by Lydia Dare
Elspeth found she could no longer support her weight and sank down slowly onto his chest until her face rested against his skin. Her hand fell off his chest and hung limply toward the floor. And there she finally gave in to the need for sleep that so clutched at her.
Ben woke slowly, wrapping his arms around Elspeth’s body as she slept on his chest. He could wake like this every day for the rest of his life. Why did he have his shirt off while she was clothed? He raised his head and looked around the room. They weren’t at her cottage. Or his house in London.
He ran his hand down her back and cooed gently into her ear. “Ellie, wake up, love.” She didn’t move. He jostled her slightly, but she didn’t raise her head. “Ellie?” he said more loudly, panic taking over.
Will and Major Forster bolted into the room. “What happened?”
“I have no idea. I woke up and she was sleeping on my chest.” He turned her hand over and gasped when he saw blood. “Is she injured?” he croaked.
“No, it was you who was injured, Ben.”
It slowly dawned on him. “You let her heal me?” he cried. He sat up and adjusted her body so that she was cradled in his arms. Her head hung back limply. “Ellie! Ellie!” he called to her. He brought a hand up to touch her face. “She’s freezing! What have you done?” He glowered at the men.
“She said she could heal you—” Will started.
“And put herself in jeopardy!” Ben cried.
Will glanced frantically toward the major.
“We didn’t know that she would be injured in the process. I would have let you die before I’d let you hurt my daughter,” the major bit out as he moved to take Elspeth from Ben’s arms.
Ben stood up quickly and moved out of reach. “You’ll not take her from me.”
The major put his hand under Elspeth’s nose. “She breathes, Ben.”
“Yes, I can hear her heart beating. But it’s much too slow. And she’s so cold.” He moved toward the stairs. “Where is the bedroom?” he barked.
“Top of the stairs.”
Ben ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. He burst into the nearest bedroom, slammed the door shut, and pulled back the counterpane. If this was like the time she’d healed Caitrin, she would need warmth from his body. Quickly he undressed her and himself and laid her on a pillow before he pulled her frigid body close to his and raised the counterpane, tucking it tightly around her.
A knock sounded at the door.
“What?” he barked.
“I’m coming in,” Will said.
Ben didn’t respond. He just ran his hands up and down Elspeth’s cold body, trying to use the friction of his touch to warm her.
“What can I do?” Will asked softly.
“She needs to be warmed.”
Will stepped into the hallway and directed the servants to light a fire in the grate. They scurried to do his bidding.
“Why did you let her do it?” Ben cried softly as he held her close to him.
“We didn’t know.”
Servants began to pour into the room. One stoked the fire while another added layers of counterpanes until the room was filled with a radiant heat. Then they were all alone again.
Ben held her like that for what seemed like hours. She slowly warmed against him, but didn’t wake. Her eyelids never fluttered. The slow, even cadence of her breathing never changed. Her heartbeat never quickened. What he would have paid at that moment to hear her heartbeat speed up. He didn’t care if it was in anger, in fear, in passion. He simply wanted her to be healthy.
Why had he said those stupid things that drove her away from him? Of course he loved her. How could he not? He just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. He’d wanted to protect her, but instead he put her in danger. If she didn’t wake, he’d never forgive himself.
When morning came, Will tried to get Ben to take a break. But he stoically refused. He needed to be with her. If she drew her last breath, he would be there.
“You need your strength,” Will reminded him. “Go and take a walk. Get something to eat. I’ll sit with her.”
He looked down at her sleeping form. His Elspeth was warm. Her lips were no longer blue. Her cheeks were a rosy red. But she refused to wake.
“Trust me. If she wakes, I’ll call you,” Will said. “I’ll not leave her.”
Ben rose, dressed, and stepped out the front door. He walked into the yard and kicked the stone wolf in his path. He didn’t even feel the pain. He wanted to vent his frustration. He wanted to hurt someone. He walked down the winding path into the woods, a heavy rain immediately soaking him. Had it been raining when he’d stepped outside? He couldn’t remember.
