My Highlander: A Cree & Dawn Novel, page 4
A sharp rap sounded at the door before it opened and Elsa entered. “It is good to see you awake.”
Dawn went to smile and yawned instead, though a smile quickly followed it.
“You still need to rest and eat,” Elsa said.
Dawn patted her stomach and nodded.
“I should have realized you were hungry and sent for food,” Cree said annoyed at himself for not thinking of it. “I will have Flanna bring a feast for you.”
“No,” Elsa ordered and Cree turned a scowl on her. She ignored it and looked to Dawn. “You have been here two days. How long before that had you eaten?”
Dawn held up two fingers.
Cree cringed inside, thinking of his wife not far from home, so hungry, so alone.
“How much did you eat when last you ate?” Elsa continued.
Dawn looked as if she pinched two fingers together that she held up with a narrow space between them, letting the healer know she had eaten little.
“I have seen time and again how a person cannot eat much when they have been without food for a while. So broth, bread, and a little meat to start and we will see how you feel afterwards. We do not want your stomach protesting and ridding itself of the food when you need it to grow strong,” Elsa advised. “I will see to getting you food and when you finish, I will apply another poultice to that bruise at your side. How did you come by it?”
Cree looked to Dawn’s hand, impatient to hear her response.
Dawn patted her chest, then rapidly moved hand over hand,
“You took a long tumble?” Cree asked.
Dawn nodded and cringed, placing her hand lightly to her injured side, then held up her two hands as if she was holding something fairly large.
“You hit a rock?” Elsa asked.
Dawn nodded and smashed her fist into the palm of her other hand.
“Hard. You hit it hard,” Cree said, the cringe he had previously kept hidden, surfacing enough to be noticeable.
“Did you walk immediately afterwards?” Elsa asked.
Dawn shook her head slowly and yawned again. She patted Cree’s shoulder and laid her head on it.
“You rested,” Elsa said. “That was wise of you, Dawn, and now it would be wise for you to rest again while you wait for the food.”
Dawn nodded, while keeping her head on Cree’s shoulder.
“I will see you after you eat and apply the poultice to your wound,” Elsa said.
“I will remain here with Dawn, let Sloan know,” Cree ordered and Elsa nodded and took her leave.
Dawn raised her hand to delicately trace the few lines at the corner of her husband’s eyes that had not been there when she had last seen him. And the ones she did recall were set deeper now. His skin was warm and unmarred, and his lips were as she remembered them… ready to always kiss her. She had had endless dreams of him kissing her and making love to her, and she would wake so disappointed, that many times it had brought her to tears.
Not this time. This time it was not a dream.
She wished she had the strength to lift her head and kiss him, but as much as she did not want to admit it, she was too weak. She brushed his lips with her finger, then tapped her own lips.
Cree had ached to kiss her since her return. He had missed her lips, always so welcoming and so eager, like now.
He lowered his head and before his lips touched hers, he whispered, “I have missed the taste of you, wife.”
Dawn slipped her hand around to the back of his neck, gripping it with what little strength she had, wanting to hold on to him and never let him go. And when his lips touched hers, tears gathered in her eyes.
She was home. She was finally home.
Cree warned himself to keep the kiss light, not linger in it, make no demands, but one taste and he was lost. He had thought he had lost her, that she was gone forever, that he would never kiss her again. And now that he could, he never wanted to stop.
The tender kiss turned powerful as if they both needed to make certain that the kiss was real, that they did not linger in a dream, that they had been reunited, joined once more.
A pain suddenly shot through Dawn’s side and she gasped in Cree’s mouth.
He tore his mouth away from hers. “Dawn?”
She took short breaths against the throbbing pain, her hand resting at her injured side.
Cree wanted to thrash himself for being so selfish, seeing tears begin to roll down her cheeks. She suffered in pain because of him. “Slow breaths,” he said gently, though felt anything but gentle, he was so angry with himself.
The pain began to subside, though her breathing remained a bit labored. She could see by the scowl her husband wore that he was blaming himself for her suffering. She would not let him do that.
She tapped his chest and shook her head.
“It is my fault,” he insisted, wiping away her tears, with his thumb, that continued to trickle down her flushed cheeks.
She continued to shake her head. She patted her chest, touched his lips, and patted her chest again.
“I know you wanted me to kiss you, and I wanted to kiss you, but I should have been more gentle in your weak condition.”
She gave a silent laugh and that caused her to wince.
Cree winced along with her. “Do not laugh, it causes you pain, and what are you laughing at?”
She might be weak now, but it was her indomitable strength that got her home and she let him know that by shaking a fisted hand at him and narrowing her brow.
He smiled. “You are not weak, on that we both agree.”
A knock at the door had Cree saying, “Food to make you grow even stronger.”
Dawn’s stomach answered for her, rumbling.
While the food tray was set on a small table a servant carried in, Cree saw to settling his wife in bed, so that she could eat comfortably. He propped a couple of pillows behind her and folded the blanket to rest below her waist.
