone and froze to the spot.
She gripped her skirt in both hands and twisted it.
“Aye, well, I do deserve to ken, ‘cause ye have guards watchin’ me and Reid, and he might nae live. I ken we’re only pretendin’ to be betrothed, but that part isnae a pretense, is it?
Ye have nay right to tell me what I need to ken or nae. ”
Archer suddenly stood up and grimaced, staring her down before looking away.
Eileen felt scared for a moment, but she went to him and placed her hand on his back. He flinched but didn’t move away from her. She ran her hand up to the nape of his neck and held it there, rubbing her thumb over his skin.
Archer suddenly hoisted her up by her rear and took two steps forward until her back hit the wall. He pressed his lips to hers, and she got what she wanted, though not as expected.
His hungry tongue danced its way into her mouth, supple and commanding, licking at her. He pressed his body against hers, pinning her to the wall. Their heads moved to one side then the other, their lips slipping against each other’s, their kisses sloppy and rushed, filled with desire and anger.
Eileen bit his bottom lip, eliciting a small moan. He ground himself against her, his rock-hard, strong, powerful body taking her breath away. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her, wanting to become one with him.
Then, as soon as the kiss started, it ended.
Archer let her go and spun on his heels. Eileen’s feet dropped to the floor, and she had to put out a hand to steady herself. Archer walked straight to the other side of his study and punched the bookcase, cracking the wood.
Eileen sucked in a breath, and her legs almost wobbled as she stood by the wall. She had been scared already, but her fear grew, and she became a little girl confronted by a wolf when walking through the woods alone.
Yet, she was compelled to step forward. She went to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, and when he spun to face her with the fury of a forge furnace in his green eyes, she didn’t flinch or back away.
“Tell me,” she pressed. “Please.”
Archer breathed heavily through his nose.
Eileen lifted her hand to his cheek, but he shrugged her off.
“I had to kill him for what he did,” he grunted.
“What? Who?” she asked.
“Mack.”
“Because of me,” she muttered.
She’d never been insensitive to anyone’s death before, and she shuddered, for her words had brought about a man’s demise.
What if I was wrong?
“Nay, nae because of ye,” Archer corrected. “He died because of what he did. He admitted to it all—the smugglin’, workin’ for O’Gunn, betrayin’ the clan. He deserved far worse than death, but he’s nae a threat anymore.”
“Ye did what ye needed to,” Eileen said, relieved that she hadn’t been mistaken about what she heard when sneaking around with Piper.
She’d barely seen her maid, what with all the commotion in the castle over the past few days.
“Aye, I did,” Archer uttered. “We willnae see him again. Nay one will.”
“And the castle will be far safer now. But it’s nae over, is it? It cannae be if ye have guards watchin’ me and Reid.”
“Nay, it’s nae over yet. I dinnae ken when it will be, but I’ll nae let anyone get to ye. And I willnae let yer braither die here after he managed to escape.”
Eileen took a deep breath. “I didnae mean to barge in here and accost ye. I shouldnae have done that. Ye’re only protectin’ me, and I’m nae so stubborn as to think that I dinnae need protection. If someone comes for me, I’ll be glad to have guards close. The same goes for Reid.”
“Aye,” Archer answered. He was still shaking with rage.
“I ken that it’s hard to have done what ye did, but he would have caused more pain if he were allowed to live,” Eileen said. “Ye shouldnae dwell on that for too long.”
“Och, it’s nae that which I’m dwellin’ on,” Archer admitted. “It’s what he told me.”
“What did he tell ye?” Eileen asked.
Archer inhaled deeply through his nose and turned away again.
He lifted his balled fist but brought it down gently on the bookcase this time.
When he turned back to her, his face looked darker even though the candlelight shone on it.
Each wrinkle and valley was cloaked in shadow, and his eyes looked more like the wet grass on a dull spring morning than shimmering emeralds.
“I havenae told ye how me faither died,” he murmured.
She swallowed. “Nay, ye havenae.”
“It was six years ago,” Archer began. “Six years since I failed to save him. I thought it was only brigands, but… we were ambushed. We were ridin’ far from the castle—just the two of us.
He’d asked me to go ridin’ with him that mornin’, and I was honored to do so.
We took the two fastest horses and rode with the wind.
It was the last time I felt real freedom. ”
He shook his head, looking down at the floor. He paused for a long moment, seemingly lost in thought.
Eileen didn’t move from her spot, giving him the space he needed to continue. Something dark brewed beneath his thick eyebrows and in the snarl trembling on his lips.
“We were out on the moors when it happened. Six, seven, eight of them—I am nae sure how many. They rode over the ridge and straight for us. Faither and I kenned somethin’ was wrong, so we drew our swords immediately. He wasnae quick enough to stop the arrow that hit his shoulder.