“That is a problem easily solved.”
Efrica winced as he knocked the men’s heads together and tossed them back on the ground. A quick glance at her attackers revealed that they would probably not be seeing anything for quite a while. She was turning back toward Jankyn, prepared to ask him what he was doing there, when he staggered.
“What is wrong?” she demanded, wrapping an arm around his waist to help steady him.
“The sun hasnae set yet,” he replied in a weak voice.
It took Efrica a moment to understand the implications of that. She cursed and started moving him toward the castle. Once within its thick walls, Jankyn recovered enough to respond to her demands and tell her where his chambers were. By the time they got inside his rooms, she was supporting nearly all his weight. He whispered a request for wine as he collapsed upon his bed. One sniff of the wine as she poured him a tankard was enough to tell her why he wanted some. It also reminded her, very strongly, of exactly what the MacNachtons were.
After downing a second tankard of wine, Jankyn fell asleep. Efrica stood beside his bed holding the empty tankard and studied him. His color had improved a little, and asleep, he was once again the darkly beautiful man she had known for three years. She sighed and shook her head. The man who had so swiftly appeared to rescue her, who had tossed her assailants aside like cushions, and who had been ready to slaughter the two men, had been laid low by the soft light of a setting sun.
“My hero,” she muttered and went in search of a chair so that she could watch over him until he recovered.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hannah Howell is an award-winning author who lives with her family in Massachusetts. She is the author of over thirty Zebra historical romances and is currently working on a new historical romance featuring the Murrays, HIGHLAND AVENGER, coming in April 2012! Hannah loves hearing from readers and you may visit her website: www.hannahhowell.com.
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