The stone walls held a chill thanks to the cool, summer nights so a fire was kept burning in the hearth to ward it off, it being needed more so now to keep Dawn warm. He was glad for the strong fire when he saw her shiver and pull the blanket up higher at her waist.
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I will keep you warm tonight.”
She smiled and with her finger traced a cross over his chest.
“Aye, I promise,” he said and kissed her cheek.
As the last servant went to leave the room, Old Mary entered.
Dawn stretched her arms out to her and the old woman hurried over to hug her tight. “I knew you would wake today, though you need more rest.”
Dawn smiled and nodded.
Old Mary turned to Cree. “Sloan will be here soon with news. I will see to feeding Dawn.”
Cree was about to argue with the woman, having intended to see to the care of his wife himself.
“The news is important,” Old Mary said.
Dawn gestured for him to go and let Old Mary tend her.
Cree did not like that his wife dismissed him so easily, but then he was not the only one happy and relieved with her return. There were many who were going to want to visit with her, though Old Mary was special to Dawn and he could not refuse them time together.
Sloan entered the open door and looked to Cree. “Important news.” He turned his attention on Dawn. “It is good you are home. Your husband has been a beast of a man in your absence.”
Cree shot him a threatening scowl.
Dawn smiled, though it was more of a soundless chuckle as she nodded.
Cree leaned over and kissed Dawn’s brow. “I will return soon.”
“No need to rush,” Old Mary said. “I will take good care of her.”
He had no doubt the old woman would. He simply did not want to be separated from his wife too long, the fear that somehow he would lose her continuing to linger in him.
He stopped suddenly as he approached the door and turned, pointing to Dawn but looking to Beast. “Guard Dawn!”
The large dog got to his feet from where he laid near the bed and took up a protective stance beside it.
Cree left his bedchamber feeling more secure that Dawn would be safe with Beast beside her.
Cree and Sloan settled in Cree’s solar to talk. Tankards were filled with ale and the two men took a seat in the chairs facing the fire in the hearth.
“Dawn looks much improved than when you found her,” Sloan said.
Cree nodded. “She does, but she still has much healing to do.”
“Beast rarely leaves her side.”
“He leaves her only when he sees to his own needs and that has been twice a day, and only if someone is there with her. He never leaves her on her own.”
“He will see her kept safe.”
“You have important news and yet you talk of Dawn and Beast. What do you avoid telling me?”
Sloan did not hesitate to respond. “When Henry returned with the news, I had a thought as to what he discovered. Seeing how Beast is protective of Dawn, I believe it explains what Henry found.”
“And that is?” Cree asked impatiently.
“Henry came across a body of a man whose throat appeared to be ripped apart by an animal. A leg and an arm also suffered severe bite marks. I think Beast attacked the man who was about to attack Dawn or was in the middle of attacking her.”
Cree thought of the bite mark on his wife’s backside. “Dawn will be able to confirm if that was what happened. And if it is, Beast will definitely be rewarded.” It would mean the dog saved Dawn’s life twice. Would he learn of more heroic rescues once Dawn spoke of her ordeal? He owed much to the large dog and damn if it did not rankle him that an animal did what he should have done.
“Did Henry find anything else?” Cree asked.
Sloan shook his head. “No, the trail went cold soon after that.”
“So we have no idea where Dawn has been?”
“Unfortunately, no, but with her awake, you will be able to learn all that has happened to her,” Sloan said as if that solved the problem.
Cree thought differently. While he and his wife always spoke the truth, he wondered if this was one time she would keep something from him. He intended to make sure she told him everything.
“You improve and will grow strong again,” Old Mary said, spooning the tasty broth into Dawn’s mouth.
Dawn would have preferred to feed herself, but she could feel the weakness in her limbs and feared the spoon would not last long in her hand. Even the chunk of bread Old Mary had handed her had become heavy in only a short time.
“It was a difficult ordeal for you,” Old Mary said, feeding her the hot broth slowly.
Dawn nodded.
“There is much for you to tell Cree.”
Dawn nodded again and took a bite of the bread.
“I knew you were not dead and yet I could not grasp where you were,” Old Mary said with a tear threatening to fall from her one eye.
Dawn placed her hand on Old Mary’s, preventing the spoon from reaching her mouth, and she shook her head, then shook her finger at her, letting her know she was not to blame herself.
“I should have known, but it was so difficult deciphering the dreams, the visions. It took until your return for me to understand some of them and still I question them. Tell me about your journey so I may help you.”
Dawn shook her head firmly.
“I worried that you would refuse to tell me.”
Dawn pointed at Old Mary, then tapped her temple and pointed at the old woman again, and shook her head.
“Are you telling me I do not need to know?”
Dawn nodded and held her hand up, letting Old Mary know she did not want any more broth. She also handed what was left of the chunk of bread to Old Mary.
“You have not eaten enough,” Old Mary scolded gently.
Dawn patted her stomach and shook her head.
Old Mary set the spoon and bowl aside and took Dawn’s hand. “You need to tell me what happened so I may help you.”
