Free A Year and a Day by Stephanie Sterling

thinking or, if he did, he didn’t appear prepared to give a great deal of consideration to her concerns. He steered her roughly toward his- their - bed, almost pushing her into the feathery tangle of quilts before climbing after.
     
    Cait was facing away from Ewan and couldn’t see what he was doing behind her. She thought that she could guess when his strong, tanned forearm slipped around her waist and crushed her to his chest. However, there was no huge arousal pressing back against her bottom. In fact, Ewan didn’t move again at all. He yawned deeply, his chin settled on the top of her head and then, to her utter amazement, his breathing fell into the slow, steady rhythm of sleep.
     
    Cait was suspicious. Any moment, she expected her husband to come awake and pounce on her again. Otherwise, what was the point of keeping her in his room? Still, as the minutes wore on, her eyelids began to droop. It was comfortable in Ewan’s bed, buried beneath four quilts , snuggled up against his chest with one large, rough palm settled squarely o n her chest. It was much warmer than her own garret room. The sounds around her: Ewan’s breathing and the steady throbbing of his heart, were also soothing. Be fore she knew it, she was fast asleep as well.
     
     

Cait awoke the next morning to sunshine and bird song and a feeling of delicious peace. She couldn’t ever remember having slept so well, and so she kept her eyes closed a few minutes longer, enjoying the comfort of a warm, cozy bed. Then, with a little sigh she stretched - then gasped when she knocked against something warm and hard- another person’s legs!
     
    Cait’s eyes snapped open, and she felt a double flare of panic: she was in bed with a strange man- and she was hideously late to begin her work!
     
    Cait flung the quilts back and tried to bolt from bed, but a strong male arm prevented her escape. “Not…mmmmmrph….yet….” came a sleepy mumble from behind her head, but she didn’t look back. She struggled harder, and then squealed when, instead of letting her go, the arm tightened. Finally, Cait spun around.
     
    Up until that moment, her memories had not kicked in. They returned in a rush when they met her new husband’s sleepy face. “Ewan!” she exclaimed.
     
    His pale blue eyes were only barely opened, and became even smaller slits when they crinkled into a smile. “Do I want to know who else you might have been expecting?” he said lightly, but with a tiny possessive edge.
     
    “No, I…er…I had….” Cait’s cheeks flushed crimson. Luckily, Ewan didn’t let her suffer, abruptly, silencing her with a heavy kiss. When he pulled away again, Cait was dizzy, but she shook the feeling off with determination as she resumed her struggle to get out of bed. “Ewan! Let me go!”
     
    “What if I say I don’t want to?” he said obstinately, tucking her back into his arms and making something of a show of snuggling down into his pillow again.
     
    “Then I’ll be in trouble!” Cait insisted, real fear settling in when she thought about what might happen if she caught her lounging around in bed- with the Laird ’s nephew no less! She hadn’t been afraid of Ewan punishing her for disobedience the night before. Mrs. Gibbons was usually a pleasant sort, but she was known to have fits of temper, and was known to order a solid thrashing where she thought it might do some good.
     
    Unfortunately, her pleas fell on deaf (or slumbering) ears. Ewan smacked his lips sleepily a few times, and showed not the slightest intention to move.
     
    “Ewan!” she pleaded, “Please, please let me go. I have to help with breakfast. I’ll hurry back as soon as I can. I’ll get a beating if-“
     
    “A beating?” the blue eyes popped open as if he’d never been asleep at all, and a dark frown clouded his face. “Who would dare to raise a hand on you?”
 
    “The…the housekeeper,” Cait responded, real tears welling up in her eyes now when she