Free Suzanne Robinson by Lady Defiant

pause since you arrived, but Jane and Joan replaced her when she grew weary.”
    “Uncle!”
    Oriel popped to her feet and gave Thomas a look of dismay. Thomas stared back in surprise.
    “Ah-ha!” Blade said. “Then it wasn’t a dream.”
    She hastened to explain. “I’ve an interest in learning, and have knowledge gained from our apothecary, and so I’m better suited than the others for nursing.”
    Blade sank into his pillows with a smile that turned her face a deeper shade of pink. “Marry, lady, then God has bestowed upon me a great blessing. Might I trouble you for a change of dressing? This one chafes now that your cousins have gotten it wet.”
    Thomas rose. “I’ll send for the apothecary.”
    “Uncle, don’t go.”
    “You but need to slit the bandage, child.”
    Thomas was gone. He’d left her with this man apurpose, she knew it. Swallowing, Oriel turned to face him, wishing he would cover his chest so that she didn’t have to gaze upon all that smooth flesh.
    She hesitated between the bed and the door, but finally came back. Taking a pair of scissors from a table beside the bed, she began to cut the bandage. Her hands were separated from his skin by a wet cloth, but she still felt the heat of his flesh as she worked.
    “My lord, part of the dressing has stuck to the wound. I will try to be gentle.”
    “Arrrgh!”
    “Fie. Such a great noise for such a small pain.”
    “Small?” Blade swore and tried to put his hand to the wound. “Marry, woman, it felt as if you’d torn me open afresh.”
    “If you carry on so, what a thunder you must make when you’re grievously wounded.”
    Blade lifted his nose and looked down the length of it at her. “The greater the wound, the more silent I become. You may ask my man René. See this mark?” Blade turned toward her and lifted his right arm to reveal a long scar that went from his back to his navel. “When I got this, I was as quiet as a pilgrim in a cathedral.”
    She looked at the scar and lifted a brow. “How brave, my lord.”
    “Hmmmph.”
    “Raise yourself, please.”
    Blade’s good humor returned, and he smiled as she surrounded him with her arms and began unwinding the soiled wrappings from his shoulder. Each circuit brought her face close to his, and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. She shivered and felt her body begin to tingle in strange places.
    She came near again, and breathed in his scent, all wood and spice. Her lungs began to work hard, and she had to stop herself from fleeing as he murmured something unintelligible and lifted his body toward her. Luckily she finished unwrapping and straightened to gather the bandage. Her hands were shaking, and she prayed he didn’t notice.
    While she worked, he continued to stare at her in silence. She could still feel the heat of his body and was relieved when she could move away from him without the appearance of haste. Dropping the wrappings and bandage in the basin of towels, she wiped her hands on the front of her gown and fastened her gaze on it. He shifted his weight and cursed.
    “The wound pains you?” she asked.
    “No more than most.”
    “Let me see.”
    She came close and studied the reddened wound and its stitches. She touched the flesh near the threads, and quickly lifted her eyes to his. She found that he had been studying her. For long moments they stayed asthey were, he half lying on the bed, she bending over him, growing warmer with his very nearness. He drew a deep breath, and his hand lifted to touch one of the long curls that had drifted onto his chest.
    That simple movement woke Oriel. She lifted her hand from the wound, but Blade caught it.
    “Please? Your hand on the wound is soothing. So warm.”
    “I should find the apothecary.”
    “I don’t need him with you so near.” His hand tugged on the curl.
    She snatched the curl from his grasp and bounced away from him. Standing over him, she gave a most indelicate snort.
    “God’s breath, my lord, how