Again, Dawn shook her head firmly.
“Your husband will ask the same and what will you say then?” Old Mary asked.
Dawn shook her head again.
“Cree will want to know. He will demand to know.”
Dawn was adamant, turning her head away and folding her arms across her chest.
“Fine, I cannot make you tell me, but your husband will.”
Chapter 4
Dawn had fallen in and out of sleep after Old Mary had left, disturbing dreams waking her, only to fall back asleep and into the dreams once more. Old Mary was right… Cree would want, no doubt, demand answers. And that was the reason for her troubling dreams. There was much to tell her husband as to what had happened to her, yet there were also things she did not know if she wanted to tell him, and that disturbed her.
They both had learned how keeping things from each other could create more problems than they were worth and do damage to trust. But she wondered if some of what she had been through was not better left alone, for no one but her to know.
She was eager to heal and resume her life with her husband and the twins, and all her friends. She would prefer to forget her ordeal, not that she ever could, but she hoped the burdensome memories would fade with time and trouble her no more. One thing that would never fade from her memory was the horrible thought of never seeing Cree again. It had pained her heart worse than anything she had ever been through or could ever imagine. It made her realize the depths of her love for him and how difficult—impossible—it would be to live without him.
Dawn winced as she tried to turn on her side.
A wet tongue was quickly at her face along with a small whine.
Dawn scratched behind the big dog’s ear and received more licks. She would have never made it home if it had not been for Beast, not that that was his name, but it was better than his true name.
She kissed the top of his snout and he licked her cheek again. They had fast become best friends and she did not want to lose him. She wanted him to become part of her family, but she feared his owner might think differently. And if he decided to search for the dog, she worried what might happen.
It was not that she had stolen Beast. The dog had decided on his own to follow her and she was grateful he had, the journey home having been fraught with danger.
She patted the top of his head, then patted her chest, then rested her hand to the side of his face, letting him know she loved him. He had seemed to understand what she was trying to convey from when she had first gestured that way too him, since he always responded by pressing his face to hers as if he was showing the same affection.
It was no different now. He pressed his face to hers, then rested his chin on the bed as if telling her to sleep and he would be there when she woke. Her eyes drifted shut, feeling safe with Beast there beside the bed and Cree somewhere in the keep.
Cree had returned to his bedchamber a few times throughout the day to find Dawn sleeping. He had not been happy to learn that she had eaten sparingly. Though, Elsa seemed pleased enough.
“She ate today and will eat more tomorrow, and more the next day as she grows stronger and stronger,” Elsa had said.
Cree accepted her word, since there was little else he could do, though tomorrow he would be the one to feed her.
It was late now, much of the keep asleep when he returned to the bedchamber to find Dawn asleep once again. Beast slept beside the bed, having gone out for the night when Cree had last been here.
Cree went and sat in the chair by the hearth, a fire burning strong. A storm was brewing and the whipping wind slammed against the stones, sending a chill drifting off the stone wall. He took off his boots and stretched his feet out to the fire’s warmth to toast his toes after slipping off his shirt.
The dog’s sudden whine had him turning his head, then hurrying out of the chair when he saw his wife trying to get out of bed.
“What are you doing? Stay where you are,” he commanded firmly, lifting her legs she had managed to slip off the edge of the bed as if making ready to stand.
She tapped her chest and pointed at him.
“You want to join me by the fire?” he asked and he grew annoyed that because she had no voice, the simple request had been denied her. She could not call out to him. Beast, however, had understood and alerted him. He liked the big dog more and more each day.
She nodded, smiling.
“I can join you in bed,” he said.
Her smile vanished as she shook her head and pointed at the hearth.
She wanted to sit in front of the fire as they had done many times before and he could not deny her. He reached down and lifted her carefully, so as not to cause her pain, into his arms and walked over to the hearth to once again sit in the chair. He arranged her comfortably on his lap, pulling the hem of her nightdress down to cover her legs and feet, He felt more than simply content to have her there snug against him. He felt whole.
“I have missed this with you,” he said and kissed her brow.
She nodded and patted her chest, then his, telling him she felt the same.
“When I thought you gone, lost to me forever, I would sit here at night and wonder how I would face another day without you. I am relieved and grateful I no longer have to do that.”
She nodded and patted her chest, agreeing.
Dawn rarely, if ever, felt sorry for herself that she had no voice. It was something she had accepted since she was young. She owed that to her mum, Lizbeth, not the woman who gave her birth, but a true mum who loved her and cared for her and taught her to be brave and proud despite being different, despite not having a voice.
Tonight, however, she wished she could speak, explain to Cree what had happened, where she had been, how she had escaped, and be done with it. But her weak limbs would never allow the gestures necessary to explain it all. It would take time to tell the tale and, at the moment, she did not wish to relive some of the memories.
“I know you require more rest and I should wait to ask you what happened, where you have been, how you made it home, and in time I know you will explain it all. But at the moment, can you tell me how you manage to survive the fall in the cold, rushing stream?”
