Sin dipped his head down to kiss her, then froze.
“Caledonia?”
She didn’t move.
He shook her gently. “Callie?”
Again, no response. She was out cold.
Cursing, Sin pulled back, his groin burning like the fires of hell.
Aggravated, he watched her skin gleaming and taunting him. If not for his raging body that demanded hers so rawly, he would laugh at this. But there was nothing funny about the pain of his unspent lust.
“It’s just as well.” He pulled the blanket over her. Sin took this night as a sign. He had no right to her. Not really.
She deserved an honorable champion. A man like Simon. Someone who could love her and give her the children she wanted so much. His heart ached at the knowledge that he could never be that carefree man who could laugh with her and share her peaceful life.
So be it. He would heed this omen and content himself with just seeing her home to her family and Henry’s rebels brought out into the light and punished.
Still, as he watched her sleeping, a bitter ache settled deep in his heart, making him wish he were a different man. A better man.
Sin lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms. He would just hold her for a little while. Pretend that they had a future together. Pretend he had something to offer her that was worth having.
Callie came awake to a ferocious pounding in her head. Moaning, she blinked her eyes open and flinched at the bright daylight streaming through the room.
The door opened, sending spikes of pain through her skull. “Och, now, please walk softly,” she breathed.
“Pardon me, milady,” Aelfa whispered. “But his lordship is waiting below to start your journey to Scotland.”
Callie sat up quickly, then gasped as more pain hit her. She was married.
And she was going home!
Callie looked around the room, but there was no sign her husband had ever been here. Fuzzy memories tangled in her mind as she tried to recall the night before.
She remembered Sin looking angry and vaguely recalled him carrying her to the room. The last clear memory she had was the feel of his chest under her hand.
Aelfa came forward with a towel. “I had them draw a bath for you in the antechamber, milady. I thought you’d like to bathe this morning before you head out on your long trip.”
“Thank you, Aelfa,” she whispered, pushing the covers back.
Her heart stopped as she saw the bloody sheets.
Aelfa gasped at the sight and crossed herself. “Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary, milady, are you all right? Gor, but I never saw such like that in all my life. Is it your time of the month?”
Callie shook her head. Nay, she was mid-cycle and even so, she’d never bled like this. Her thighs were completely coated.
“You best be moving slowly, milady.” Aelfa helped her stand. “Are you feeling all right? Sore?”
“I feel fine except for this ache in my head.” Callie wrapped her plaid about herself and headed toward the tub in the next room. The blood in the bed concerned her. What had caused it?
Nothing seemed to be hurting her. She wasn’t so naive as to think women bled like that every time they were with their husbands.
It made no sense whatsoever to her. Whatever could have happened?
How very, very strange.
Sin frowned as he made his way through the great hall. Everyone was staring at him rather oddly. Even more oddly than normal.
