The Eternal Highlander (22 page)

Eva was sorely disappointed when the figure passed through the light and she saw that he was wearing a dark hooded cape, the hood pulled so far forward that it shadowed his face. All she could see was the tip of his nose as he reached the stairs, then he turned and moved silently down them.

Eva slid from her room and crept to the top of the stairs to watch the figure disappear into the shadowed great hall below, then glanced up the hall to the wall through which her husband had disappeared. After the smallest of hesitations, she followed her husband and the stranger’s path and moved to the wall to run her hands over it as had the man before her. She used her right hand to press the two stones she felt sure she had seen Connall touch with his right hand, but nothing happened. Eva pressed them again, a little harder. Still nothing. Irritated, she slapped the wall in front of her with her left hand, then gasped as the stone wall suddenly slid open.

After a hesitation, she pushed it further open and stared into gaping darkness. Eva couldn’t see a thing and was filled with sudden trepidation, then she forced her shoulders up. A husband should sleep with his wife, and if he wouldn’t, then a wife should sleep with her husband. At least that’s how it seemed to her. After all, Aileen slept at night with her husband, spending the days locked inside because of her reaction to the sun, but awake so that she could be up while her husband was awake. Eva understood that Connall slept the day away, leaving Ewan to run the castle while he rested, then running it himself at night, but then, shouldn’t she too keep the same hours? And shouldn’t they sleep together?

Besides, she was terribly curious as to why the man slept in this dark hidden room. Ewan had said that his reaction to sunlight was worse than his sister’s, so she could only presume that even the hint of light that crept around the furs was unbearable to him. That being the case, she could sleep in total darkness too.

Sleep in it, perhaps, she thought a moment later, but she couldn’t seem to force herself to step into it. Grimacing, she hesitated, then hurried back up the hall, pausing at the top of the stairs to be sure no one was coming up them and might see the open door. The room she’d found was obviously a secret and she didn’t wish to reveal it to anyone. Assured that the stairwell, like the hall, was presently empty, she hurried on to her room, paused to glance back once more, then rushed inside, snatched up the nearest candle and hurried back out, relieved to find the hall still empty.

Eva moved to the torch at the top of the stairs, lit her small candle by it, then sheltered it with one hand as she moved back to the entrance to the hidden room. Somehow, the tiny light from the candle seemed to make the darkness beyond the entrance even more frightening. Eva didn’t hesitate however, but stepped through into the room beyond. Not a room, she realized, but a narrow hall that ran straightforward.

Grimacing, she hesitated, then glanced back along the proper upper hall, supposing she couldn’t leave the entrance open like this, though she wished she could. Sighing with resignation, Eva eased the door closed, trying not to wince when she heard a click as it locked in place. She moved the candle over the stone panel, frowning when she didn’t see a handle of any sort to unlock it. Eva supposed there was some secret to opening it from this side as well and almost panicked, but then recalled that her husband was in here with her somewhere and he could let her out if necessary.

If he was still in here.

She frowned at that sudden thought, but knew that it was at least possible that he had stepped out of the room while she had stepped into her own. Eva rolled her eyes at that thought. Surely he wouldn’t have left the door open, were that the case? In fact, he should have been quite upset and rushing about with distress that someone had opened it, if he had found it open. Nay, he was here. Somewhere.

She turned back and tried to peer up the dark passage, but her small candlelight didn’t seem to reach far at all and she couldn’t even tell how far it went. Finally forcing herself to leave the door, Eva started forward, holding her candle out before her at full arm’s length in an effort to see as far ahead as possible. It was a plain dark stone hall, no torches in sconces to see by, no rushes on the floor, and then suddenly she saw a door on her left. A plain wooden door with a handle. She peered at it uncertainly, then glanced along the continuing hall with a frown.

Eva supposed she had expected the hall to end at one room and not continue on. After a hesitation, she decided to continue along the hall, just to see what else there was to see, at least that’s what she told herself. She wasn’t willing to admit that she suddenly felt anxious about confronting her husband. Leaving the first door, Eva moved on, crossing another good distance before coming to the end of the hall and another door.

Oh, now here was a fine quandary. Which door should she try first? She could have spent a good deal of time debating that issue and avoiding the actual doing, but a sudden mumbling came to her softly through the door where she now stood. Eva stilled and leaned toward the door as the sound came again, a nonsensical sleepy mumble, but in it she was able to recognize her husband’s voice.

Reaching for the handle, Eva opened the door and stepped inside, preparing to be berated should her husband be annoyed with her. There was no berating, however, only silence and darkness as thick as that in the hall.

