Prescribed for Love (9 page)

“I…
I think so,” she replied
shakily
.

“Nay
, ye are
bleeding,” said
Alasdair
as he
inspecte
d
her.

“I am?” she asked. She started to
sway as she rose to
her feet, “Damn, the fucker
got me!”
Alasdair
caught her as
she fainted.

“Is she
badly
hurt
?” asked Branan as he and Cailen joined
Alasdair
.

“
She has a
gash on her arm
that needs to be tended
, but I dinnae think it is too worrisome,” replied Alasdair.
“
Let us hurry back
;
I dinnae
fancy being caugh
t unawares by any other Cameron
s that may be
lurking about.”
He
handed Catriona over to
Cailen just long en
ough to mount his horse
before taking
her back into his arms
.
The group resumed their trek toward the castle with a sense of urgency that had not been there before.

***

Keith
scowled as he
closed the door behind the police officers. When Cat had first gone missing,
the authorities
had
suspected
she had
simply
run away. This
conclusion had
seemed
to be
solely based
up
on
the lack of
forced entry into her apartment.

When two weeks
had
passed
without a single
indication of
her whereabouts, the officers had begu
n to suspect foul play. They had questioned
Keith about any lovers or ex
-boyfriends, but he knew there had been
no men in her life. Well, besides him. So, naturally, the cops now suspected Keith of offing his sister. They had not said it explicitly, but he could tell by their line of questioning.

This was the last thing Keith needed in his life right now. He did not want to get embroiled in a botched investigation; but rather, he wanted to do everything within his power to find Cat—hopefully
alive and well.

***

“When I told ye to
retrieve
Catriona
, I meant in one piece!” scolded Ailsa as she met her brother
within the keep
’s walls
. She had seen the men approaching at a faster clip than normal and had run down to the gate to discover the reason for their return. She coul
d tell something had gone wrong;
she just had not expected to see Catriona injured.
“What happened?”

“We
were attacked by
Camerons
,”
replied
Alasdair
succinctly
.

“Bring her
to
the chamber I had made ready for her—Lainie will show ye which one.
Then I can see to her injury
,” directed Ailsa
.

***

Catriona
snuggled closer into the warmth of her pillow.
Annoyingly
, the padding did not seem to be provid
ing enough support for her neck. S
he moved to punch the cushion into a more comfortable position
, but
her eyes flew open at the pain that ripped through her arm as she attempted
the
assault.
Remembering
her
recent
brawl
, Cat realized she was nestled within
Alasdair
’s arms.
I have
seriously
got to stop waking up in
bizarre
places.
Alasdair
must have sensed her movement.
“
T
ry nae
to exert yerself
. If any more harm comes to ye,
I think my sister might kill me.
”

Since it seemed Catriona would be within Alasdair’s arms for a while longer, she seized the opportunity to more thoroughly study the man’s face
.
He
really was
more handsome than any man had the right to be
.
His
jaw was strong and
covered by a few days’ worth of beard
—giving him an almost irresistible
‘
bad-boy
’
look
. His lips,
currently
set in a firm line, were
full and
clearly designed to entice. While his nose was not perfect (it looked as if it had been broken in the past) it was well formed
and only furthered the
roguish
appeal
.
As Cat’s gaze alighted
up
on his eyes, she was once again struck by the
ir blue depths. That color did no
t even exist in nature!
Seeing his brow
creased
in
frustration
she
had to resist the sudden urge to caress away the
wrinkles
.
She felt her body
react
at the prospect.
Whoa, slow down there girl. What am
I
thinking? The blood loss must be making me loopy.

Cat
grew cautious
as t
heir
progress
brought them to
the
room
in which
she
had been
held captive
before her escape, but
calmed
as
Alasdair
’s gait did not even slow
.
Instead,
a maid directed him to
a new chamber,
one
still sparsely
furnished
, but
with
a warm
er and friendlier
feel.
He
carried
her
to the bed,
but tightened his hold as if reluctant to release her
.
Mesmerized by his contracting pectorals, Cat found she was also in no hurry to escape.

