Much,muchwarmer. Suddenly it felt like her back was against a warm stove. Heat engulfed her. Heat was wrapping itself around her, pulling her closer to the source.
And then she caught the familiar scent of soap and leather. Her eyes sprang open as all remnants of dream swept from her brain like fog dissolving in front of a brisk wind. A strong, muscled arm encircled her waist. Abare, strongly muscled arm.
She didn’t have to turn to look. Rory MacGregor had been no dream.
Chapter Seventeen
Rory sensed the instant Juliana became fully aware of where she was. Although she didn’t move, everything about her started to tense. He felt her lungs expand beneath his arm as she took a quick intake of breath. Her body became rigid. Even her hair seemed to stand on end. Or maybe that was because her temper was most probably rising.
“Ye are awake?”
There was silence, and for a moment, he didn’t think she’d answer. Finally, without turning around, she spoke, her voice as icy as she had felt only moments ago.
“What are you doing naked in my bed?”
Ah. That’s the Juliana I know.It was interesting, though, that she hadn’t tried to move away from him. He smiled, in spite of the situation.
“I am nae naked, although I can oblige ye, if it will help ye get warm.”
Thatgot her moving. She scooted away from him faster than a bairn who’d just learned how to crawl and then sat up.
“I do not need that kind of help!”
Her eyes widened slightly as she took notice of him shirtless. Rory resisted the urge to flex any muscles but regretted that he’d left his breeches on. It would have been interesting to see where her gaze went if he’d inched the sheet below his waist a few inches.
Maybe she read his thoughts, because she did glance at the edge of the sheet, and he thought she blushed. He managed not to grin.
“I was only warming you with my body heat.” He couldn’t resist teasing a bit, just to see how she’d react. “It would have been easier if we’d both been naked, ye ken.”
Her eyes rounded like an owl’s, and she looked down as if to assure herself she was clothed. He bit back another grin, and a tiny devil prodded him. “I did ponder takingeverythingoff ye.”
Clenching the chemise to her, she scowled at him. “That would have been totally indecent.” She looked to where her gown and stockings lay in a heap on the floor. “Did you remove my gown?”
“I did. ’Twas wet.”
Juliana glared at him. “You could not have called a maid?”
“I tried, but no one came.”
Her face flushed bright red. “It was still improper.”
He shrugged, managing to stifle another grin. He couldn’t remember Juliana ever acting so flustered. It was an interesting phenomenon. “Better improper than dead, lass. Ye were near frozen when I found ye.”
Her brow furrowed. “You found me?”
He sobered. She didn’t remember? “Aye. I heard ye call when I went outside to search for ye.”
“Outside. In the storm…” Her voice trailed off.
An alarm started to sound in his head. “Ye were on the tower battlement. Do ye nae recall?” She looked at him quizzically, then slowly nodded, much to his relief.
“We went up there to see the view.”
He frowned. That didn’t make sense. “In a storm? Without your cloaks or even a shawl?”
“It had hardly begun to snow. We were just going to take a quick look.”
Her face turned red again, and he chided himself for berating her. Greer and Aileen should have had more sense than to go up there, even if she hadn’t. At least she remembered she had been up there.
