Had she been thinking of Rome such a short time ago? It should have been Greece, because here she was, standing in front of her own personal Greek god. Maybe Aries. He looked pretty warlike. Did the Greeks even have a male God of Gorgeous? Because Colin could definitely be him right this minute, whatever his name might be. If she’d only paid more attention in those classes, but she’d been so much more interested in Celtic than Roman and Greek mythology.
“Are we to stand here, then, staring at each other, or shall we have our food?”
Abby blinked and then blinked again, slowly dragging her thoughts back from the expanse of linen-covered chest spread out in front of her as all the fantasies it had sent her off pursuing faded away.
“Sorry. I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
Tired. Right. It wasn’ttiredthat was knotting itself around her organs. It was desire. Hot, desperate need.
She took a seat across from him, face flaming, and waited as he poured from the jug into the two cups on the table.
“It’s a fair honey ale Roderick’s people make,” he said as he passed the cup to her. “No so good as the one we put by at Dun Ard, but this’ll do in a pinch.”
She sniffed the brew before taking a sip.Notbad. Not at all bitter, but it did leave a heavy aftertaste, similar to that of a dark beer.
“How do they keep it from being warmer than this?” There certainly wasn’t a refrigerator in the back room.
“I’d imagine they store it underground. That’s what we do at Dun Ard.”
She emptied her cup and pushed it forward for a refill. Not quite a true cold brew, but cool enough to hit the spot after such a long day. The wooden tray held meat shavings, bread, cheese, and dried fruit, the same as every other meal she’d had in this century with the exception of the large midday meal when she’d first arrived. They’d served a thick soup along with everything else at that meal.
If she was this tired of the food after only three days, mealtimes for the next week or so were looking pretty grim.
“You know what sounds good to me? A big old salad. With ranch dressing and bacon bits and every kind of green leafy thing you can imagine. Doesn’t that sound good to you?”
She could almost feel the ale humming through herbloodstream as she emptied her second cup and pushed it toward Colin for another refill.
His eyebrow arched, but to his credit, he didn’t question her. He simply refilled her cup and returned it to her before he rose and headed over to the tub.
“There are any number of things that sound good to me, but yer weeds are no one them. Though I will say this: yer time did present a pleasurable abundance of variety at the dinner table.” He spoke as he kneeled down to pull the first garment from the tub.
She should tell him not to bother, that she’d take care of those things when she finished her meal. But with each twist of cloth, the muscles in his forearms corded and rippled and she couldn’t seem to bring herself to encourage him to stop what he was doing.
Besides, it was such a sweet gesture on his part. No wonder she had fallen in love with him.
“Like!” she blurted out as the candle sitting nearest her sizzled, its wick burned down into the wax. The little flame flickered out, leaving the room a fraction darker than it had been a moment before.
“You like what?” Colin asked, still bent over the tub.
“Nothing,” she muttered, pushing the ale away. So maybe she did like him. No big deal. For a fact she lusted after him. But love? No. Absolutely not. She wouldn’t allow that to happen.
“We should get some sleep. Morning will come early and we’ve a long day’s ride ahead of us.” Colin made his way around the room as he spoke, snuffing out each of the candles in turn until, at last, he stood in front of her with only the light from the fireplace flickering behind him.
He held out a hand and she accepted it, rising to her feet and allowing him to lead her to the bed.
It was a massive, high affair that would require her to hoist herself up into it, the sort of furniture she’d expect to see a step stool sitting next to. Colin lifted her to sit, saving her the problem of clambering inside. She remained where he’d set her, her feet dangling over the edge as he loosed the bed’s draperies and let them fall into place before he joined her, climbing through the draperies into his side of the bed. Once he’d made his way inside and the draperies fell shut, no trace of the wavering firelight was visible.
It took only a moment for the apprehension to begin to build.
“It’s like a box.” A dark little coffin kind of box.
“This is an old keep and the shutters dinna fit so very well. They let in as much of the wind as they keep out, so we can consider ourselves fortunate it’s no likely to rain. The bed draperies will add to our comfort.”
“If you happen to be comfortable sleeping in a dark little box, maybe.” Wrapped up like a mummy in a linen sheet, laid out to be preserved for a thousand years. The whole effect was one she didn’t find the least bit comforting.
“Lay back and get yerself some sleep.”
The mattress next to her rustled as Colin worked his way under the covers.