Chapter 5
“Alright, off ye go, ye wee rascals!”
With that, Arya and Colby’s laughter filled the halls as they rushed out of River’s chambers and out into the eastern wing.
River, just as she had promised, turned around and faced the wall, counting up to one hundred under her breath.
When she was finished, she spun around and peered into the room, in case either of them was still there, and when she found it empty, she stepped out of the door.
“Here I come!” she called.
And then she ran.
The hem of her forest green dress swished around her feet.
Her slippers thudded softly against the stone floor, cold under her feet.
It was a dreary day—clouds gathered above the castle right outside the grand windows that lined the eastern hallway, heralding a storm.
The only games they could play were inside, but with the sheer size of Castle O’Douglas, that was far from a problem.
Hide-and-seek was a favorite of the two children, and River had gotten quite good at discovering them—especially Colby, who had not yet grasped the fact that, even if a hiding place was really good, once it was discovered, it was practically useless.
Now, River rushed to the first place that came to her mind—the small nook near the stairs, where a child Colby’s size could easily hide in the shadows, and had done so plenty of times before.
This time, though, she found it empty.
Her search continued along the hallways and the rooms of the eastern wing, where they confined their games.
River always refused to leave that part of the castle, and besides, she didn’t want her or the children to become a burden to the other residents of the castle and the servants who already had too much to do every day.
Her search led her to a room that she knew was empty—a good hiding spot for any child who could fit into the tightest nooks and crannies, melting into the shadows.
There was nothing there but tapestries and a few forgotten pieces of old, heavy furniture, but it was enough for Arya and Colby to contort themselves and vanish from sight.
“Och, I wonder where Arya and Colby could possibly be!” She called playfully as she approached the door. “Could it be...that they’re here? Found ye!”
She opened the door, a smile on her face as she expected to find them there—
and there was Archer, half-dressed, his muscular chest on display.
River screamed, her heart jumping to her throat.
At first, she didn’t even realize who was standing before her, and her mind supplied her with the worst case scenario—an intruder who was there to hurt her, the children, or perhaps even the Laird once more.
But when her brain caught up with her eyes and she saw it was none other than Archer himself, in a room that was now suddenly fully furnished, she didn’t know what to make of it.
“What are ye doin’ here?” she asked him.
“I could ask ye the same,” said Archer, with an infuriating smirk on his lips. “These are me chambers. Though ye are welcome here anytime.”
River blinked a few times, confusion seeping into her. “What do ye mean these are yer chambers?”
Everyone in the castle knew where the Laird’s chambers were, and they were certainly not in the eastern wing.
River knew that for a fact. And yet there Archer was; and not just him, but his belongings, too—the things she remembered seeing in his chambers the first night of their marriage, when he had taken her straight there.
“I moved here, in the eastern wing,” Archer said, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Quite infuriatingly, he was still not wearing a shirt, and River’s gaze kept slipping back to his chest, to those muscles that bulged and dipped and played with the scant light that came in through the windows.
She couldn’t focus on anything else. Even the words Archer was telling her were flying right past her, and she didn’t notice she had been staring quietly for a long time until she heard him call her name.
“Everythin’ alright, lass?”
Heat bloomed over River’s cheeks once she realized she had been staring at Archer without seeing a single word. There was no doubt in her mind that he had noticed exactly where she had been staring this entire time—not with the way he smirked at her again, so smug and satisfied.
“Aye, I’m fine,” she said, with all the dryness and derision she could muster. Admittedly, there wasn’t much of either.
“Because it seemed to me for a moment there that ye forgot how to speak.”
“I remember how to speak just fine, clearly,” said River, her lips pressing into a thin line as she tried to will the color away from her cheeks.
“It’s right,” said Archer as he sauntered towards her. “Many have fallen speechless upon seein’ me without a shirt.”
“How would ye ken?” asked River, thankful that her mind was still working properly. “Ye’ve lost yer memories.”
Much to her surprise, Archer laughed. It was a soft sound, restrained, not the kind of belly laugh that she was used from herself, the children, her brother. Still, it was more than she had heard from Archer in the year they had been married.
“That’s right,” he admitted with a small shrug. “But I can imagine it to be true.”
“That’s very presumptuous of ye.”
“And yet ye were speechless just now.”
There was nothing River could say to that.
She couldn’t deny the fact that she had lost all her words the moment she came face to chest with Archer.
It didn’t help that with their height difference, his chest was right at eye-level for her.
No matter where she looked, she was greeted by a wall of muscle and glistening skin, and every effort to avert her gaze seemed entirely futile.
“Ye frightened me,” said River, and in that moment, it sounded like the best excuse she could come up with. “I thought this room was empty.”
“It was,” said Archer. “Until I moved in.”
“Aye,” said River. “And why is that? What are ye doin’ here?”
“It’s me castle. Cannae I be in any room I please?”
“Yer chambers have always been at the other end of the castle, as I understand it,” River reminded him.
“Perhaps now that I daenae remember any of it, I prefer this side of the castle,” said Archer.
River didn’t believe that for one second. “Tell me the truth,” she demanded. “Why are ye here?”
“Because ye’re here,” Archer said. He didn’t even try to hide it. He shared the truth openly, and River didn’t know what to make of it anymore.
Just a few days prior, she knew that Archer wanted nothing to do with her. She knew it as certainly as she knew that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Now, her entire world had been flipped upside down and the man standing before her was nothing like the man she had come to know.
“Well, I was fine on me own,” said River, lifting her chin. She fought hard to avoid looking at Archer’s chest, most of her focus spent on the task rather than her words, but at least it paid off; she kept her gaze firmly planted on his face.
