Read Online Seduced by Sophia Johnson - Free Book Online

have been here! Frowning, he searched the room. He looked for
even one thing that could prove he was not crazy.
    During their lovemaking, the pillows and
sheets had become so tangled he had wrenched them to the floor.
Hadn't he? When the sun came up and he had reached to pull the
woman back into his arms, his hands met thin air. He'd opened his
eyes to find a bed with hardly a wrinkle in the sheets. The second
pillow beside his head was as plump and unused as... Strange. He
remembered propping it under his shoulder when first he had settled
for the night.
    On awakening, he had felt reluctant to turn
his face from his own pillow. Why? He frowned and reached for it.
Holding it to his nose, he sniffed. And sniffed again. No washing
or drying in the sun could account for its scent. 'Twas of flowers.
Hm. Yes.
    Lilies. He recognized it. At Kelso Abbey when
he had arrived to guard Ranald from his father, Lilies had adorned
the chapel. Where he had stood, the scent had floated to him,
reminding him of gentleness. He had waited there all night, keeping
to the shadows as he watched over Ranald, outstretched on the cold
stones. Praying. Naked as the day he was born.
    He closed his eyes and took another deep
breath, then sat on the bed. The second pillow still bore that
freshly washed scent as if it someone had just replaced it. He
frowned at it. Gathering an armful of the sheets, he sniffed, then
burrowed his face in the cool linens and sniffed again. Nothing.
After wadding the blanket, he held it to his face, sniffing.
    None of it. Not one other thing smelled the
same as his pillow.
    Lady Letia dressed his wound each day. Until
now, he had remained silent, answering only questions she asked
about how he was healing. Today, he would do the questioning and
learn of the flowers growing in her gardens. He knew she had
aplenty, for Ranald's wife had brought back cuttings from various
plants when last she had visited here.
    o0o
    Letia's feet grew heavier the closer she came
to Raik's door. Would she give herself away by trembling hands or
shamed looks? Not until Maud nudged her did she know she had
stopped. Maud's raised brows begged an answer.
    "Do you not think it best that I no longer
tend his wounds?"
    "Lovey, if you do not, don't you think Sir
Raik will notice? Or that Warin will worry all the more?"
    "There is that." Letia chewed on her bottom
lip and tried to gather her courage.
    "He has watched you all morn, trying to judge
if he has bid ye beyond yer strength. If ye stumble in this, he
will make an end to it."
    "Would that be bad?"
    "Aye. Think on it. What if ye are not yet
breeding? If ye stop now, maybe last night was wasted?" Maud sighed
out a long, worried huff of air. "Sometimes it takes more than a
night, ye know."
    "For truth?" The idea surprised Letia.
"Catalin lay but once with Ranald and she bred."
    "Aye. But she was in love when she coupled
with him." Maud scrunched up her lips, thinking. "Mayhap that
caused her to be so fruitful."
    "Oh." Letia's shoulders slumped. How very
silly of her. She near let her feelings get in the way of safety
for all of Seton. She should be shamed even to think of quitting.
Too many depended on her to protect them after Warin... Please God,
do not take Warin!
    She had no more time to think, for Giles was
already opening the door. His lips just stopped moving. Had he
spoken?
    "I am sorry? What did you say?"
    "Lady, he tried to leave the room earlier. He
seemed most upset that I would not fetch his sword." Giles grinned
at her. "I ken he feared the beast would drag ye into the
woods."
    "Humpf. I had my knife strapped to my leg and
Warin protected me with his sword. I would not have welcomed his
scaring the poor beast back to the forest to starve."
    "Better the beast starved than he feasted on
yer bowels, lady," Raik's irate voice said on the other side of the
door.
    Letia frowned as she entered.
    "You should not be prowling around the room,
Sir Raik. You are just a day from the fevers and are