Page 28 of Highland Spy

A smile touched Liv’s colorless lips, and she closed her eyes with the corners of her mouth still upturned.

Ariana waited until her friend’s breathing was deep and even before she rose from the bed, but she did not go to her own. Not when such sorrow burdened her mind and pain still radiated from her shoulder.

Percy would have given her a tonic had she asked, but stubborn pride had kept Ariana from doing so.

She regretted such pride now.

Rather than stay in the room and risk waking Liv, Ariana slipped into the hallway. She had to pause a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. After being in the warmth of her room, the moist chill of the hallway pressed against her flesh.

Though she’d been in the castle for two months and had walked into almost every room and knew the layout, she suddenly had the disorienting sensation of being lost. Uncertain where to go, but certain where she did not want to be.

Perhaps the kitchen, where the hearth was still warm and the homey scent of baking bread hung in the air.

Ariana trod down the stairs and was just about to pass the second floor when a clink of glass from one of the rooms caught her attention. A light glowed down the long hall, framing the outline of a door.

The solar.

She ran a hand over her shoulder, gently probing to decipher if the pain was worth interrupting Percy from studying the books she always pored over. Even the careful touch was almost too much for her bruised flesh.

Yes, she would swallow her pride for one night and seek the aid, and companionable comfort, of Percy.

Ariana made her way down the hall and pushed open the door.

But it was not Percy standing over her bottles and her meager stack of precious books, as Ariana had expected. The light of the fire framed the back of a leanly muscled man with broad, square shoulders.

Connor.

“Come in.” His voice was deep and rich, not stark with authority as she was used to.

She stepped into the room and her heart thudded a little faster in her chest.

This was the first time they’d been alone since she’d so foolishly pressed her lips to his cheek. She still recalled the prickle of his stubble against her lips, the warm, clean scent of him. How very close she’d been to the heat of his mouth.

She’d thought of it more times than she cared to admit and always a twist of humiliation following the memory.

He turned and his brows lifted. “Ariana.”

Connor had traded his trews for a kilt after the most bitter of the cold had swept away with winter. He now wore the pleated plaid slung around his narrow hips, the wool stopping just above his knees and revealing finely sculpted legs. More so in the firelight, with the way the golden glow teased out the shadowed lines of sinewy flesh.

Ariana forced herself to pull her gaze from his legs. “I thought you were Percy.”

“Is something wrong?” Concern pulled at his brow.

She shook her head quickly, realizing he most likely thought something was amiss with Liv. “No, nothing. Liv is fine.” The warmth of the large hearth beckoned her, especially with the chill of the hall still at her back. “I couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to wake her.”

A small smile teased the corners of his full mouth and he nodded. “In that case, ye’re welcome to join the sleepless.” He tilted the cup he held in his hand toward her. “Close the door behind ye. It’s colder than a witch’s soul tonight.”

Ariana did as she was told and strode into the room. Though she’d been in the solar several times, it looked different during the daytime, when light touched the dark wood shelves and turned the overstuffed green chairs the color of a lush meadow. Now shadows lingered in corners and left everything dark with the unknown.

Connor strode toward a small table with a decanter set upon it. She noticed then his feet were bare. Somehow, seeing him thus lent an intimacy to the large room.

He poured a splash of liquid into a second cup. “Come in and warm yerself by the fire.”

Ariana walked deeper into the room, toward the glow of the hearth. Its heat enveloped her skin and eased away the chill with such expediency, she almost sighed.

Connor appeared beside her with a metal cup extended. “I canna sleep often myself.”

She closed her fingers around the cool surface and glanced at the dark liquid within. A sharp scent hit her nostrils.