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At last, she had finished brushing down his clothes and washing the floor. She stood looking down at him, and at last, his eyes opened properly and focused on her.
“I must wash ye,” she said quietly. “Although I can dae nothin’ about yer clothes. I will try tae find new ones for ye. How is yer pain? Bad?”
He sighed, screwing his face up.
“It looks bad,” she observed, then moved aside his shirt to see that the bandage that she had so carefully applied had been dislodged. At first, Evanna thought that he had worked it off during her sleep, then she realized that he had been picking at the scab. She glared at him. “Do ye want tae get better?” she growled. “This has started tae bleed again.”
“It was itchy when it was not painful, so I scratched it,” he answered, looking as guilty as a little boy who had been caught stealing cookies.
Evanna sat back on her haunches and passed a hand over her eyes. She had not slept well, and she was hungry, irritable, and in no mood to deal with a stupid lump of a man who did not have the sense to help himself.
She fetched a bandage and peeled off the old one. The cut started to bleed instantly, but she noticed with relief that there was no pus or stench of decay. She bathed the wound with wine and then left it open to the air for a moment while she washed his body, trying to keep her mind on the task and ignore the effect he was having on her.
She could see that there was not an ounce of fat on him anywhere, and the dusting of hair on his broad chest narrowed to a line that ran between the ridge of muscles on his torso and disappeared under the blankets. Evanna’s cheeks grew hot as she thought of where the line was going, and she concentrated instead on the broad planes of his chest. However, his flat male nipples hardened under her touch, and she saw him swallow convulsively, his prominent Adam’s apple moving up and then down again in a movement that was purely the consequence of his masculinity.
Evanna found herself sitting in a pool of moisture as she worked, feeling a pleasant pulse between her legs again. She was becoming accustomed to the sensation now, but it was no less unsettling for that. As she smoothed her cloth down his muscular arms and legs, it was all she could do not to run her hands over him for the pure pleasure of it. She did not have the courage, however. Neither was she able to wash his private parts. She looked up at him, blushing furiously.
“I am sorry, but Lexie is not available at the minute—” she began, but he interrupted her.
“I will do it,” he said soothingly.
Evanna, blushing furiously, turned her back and went to pour them both some ale until he had finished his ablutions. She swiftly replaced the bandage on his shoulder and wiped his face again, then she checked that the bandage was secure.
“Can ye sit up?” she asked, as she placed her hands behind his back to help him.
With an effort, Fraser pushed himself up, groaning at the pain in his shoulder. He took the ale from her and drank it down thirstily.
“Lexie will have tae get some milk of the poppy from somewhere,” she mused. “But tae do so would attract the kind o’ attention ye do not want, and it is dangerous stuff, so I am told.”
“So what am I tae do?” he asked, trying not to wince.
Evanna felt as if she would like to take him in her arms and cuddle him, but the amount of attraction she felt for him made that notion impossible. “I will do my best tae find some,” she replied, and turned away to leave. “I will get ye some breakfast.”
Fraser immediately felt acutely ashamed. Evanna might complain, but she still did everything she could for him, and he had not exactly been grateful.
She had her hand on the doorknob when he said urgently, “Evanna, stop.”
She turned around, raising her eyebrows, her face clearly asking the question,What is he going tae complain about now?
“I wanted tae say that I am sorry for bein’ so ungrateful,” he told her. “Ye have been so good tae me, ye have looked after me so well, and I have never thanked ye properly. Forgive me.”
“I have done what anyone else would have done, Fraser,” she replied, shrugging. “No more, no less.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Ye have kept me hidden too, when ye could have left me tae the mercy of those men I used tae call my friends.” His voice was bitter. “Thank ye from the bottom of my heart. I will try not tae cause ye any more trouble.”
Evanna looked across the room into his impossibly blue eyes and wondered how she could ever let this man go. At this moment he was completely in her power, and she wished she could keep him there.
“It has been my duty as a human being…an’ my pleasure,” she murmured. “I will go an’ get yer breakfast now. Leave the bandage alone.” Then she slipped out of the door, leaving him feeling unaccountably bereft.
8
As soon as Evanna left, Fraser sat thinking for a while, looking at the ceiling as he weighed his options. He could go to seek Rowan again, or he could go to the laird, but if Rowan had managed to poison Laird Gilchrist’s mind against him, that would be a fruitless exercise and might even put his life in danger. He sighed, then growled angrily. He was frustrated by his own helplessness since he usually had boundless amounts of energy, and lying in bed all day was not only tedious but soul-destroying. He wanted to be outside, riding, hunting, wrestling, and fencing with the other men, not lying cooped up in a tiny room, unable to move.
He thought of Evanna again, her bright smile, the sensuous curves of her figure, and the dark green eyes that reminded him of spruce trees in the summer. Yet as much as he wanted her, he knew that he was going to have to give up all hope of having her. For all he knew, she was betrothed to someone else, and he would never force himself between two people for the fulfillment of his selfish desires. And they were selfish, he thought, as his manhood surged at the mere thought of her. He groaned.
“I will come through this,” he growled. He knew he was speaking to the empty air, but somehow the sound of his own voice strengthened him. “I will be strong again. I know I will.”
He planted his feet on the floor and then sat for a moment, gathering his strength to stand up. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, flexed his legs, and stood—too quickly, as it happened. The world shifted, tilted, then the floor rushed up to meet him as he fell sideways onto it. Fortunately, it was not his sore side, but the shock vibrated through his whole body, having the same excruciating effect.