He took a few more steps. The rain stopped and the sun shone. Then, within moments, it poured again.
“Rhiannon?” he asked quietly. He must be losing his mind. He scrubbed his hand across his forehead.
A few feet before him, a small plant emerged from the ground. It flowered prettily. Ben bent and looked at the plant offering. Only Sorcha could present such an item.
“What do I do?” he asked. Another blossom appeared, as if to say Pick me, you idiot.
He picked the purple blossom. A pinecone dropped from a nearby tree and hit the top of his head. What else could go wrong? He kicked the cone from his path. Four more dropped from the sky. He raised his arms above his head to block more falling objects. “I get the idea,” he growled as he picked up a pinecone. A ginger root tugged at the toe of his shoe. He looked up at the sky and said, “That’s for me, too?” A pinecone hit his head.
He shook his head with wonder and dug up the ginger root. “You know I have no idea what to do with these things or how much of each to use,” he called. He hoped no one was watching him, but he really didn’t care. The root and the flower immediately shriveled into dried bits in his hand. Then a gentle wind blew. The majority of the dried leaves left his palm, leaving only a small bit behind.
He raised his eyebrows and said, “Now we’re getting somewhere.” He held up the pinecone. It fell apart in his hand and left four tiny seeds.
“What do I mix them with?” Thunder crashed in the sky and rain poured from the heavens, soaking him immediately. He closed his fist to keep his precious ingredients safe. When the water stopped, he stood with his eyes closed, a bemused look on his face as he blew water from his face and shook his head like a dog. “I assume that means water.” He nearly chuckled. “Is that all?” The sun shone brightly.
He turned and jogged back into the house, stopping to make a fresh pot of tea, and steeped the ingredients in his hands, adding them to the brew. When it was done, he carried the tea upstairs on a tray.
Will sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the tips of his fingers across Elspeth’s lifeless hand. “What do you have there?” he asked.
“A brew from the witches.”
“In Scotland?” Will looked befuddled.
“In Scotland,” Ben confirmed.
“Why are you all wet?”
“It was one of the clues.” He shrugged as he raised a small spoonful of the brew to Elspeth’s lips. She took it in without gasping or choking and swallowed slowly. It was the first movement she’d made since she’d passed out.
“When you get yourself in a mess, you really know how to do it, don’t you, Ben?” Will asked.
“This isn’t a mess, William. This is love.”
Forty-five
ELSPETH BLINKED HER EYES OPEN AS LATE AFTERNOON light poured into the room. Weak, she tried to turn to her side, but she couldn’t gather up the strength. She looked to her side and found Will flipping through The Times. Her heart sank when she realized it wasn’t Ben.
Not that she should have been surprised. Though she loved him with all her heart, nothing had changed. She must have made some sort of sound, because Will dropped the paper and sat forward. He smiled with relief. “Thank God. We were so worried.”
She tried to sit up but couldn’t manage to make her limbs do anything. “W
ater,” she whispered.
“Of course.” He leapt from his seat and poured some from a pitcher, sloshing most of it on the floor in his haste to bring it to her.
He helped her sit and brought the cup to her mouth. It was like nectar from the gods, and she drank her fill. Only when she finished did she realize that the counterpane was down around her waist and she had nothing on.
Elspeth gasped and Will’s eyes widened. Apparently he didn’t realize it either. Quickly, he pulled the blankets up to her neck and tucked them around her. “Ben doesn’t need to know about that,” he said quietly. Then he added with a wink, “He’ll accuse me of trying to seduce you in your weakened state.”
Just hearing his name tore at her heart. It was best to think of other things. She shook her head. “My father,” she managed, her voice sounded raspy.
Will started for the door. “I’ve got to wake Ben first.”
“Just my father.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her but didn’t say a word as he stepped over the threshold.
