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Her hands were shaking so much she ended up spilling it down herself, and Conall frowned.
‘You have to get out of those wet clothes, Kenna,’ he said solemnly. ‘We can dry them by the fire by morning, but you will sicken if you sleep in them, get a chill or much worse.’
‘No. I’m fine, and I’ve nothing else to wear.’
‘It’s not a suggestion. Take them off.’ Conall’s voice was all command, his face grim, and he suddenly seemed much older than her. ‘You can wrap yourself in blankets and lie before the fire, and you will be a deal warmer than you are now. I’ll drag that mattress over from the bed.’
In a matter of moments, he was up and doing it, spreading blankets on top and throwing more wood on the fire.
‘Come on, hurry up,’ he said with a firm look in his eye.
‘You’re not going to watch me, are you?’
‘No need to be shy. I’ve seen plenty of women naked.’
‘Well, you’ve not seen me naked, so turn around.’
Conall rolled his eyes but turned nevertheless, and Kenna tried to peel off her wet things, but her hands were so stiff with cold, and she was shaking so hard she could not undo her stays.
‘Conall.’
‘Yes,’ he barked impatiently, arms folded, looking up at the ceiling.
‘Can you help me?’
He came over to her.
‘It’s the stays – the knot is too tight.’
He sighed and, in a flash, pulled out the old knife and cut off the knot at the top and started to pull out the stays. One by one, he yanked them through, roughly, pulling her around like a rag doll. ‘We need to hurry and get you warm. I should just cut them. It would be quicker.’ As it loosened, her bodice fell open a little, the tops of her breasts springing forth. Conall glanced up at her face, and then he stopped dead.
‘Can you manage the rest on your own?’
‘Yes,’ she squeaked.
‘Well, do it then, and I will hang your clothes before the fire for you.’ He turned his back on her again.
Kenna managed to get undressed, though she was shivering more than ever now and not just from the cold. That look in Conall’s eye and that hard tone of his. She got inside the blankets and snuggled in, pulling them up over her head and curling into a ball. After nightsspent in the open on hard ground, the mattress felt like heaven, her heart stopped racing for the first time in days, and she allowed herself to feel just a little bit safe. It was so precious, this feeling of calm and…
She felt the blankets lift. What was Conall doing? He wasn’t climbing in with her, was he? Before she had time to protest, his belly was pressed into her back, and a heavy arm was flung around her, pulling her close.
‘What are you doing? You’re not sleeping here, are you?’
‘Where did you expect me to sleep? In the barn?’
‘But I’m naked.’ She reached a hand behind her and snatched it back again in horror. ‘And you’re naked.’
‘Well, my clothes were wet too, and I don’t want a bout of pneumonia on account of your piety and delicate sensibilities.’
‘But…but it’s not proper for us to lie like this together.’
‘It’s not a matter of what is proper. It’s a matter of what gets us through the night alive. Our bodies will warm each other and keep the heat better like this, and who’s to know? Now relax and stop jabbering and get some sleep. Christ, your feet are like blocks of ice.’ He rubbed his feet against hers. ‘And they’re quite big for a girl.’
Kenna kicked back at his legs as hard as she could.
‘Stop wriggling, or you’ll get me all excited,’ he laughed, as if such a thing was a big joke, but Kenna leapt away from him with burning cheeks. Conall grabbed her and pulled her back into him, and despite her struggles, she could not free herself and ended up with her face in his shoulder and her hands pressed to his chest. He was warm, and she could smell the ocean on him. The hair on his chest was softer than she had imagined, and she had an urge to stroke it, over and over. Did it taste of salt like the sea, she wondered, feeling shame at even thinking such a thing?
‘What will happen when we get back to Dunslair, Conall?’
