“I’ll do as you say.”
“Your word on it?” he asked.
“You have my word,” she agreed, deciding that his time, she was better off being wise rather than foolish.
John stood and walked around the fallen branch. He squatted down in a spot close to her trapped leg and studied it a moment. Then stood again, leaned over, and with one swift lift and toss with his two hands, he had the branch off her.
Sorrell breathed a sigh of relief that she was sure he heard.
“I’m going to touch your leg. Tell me if you feel any pain,” John said and squatted down on his haunches.
“Aye,” she said and tensed when she felt his finger gently stroke her leg.
“That hurts?”
“No, your hand has a slight chill,” she said, thankful for the excuse, since it was his fingers caressing her leg so gently that had brought on the response.
Never had a man touched her naked skin and she imagined she would be in trouble if her intended found out, but she didn’t care. She enjoyed the feel of his tender touch. She doubted Seth MacCannish would be that tender.
“You were lucky,” John said. “Your leg landed in a sizeable gap in the ground and saved it from being crushed. I’m going to help you to stand. Tell me if you feel any pain anywhere.” He eased his arm underneath her and, as he raised her gently, said, “Grab onto my arm.”
She curled her slim arm around his thick one and rested her cheek against it when a dizzy spell struck her.
“What’s wrong?”
“A bit lightheaded that’s all.”
“It’s enough,” he said and laid her back down. He went and retrieved her cloak from where she had dropped it on the ground, raised her up again, and draped her cloak over her shoulders.
The next thing Sorrell knew, she was up in his muscled arms and tucked snugly against his chest.
“I’m going to get you home so your sisters can look after you and make sure you suffered no harm.”
Sorrell didn’t argue, since she remained a bit lightheaded, but as he carried her through the woods, it gradually dissipated.
“Feeling all right?” he asked, casting a glance down at her.
She wasn’t sure, since she wanted to reach up and trace his lips with her finger and feel their warmth and smoothness. She was about to shake her head and chase the thought away when she recalled the question and changed it to a nod, as if she also confirmed to herself that it was a perfectly natural thing to want to touch his lips.
“Tell me something,” he said. “Would you really have bitten the fellow’s tiny cock off?”
“Without hesitation, though I doubt he would have gotten close enough for me to do that. But I would have waited until he whipped out his manhood and the branch I held would have made a perfect spear. I would have jabbed it hard right in his—”
“I get the picture.” John winced, then smiled and shook his head. “I was right. Anything is possible with you.”
“What happened this time?” Willow asked when John entered the Great Hall carrying Sorrell.
“Sorrell got hurt again?” Snow asked, aware of who Willow inquired about. “Is she all right?”
“I’ll let you explain. I have work to do,” he whispered and set her on the bench next to Snow and bid the sisters good day.
“I’m good. There’s nothing to worry about, a little mishap that’s all,” Sorrell explained, not wanting her sisters to worry needlessly and cast a quick glance at John’s retreating back.
Willow summoned one of the servants. “Some hot cider.” She settled herself on the bench across the table from her two sisters. “Tell us what happened.”
The telling took some time, since questions and laughter interrupted Sorrell’s words.
“It sounds funny now and thank God we can laugh about it,” Willow said. “Are you sure you suffered no injury?”
“The abundance of fallen leaves on the ground cushioned my fall and the gap in the ground saved my leg from serious injury. I may have a few aches later but that’s about it.”
“You should have listened to John when he told you to wait for him,” Willow scolded lightly.
“I’ve been in the woods countless times and nothing has happened,” Sorrell reminded.
“Because Father had had enough warriors to post sentries and we usually went into the woods together. Things aren’t the same now, Sorrell, even as much as we want them to be.” Her glance drifted to Snow as did Sorrell’s.
“I know you are both looking at me and I’ll not have your sympathy,” Snow warned. “It is not easy being blind, but having no choice, I either do my best or surrender to limitations and that I will never do.”
“If only—”
“No, Willow, there are no if only. There is only now,” Snow said. “What we have now is what matters, nothing else. And the most important thing we have is… one another. And while I wish arranged marriages weren’t necessary for either of you, I am pleased that James intends to keep you both close so that we may see each other often. I’m also pleased that there’ll be no arranged marriage for me. I would be so terrified to wed a man, a stranger, and whose face I couldn’t see.”