Free Highland Protector (MacCoinnich Time Travels Book Five) by Catherine Bybee Page B

tighten around his. She hadn’t woken, but he could feel her. Her
soft breath washed over his skin with every exhale, her heart stopped its
uneven rhythm and found a comfortable pace.
    When Kincaid looked to the others in
the room, he noted that the sun had started to set, casting long shadows in the
room.
    “She’s resting now,” he told them.
    “Is she okay?” Helen asked.
    He felt a kick in his head. It was as
if the words triggered something inside of Amber and made her panic.
    “She is for now. She needs to rest
and heal. Maybe by morning I’ll be able to let go of her hand.”
    Giles offered a small smile. “How do you feel?”
    “Better than ever,” he lied.
    Giles shook his head. “I’ll return to
the library. Can I get you anything?”
    The old woman pulled herself to her
feet and spoke for the first time. “Come, Helen…let’s prepare something to eat
for our guest. Have something here for Amber when she wakes.”
    The woman’s soothing voice brought a
blanket over Amber and filled Kincaid with warmth.
    Kincaid offered the woman a smile and
was greeted with one in return. He realized then he didn’t know her name.
    As if she read his mind she said, “I’m
Mrs. Dawson.”
    That would make sense, as the Manor
was named after the original owner. “A pleasure.”
    Mrs. Dawson limped from the room with
the use of a cane and followed Helen out.
    Simon stood to follow the others. He
hesitated at the door and stared down at the both of them. “Let me know when
she wakes.”
    “I will.”
    “The pain inside her…was it…”
    Kincaid shook his head. “I don’t know
how she survived it.”
    Simon swallowed. “I’m one floor
down.”
    “I’ll call out if we need you.”
    He gave a swift nod and closed the
door behind him.
    Alone with Amber, he stared at her
porcelain features and felt a smile on his lips. “You look better in person,”
he whispered. Even close to death.
    He moved slowly, arranging her hand
on his leg while he attempted to pull his fingers from hers. It didn’t work. He
lifted one booted foot to their joined hands and tugged it off, kicking it to
the floor before reaching for the other. Once he managed to take off his boots,
he stood while holding her hand and removed the weapon on his hip, set it on
the nightstand.
    Having a beautiful woman beside him
in bed was never a hardship, but an unconscious one he couldn’t let go of
proved more awkward than any encounter he’d ever had.
    As he moved around the bed, he felt
her anxiety rise. It was as if she worried he would leave and the full force of
the pain would return. Kincaid maneuvered himself with his back against the
headboard. The bed wasn’t large enough for him to lay there and not touch more
than her hand. Their clasped hands had two choices. They could lay on his thigh
or her chest.
    He rested them against her first,
felt the swell of her breast, and groaned.
    Not a good choice.
    He rested their hands on his thigh.
That was marginally better.
    “Well, Amber MacCoinnich…when you
wake up try not to freak out too hard.” He looked down at her innocent face.
“Something tells me you’ve never had a man in your bed.”
    The thought made him smile and inch
closer. He would reflect on why the thought empowered him later, for now he’d
just try to thicken the barrier around them and sift through the jumbled pain
inside her head and rid her of it.
    After an hour inside her head, he
felt the emotions of those closest to them swimming on a thin surface, but
those from outside the walls of the house were gone. The blue barrier around
them was so thick he doubted a bolt of lightning could penetrate it.
    At some point, Helen slipped into the
room and set a tray of food by the bed. Kincaid felt her concern and he did his
best to shield the emotions from the sleeping woman on his side. Before Helen
could say a thing, he brought a finger to his lips. “Shh.”
    Helen blinked a few times and quietly
left the room.
    He clicked