She swatted away the fingers on her face, cracking her eyes open. “For good reason, as ye can see.”
She rolled onto her side, away from Elize, and stretched. Her muscles were noticeably more relaxed. Her mind immediatelystrayed to Adair. She tried to pull the covers over her head, only for Elize’s body to weigh them down.
“Why are ye grinnin’?”
She did not realize she was.
She schooled her features into indifference. “I am nae.”
“But ye were.”
Emily let out an annoyed groan and pressed her face into her pillow. “Elize, I daenae want to be pestered so early into the mornin’.”
“But it’s nae mornin’, at least nae early. It’s already eleven.”
Anxiety coiled in her chest.
How did I sleep so late?
Her body still felt heavy with the need for sleep, but the fact that she had slept for so long made her panic. It was unseemly.
“Look at me, Emily.”
She forgot that her sister ignored hints.
Elize straddled her back, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her. “Look at me hair. Look at how ye’ve let me parade meself. Help me with a braid.”
Emily rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to toss a pillow at her. Elize only rolled off her when she made to rise.
She sat up—she must have also changed into her chemise—and pushed her feet into her slippers. The sooner she complied, the sooner she could get rid of her.
Elize rushed to the vanity and sat primly, strumming her fingers on her lap. Emily loosened her braid and reached for a brush.
“Ye have a bruise on yer neck.”
Her hand hovered over the wooden handle. It did not take her long to find the purplish mark, for Elize kept staring at it. Emily touched it with delicate fingers, watching her reflection. It did not hurt. The cause of it was a mystery until it wasn’t.
Adair.
“Ye have another on yer collarbone.”
She checked herself in the mirror again, but this bruise looked different. It hurt. Her fingers traced the tiny dimples that formed the imprint of Adair’s canines. He had bitten her there. She remembered wincing when his fingers pressed between her legs.
“I must have slept on something.”
She turned Elize’s head, forcing her to stare at her own reflection, keeping her expression casual so she did not raise suspicion.
“Ye werenae in yer room last night.”
Emily looked away from the section of hair she had parted, her heart pounding in her chest.
“Why were ye in me room?”
“I wasnae, and ye just let me ken that ye also werenae. So, where were ye?” Elize’s brows lifted, and her lips quirked the way they did when she wanted to tease her.
Emily was not in the mood to be teased.
“I can choose to step out of me room without informin’ ye first. But if ye must ken, I was in the work room because I couldnae sleep,” she lied, not meeting her sister’s eyes.
