The pain in Sean’s side finally lessened and he had slept on and off for a short while. His limbs were stiff and painful when he tried to move them.
“Drink this.”
It was Lachlann that was beside him every time he opened his eyes. Lachlann nursed him along, giving him water and broth, and some sort of foul smelling tea to ease his pains. Sean wanted to ask about Thomasina but he knew better than that. Neither she nor Niall seemed to be nearby.
“Is there much pain?”
Sean shook his head but the pounding across his skull kept his movements to a minimum.
“Methinks ye’re lying through yer teeth, old man.”
The desire to laugh was there but he knew it would be painful. He offered a smile.
“There ye go. See, now I’m believing ye.” Lachlann rolled his eyes before walking back to the small fire.
The cave was cozy with the fire. A peaceful place. A quiet place where Sean could think. He’d come close to the end of his life and his biggest regret? Spending so much of his time chasing after someone who didn’t want him. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Once he was strong enough, he’d get back to Eire. Certainly getting there the way he’d come was no longer an option. No doubt he was a hunted man.
“My thanks for hiding me.” Sean’s voice sounded weak. He coughed to clear his throat. “Where are the sheep?”
“Aldred took care of them.”
Sean nodded. “I don’t mean to put ye in harm’s way.”
Lachlann stood beside him. “Dunna fash yerself. If not for ye being a fellow warrior, I’d have to be seeing to ye for the sweet lass Thomasina anyway.”
Sean struggled to sit up but Lachlann urged him down. “Now. Ye’re not ready for that. I dinna mean to upset ye.”
“Thomasina cares little for me.”
“Ah, spoken like a man who’s had his heart broken a time or two.”
“Yea. Once was quite enough.”
Lachlann turned to him and searched his face. “Ye’re starting to look human again. That’s good. We dunna want to be scaring the lass with yer face all purpled and swollen.”
“Enough! She would not care. She’s no different than Brighit.”
“Brighit? Of the MacNaughton Clan?”
Sean’s weakened body became instantly alert and pain shot through him as his muscles stiffened. “Yea. The same. Do ye ken her?”
Lachlann laughed. “Aye. She’s a bonny fox, that one. I had the pleasure of seeing her to the Priory.” He looked over at Sean. “She’s the ripest fruit I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Sean smiled. He couldn’t take offense. It was true. And Sean, the arse, had been trying to pick that fruit forever. “Yea, but she’s wed another.”
“Peter? Did she wed him? That doesna surprise me. The man would lay down his life for her. She will be well taken care of by him, dunna ye worry.”
Sean thought about that. It was a blessing to know she would spend her days protected and well-loved. It came as a surprise that the fact was suddenly enough for him. He realized he wanted her happy. He really hadn’t wanted her for the right reasons. “She was quite happy with him as her husband. Already carrying his bairn.”
Lachlann smiled. “She never seemed like the nun-type to me. Too impassioned. Ye ken?”
Yes, he’d sensed it, too. He seemed to have quite an ability for seeing beneath the surface. With Thomasina, even more so. He’d enflamed her passion. But it wasn’t to be. Not when the fate of a clan rested on the outcome.
“Ye need to eat. The fish jump out of the loch here.”
“Yea.” Sean smiled again. His face less stiff. “I dinna mind Thomasina thinking it was my great prowess that caught the fish. She hates to see the skinning of the bloody animals.”
Lachlann glanced at him. “Is that how ’tis with her?”
“Yea. I dunna wish to make the lass uncomfortable.”
Lachlann continued to look at him. “Are not most women squeamish about such things?”
Sean shrugged. He had never noticed. “The fish smells good. Mayhap I’m getting my strength back.”
“I truly hope so.”
Lachlann looked to the opening of the cave. Sean followed his gaze. Niall and Thomasina stood in the entrance. She looked exhausted and Sean’s arms ached to hold her. He kept himself rigid, his face expressionless.
“There has been some trouble.” It was Niall who finally spoke.
“What is amiss?” Lachlann came to Sean, bending down to help him sit up when he struggled. “Has it to do with Sean?”
“He is a wanted man. They search for him, calling him the Norman slayer.” Niall paused. “We ran into our father.”
Thomasina looked away and Niall closed the distance to the other men. “O’Reilly tried to take her away while I stood right there.”
Sean leaned forward, ignoring the pain coursing through him. “If he touched her, I will run him through.”
Niall reached an arm to Sean to help him stand. “He will not get near her. Not while I’m alive.”
“But that bastard—our father—had given him yer coins as my dowry,” Thomasina finally spoke up.
Sean’s face paled. Everyone lurched toward him before he crumbled to the ground. They sat him slowly back down.
“Ye need to take care, man, ye’ve had a bad beating,” Niall said.
Sean’s eyes closed, the sounds around were muffled as he struggled to stop the room from spinning. “Water, please.”
Thomasina took the water from Lachlann’s hand and held it to Sean’s lips.
“My thanks, Lachlann.” He opened his eyes to Thomasina but didn’t speak.
Her face heated and she moved away.
Lachlann touched her hand when he took the skin. “He’s had nothing but my ugly face to look at while ye’ve been gone.”
Sean lay back down and draped his arm over his face. “Tell me.”
Niall sat down beside the man. “My father gave O’Reilly the coins and told him it was Thomasina’s dowry. There had been no discussion it was payment for his debts.”
Sean fisted his hand and smashed it against the ground. “I dunna like just laying here when I want to kick the man’s arse.”
“I told them she was betrothed.”
