Chapter 25
E mer clutched the panels of her still-damp cloak around her as they walked. The sound of their boots carried through the night as they made their way to Calder’s cottage, though they would enter through the door this time.
With a defeated thud, Calder dropped the sack of items they had come for just on the other side of the threshold. Whoever had been tasked with delivering the blankets and wood had also taken it upon themselves to light a fire and leave bread, apples, and dried meats on the nearby table. There was more apprehension in Calder’s movements than when they had broken in.
Discarding her cold cloak and boots, Emer made her way over to the fire.
Calder remained leaning against the front door, reminding her so much of when they first entered his room at the keep. Only, this time, he was the uneasy one.
Emer cleared her throat before offering, “Your sister is lovely.” Which came out more like a question than an observation.
Calder snorted and pushed off from the wall.
“So lovely that she not only stole your clothes so you would not be burdened with them anymore, but also… unpacked ou r horses,” he ground out, staring into the corner of the room where their bedrolls and belongings were.
“At least she didn’t hide the horses,” she joked.
He paused and raised his brow. “Do you know where they are?”
Emer’s face pinched because, no, she did not.
“Make no mistake, we are hostages,” he advised.
“Seems to be a family tradition,” she muttered to herself as he faded into the darkness of the back room.
Staring at the fire, Emer heard his heavy footfalls as he returned, and when he did not speak, she turned to find him watching her with his mouth set in a grim line.
“We should eat and then rest. You can take the bed,” he offered.
Emer met him at the table and accepted the bread he had already torn free for her.
“You said there were no hearts to break at home,” Calder observed.
Tiredly, Emer hummed in acknowledgment.
“Not even Lachlan’s?” he continued, and Emer paused the bite of food she was about to take, the honey dripping from the bread and down her hand.
Calder reached forward, dragging his thumb up her wrist and collecting the honey before bringing it to his mouth. Something about the fact that Emer was in her socks made the gesture far more intimate than it was, and for a moment, she forgot what his question had been.
“No. Not Lachlan,” she answered.
Calder quirked a brow .
“I cared for him, but not like that,” she explained.
Calder’s features relaxed slightly, and he let out a thoughtful hum.
“Why did you wait until we left Lina’s to ask me that?”
His eyes flicked up to her briefly, and as he turned his attention back to his plate, the corner of his lip twitched.
“Maybe I just don’t like when others get to see that pretty pink blush of yours,” he replied, banishing any words Emer had prepared to strike back with.
She had no words and no wholesome thoughts. What Emer did have, was several very bad ideas, all related to the Sea Raven, who still wasn’t meeting her eyes.
“It’s late. We should sleep,” he urged, and Emer nodded, still not trusting herself to speak.
Moving to the sleeping area, Emer carefully stepped over the bedrolls he had laid out for himself and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Did my sister say anything to you while you were in the other room?” he asked, removing his boots and kicking them into a corner.
“Oh, yes, she wanted confirmation regarding a myriad of scandalous rumors. Rest assured, I told her the tales of the bloodthirsty seducer of women were completely false, and you are as threatening as a kitten,” she goaded, curious as to what Lina could say that would put him on edge.
Calder turned, the lantern light casting his features in a sinister glow. “False, huh?” he asked, his eyes trailing her as he stepped forward.
“Not bloodthirsty?” he asked.
Emer shook her head.
“Not seductive?” he asked, running his tongue over his teeth.
She shook her head but bit her cheek to hide her growing smile. He came to stand in front of her, leaning down and squinting. “Do the stars in your eyes make it hard to see, or have you just not been paying attention? Because I know you saw me bait and beat Dempsey in the courtyard that day. More than that. I know you kept watching.”
“Why did you do it?” she asked.
“For the same reason you didn’t turn away. He deserved it.”
Emer slipped beneath the covers, watching with rapt attention as Calder dropped to his knees. When he laid back, long legs stretched out and fingers laced behind his head, the room instantly felt smaller. In the quiet of the cottage, she could hear only her heart and Calder’s slow, steady breaths.
“Relax, Em. It is not like this is your first time falling asleep with me in the room.”
Sitting up sharply and equipped with an even thornier retort, Emer startled when their eyes met, Calder having made no attempt to sleep.
“I know that,” she said ruefully before laying back down. “Also, I was intoxicated one of those times and very tired the other,” she continued, unsure why she felt the need to make excuses and feeling immediately foolish.
“Shall I go break into the Kinkaids’ pub and steal some ale?” he teased in a honeyed tone.
“So you can choke on it?” she spat in an equally saccharine voice.
“You know what,” he grunted as he stood. “I changed my mind. I want the bed.”
“You’re not serious!”
“Almost exclusively.”
The room was plunged into darkness a moment later as he extinguished the lantern they had carried over from Lina’s. Emer muttered obscenities under her breath as she moved to free herself from the covers with more drama than was necessary. A yelp escaped her as her leg collided with Calder, who now stood at the side of the bed. He loomed over her, and even in the dark, she could feel his stare. “I didn’t say you had to get up.”
Despite being under several blankets, she felt exposed.
“You are, however, on my side.”
He slipped his arms under her back and legs, his calloused palms warm against her bare legs.
“Do you know what they call a group of ravens, Merrow?” he asked in a low voice .
One of Emer’s hands gripped the front of his tunic, and she shook her head though he couldn’t see it.
“An unkindness,” he remarked as he tossed her to the other side of the bed.
Muffled curses radiated from under the layers of blankets as the bed dipped under his weight.
“Thank you for warming it up,” he cooed.
She swiped furiously at the mess of hair covering her face.
“I can’t believe you just did that!”
“So dramatic,” he chuckled.
She tried to kick him, but the blankets confined her legs.
Calder snorted.
While sleep eluded them, the silence found them quickly. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out the silhouette of his back. She expected his breath to steady as he relaxed. It did not.
“Want to know something?” he asked in a hushed tone. His question was met with silence Emer forced herself to maintain.
“I know you are awake. You are doing the hand-tapping thing you do when you are nervous.”
She made a petulant noise.
“You might be the most dangerous creature I have ever slept with.”
“You are not sleeping with me. You are lying next to me.”
“Semantics,” he said, and she felt the bed shift as he shrugged.
“Am I allowed to comment on how attractive it was watching you fight at the tavern yet? Or…” his voice trailed off. Her lips parted, but shock prevented her words from forming. “Later then,” he added for her.
A pause.
“Sweet dreams. I look forward to hearing the ones about me in the morning.”
“Not a chance,” she sneered.
“So many lies from you tonight,” his voice sounded deeper in the darkness of the room .
Emer gaped and assured herself that lack of sleep would also account for the poor choices she was entertaining and her loss of control over her wandering mental faculties.
Sleep. She needed sleep.
But when she closed her eyes, she saw the men in the alley and heard the slick sound of blood.
“Calder?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, Merrow?”
“Tell me something good, for I should not like to face even a small death with a heavy heart,” she asked, referring to the belief that one’s time asleep is its own kind of temporary death when the soul is separated from the realm of the living but not quite joined with the realm of the dead.
So, he told her a story of his favorite good thing.
“My mother used to say…” It started and continued until Emer fell asleep.