Eva pursed her lips, then left the door open and eased further into the room until the edge of the candlelight touched the side of a bed, and began to move across it as she continued forward. When it fell on her husband’s face, he scowled in his sleep and mumbled a complaint, then rolled onto his side away from the light.

Eva immediately pulled the candle back, lest she wake him. Letting him sleep seemed a smart thing at that point, men could be so grumpy on first waking. Moving back to the door, she eased it silently closed, then shielded the candle with her hand to prevent it reaching too far and accidentally waking her husband as she moved back to the bed.

Connall was sprawled on his side in the middle of the bed, leaving just a sliver of bed for her to claim should she wish to and Eva debated the matter. Turn and make her way back up that long dark hall to the door she didn’t know how to open? Or crawl into that sliver of space and sleep with her husband where she belonged?

She’d stay, Eva decided and set the candle on the chest beside the bed. When she straightened, thoughtlessly removing the hand she had been shielding the light with, candlelight immediately splashed over Connall and he began to grumble in his sleep again. Eva instinctively bent to blow the candle out in response, then sighed as she was plunged into complete blackness.

Ah well, she didn’t need light to undress and the bed was right beside her, she reassured herself, then tried not to imagine what kind of creepy crawlies might now be moving about in the darkness. Rats and spiders came to mind, but she forced them away. Still, her movements were perhaps a little quicker than necessary as she tugged her robe off and felt around for the linens and furs to crawl beneath them. Eva slowed to a more cautious speed once her feet were off the floor and safely tucked under the bedding, then eased herself down to lay on her side next to her husband on the sliver of bed he had left free.

Connall mumbled when she cuddled up against his back and slid one arm around his waist, but he didn’t wake up. Eva wasn’t really tired at this point and lay wide awake for a long time wishing there was firelight or candlelight to at least see something, even if it was only darker shadows in the darkness, but eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

Someone was blowing in his ear.

Connall lay still as sleep left him, unwilling to give away the fact that he was now awake. It was only a moment later that he realized that whoever it was wasn’t blowing in his ear, but breathing in his ear, and the same someone was pressed up against his back with an arm around his waist, he realized.

Confusion assaulted him and for a moment Connall thought perhaps he hadn’t left his bride’s bed and come to his usual sleeping spot as he’d thought he had, perhaps he’d dreamt that, but then he realized that this room was too dark to be the chamber where his wife slept. He was definitely in his own room, the one he had occupied since childhood, but someone was with him.

His mother, sister, and Ewan were the only ones who knew about this room, but Connall seriously doubted any of them would be snuggled up against him like this. At least, he sincerely hoped not. The warm body curled around his own was having an effect on him that it would just be wrong to have for any of those three individuals.

“Eva?” he asked hopefully.

“Mmmm.” The body behind him shifted and stretched, then curled even closer, tops of thighs pressing against his arse and the backs of his legs.

Connall squeezed his eyes closed as the semi-erection he had awoken with sprang into a full one. Dear God, he hoped it was his wife, perhaps his mother or sister had informed her of his room as a surprise. Deciding it was time to find out, Connall eased closer to the edge of the bed and the candle he usually kept there. He managed to light it, then lifted it in the air and glanced over his shoulder, a small breath of relief slipping from his lips at the sight of his wife curled up behind him. Setting the candle back on the chest, Connall eased onto his back in the bed, then on his side facing her and reached out to run one finger lightly along her cheek. He was torn between waking her up to ask how she had got there, and waking her up by making love to her. The way she murmured sleepily and turned her face into his touch reminded him of her sweet responses to his lovemaking the night before and made up his mind. He would find out how she’d got there soon enough. First things first.

Eva moaned and shifted as she became conscious of the hands moving caressingly over her body.

“Connall,” she murmured the name sleepily as her eyes swept open. Candlelight spilled across the bed, gleaming on his dark hair as he bent his head over her to capture one nipple in his warm wet mouth.

“Oh,” Eva moaned and arched into the caress. It was a heavenly way to wake up, one she had awoken to the night before and would be pleased to awaken to again and again she decided as Connall slid a leg between both of hers, allowing it to rub against the center of her. She thought it was a terrible shame that girls were not told what to expect once they were married. Had she known that this had awaited her here in Scotland, she would have been urging the men to ride faster.

