Love Beyond Dreams (A Scottish Time Travel Romance): Book 6 (Morna's Legacy Series) (16 page)

“Ye see fit to hit me after what ye’ve done?”

Jane crossed her arms and glared at him before she slowly jerked her head over to the rest of us, allowing our presence to do all the talking.

Slowly, both men, now disentangled, pushed themselves to their feet. Once standing, Orick clasped Adwen on the shoulder. They both stared at each other for a long moment and then, in unison, started laughing. The rest of us stared on in disbelief.
 

“What possessed ye, man? Why would ye say or think such a thing?”

Still laughing at himself and now smiling ear to ear, Adwen stepped back and pointed to Jane.
 

“Ye walked out of my bedchamber. If ye doona remember, I witnessed Jane kiss ye once before. I know verra well the effect her lips can have on a man.”

I looked over to see Jane blush, and the jealousy that rose within me at thinking of the two of them kissing surprised me.
 

“Ye know she only kissed me to get to ye, ye sodding fool.”

Adwen nodded and stifled his laughter as he regarded Orick seriously.
 

“Aye, but ’twas the only reason for yer absence that came to mind in the moment that I could make any sense of. If ye’ve been alive, why would ye stay away? It hurts me to think of any reason, for no one of them could be good enough.”

Cooper, who apparently had reached his limit of this mess, stepped out from the middle of the doorway and walked straight over in between Adwen and Orick.
 

“Not so fast, Uncle Adwen. There’s definitely one good reason. He didn’t remember anything, not until he wandered into the future and saw me. So why don’t you just quit being crazy and give him a hug already?”

Adwen looked at Orick in question, the pain in his face easing significantly.
 

Orick nodded as he reached down to ruffle Cooper’s hair.
 

“Aye, the lad speaks true. For many moons, I dinna ken my own name.”

Finally, Adwen’s voice broke as emotion overtook him as he moved toward Orick and wrapped his arms around him.
 

“Why dinna ye say that straight away?”

Orick laughed as they held one another.
 

“Ye dinna give me a chance before ye knocked my arse to the ground.”

“I’m sorry for it. Christ, I’m pleased to see ye.”

More love passed between the two of them than I’d ever felt in my life. I had to swallow the lump that rose within me to keep from tearing up at the sight of them. Every time I turned around here, my emotions seemed to surprise me.
 

Apparently, satisfied that they wouldn’t kill each other, Jane did finally decide they needed some time alone and hastily waved all of us from the house and out into the cold.
 

Cooper laughed as we stepped outside and leaned in to give Jane a hug.
 

“Well goodnight to you too, Aunt Jane. I’m glad none of us wanted to stay for dinner.”

Jane smiled and took off toward Isobel and Gregor’s inn with us.
 

“I think I’ll join the rest of you for a little while. Give them a chance to catch up without worrying about filtering in front of a lady.”

“Aunt Jane, you’re not fooling anybody. You’re worse than either one of them. You were born without a filter.”

Seemed to me that a lack of filter had been passed down to another little fellow, as well. We all laughed together as Cooper and Jane continued to tease each other as we walked back to Isobel and Gregor’s inn together.

CHAPTER 24

Very late that night, Orick stumbled into the inn as quietly as his heavy feet could manage. He and Adwen would both feel wretched come morning. Neither of them was accustomed to so much ale or so little sleep—years had passed since either of them had indulged in such a way.
 

Still, while his thoughts seemed to sift through mud and his footsteps came a little less steady, he imagined he could make it to his bedchamber without waking anyone. Until he made it to the staircase and looked up to see Isobel standing at the top, hastily waving him back down into the sitting room.
 

“Ye will wake Gregor if ye carry on like that. Go and take a seat. I’ll light us a candle.”

Gregor had a reputation for being unpleasant in his best of moods. Orick certainly didn’t wish to wake the man.
 

It didn’t take long for Isobel to join him. Once the room was alight with the flame of a small candle, she pulled him aside.
 

“I dinna know if ye’d come back at all this evening. When Jane left to go back home and ye dinna return, I thought ye might stay there.”

“Ach,” Orick threw his arms up and marveled at how loosely they seemed to move around him. “Well, the thought did occur to me, but Adwen wouldna allow it. Said that no matter how pleased he was to see me, he was more eager to take his wife to bed, most especially after she joined us in a few cups of ale and became rather jolly herself.”

Isobel shook her head, but Orick could tell it was not so much in disapproval but amusement.

“I’m sure she did. I’d wager the lass can outdrink ye both.”

“Aye, she can. I dinna mean to wake ye, Isobel. Ye should be asleep.”

Isobel guided him to a chair and sat down next to him.
 

“Ye dinna wake me. I slept for awhile and then woke to relieve myself when I noticed the candles still burning in Gillian’s room. I decided to wait for yer return so I could advise ye to no be a fool.”

Orick waited for Isobel to explain.
 

“She’s a lovely lass.”

The loveliest he’d ever seen.
 

“Aye, she is.”

“And ye wish for her to be yers, aye?”

“Aye.”

“Then ye must behave like it. Now, any lad could see her and no ken that ye fancy her. Ye dinna touch her, and ye hardly said a word to her since ye arrived. She likes ye, though a lass needs to ken that she is fancied in return, or she canna open her heart. She needs to ken that ye like her.”

Orick hoped Gillian didn’t doubt his interest. He thought about her every moment.
 

“I’ve told her that I fancy her. ’Tis why she’s here.”

“Telling and showing are two verra different things, and ye men folk are no so talented at realizing that. She stays awake hoping ye’ll come to her. Doona disappoint the lass. ’Tis why I stayed awake—to keep ye from the fool mistake that most men would make.”

