Marissa didn’t think as she threw back the covers. The air beyond the bed was much cooler than it had been beneath the blankets, especially now that the fire was nothing but softly glowing embers. Her flesh broke out in goosebumps, and she tugged a thick robe from a hook beside the bed and wrapped her arms around herself.
It was much warmer with the robe wrapped around her, and she sighed with relief. But now, she had no idea what she’d gotten out of bed for.
What could she do in the middle of the night that would tire her out?
She stood beside the bed, weighing all of the options available to her. But there was only one choice, really.
Marissa could go for a walk around the castle grounds. Surely that was well within her rights. She would become the lady of the castle soon enough, after all.
She took a step forward, wondering where she might find a lantern, when suddenly a hand lashed out through the darkness. It clamped around her wrist, and she couldn’t stop the high-pitched scream that flew from her lips.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“What are ye yellin’ about?” Arthur grunted, holding onto his future wife’s hand. “And what are ye doin’ up and out of bed at this hour?”
He couldn’t really see anything through the darkness, just her silhouette against the wall behind her. But it didn’t take him much of an effort to imagine how she looked right now—her eyes wide with shock and her mouth gaping open in surprise.
“Ye scared the life out of me!” Marissa protested, her voice shaky with fear. “Why did ye grab me without sayin’ anythin’? Ye could have been a kidnapper!”
He smirked, not caring that she was unable to see him. “A kidnapper who made it all the way into our chambers and was lyin’ next to ye in bed?”
“Well, when ye say it like that…” Marissa huffed.
Arthur pushed himself up in bed. He’d been awake all night, listening as she tossed and turned and huffed to herself.
When they’d first arrived at the castle, he had been certain that as soon as his head hit his pillow, he’d drift off to the realm of dreams. How naive that thought had been.
Now, he was cranky and tired, and his bride-to-be was trying to flee their bed in the middle of the night.
“Ye didnae answer me question,” Arthur said, only just realizing that he still had not released her wrist.
He could feel her pulse fluttering beneath his fingers, belying some of her fear. He loosened his grip.
“What question?”
“I asked where ye thought ye were goin’?” he grunted again, mad that he had to repeat himself.
“I wanted to walk around the castle,” Marissa explained. “I couldnae sleep, nay matter how hard I tried. So I thought I would do somethin’ to help, and a walk might be just the thing.”
Arthur nodded, and then reminded himself that she couldn’t see him.
“Aye, a walk might help,” he agreed. “But I have another idea.”
He dropped her wrist, immediately noticing the lack of her warmth as he threw back the covers.
“Ye dinnae need to get out of bed,” she protested, her words rushed. “Ye can go back to sleep. I’ll find a way to tire meself.”
“I wasnae asleep,” Arthur grunted.
Although he’d been gone from this castle for five years, he still knew everything about his bedchambers. Out of habit, he reached out, grabbing a candlestick from where it rested on the table by his bed.
“Well, still,” Marissa sputtered, “ye dinnae have to help me with me troubles. Ye can go back to bed. Maybe now that I’m nae in it, ye can actually fall asleep. Dinnae let me keep ye awake.”
“Ye were already keepin’ me awake.”
He snatched the flint beside the candle and the small knife he kept for exactly this purpose. Striking the steel to the flint, a small spark lit up the room and then quickly sputtered.
He turned to look at her, and his mouth went dry. Her short auburn curls were mussed, forming a halo around her head that glimmered in the candlelight. Her flimsy nightgown clung to her curvy figure, and Arthur could just make out the outline of her breasts and hips.
