“Something wrong, Nettle, that you stand there staring at my wife,” Tarass asked from the open door.
Nettle jumped and turned, not having heard the door open. “Forgive me, my lord. I forgot Lady Snow’s nightdress and went to fetch it only to find her asleep when I returned. My lady was so tired she was falling asleep in the tub and she looks so content now, I hate to wake her.”
“Don’t,” Tarass ordered, “leave the nightdress and see that a bath is prepared for me in the guest bedchamber.”
“Aye, my lord,” Nettle said and hurried from the room to see it done.
Tarass went to the bed and looked down at his sleeping wife. A soft blush stained her cheeks and her lips were parted ever so slightly as she breathed softly. Her red hair was still damp, a strand clinging to the side of her face. He reached down to move it and Thaw’s head popped up and he gave a small growl
“Quiet, you’ll wake her,” Tarass ordered in a commanding whisper. “And don’t think you’ll be sleeping in bed with us. It’s the floor for you.”
A low grumbling growl came from Thaw, then he laid his head down and closed his eyes, staying right where he was.
Tarass didn’t chase him off the bed, not this time since he was keeping Snow warm. It had been a difficult day for her and it was good she rested. And good that she was naked in his bed.
He continued to experience bouts of dread when he thought about how close he had come to losing her today, not once but twice. First in marriage to another man, then by an arrow. Though now, some of his warriors were speculating that the arrow could have been meant for him. He would think that himself if he was getting closer to finding out who had his parents killed. But he hadn’t. It was as if a door had suddenly been slammed shut in his face when it came to finding out anything more about the attack on the Sandrik village where his parents had been brutally killed.
He had hoped to find out something about the dead man, that Snow had accidentally found when she tripped over him, while on his visit to his mum’s people. But her people hadn’t told him anything he hadn’t already known. The one thing he had discovered, to his frustration, on the unplanned trip was that he had missed Snow.
It had made no sense to him and he had denied it for as long as he could, until he admitted that something was amiss when it came to her. He decided he had to return home and see Snow again, if only to put this aching unease and foolishness to rest.
The rage that had ripped through him upon discovering Snow was to wed that day made him want to beat someone senseless. Actually, he had wanted to beat the man who had the audacity to lay claim to her when she belonged to him.
Looking at her now in his bed, safe and sleeping peacefully, filled him with overwhelming relief. She was his wife. No one could take her from him, not now, not ever.
Snow woke slowly, content in the warmth that she was wrapped in. She lay there in the quiet enjoying it. When she finally opened her eyes, it was dark, no shadows danced around her and when she went to move she realized something—no, not something—someone was wrapped around her.
Panic took hold and she couldn’t think straight. How had someone gotten into her room? In her bed? And where was Thaw? Fear sent her into flight.
“Thaw!” she screamed and scrambled out of bed almost falling to the floor, but righting herself and hurrying away, then bumping into something, turning, and trying to feel her way in the dark.
Something was wrong. She knew her way around her room. She hit something again and realized Thaw was barking furiously.
“Snow! It’s Tarass. You’re safe here in our bedchamber,” he said and rested his hand gently on her shoulder. She slumped against him in relief, recalling where she was and that she was his wife.
“I forgot,” she said with a sigh and his arms wrapped around her and he eased her against him. She jumped out of his arms with a slight shove. “Good Lord, we’re both naked.”
Tarass couldn’t keep the chuckle out of his voice. “That we are and we’re allowed to be since we’re husband and wife.” He thought reminding her again might temper her concern.
“I need my nightdress,” she said, trying to cover what she could of herself with her arms.
“I prefer you naked,” Tarass said, gently brushing her arms off her breasts and stomach. “You have the most beautiful body and I enjoy looking at it. And if you recall, this isn’t the first time I have seen you naked.”