“Aye, lass,” I muttered hoarsely, my eyes following her movements. “Constantly.”
She didn’t need to know ‘twas my cock I spoke of.
Now she nodded as she sat back on her heels, her attention focused on tying the bandage to hold the poultice in place.
“’Twill begin to numb soon. I only brought enough today for your three most concerning wounds, but the mustard seed heals quickly.”
“So do orcs.”
Did one corner of her lips twitch wryly? I hoped so.
“My father wants you able to stand by Hogamany, which is in three days.”
Midwinter was passed, then? I truly had lost track of the days.
“I think you will be able by then,” Lillian announced, rolling to her feet.
When she stood, her head was above mine. Not by much, which meant I would tower over her once I was strong enough to push myself to my full height. But for now, I had to tip my head back to see her, especially with the cloth tied around my head and ruined eye.
Her hand moved, her fingertips resting on my shoulder. A benediction, mayhap?
“Thank you, Lillian,” I rasped. “For the food. For yer care.”
Her nod was jerky, and she pulled her fingers away as if she could feel the burn from the poultices working.
“I—I did it for my father.”
Ah.
A timely reminder. It was necessary, too, I growled at myKteer. Lillian wasn’t mine; she had no interest in me as a male. She was merely here to heal me because her father, my enemy, had given her orders.
I needed to remember this.
No matter how my cock might react to her, no matter how my chest might expand at the thought of her touch… Lillian was not mine.
I wasnaught. I was chained in her father’s dungeon, sitting in my own filth and horror, half-frozen, and mad with fever. The only way she might look at me was with pity, not hope, not desire.
Lillian was not mine.
But as she packed away her crock and bandages and the empty teapot, my eyes followed her motions hungrily. As the burn from the poultice faded, the chill of the stonewalls seeped back into my muscles, tightening them, and I knew I was in for another long night.
She straightened, glancing about the cell as if she might have forgotten something. The metal tray she’d left yesterday, the one intended to reflect sunlight across my skin, was still in place, but the heavy clouds spoke of snow, not sun, so ‘twas useless today.
I saw the moment her gaze landed on the flea-infested blanket I’d used for the last months, saw the way she glanced at me and back again. When she crossed to it, her nose wrinkled as she scooped it up. Understandable; it likely smelled even worse than I did.
But she stepped in front of me, shook it out…and wrapped it around my shoulders. The movement put her breasts near my mouth, and I sucked in a deep breath, desperate to catch her scent on my tongue. When she straightened, I was almost giddy.
Mayhap ‘twas still the fever’s fault.
“There,” she said with soft satisfaction, pulling the blanket tight over my chest and tying the corners together. “’Tis not much, but mayhap you will not freeze before I return tomorrow.”
She’d wrapped me in a blanket. Meager though ‘twas, this was the most kindness any human had ever shown me. Her preciousfatherhadn’t told her to do this, I’d wager.
So my voice was thick when I whispered, “Thank ye, again.”
Her fingertips lingered on the knot as she met my gaze.
“Thank you for explaining about Sorcha and Roxanna.”