“What has my fool of a brother
done to ye now?”
asked
Ailsa in lieu of a greeting.

“He didn’t do anything.
Some idiot we encountered on the road
cut
me,” replied Cat.

“I am
nae
referring to the injury
on yer arm.
Yer face has taken on an odd hue—I
thought he might have
distress
ed ye,” Ailsa explained.
Cat
’s color heightened
as she realized
Alasdair
’s effect on her was so
visible
.
As he finally placed her on the bed
, Cat looked
though
her lashes
to see if
he
had
observed
her
body’s reaction
.
She sighed in relief
as
he
departed without
any indication he had noticed
.

“Well
, ye a
re the healer, how can I help
with
yer arm?” asked Ailsa.

Catriona was more
than glad to brin
g the focus
back to her injury.
“
I need to see how bad it is first. W
ould you
mind boiling some strips of cloth for bandages
while I assess the damage
?” Cat asked. “Also, boiled water for clea
ning the wound would be helpful,
”
added Cat to Ailsa’s retreating back.
Dreading what she would find, she pulled off her shirt to take a closer loo
k at her arm—but she was actually pleasantly surprised.
The cut was deep, but not as ba
d as she had thought. Normally a cut like this would require stitches, but she did not like the id
ea of closing it
. Who kne
w
w
hat kind of bacteria was on
that blade
. The last thing she needed was a badly infected wound.
Cat
would just have to let the cut heal from the inside out. It would probably scar wors
e, but it was definitely safer.

However, she almost wished the cut was worse, because how else could she explain her odd behavior? She supposed she could blame the fainting on the ad
renaline rush; she did not think she had
lost enough blood to cause her to black-out. But,
then that meant she had no excuse for her odd reactions to Alasdair.
Please Cat, you know perfectly well you are unreasonably attracted to that man! Just admit it and move on.
Acknowledging her weakness, she turned her mind to other matters—like how to find that damn book!

“Here are the bandages and water,” said Ailsa and she came back
into the room. “Would ye
like
m
e to clean
it
?”

Catriona
nodded and then gritted her teeth as the young girl began to rinse out the wound
;
it hurt way more than she thought it would. “Okay, you’ve rinse
d it out enough. N
ow
,
take
one
of
the linen strips you boiled and pack it in the wound. Then wrap dry linens around the outside. Tomorrow we will have to do the same thing.
With any luck the wet linen will dry over the course of the day and help debride
the
dead flesh.”

“
There, it is done,” said
Ailsa.

“
Thanks,”
smiled Catriona in reply.
Looking closely at Ailsa for the first time she commented,
“You look much
better than the last time I saw you.”

“
Aye, but only
because of ye, and yet this is how I repay ye.
I
shouldnae
have s
ent
Alasdair
after ye. If I hadnae
, this never would
have happened. Tis my fault ye we
re injured.
”
bemoaned
Ailsa.

“This?
Don’t worry about it
—
this is
jus
t a small scratch. I’ll be fine,
”
said Catriona. There was no reason for
Ailsa to feel guilty.

“Ye must be tired, would ye like
to rest for a while?” a
sked Ailsa.

“That sounds
wonderful
. I’ll just wash up a bit
befo
re I lie
down,” replied Cat
.

“
H
ere is a nightdress fo
r ye
. Do ye need anything else?
”
asked Ailsa.

“No, I’m good. Thanks.” Cat watched Ailsa leave and then began to bathe using the remaining water and a
piece of
scrap
linen
.
The amount of dirt she had accumulated was disgusting
; t
he long ride and fight
had really done a
number on her.
After
washing, Cat
donned
the nightgown Ailsa
had thoughtfully
left her.
Unused to drying off without a
modern
towel, she was still damp when
she pulled the garment ove
r her head
—causing t
he
thin
material
to cli
ng to
her
form
.
Catriona was
just about to climb
back
into bed when she heard a knock.

Expecting to see Ailsa when she opened the door, Catriona was surprised when
Alasdair
stood there instead.
“
How is yer arm?”
he asked.