Again he groaned before he rolled over, showing her his perfect male body.
“Fine.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Let us be about meeting our maker, shall we?”
Her cheeks burned as she saw his erection plainly in the morning light.
Braden laughed as he noticed where her gaze lingered. “What can I say? Even in dreams, you haunt me.”
He sat up then and pulled her close. “Care to?—”
A sudden pounding on the door interrupted him. “Braden?” Sin called from the other side.
“I’m up,” Braden shouted at his brother, then mumbled beneath his breath, “and likely to stay that way if you keep pounding the damn door.”
“We’re waiting for you,” Sin said.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in a minute.”
Maggie smiled bashfully at him. “They’re waiting.”
By his face she could tell Braden barely bit back some sarcastic retort. Grumbling under his breath, he reluctantly left his bed.
Maggie helped him to dress, then hand in hand they went down the stairs.
She knew she should tell him about Connor before they left, but for some reason she couldn’t. The boy had been through enough rejection. She would take him home with her and in a few months or even years when Braden was more ready for it, she would tell him.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the women gathered in the great hall. In spite of the large number of them, it was so quiet, the only sound Maggie could hear was her heart pounding in her chest.
Sin rose from the table where he had been eating, and met them just inside the door. “Ceana is in position. I made sure she’ll be comfortable for the rest of the day.”
“Do you think this will work?” Braden asked his brother.
Sin shrugged. “Why not? I never thought we’d get this far. I guess in another hour we’ll know for certain.”
Braden looked at Maggie, and tightened his grip on her hand. “Aye, we will.”
It was then Maggie saw the uncertainty in his gaze. But it was only there for an instant before he concealed it.
Without another word, he led her from the hall.
Outside the door, Agnes stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them in the inner bailey.
“Are you ready, my lady?” Braden asked her.
Agnes nodded, her eyes sharp and cunning. “We all are. And God help the lad if he doesn’t react like he ought. I might be old, but I’m still spry enough to whack his bottom if he shames his upbringing. I taught him better than this and he better well remember that.”
Maggie smiled, even though she was terrified from the inside out.
With Braden standing between them, the three of them walked to the gate. Maggie crossed herself and whispered a quiet prayer for success.
Slowly, the women who had been manning the walls, wrenched the gate open.
A sudden hush fell on the men as they gaped at the rising gates.
“I’ll be a damned beggar in hell,” Robby MacDouglas said. His face incredulous, he came forward to meet them at the entrance.
With a disbelieving smile, Robby held his hand out to Braden who took it and shook it quickly. “How did you do it, man?”
Braden shrugged. “It wasn’t hard.”
