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Fraser took it almost reverently out of her hands. She was standing in front of him, and he got to his feet too, looking down into her deep green eyes.
Evanna saw his eyes darken, and he placed his hands on her shoulders. They were heavy, warm, and gentle, just like the rest of him. She gazed at his lips for a moment, and suddenly she took fright. She had just given him a lethal weapon. What if something terrible happened to him? She must not fall in love with him!
Abruptly, she turned on her heel and marched to the door, calling over her shoulder, “I will be back wi’ some water. Ye are well enough tae wash yerself from now on.”
Fraser gazed at the door, wondering what had just happened. Evanna had bolted from him like a frightened deer from a wolf. Perhaps she thought he was going to use the dagger on her?
* * *
Somehow the day passed, although Fraser had never been so distracted in his life. He had never been a great reader, but now he wished he had a book or something—anything—to take away the thoughts he was harboring about Evanna. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, kiss her senseless, then make love to her until she screamed for mercy because the ecstasy was unbearable.
Was this love? He had no idea, but he had never experienced this raw hunger before, this feeling that if he did not have his Evanna, he would quite simply go mad. Then his heart skipped a beat.HisEvanna?
Fraser, ye are in big trouble,he thought, but strangely, he felt quite happy about it.
He had fallen into a doze when Evanna brought his evening meal, and he yawned and sat up to greet her. She looked exhausted.
“Ye look tired,” he observed.
“I can hardly keep my eyes open,” she agreed, stifling a yawn.
She had brought a cup of warm ale with her to drink before she went behind her dressing screen to change before she went to bed. However, as soon as she sat on her bed, she managed only a few sips before she put the cup on the floor and fell asleep. She was sprawled across it, fully dressed, with one foot on the floor and the other on the bed, her body and head twisted askew in a position that she would clearly come to regret in the morning.
Fraser gave a soft laugh, then pushed his hands under her body and lifted her to straighten her out. Her flesh was so soft and supple that he became aroused almost at once, and he pulled his hands from under her with the greatest of reluctance.
He tucked her blankets around her and kissed her forehead softly. Then he lay back on the pallet and drew the bedclothes over himself, but at the last moment, he remembered the cup of ale Evanna had left on the floor. He knew he should pick it up in case one of them knocked it over, but he was too lazy.
I am too tired,he thought, and closed his eyes.It will still be there in the morning.
* * *
The shutters were open a little that night, allowing a waxing moon to cast a line of light straight across the room. The pallet was in shadow, however, so when the intruder came in, he saw only the figure of Evanna in the bed, blissfully asleep.
He took one step forward, raising his dagger as he did so, then stepped on the goblet, which was still on the floor. It shattered at once. It made only a loud crunching sound, which was not enough to wake Evanna, who was sleeping soundly. However, it woke Fraser instantly.
Years of training for becoming a warrior had honed his senses to a keenness that only a warrior could aspire to. Almost as soon as the sound reached his ears, he was standing, and a second later, the figure had stumbled backward, trying to regain his balance, Fraser had plunged the dagger into his chest. The man went down without a long, drawn-out groan, and Fraser clamped a hand over his mouth just to make sure that he would not cry out with his last breath. Fortunately, he did not make a sound.
He sat by the corpse of the erstwhile killer for a while, trying to make sense of what had just happened. How had this man known where he was? How had he managed to enter a locked room?
These were questions for later, however. Now, he faced the problem of moving the body, and preferably without Evanna seeing it, although he could see by the sliver of moonlight that the man was bleeding all over the floor. He contemplated lifting up the corpse, then decided against it. He only had one set of clothes, and anyone seeing him would immediately think the worst.
Just then, he heard the sound of movement from the bed and cursed inwardly. Evanna was awake.
“Fraser?” she asked tentatively. She had been having a nightmare that someone was bending over her, and she knew instinctively that he was trying to kill her, yet she could neither move nor cry out. She was going to die—she knew it. She saw the gleaming arc of the dagger just before it struck her, but the blow never came. Abruptly, she woke up to the sounds of a scuffle next to the bed, then a man’s voice gave an agonized groan before there was a deep frightening silence. She called Fraser’s name.
“Go back to sleep,” he said, trying to sound as normal as possible.
Evanna was not fooled. She stood up and moved over to the sound of his voice, then knelt down beside him. Only then did she see the body on the floor.
“Oh, my god!” she gasped. “Is he dead? What happened?” She could still barely believe the evidence with her own eyes.
“He was going tae kill ye,” Fraser replied grimly. “I managed tae stop him just in time. Thank God for the dagger ye gave me, Evanna!”
An’ thank God for ye,she thought. She stood up to open the shutters a little more, and the man’s face was revealed.
“Davie Morrison,” Fraser said grimly. “One o’ Rowan’s best pals.” He sat back on his haunches and sighed as he ran his hand over his eyes. “Rowan thought I was in that bed. I think he found out. He would have killed both o’ us, Evanna.”
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