Orick stood and had to reach for the wall to steady himself. His vision was clearing quickly, but the sudden movement threw him.
 

“I doona think it best tonight. Do ye no see my flushed cheeks and red eyes? I’m more into the drink than I’ve a right to be, and I’m so tired that I canna think well enough. I wouldna know what to say to her. No to mention that I still carry the filth from the road. I worry if I see the lass tonight, I willna behave like a gentleman.”

Isobel smiled and gripped his arm as they walked up the stairs together.
 

“She willna care if yer dirty. She’s no had the chance to clean up herself. Ye know, I was once a young lass myself, and I ken from my own experience—there is no much that lassies fancy more than a true gentleman who, on verra special occasions, forgets that he’s one. No lassie wants a perfect man, and ye come as close to being one as any man can, Orick. Show her that at times ye can be as weak as any man, and she’ll love ye more for it.”
 

“Do ye no think it improper for me to go to her bedchamber in the middle of the night?”

Isobel smiled and brought them to a halt as they neared Gillian’s door.
 

“Aye, verra improper. Now get yerself inside.”

Isobel gave him little choice, reaching up to knock on the door before scurrying inside her own room.
 

CHAPTER 25

My eyes ached from straining to see in the light of the candle, but I enjoyed working so much that I didn’t care. I always found it difficult to go even a day without painting. To go three had me ready to pull out my hair. Luckily, I found relief in a small art pad and a few pieces of charcoal Jane allowed me to pack, and I took them out to sketch after we made it back from Jane and Adwen’s house. Before I knew it, hours upon hours had gotten away from me.
 

Not that I would’ve been able to sleep even if I hadn’t busied myself drawing. I was so tired and sore from riding that I was in that semi-delirious state where you’re too tired to even sleep. I thought I might as well do something with my time rather than lay there looking up at the ceiling.
 

When I first heard knuckles against the door, I worried for a moment that it was already daylight. Then I looked over to the window to see the moon still hanging high, and I thought at once it must be Cooper. The kid was a serious insomniac, and he never seemed to hesitate at all to barge into somebody’s bedroom. I was honestly surprised that he even knocked.
 

Toby was up in an instant as he leapt off the bed and ran to the door, tail wagging, eager to see his new little buddy. I stood more slowly and reached for a rag to clean my charcoal-covered hands, stretching before moving to crack open the door.
 

When I saw Orick rather than Cooper standing outside, I nearly shut the door in his face in response to the nerves that fluttered inside me. Toby prevented me from doing that as he clawed at Orick’s legs until he bent down to pick him up.
 

I looked at him and waved him inside, quickly shutting the door so our conversation wouldn’t disturb anyone else.
 

“Orick, what are you doing here? I figured you would stay over at Adwen’s tonight.”

He held Toby close and allowed the pup to lick all over his face before he moved across the room and set the dog down on the bed.
 

“I saw the candlelight from beneath yer door and thought ye might be awake.”

I noticed that he stood a bit awkwardly in the middle of the room, oddly stiff in his posture. He spoke very deliberately, very slowly. I thought perhaps he was nervous, which helped to alleviate my own anxiety considerably. I decided to step toward him and rest a hand on his arm to soothe him. Once I was closer, I could smell the liquor distinctly enough that I knew it went a long way toward accounting for his strange behavior.
 

“Yes, I am. I’ve just been drawing.” I pointed over to the sketchpad and watched him look at it before he nodded and smiled uncomfortably.
 

“Ach, ye were drawing. No waiting. I’m sorry to have disturbed ye, lass.”

He tried to step toward the door, but I moved over to block his way.
 

“Waiting? What are you talking about?”

“’Tis nothing. Isobel said,” he hesitated and reached up to run a hand through his hair. “It doesna matter what she said. I’ll speak of it with her come morning. I best leave ye.”

I enjoyed seeing him like this, uncertain, uncomfortable, and trying his hardest to hide the fact that he was quite drunk. He did a very bad job.
 

“Nope. It’s not nothing. Isobel sent you into my room at two in the morning? Why would she do that?”

He tried to sidestep me, and I reached out to grab his arm. It only succeeded in pulling him in closer to me.
 

“Do ye mean to embarrass me, lass? I’m already that. She thought ye stayed awake to wait for me. I see now that she was wrong.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I wasn’t. I just got caught up in drawing, but why would you be embarrassed?” I didn’t move where from I stood. Whether it was purposeful or if it was only the result of his unsteady feet I didn’t know, but he took another step toward me.
 

“I ken ye can tell well enough, Gillian. I am no a man accustomed to so much drink. ’Tis Adwen’s doing. I should be looking in yer eyes. Instead I canna pull my gaze away from the round tips of yer nipples showing through yer nightgown. It embarrasses me to no be so in control of my thoughts. Ye should let me bid ye goodnight.”

I blushed and took a quick glance downward at the thin gown Isobel had given to me. I’d thought little of it when I opened the door, but Orick was right, my breasts were astonishingly visible. I crossed my arms self-consciously, but my heart sped up and my chest started to rise and fall in quick succession at his words. I hadn’t noticed him staring at my breasts. As tall as he was, I always felt like I stared at his chin anyway.
 

 
I let loose a soft laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood, though it came out breathless and rather needy, and I didn’t miss how his breath caught in his throat at the sound of it.
 

“Even if Isobel thought I was waiting on you, why did she send you up here?”

 
Now that he’d confessed it, his eyes, though he did make eye contact, repeatedly kept dropping downward. I took a step closer to him just to keep him from doing so. When I did, his breath became shaky and, hesitantly, he moved a hand and rested it on the side of my hip.