“Marcus…”

“Yes, Laurel?”

Marcus was sitting on the floor, his back against the side of the bed so that I was entirely shielded from his view as I bathed. He didn’t want to be forced to answer questions about last night alone and I didn’t want to be alone. I had to spill my secret shame to someone or I feared I would burst.

“I did a bad thing. A very bad thing.”

“What could you have possibly done?”

He didn’t sound like he believed me at all.

“You remember how I said that when I woke up, Raudrich and I were both on separate sides of the bed?”

“Yes. What about it?”

Thoroughly clean and freezing—the water had cooled quickly—I stepped out of the tub, dried myself off, and slipped back into my dress.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly true.”

“What?” Marcus flew off the floor and I had to run to block him from charging out the door.

“Hang on. Let me explain.”

He was shaking again.

“What’s there to explain? He either touched you or he didn’t. Last night, you said he didn’t. Now, you say he did. I’m back to wanting to kill him.”

“Don’t jump to a conclusion. There’s a lot to explain, actually. You see,” I couldn’t even look at him while I said it. I stared down at my bare feet. “When I woke up, I was in his arms, my head on his chest, my legs intertwined with his. It was…intimate.”

I glanced up at Marcus to gauge his reaction. He looked like he was about to blow a gasket. I held up a hand to stop him.

“Hang on. Let me finish. You see, I had a very interesting dream last night. At least, I thought it was a dream until I woke up in Raudrich’s arms. Initially, I freaked out, which you already know. But what you don’t know is that as I stood there watching you and Harry hash this out, I remembered something from the beginning of what I thought was a dream. Raudrich didn’t initiate contact with me. I was the one who rolled over in the bed and snuggled into him. I touched him. He didn’t touch me.”

Marcus stepped back and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Seriously?”

“Yes.” I threw my hands up to cover my face. “I know I was sleeping, but still…I shamelessly felt him up. I even…” I hesitated and then lowered my voice as if I were worried the stone walls wouldn’t keep my voice inside, “aroused him. Then I freaked out and broke his ribs.”

A smile slowly spread across Marcus’ face as he silently crossed his arms and stared at me.

I dramatically slid down to the floor. “Why are you smiling?”

“You think this man will be angry about this?”

“Of course, he is.”

Marcus shook his head.

“I’ll admit that I’m sure he’s not too pleased about the cracked ribs, but if you think he’s upset you rubbed yourself against him, you know nothing about men. Besides, he was asleep until you kicked him off the bed. He may not even remember that you touched him.”

That was true. Perhaps, I could get away with pretending nothing happened.

“You think?”

“Just go talk to him and say nothing to him about your sleep-induced fondling. Do you mean to apologize to him?”

An apology had never crossed my mind. I was embarrassed and felt guilty for what I’d done to him in my sleep, but I wasn’t sorry. Accident or not, my reaction had been perfectly reasonable. What woman wouldn’t have reacted in much the same way?

“No. I’m not going to apologize for kicking a man that crawled into bed with me while I was sleeping. I just need to talk to him. We both do, really, but I think it best if I visit with him alone first. I’m going to tell him what Morna told us to. And then we’ll just,” I shrugged, “see how he responds.”

---

It was midday before the string of men stopped entering and exiting Raudrich’s room on an endless rotation. Each of the men seemed anxious to visit with their friend who had been away for so long. I was also sure they all wanted to know exactly what happened last night. It was fine with me if they visited with him all day. I wasn’t really looking forward to the awkward conversation.

After more than an hour of creepily hanging out in the hallway outside of his room, I finally worked up the nerve to knock. His response was immediate.

“Come in.”

His voice sounded weary, and for a moment, I wondered if perhaps I should wait until another day to speak with him. He had to be exhausted, and there was no question that he was in pain.

Hesitantly, I stepped inside and said nothing for a few seconds as I looked him over. Even with his swollen nose and face, I could see that he was handsome. He sat propped up on the bed, with fabric wrapped tightly around his chest to help stabilize his ribs.