Connall’s mouth left her breast and Eva moaned in disappointment, then gasped in surprise, her stomach muscles jumping as his lips trailed a path across it. He had said last night that there was more to kissing, but she had never expected all the places that could be kissed, or how delightful those kisses could be. Eva would never have imagined that her husband would wish to kiss her stomach, delve his tongue into her belly button, draw his tongue along her pelvic bone, or—

“Ah!” She gasped with surprise, her eyes flying open as he suddenly urged her thighs apart and lowered his head between them. Suddenly assaulted by modesty and not a little embarrassment, Eva tried to squeeze her legs closed, but he pushed them further open instead and seemed to settle into the endeavor of kissing her there. Dear God, and she had thought his earlier kisses exciting!

Eva squeezed her eyes closed and clutched at the bed linens to ground herself as she was assaulted by pleasure such as she had never experienced. Her body was suddenly moving of its own accord, shifting, stretching, arching, and even bucking beneath his ministrations and she was vaguely aware that she was gasping and moaning and making little mewling sounds. It wasn’t long before she felt sure that if he didn’t stop soon, she would surely die from the pleasure. Oddly enough, she thought she might very well die if he did stop as well. Then, suddenly she couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to feel him inside her as he had been last night. Without thinking, she caught at his hair, tugging at it, trying to urge him up to slide into her, but Connall ignored her actions and continued with what he was doing, driving her mad with his tongue as he lashed the very center of her.

“Oh, no, no, no, please,” she moaned. Then her body suddenly went stiff and Eva nearly shot upward off the bed as he slid a finger into her as well and her body reacted like the string of a bow suddenly released as it jerked in spasm. She was trembling and shaking with release as he finally straightened and sat up on his knees between her legs. Eva sat up at once and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. Her breath came in sobs as she clung to him and Connall ran a hand soothingly down her back before catching her under her bottom and lifting her into his lap, guiding himself into her as he did.

Eva moaned, her head dropping back as she felt him push into her body, the action sending her into confusion, the lassitude that had claimed her was leaving, replaced by a returning excitement. He truly would kill her, she thought vaguely as he urged her legs around his waist, caught her under the thighs and began to raise and lower her on top of him.

Eva managed to survive the encounter, barely. Long moments later as she lay in an exhausted heap on her husband’s chest where she had ended up, she listened to his heart beat and smiled vaguely to herself. Nightwalking, soulless, bloodlusters? The man had a heartbeat and everyone knew that vampires had no life in them; it was said that was why they craved the lifeblood of the living.

“Eva?”

She lifted her head and turned it so that her chin rested on his chest as she peered at him in question. “Aye?”

“How is it ye came to be here?”

“Oh.” She flushed guiltily, then cleared her throat and said evasively, “I am your wife. This is where I belong. Husbands and wives sleep together.”

“Do they?” he asked with vague amusement.

“Aye,” she answered, then added, “Well, my parents did.”

“Hmmm.” Lifting a hand, he toyed with a strand of hair and teased, “Tis probably why they had so many children.”

Eva smiled slightly, but didn’t comment on that. Her parents had had ten children in all; one had been born dead, one had died within days of birth, but eight had survived. Jonathan was the oldest, but there had been another male who survived into adulthood before being taken by an infection after being wounded in battle. Eva also had five older sisters, all surviving; three of them had been married ere her parents had died, Jonathan had managed to supply a small dower for another, but Lynette, the next oldest to Eva, had been forced to become a nun when it transpired that there was no dower for her and no one would have her without one, much as Eva had almost been forced to do. Eva had told Connall about her family and her life in general over the last week as they had played chess. It was only now that she realized he had told her very little in return. She hadn’t even known where he slept.

“I can see why you like it in here,” she said now, as the candle at the bedside sputtered, and a glance showed that it had burned down to a stub and was threatening to gutter out. That would leave them in total darkness again. “It was so quiet and dark, I slept like the dead.”

Connall’s lips quirked at her comment, but he merely pointed out, “Ye havenae told me hoo ye came to be here. Did someone tell ye aboot this room?”

“Nay,” Eva bit her lip briefly before admitting, “I awoke as you left the room. I could not understand why you would leave me to sleep elsewhere after…Well, now that we are properly married. I got up and hurried to the door and saw you come through the entrance at the end of the hall.”

“And ye figured oot hoo to open it by watching me?” he said.

“Aye. Well, partly. I saw the two stones you pressed with your right hand, but the one in the middle was just luck. When I pressed the first two and it didn’t work, I got frustrated and thumped the wall, it was pure luck that I hit the right stone there. I was startled as could be when it suddenly opened.” She lowered her head, and ran one finger nervously back and forth on his chest, then glanced up from under her eyebrows and asked a touch anxiously, “Are you angry with me?”

