The wounded, fearful tone in his voice made her heart clench. “I know, and I am sorry but your fever grew worse. I had to. How did you even know I was gone?”
They began to walk back toward their meager camp. Sean’s body burned in a line as hot as coals against hers. Only her strong hands and steady steps kept them both upright.
“Cliste woke me when she went runnin’ out. It gave me the feelin’ somethin’ was wrong,” he whispered.
Unable to respond past the lump in her throat, Ashlinn just nodded. In the midst of a debilitating fever, he had roused himself out of concern for her. During the course of this war she had become used to being mostly invisible to the soldiers. She had come to accept it was due in part to her quiet manner and inability to comfort them as a mother would. Instincts like those were ones she had never fully developed. But this man saw her, and cared about her well-being. As much as she hated to admit it, she cared for him as well. Anyone who could show kindness and compassion, to the point of endangering their own life for that of a hound, was someone special. She wasn’t sure what to do with that.
He made a soft sound low in his throat and patted Cliste on the head. “Even from such a distance, she knew you needed us,” he marveled. “This war has made monsters of men and noblemen of beasts.”
The words chilled her to her bones, for more than one reason. Glancing back at the still corpse of the man who would have violated her and murdered her, she had to disagree. Some men had come into this war monsters.
Chapter 5
The soft patter of rain on leaves woke Sean. A bitter aftertaste from the tea lingered upon his tongue, making him work it against the roof of his mouth. Pale sunlight caressed the golden locks of Ashlinn’s hair that lay strewn across his chest. She felt so wonderful and warm curled up against his side that he didn’t want to move. Wicked of him, he knew, but he would allow himself this one little indiscretion, just this once. He had danced intimately with death, after all. Surely it wasn’t so wrong to allow himself this one moment of happiness.
Besides, he didn’t want to let her go after what she’d been through. Seeing that man attacking her had struck a chord deep inside him, awakening a protectiveness that still resonated throughout him. It was utterly unexpected and a bit frightening. Surrounded by so much death all the time, he tried to keep his emotions locked away. But this woman had found a key, however small.
Outside, the haze of rain made it difficult to see more than ten feet or so. Thankfully, his little nurse had done an excellent job of putting up their tent and very little moisture save for that which seeped up from the ground found its way in. Despite the rain, the day was so warm it crested over from pleasant to slightly uncomfortable. Soft panting and the rhythmic thump of a tail told Cliste, who lay near his head, found the summer day anything but comfortable.
Careful so as not to disturb Ashlinn, he started to prop himself up on the elbow of his good arm. Dull pain throbbed in his side, not enough to take his breath away, just enough to make him move slower. Regardless of his care, Ashlinn stirred.
“What’s the matter?” she whispered.
Shaking his head, he smiled down at her. With her blond hair spread out around her shoulders, teasing her delicate collarbones, she truly did resemble an angel. One that looked beautiful and quite alluring in a man’s shirt and breeches.
“Nothin’. Just wantin’ to see how high the sun is. How long have I been out?”
The back of her hand rose to stifle a yawn. “Not long. Six or seven hours maybe.”
She sat up, crossed her legs before her, and reached for his forehead. All the willpower in the world couldn’t keep the blood from flowing to his cheeks. He had never seen a woman strike such a casual, unladylike pose, let alone touch a man so readily with her bare hands. A very wicked part of him liked it, a lot. He had to forcibly remind himself that she was being a nurse and he was not being dishonorable by allowing her to do her job.
Oblivious to his embarrassment, she nodded. “Good, your fever broke. How do you feel?”
The crotch of her breeches drew his gaze like a moth to a flame. He had never seen a woman in men’s breeches and he decided in that moment that he rather liked it. Then again, it was a very distracting sight.
“Um…uh…”
What had she said?
Cliste leapt to his rescue, literally. She sat up on her haunches and licked his left cheek, leaving it slimy and damp. Laughing, he scratched behind one of the hound’s ears, continuing to stroke her head as she laid it upon his leg. Something strange on her collar drew his attention. It felt like a small cylinder, the kind meant to hold medicine or such. For a nurse’s dog it made sense he supposed.
“I feel much better.”
His gaze shifted to the hazy world outside their small tent. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it, oddly voicing the very words he was thinking.
“We should wait until nightfall to travel.”
“Aye, we should.”
Half propped up, he relaxed against the pack, mostly to get a better look at her. The cozy tent didn’t give them much room, which was both nice and unfortunate, since he wished to be as gentlemanly as possible. Back in proper society he wouldn’t even be allowed to be in a room unchaperoned with a lady, let alone in a situation like this. Such things seemed silly after all he had seen and been through, vestiges of normalcy that were forever altered and long gone. Yet they were important to him, vital even.
“How is it you seem to know so much about sneakin’ around?” he asked, voice low.
Pink stained her cheeks and her spine straightened. “I am not a spy, if that is what you are getting at.”
Palms out in surrender, he shook his head. “No, no, I wasn’t suggestin’ that. I only meant that you are unlike any other nurse I have ever met, or doctor for that matter.”
Her blush deepened to crimson but a smile tugged at her lips. Ice-blue eyes that were ironically warm regarded him with guarded admiration.
“You would liken me to a doctor?”
“O’ course. You sewed me up, saved my arm and my life. You are a better doctor than most I’ve known.”
Moisture shown in her eyes before she turned her attention to Cliste. “I became a nurse in this war not only to help save lives, but to try and keep my brothers alive,” she said in a soft voice.
“Your brothers are soldiers.”
Dry eyes returned to him. The strength and pride in that look gave him chills that felt oh so good. “Aye, they wanted to fight to preserve the Union, said what the Rebels were trying to do was too much like what is going on in our homeland.”
“’Tis true,” he agreed.
Head cocking to the side, she looked so deep into his eyes that he had to fight the urge to squirm. “Is that why you left Ireland?” she asked.
It took a moment to find the right words to answer her. “No. I am—was—a violinist. When the high society of Ireland had no more room for me, I came to find my way in America.” His conscience burned at telling her only a half-truth, but he didn’t know this woman well enough to tell her any more. Besides, he had never told anyone any more than that.
Her hands found his, turned them over, fingers caressing his palms. The sensation made his eyes flutter closed and he had to repress a sigh of pleasure. It had been a very long time since a woman had touched him, and never one so enthralling or bold.
“That is what you meant,” she murmured.
“What I meant?”
The smile that graced her lips made blood work its way to his groin.
“When I asked you if you