This time, when they finished and curled around each other, damp skin against damp skin, they slept soundly and did not wake until morning.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sawny’sentirebodyscreamedin protest when he awoke the next morning, stiff and feeling every bruise, every cut, every abrasion.
Adaira’s hand trailed down his naked body as he left the bed, as if her touch longed to linger upon him.
He did not blame her. All he wanted to do was linger with her.
But he had held off on his important message long enough. Too long. Though he should have told Seamus about the letter the moment he arrived, waiting did not really matter. Either Kelso still had the damning piece of evidence, or he did not. They could not predict what he would do with the letter and better to have time to evaluate what to do than rush in and cause more chaos than what already existed in the Highlands.
Sawny drew on a new pair of braies. A bit wider in the waist, a gifted pair from one of Adaira’s brother Conall, most likely. Of her brothers, he was the closest to Sawny in size.
Or had been before Sawny’s time in the dungeon.
This fresh tunic fit better than the one Adaira had burned, yet still bagged in the shoulders and waist.
He was slipping on his tattered boots when Adaira stirred behind him. He looked over his shoulder at the bed. She was still burrowed under the coverlet, her chin propped up in her hand, her gossamer hair flowing around her like a golden river, and her pale skin peeking between the tresses. Her bust pressed against the bedding, shoving the rounded globes close to her chin. She looked as smooth and beautiful as a glinting selkie, and so enticing that it took all of Sawny’s will not to climb back into bed with her.
“I’ll return soon,” he promised. “I have to speak to your father about the letter.”
Adaira tilted her head. “What do ye think he will want to do?”
“Attack the MacIntosh keep to retrieve the letter, most likely.”
Adaira shot upright, sitting tall in the bed and holding the plaid blanket against her chest. “Invade? Surely ye will no’ go with?”
Sawny marched to the bed and kissed the top of her head. “I dinna know what your father plans, so I shall make that decision once I’ve spoken to your father. Dinna fret.”
He spun toward the door and exited with haste, because she was fretting, and he could not bear to see her worried face.
Seamus awaited him in his study with his sons. Sorcha perched on a chair in the corner of the room by the bookcase, observing with her sharp green gaze.
“Sit down, lad,” Seamus told him as he entered and gestured to the cushioned chair in front of the desk. Sawny sat.
Seamus’s face was tight and he inhaled deeply. “What do ye have to tell us about your time with the MacIntoshes?”
Sawny decided to skip the details of his imprisonment – he was certain Seamus could see the effects of Sawny’s trials without having to provide the man details. Better to focus on the more pressing issue.
“Kelso has the Gordon letter. I tried to steal it when I left but could no’. He is meeting with Breadalbane or one of his representatives soon, and I expect the letter will change hands so the Campbells have it.”
The room seemed to buzz with this information, and even Seamus had to take a moment before speaking again. They did not have the letter yet, but it was so close it was palatable.
This was their chance and they all knew it.
“Do ye think Slippery John has made it to Kelso’s yet?” Seamus finally asked.
Sawny shrugged. “I dinna know. I think no’. He was surprised when the Duncanson man appeared. I dinna think he was expecting anyone soon. But I could be wrong. I dinna know what Kelso will do with the letter.”
“Do ye know if anyone else read it?”
Sawny shook his head. “I had help from a young lad who heard them talking about it when I escaped.”
“Did he read it?”
“Nay. He did no’ have the opportunity either. I dinna know who other than Kelso has read it.”
Seamus tapped his fingertips on his desk. “We need a plan to get the letter. If we go to Kelso’s keep, will the young lad help us find it? If we try an invasion or a secret attack?”