“Hi.” I gave him a little wave, but stayed standing in the doorway. “I know you’ve had visitors all morning. I can come back later, or even tomorrow, if you’d rather.”

He shook his head and waved me toward him.

“Nonsense, lass. I’ve been waiting for ye all morning. Do ye mind coming a little closer so I might tell ye how sorry I am, and so that I can properly see ye. Ye look like little more than a ghost from there.”

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. The distance between us wasn’t far at all. It couldn’t be more than ten feet. Had Marcus truly hit him so hard, or was the man’s vision naturally weak?

“Of course. It…it’s not the injury that is making it difficult for you to see, is it?”

A chair sat right next to his bed, left there by the last man to visit with him. Following his gesture toward it, I took my seat next to him.

“No, though my nose is swollen enough that I do see more of it than anything else at the moment. I’ve been nearly blind for many weeks now. ’Tis healing though, now that I’m home.”

That made absolutely no sense to me. I’d never heard of someone’s vision improving based on location, but I said nothing of it. There were lots of things about the last few days that defied reasonable logic.

I decided it was best to start off with a proper introduction. I extended my hand.

“I’m Laurel.”

He took it, and as he gripped my hand, I couldn’t help but remember the way that same hand had felt cupped around my breast. My cheeks warmed at the thought, and I was certain my cheeks blushed. Thankfully, by the way he was squinting at me, I didn’t think he could see it.

“I’m Raudrich.” Releasing my hand, he began to apologize as I relaxed into the seat.

“Lass, I canna begin to tell ye how sorry I am for frightening ye last night. I promise ye, had I known that a lass was in my bed, I wouldna have entered it uninvited. As I told ye before, my vision is poor and at night, I canna see a thing. I did hear someone inside when I entered, but I truly thought it was Paton. I’ve been away from here for sometime. I thought perhaps he had decided to make himself at home in my chambers while I was away. If ye knew what his own room looks like, ye would understand why. In hindsight, I know that I should’ve awakened him to check, but we doona ever have lassies here. ’Tis a shock to me that Harry allowed ye entry. Ye must have charmed him more than ye know. I never dreamed that the person in my bed was someone I dinna know. I am sorry, lass.”

His tone was remorseful, and I knew looking into his eyes that he meant every word. If I hadn’t already been convinced of his innocence, his speech would’ve done the job.

“I know. There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”

He started to interrupt me, but as he leaned forward, the muscles across his chest tightened and he groaned at the sharp pain that ran through him. Taking in a pained breath, he leaned back into the pillows before speaking.

“There is much reason for me to be sorry. ’Tis bad enough that I entered the bed as ye slept. ’Tis another wrong entirely that I pulled ye against me. I swear to ye, I did so unconsciously in my sleep.”

My breath caught uncomfortably. He did remember, then. Asleep or not, he was aware of the way we’d touched. In an uncomfortable panic, I set out to make him think otherwise.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You didn’t pull me against you.”

He smiled sympathetically.

“Lass, ye owe me nothing. Ye doona need to attempt to make me feel less guilty. I know I held ye in my arms.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel anything. Our handshake was the first time we ever touched. When I woke up, I was on one side of the bed and you were on the other.”

He didn’t appear to believe me, but I could see by the way he started to speak but then bit his lower lip that he’d decided not to argue with me.

“If that is the way ye remember last night, I am glad of it, for I dinna care for the way I felt about myself this morning. The thought that I frightened ye or made ye feel unsafe wounded me greatly. I’m glad that we may put all that happened last night behind us.”

I smiled and crossed my arms as I leaned back in the chair. With that discussion out of the way, I felt much more comfortable.

“Me, too.”

He nodded in agreement and then took a deep breath before speaking once more. His tone this time was more direct, and far less friendly.

“Now, lass, forgive me for being so blunt, but why did ye lie to Harry? I doona know ye. I know with certainty I’ve never seen ye before in my life. So what are ye doing here, and how do ye know my real name?”

So much for being comfortable.