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“Ian, thanks for coming and helping us out,” Grant said, not moving the lass from his lap, wishing to say his good nights before he left the great hall and unable to think of much else but her head resting against his groin.
Ian smiled at him knowingly. “We enjoyed the sparring immensely. But next time, Julia will insist on coming to take notes.”
“She will have a video of the action,” Grant said, not altogether pleased that Colleen had recorded them, or that the two women had known what the men were up to and kept them in the dark. “We will have to get together again soon.”
“Aye, I look forward to it.”
“Tell your brothers and your cousins we missed them, and that we enjoyed it immensely.”
“I will do that.”
Grant rose from his seat and lifted the lass in his arms. “Good night, men. Thanks for the grand sparring practice everyone participated in.”
Several raised their tankards to him, some saying, “Aye” or “Hear, hear.” Many looked like they were fighting laughter as they smiled at him. And the lass.
When Grant left the great hall, he heard Enrick’s quick footfall approach.
“Is she going to be all right?”
“Just passed out. But I need to be sure she won’t become sick later.” Grant bypassed the floor that led to the White Room.
“You’re putting her in a different room?” Enrick asked, following Grant as he maneuvered up the narrow, winding stairs to the next floor and headed for the lady’s chamber adjoining the laird’s.
He had not needed his brother’s assistance in this matter, nor his questioning of Grant’s actions. “Enrick,” Grant said in an altogether irritated fashion, “why are you not below stairs visiting with our guests until they leave?”
“You need my aid.” Enrick opened the door to the lady’s chamber for Grant.
“I could have managed.”
“You know what happened when Ian placed Julia in the chamber adjoining his?”
“They ended up mating.” That was not happening between Grant and the lass. “This is only for tonight. If she becomes ill, I want to know right away.”
“I don’t think she is used to drinking whisky,” Enrick said, stating the obvious.
“Aye,” Grant said as Enrick pulled the covers aside so Grant could lay her on the lady’s bed. He slipped off her shoes and laid them on the floor next to the bed. He pulled the covers over her, and for a moment, he and his brother watched Colleen as she slept, her dark brown curls covering the white pillow, her face angelic in sleep. “I had assumed she would tell me and not attempt to drink it.”
“She tried to prove that she could take anything you threw at her. Remarkable, really. I had not thought she would be that determined,” Enrick said.
Lachlan entered the room. “I thought she would sleep in the White Room.”
Grant wouldn’t continue to explain his actions to the whole bloody pack. “Watch the lass for a moment, Lachlan.” He walked into his own chamber and sighed, wanting to take a shower and clean off the oil still covering his torso.
“Maybe we’re going about this all wrong,” Enrick said, following Grant into his chambers.
Grant was reminded of one of their wolfhounds. He hadn’t remembered his brother being such a shadow. “How so?”
“If she loses her inheritance, we could have more trouble if one of her male cousins inherits the castle instead. Wouldn’t a male wolf be even more difficult, demanding, and insistent than a female? Like her father was?”
Grant gave Enrick a look that asked if he was serious.
Enrick shrugged. “If one of her cousins demands we make significant changes, we’ll have to. But the lass is…well, a lass. And with all your charismatic ways with a woman, I would think you could, well…charm her into seeing your point of view on running the estates.”
“Nay,” Grant said. He would not pretend interest in the woman. He was never deceitful about a thing like that. “Besides, from what I gathered from speaking to her solicitor, she is very much an alpha. Her cousins are betas. If one were to inherit, he would be easy to manipulate.”
“I still don’t understand why you chose to put her in a chamber adjoining yours and not the White Room,” Enrick said.
“This is the only chamber that has an attached room not currently being painted, and since we sent the women of our pack away for the next two weeks, I couldn’t just have another female stay with her.”
Enrick smiled a little.
Grant shook his head. “I’m going to shower. Either you or Lachlan watch her for me in the meantime, will you?”
“As you wish.”
Enrick joined Lachlan in the lady’s chamber, and Grant started a warm shower. Thinking of the way the lass’s skirt caressed his bare legs and how her nipples pressed against her blouse, he instantly became aroused. He had just lathered up, glad to get the oil and sweat off his skin, when someone flushed the toilet.
Immediately, his warm water turned to hot and nearly scalded him. “What the devil…”
He pulled open the steamed-up glass door and looked from Enrick to Colleen.
“Closest bathroom,” Enrick said as Colleen tossed her dinner into the ceramic bowl.
“Bloody hell,” Grant said under his breath and yanked a towel off a rack, but he didn’t cover himself in time before Colleen turned her pale face in his direction and got an eyeful of his aroused state.
Chapter 4
“Are you ready to return to bed, lass?” Enrick asked Colleen, offering her a hand up from Grant’s bathroom floor. Grant was still securing his towel around his waist or he would have aided her.
What else could go wrong tonight?
“I don’t think your whisky agreed with me,” she said in barely a whisper. “And the room is spinning out of control.” She took another gander at Grant’s towel, and he couldn’t help but be a wee bit amused.
She took Enrick’s hand and stood, then rinsed her face in the sink and dried it with a towel as he held on to her elbow to keep her from falling.
Grant let out his breath. “Go to the kitchen and get her something to settle her stomach, will you, Enrick? I’ll take it from here.”
With his arm around her waist to keep her steady, Grant returned Colleen to the lady’s room, which, by all rights, should be hers. Her husband—or for wolves, mate—should be in the room Grant now slept in. But she couldn’t stay in the room adjoining his while she remained here, or it could signify that they were attached. Nor would he give up his bed to sleep elsewhere, which would also cause conjecture on his people’s part—making them think he was no longer in charge. A night, no problem. But months, a year? He couldn’t allow it.