When Ben heard a soft knock, he bolted off the bed he was napping on, rushed across the room, and opened the door. Will stood before him, frowning.
“Is she awake?” he asked.
Will nodded. “She’s asking for the major.”
Ben took a step backward, realization dawning on him. “But not me.”
Will winced. “Forster has a claim on her, but she’s your wife. I think you should go to her anyway. She can talk to him later.”
It wouldn’t do any good. She was a stubborn lass when she wanted to be. Apparently, in her eyes he hadn’t yet paid for his sins. He certainly didn’t want to fight with her, not when she was in a weakened state. Ben sighed. “How is she?”
“She looks frail, but her color is back. She’s said a few words, but her voice is scratchy.”
“Make sure she drinks the tea.”
Will stepped closer to him, so there was only an inch between them. “You should go to her, Ben.”
He had every intention of going to her, when she was stronger and he could make her understand. Or when she asked for him. Whichever came first. “In good time. Get Forster. Make sure she drinks the tea.”
“She loves you.”
Ben knew that. He could feel her inside him, in his heart, his soul, his very essence. She’d healed more than his broken arm. “It won’t be good to upset her right now, and I think my presence would do so.”
With a curt nod, Will left him and started for the staircase.
Ben rested his forehead against the wall. How could he make things right? There had to be something he could do.
The little maid from the night before bustled into Elspeth’s room. It looked as though the young girl was blushing. “Lord William said you needed help getting dressed.”
The reason for the blush was obvious now. Elspeth cleared her throat. “Thank ye.”
The girl retrieved Elspeth’s dress from the day before and shook out the wrinkles. Then she pulled back the counterpane and slid the gown over Elspeth’s head. How awkward for someone else to dress her! She felt like a rag doll being pushed and pulled in odd directions.
“The major is so relieved you’re awake, milady,” the maid said as she smoothed the dress over Elspeth’s body.
“How long have ye worked for the major?”
She shrugged. “A little more than a year now. Ever since he returned from the Continent.”
“Is he a good employer?”
“The best, milady.” The girl tugged the gown down around Elspeth’s ankles. Then she pulled the counterpane back up to her waist.
“And honest? Does he seem honest ta ye?” Did she dare believe all that he’d told her? Did he really not know about her? Had her mother really not been in contact with him?
Clearly affronted, the maid raised herself up to her full height, which wasn’t all that tall. “Who said otherwise? Major Forster is the most honorable of men!”
“That’s quite all right, Molly,” the major said from the doorway. “I’m certain my daughter was just curious.”
“I—um…” Elspeth felt her face heat and was certain her cheeks were the color of her hair. She really must be more careful around Lycans, with their superior hearing.
The major laughed. “You remind me so much of her. It’ll take some getting used to. For both of us, I imagine.” He crossed the floor and took the seat Will had vacated earlier. Then he leaned forward, took her hand in his, and squeezed. “How are you feeling, my dear?”
“Fine,” she replied softly.
One of the major’s dark eyebrows rose disbelievingly. “Fine?”
She shrugged. “Just a little weak. I’ll be fine in no time.”
Her father pursed his lips. “You knew what would happen, didn’t you? That you’d collapse?”
Elspeth’s eyes dropped to the counterpane. She hadn’t known for sure, but she’d had a pretty good idea. “I couldna let him suffer.”
“He was furious with us for letting you put yourself in danger. If I’d known…”
“Ye wouldna have stopped me.” She raised her gaze to his. “I ken he doesna feel the same about me that I do about him, but I could never let him be in pain.”
Her father’s features softened, and he smiled wistfully at her. “So much like Rose.”
She hoped not. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life mourning Ben the way her mother had mourned her father. It was an awful way to live. “How did you go on without her?”
He snorted. “Badly. I was fortunate there was always a battlefield that required my attention. But at night there was nothing to distract me from my memories of her. Was she happy?”