Connall shook his head. “Nay. I’d ha’e been tellin’ ye aboot this room eventually, but ’tis obvious I’ll ha’e to be mair careful in future. I didnae e’en think to look around as I went. Anyone might ha’e seen me.”

His words reminded her of the man in the cape, and Eva said solemnly, “Someone did.”

Connall’s eyes narrowed and a frown knit his brow as Eva told him about the caped figure who had followed him up the hall and tried—but failed—to open the secret entrance. They were both silent for a moment when she finished, then Eva asked curiously, “Why do you sleep in here? Is it to avoid the sun?”

“Aye,” he said gruffly, then eased her off his chest and swung his feet off the bed as he sat up. “The candle’ll be goin’ out soon, we’d best shift ourselves ere we’re left in the dark.”

“I brought a candle with me as well,” Eva said as she tugged the sheets up to cover herself and sat up in bed.

Connall glanced at the candle, but didn’t light it, instead he set to work on his plaid. Eva watched him silently, one hand absently pushing her hair away from her face. It felt like a rat’s nest to her and she wondered what time it was and if she might have a bath.

“Up now,” he ordered. “Yer best to eat, ’tis night and ye havena eaten since this hour yester eve.”

Eva blinked in surprise at this news, finding it hard to believe that she had been abed for nearly twenty-four hours. Well, her bed and this bed. Though they hadn’t done much sleeping in her bed as she recalled. Forcing herself to let go of the linen sheet, she leaned forward from the bed to snatch up her robe where she’d left it lying on the hard stone floor. Eva frowned over the fact that there were no rushes on this floor. It must be cold on his bare feet, she thought with concern. Then her gaze shifted around the room.

With the one sputtering candle, it was no easier to see than it had been the night before, but then it didn’t look as if there was much to see anyway. The room was as barren and cold as her chamber at Caxton had been.

“I understand you sleeping here to avoid sunlight coming in,” she murmured as her gaze slid along the wall. She didn’t see any sign of a covered window, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one, it was hard to tell in this light. “But why is the room kept secret?”

When Connall didn’t answer right away, she asked, “It is secret, is it not? I should not tell anyone of it?”

That made him pause and glance at her. “Aye. Tis secret. Tell no one.”

Eva nodded. “Why do you sleep in a secret room?”

Connall sighed, hands on his hips, and considered his wife. What to tell her? How much to say? Was she ready to hear the full truth? Or should he leave that for a little longer and stick to partial truths? It was early yet to tell her the full truth, he decided. Half truths would have to do for now. “Me mother had these rooms built when I was but a child. Twas to keep me safe from the sun, but ’twas also as a precaution.”

“A precaution?” she queried as she tugged her robe on.

“Ye’ve heard the rumors about our clan,” he said slowly. When she nodded, he continued, “Well, people tend to fear what they doonae understand, and usually they try to destroy what they fear. These rooms are a safeguard against sech a thing.”

Eva nodded her understanding. “Do you think that man last night is someone who fears you?”

Connall hesitated, then simply said, “There have been three attempts on me life in the last little while.”

He saw her eyes widen with dismay and quickly changed the subject. “Come. Ye should eat…and…er…have a bath,” he added, a small smile curving his lips. Her hair was a riotous mass on her head and he was sure no amount of brushing would remove the tangles caused by their love making. She would have to wash her hair to get them out, Connall thought as he blew the bedside candle out, and took her hand in the darkness to lead the way to the door. The tangles came from her tendency to roll and rub her head from side to side on the bed as he pleasured her, he knew. In future, he might have to hold her head in place as he pleasured her to save her lovely hair.

“Connall?”

He paused at the door at that whisper. “Aye?”

“I cannot see a thing.”

“I’ll lead the way. Trust me,” he said with a squeeze of her hand.

“I do,” she murmured and fell silent, following obediently behind him as he led her up the long dark hall to the entrance to the secret section of castle, and he believed it to be true. She did trust him, with a purity and innocence that touched him. She trusted him to keep her safe and happy, and he would, he decided.

Recalling the incident with the arrow the other night, he found his hand tightening around his wife’s wee hand. The very fact that he had married her, might place Eva in danger. He didn’t like to think what might have happened had the caped figure spotted her watching him last night.

He pondered the situation as he showed her the secret to opening the door from the inside, having to show her by touch since it was black as pitch in there. She would need to know how to open it from both sides as he had decided she would be sleeping in there with him from now on. The incident with the intruder was troublesome. It meant that either someone had gained the castle, managing to slip past everyone here, or the person was one of his own people. He didn’t want to believe it, but the second option seemed most likely. A member of his own clan might wish him dead. But either way, he intended on seeing his wife safe.