Sean lowered his arm and turned to face Tommy’s brother. His expression gave no indication of what he was planning.
Thomasina brought the skin to Sean again. “Ye need to drink.”
Her lovely, green eyes were wide, beseeching him to accept the water from her. He opened his mouth for her ministrations.
She nodded and smiled. “It smells of fish. I’ll get ye some.”
Sean watched her as she walked away. Lachlann was quick to step up and help her. While the two were talking, Niall moved a bit closer.
“So we have a bit of a problem.” Niall turned to face him, his voice quiet. “We need to get her married—now. I dunna trust O’Reilly or my father.”
“So ye need to get to yer uncle and make the match ye spoke of.” The ache in his chest as he spoke the words felt nearly as intense as the pain in his body. He didn’t want to see her married to another, but it wasn’t his choice. “I understand ye leaving me here. Getting her safely away is more urgent now.”
Especially since Sean was a hunted man. Her being near him put her in danger. He would not have it. She needed to be protected and away from him.
“Nae. We will not just leave ye here.”
“The Normans are hunting me down! Ye need to leave me here.”
“They will not come this way till the morrow. We have time to get ye to the coast and to another boat to take ye home.” He placed his hand on Sean’s shoulder. “Ye’re a good man for seeing after Tommy.”
Niall accepted the fish Lachlann handed to him.
“A few miles north, there’s a little village of fishermen,” Lachlann said. “There must be a handy boatmen willing to see ye across.”
Thomasina scooted her bottom close to Sean. He wanted to wrap his arm around her. Pull her closer. She leaned over a bit, a small piece of fish in her fingers. Her eyes sparkled and he stared into their depths. She was intent on watching that the fish made it to his mouth. He was intent on feeling her close the distance between them. The scent of her skin. The feel of her hand where it rested lightly on his chest. He took the food, his lips closing around her fingers.
Thomasina took a shaky breath, finally tearing her eyes from his mouth. She stared back at him, his eyes unwavering on her. Her lips parted and she smiled but it was a half-hearted smile. Melancholy.
“My thanks.”
Niall cleared his throat and stood abruptly. His expression tight with disapproval. “Methinks he may be able to feed himself, Tom. What say ye, Lachlann? Is he up for it?”
“I’ve never known eating fish to be a very taxing endeavor. Let us sit ye up a little more. Slowly so ye dunna pass out again. That’s probably far enough.”
The four ate in silence. Then Lachlann went about picking up the few things they’d taken out of their bags and put them back in preparation for leaving.
Niall blew a loud breath, his hands resting on his hips. “Well, there’s still a few hours of daylight left. We’d best get started if ye’re up to it.”
“Yea.” Sean nodded, sitting up a little more. The room didn’t shift around him. “I’m certain I can ride.”
Lachlann helped him up. “Perhaps sitting up by the fire for a few minutes while yer food settles?”
“Nae! Thomasina is not safe here.”
“He’s right. We need to leave this place.”
Riding as before, they headed north. When it was too dark to travel, they set up camp nestled in a small clearing with steep cliffs on three sides. It would be difficult for the Normans or even their father to find them here.
Sean’s body ached and he accepted the coverings offered. He was quickly asleep.
Thomasina lay beside her brother, sharing the same blanket, and watched the sun as it slowly lightened the night sky.
“Are ye asleep?” Niall’s voice was quiet and he rolled toward her.
“Nae. I’ve been waiting for the sunrise. ’Tis bitter cold here. I pray Sean is warm enough.”
“Ye care for the man?”
“Yea. He’s a good man.”
He took her hand, rubbing it between his own to help ward off the cold. “I’ve not slept much either. I fear what O’Reilly will do. I’ve all but told him ye’ve given up yer innocence to yer husband. I lied.”
“And we parted ways with him.”
“Yea. ’Tis all fine unless he decides to come after us.”
She turned on her side to face him. “Ye think he may do that?”
“He was mad as the devil at losing ye.”
Thomasina shivered and it wasn’t from the cold. “But ye told him I was a virgin no longer.”
“And he may think on it and decide I was lying. Father knew I was lying.”
“Do ye believe he would tell O’Reilly?”
Niall shrugged, rolled onto his back, and looked heavenward. “The man is a drunken fool.”
They watched the flight of a lark as it filled the air with the first songs of the new day.
Niall turned his head toward her, his gaze intense. “If ye’ve feelings for the warrior, tell me now.”
The fluttering began again, her pulse racing to keep up. “Methinks ye ken.”
“It would be safest to see ye wed to him now. That way, if O’Reilly finds us, there will be no question. He will not want ye if ye’ve been with another. ’Tis yer innocence he craves.”
A shiver of repulsion tripped up her backbone. O’Reilly had lusted after her even when she was a child? If not for her brother and his friend’s protection, the man could easily have forced himself on her, ripped her asunder even, to accommodate his perverse desires. Nothing would be worse than having him touch her.
“I ken how much ye’ve done to get back into the clan. I want ye to be welcomed back in as yer own man and stop this solitary life. I am not so selfish to think of only myself.”
“I ken that. Since our own father’s a drunk, ’tis up to me as yer brother to see to yer betrothal. If O’Reilly gets his hands on ye, it’ll be too late to make a better choice for ye.” He cupped her cheek. The warmth from his hand calmed her. “Methinks the warrior will be kind to ye. I canna say the same about any clans our uncle may choose to ally with. This may be what is best for ye.”
“Yea. If he is willing to take me to wife.”
“How could he not be?” He pulled her in close for a hug. “I’ll speak with him.”