“She missed ye. But she had me and my grandfather and the coven…” Her voice trailed off when she saw his countenance fall.
“I’ll never forgive myself for listening to Fiona Macleod. I should have seen Rose with my own eyes. At the time, I didn’t think I could bear to see her as another man’s wife. I was a coward.”
Elspeth’s heart ached for him, and she understood completely. When Ben went on to find his happiness with another, she didn’t think she could ever see him again. She couldn’t imagine anything more painful. “I doona think ye’re a coward.”
He sighed and she noticed tears in his dark eyes. “You have a compassionate nature, my dear.”
“Where do we go from here, Major?”
Her father shook his head. “Wherever you want, lass. I’m your humble servant.”
“No’ a servant,” she choked on a laugh. “Ye’re my father.”
“I don’t know how to make up for lost time, but I’ll do whatever you need, help you anyway possible.”
“Thank ye for that.” She sat up straight and fought back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. “I’d like ta stay here with ye for a while. I’d like ta get ta ken ye.”
A smile spread across his face, and he scratched his whiskered jaw. “I’d like that, lass.” Then his brow furrowed as he regarded her. “But Benjamin?”
“Is free ta do whatever he wants.”
“I’m fairly certain he wants to be with you, Elspeth. He guarded you with his life last night.”
She shook her head. “I canna go with him.” It would kill her to do so, to see him every day and know he didn’t love her. She was safer here, where she could focus on her father and, hopefully, figure out how to go on without Ben.
Forty-six
AFTER MORE THAN A FORTNIGHT OF TRAVEL, ELSPETH took her father’s hand in her own as she stepped from the coach in front of her small cottage and took in the sight. A comforting breeze caressed her face. The witches knew she was home. They’d probably known she was coming long before she did.
“Are you all right?” the major asked. It was still hard to think of him as “Father,” since they’d spent so little time together, but they had definitely grown closer as they traveled from London to Edinburgh. She’d learned all about her grandparents in Glasgow
and hoped to meet them very soon. She also had several distant cousins and one spinster aunt, whom the major said would dote on her.
Elspeth closed her eyes and inhaled. It smelled like home, so much sweeter than the thick London air. “Aye, I’m all right.” Then she looked over at her father. “Ye didna have ta come all this way just ta see me home, Major.”
He chucked her beneath her chin. “I finally find out I have a daughter, and you want me to let you run off to Scotland alone? What kind of father do you think I am?” He chuckled. “Honestly, I have no idea what kind of father I’ll be.”
“And I’ve no idea what kind of daughter I am,” she said, smiling in his direction. “We’ll learn together.” His eyebrows pushed together as his eyes took in the sight of the old cottage. “Does this bring back good or bad memories, Major? If it’s too painful, we can go straight ta the Thistle and Thorn, and ye willna have ta spend time here.”
“Actually, Elspeth, I’d like to go and pay my respects to your mother.” He avoided her gaze, and her heart ached for him.
“Down the lane. In the church cemetery.” She nodded her head in the right direction. Part of her wanted to go with him, but she knew he needed to do this alone.
“Will you be all right?” he asked.
Elspeth grinned at him. “I’ve lived here my whole life. I’ll be just fine. Besides, I’ve got some things ta tend ta.”
He caressed her cheek then loped off slowly down the lane, his gaze pointed toward the ground. It had to be hard coming back to Edinburgh after all this time. After all they had been through.
A coach rattled down the drive and stopped in front of her. Elspeth smiled as she recognized the crest. The door flung open with a bang; the inhabitant didn’t even wait for the driver to dismount and open the door. Sorcha tumbled out, a vision in white with a coronet of white flowers in her dark hair. “Welcome home!” she cried, nearly knocking Elspeth to the ground with her exuberance.
“Havers, Sorcha! Ye act like I’ve been gone for years!” Elspeth said as she hugged the girl back.
“That’s what it’s felt like. Like ye disappeared from the face of the earth.”