“Alas, it is me castle and I shall do as I please,” Archer reminded her, and River could do little more than curse softly under her breath.
What is he plannin’? Why did he move here all of a sudden?
He said it was all because of her. River could only assume that he wanted to be close to her, but she couldn’t figure out the reason behind it.
Was it because he thought they were like any other married couple?
Was it because he thought she loved him and that he, too, had loved her once, before the injury?
Or was it because he suspected her now, too?
What if Keir convinced him I had somethin’ to do with this? What if he’s tryin’ to keep me under watch?
That would almost be preferable to the alternative.
At least suspicion was something River could understand, and no matter how much Archer tried, he would find nothing to incriminate her, as she was innocent.
What she didn’t understand was the possibility that he was trying to pull the two of them closer.
She had no desire of ever giving in.
Before she knew it, Archer was right in front of her, his hand cupping her cheek. It was just as unexpected this third time, and River heard her breath hitch—which could only mean that in the quiet of the room, Archer had heard it, too.
“Ye’re me wife,” he said. “Ye can stare if ye like.”
“I daenae like!” River exclaimed, and then cursed herself for losing all eloquence. Then, she cleared her throat and tried again. “I daenae wish to stare.”
“But ye are starin’.”
“I’m lookin’ at yer face.”
Archer flexed, his pec jumping and drawing River’s gaze to it, before she snapped it back up to his face. When she did, she almost wished she had simply stared at his chest instead. It was unbearable, seeing him so pleased with himself.
“Ye looked.”
“Ye tricked me.”
“I didnae ken that ye would be so eager after I proposed to spend seven nights with ye.”
Rolling her eyes, River tried to pull back from Archer, but his hand quickly found her waist, keeping her still. “I’m nae. Let go of me.”
She had been anything but eager, going so far as to hide from him all night, just so that she wouldn’t have to spend any time with him.
It had been far from an easy task, as she had to go from room to room, following the same path he did by asking the servants if they had seen him.
And yet, in the end, she had managed to avoid him all night.
“Hush,” Archer said, pressing a finger to her lips when River tried to speak again. As she listened, she heard footsteps approaching—footsteps that she knew very well.
“Ye’re playin’ hide and seek with them, are ye nae?” he asked. “We cannae have the Lady of the Clan lose.”
As he spoke, he grabbed River and practically hauled her over to the other side of the room, behind a screen that separated the main part from the washbasin.
River didn’t even have time to protest before she found herself pressed between Archer and the wall, his bare chest brushing against her with every breath he took.
They were so close. River could feel him everywhere around her—his touch, his scent, even his gaze that seemed to bore holes right through her. There was no escaping him, and the longer they stayed there, hidden, the more she came to realize she didn’t want to escape him at all.
What am I thinkin’! Of course I want to escape him!
He had used their silly game as an excuse to trap her like this, to keep her close.
The proximity was more maddening than River could have ever imagined, and though she could push past him and reveal herself, her feet were rooted to the spot.
Her legs were heavy, as if they were made of lead, and her heart thudded so fast, so hard in her chest that she was certain she would be discovered just by the sound.
Above her, Archer grinned, his teeth flashing white in the dim light of the room. There, behind the screen, in the narrow space and the darkness, their proximity felt even more intimate, even more scandalous.
This man had touched her more in two days than he had in an entire year.
At the far end of the room, the door opened timidly, and River heard Arya’s voice.
“River?” she called quietly, but River could only assume the shock of seeing this room suddenly filled with things was enough to scare her away quickly.
Suddenly, she and Archer were once again alone. The only truly foreign thing in the room was that sensation that coiled in River’s stomach—a strange excitement that she didn’t like at all. She wasn’t familiar with such things.
She didn’t think she ever wanted to be.
“Well, they’re gone now,” said River when Archer made no effort to move. “Ye dinnae have to be so close.”
Archer didn’t move, nor did he speak. Instead, he only stared at her—first her eyes, then her lips, then even lower, as if he was appraising her once more. And River, despite it all, was filled with heat, need running like molten metal in her veins.
He was close enough that she could kiss him. His lips hovered above hers as he bent over her, bringing their faces closer together. All it would take was a breath, a tilt of the head. All it would take was some courage.
River didn’t have that courage, and a part of her was glad for it.
“Let us spend the first night together tonight,” said Archer, catching her by surprise.
River let out a long-suffering sigh, trying to step past him. Archer, though, was quick to block her way, stepping in front of her and not letting her go. River tried again. Again, Archer did the same.
“Are ye serious?”
“Of course I am,” said Archer. “Why wouldnae I be?”
“Are ye serious right now?” River demanded. “Let me go.”
“Nay.”
“Archer, ye’re nae a bairn!”
“I will let ye go if ye promise me we will spend the night together.”
River glared up at him, her mouth twisting into a grimace of disapproval. She didn’t want to spend the night with him. She didn’t want to find out what would happen if she did.
“Let me go,” she repeated.
“Nay,” said Archer.
Did she truly have a choice in the matter?
She had no doubt Archer wouldn’t move unless she agreed, and her current situation was almost unbearable.
One more moment in his presence and River didn’t know what she would end up doing.
Perhaps she could find a way to avoid spending the night with him once she was away from him and could finally think properly, without his chest as a distraction.
“Fine!” she cried. “Fine...I’ll spend the night with ye. Now let me go.”
For a brief moment, Archer didn’t move, and River feared he never would. But then, he stepped aside, finally letting her go.
She was out of that room before she even knew it, leaving the door wide open behind her, her feet carrying her quickly down the hallway. Her heart thundered in her chest. Her palms were damp with sweat. And through it all, that persistent need lingered, warming her from the inside.
She didn’t look back. She doubted she would like what she’d see.