He’d never seen her drink more than one cup-full during meals, but then again, Mary never allowed any of them more than that. Mary always said that Arran did a fine job of finding drink on his own. She wasn’t going to aid him in his task.
A large belch from Bri’s end of the table was enough to make him certain it was time for him to make his excuses and take her away to their shared bedchamber. He could only hope no one else had heard the location of the unladylike sound.
Raising his voice so that Donal would hear, Eoin stood from the table. “I find myself weary from the long day’s travel, Donal. If it pleases ye, I believe I will take my wife upstairs so that we may retire for the evening.”
His old friend stood and clasped him on the shoulders. “Aye, o’ course! It was wrong of me to keep ye so late after the long ride. We will talk more tomorrow. Would ye accompany me on a hunt?”
Eoin smiled and nodded as he walked to Bri’s side. “Aye! I shall look forward to it.”
He bent to place his hand under her arm and help steady her as he pulled her up out of her seat.
“Goodnight, daughter. I’m glad to have ye home, if only for a short time.” Donal stood waiting for Bri’s response, and Eoin bent to whisper in Bri’s ear.
“Tell him, goodnight. Doona say anything else.”
“Goodnight.” She smiled sloppily, and Eoin found himself glad that the old man’s sight wasn’t much better than his hearing as he watched him turn and leave the room.
“God, lass! What the hell do ye think ye’re doing? I’ve no had that much to drink since I was a young lad.” He took one step away from her, but quickly reached to grab her once more as she swayed on her feet.
“What are you talking…?”
She left off the end of her sentence, but Eoin understood her meaning well enough. “Ye are mighty drunk, Bri. Ye have no stopped drinking since we sat down to eat!”
“I am not! I’ve only been sipping. What was I supposed to do while y’all were visiting?”
“Well, not drink them dry, Bri! If ye’re no drunk, why doona ye walk a few steps and show me, aye?” He stepped out of her way while she grasped onto the edge of the table to support herself.
“Fine.”
He watched as she took three or four wobbly steps in his direction before swaying widely and falling into his side. “Ye are no drunk, ye say?”
“Ok, fine. But I didn’t mean to. They just kept refilling it, over and over again, and this hasn’t been my most favorite day.”
“Aye, I saw them, lass, and I no suppose that it has.” He bent to scoop her up around her knees, cradling her against his chest as they made their way up the stairs to their guest bedchamber.
She was asleep by the time he lay her on the bed, and gently tucking the covers around her, he moved to find himself a spot on the floor.
As much as he wanted to cradle her in his arms all night long, he wouldn’t share her bed until she asked.
Chapter 27
Putting aside my monumental hangover, the trip to visit Donal MacChristy was an undisputable success. Over the two days that we’d spent there, Eoin had kept Donal so busy that I hardly ever saw either of them. I spent my time lounging around the castle, tenderly caring for my wicked bad headache.
We were now on our last day of riding to visit Ramsay Kinnaird, an ally according to Eoin, but a man I knew very little about from either Mary or history. It was a longer journey from MacChristy’s to Kinnaird’s, and we’d been forced to camp two nights along the way.
Eoin was slowly-but-surely chipping away at the rock wall fortress of my friend zone. The first night the weather had been warm enough for us to sleep on opposite sides of a fire he’d built in a small clearing.
On the second night the wind blew too roughly through the trees to start a fire, and we were forced to snuggle together to stay warm. It had started out as a necessity, with both of us covered by the same blankets and me curling into the nook of his arm with my head against his chest. But as the night progressed he turned his body so that our fronts were flush against each other, his warm breath wafting against my face, his breath shaky as he pressed himself against me, hard and ready, inviting me to accept him.
I’d feigned sleep, refusing to open my eyes and give myself away. Always a gentleman, he only tried a moment before giving up and kissing me lightly on the forehead, quickly rolling onto his back, shifting me into the crook of his arm once more.
I slept maybe half an hour the entire night.
*
The next day, I couldn’t keep from squirming in the saddle. Eion seemed concerned. “We are almost there, lass. Do ye need me to stop?”
“If it’s alright with you, I’d rather not. Don’t want to risk getting another sticker stuck in my bum.”
“Aye, it’s fine. I’m anxious to finish the ride, as well.”