Highland Avenger by Hannah Howell Page A

such requests.
    “I believe Molly must get enough of my brothers and cousins here to ken that having water ready for a bath is worth the trouble,” Brian whispered in her ear. “The woman kens how to keep those who use her inn coming back time and time again.”
    “Verra wise.”
    It took several trips by the maids to fill the tub, and Arianna was doing her best not to get impatient. The moment they set two buckets of water in front of the fireplace so that extra heated water could be added or some could be used to rinse, Arianna began to unlace her gown. When the door shut behind them, she almost tore her clothes off. A sigh of pleasure escaped her as she sank her body into the hot water. It had been too long since she had enjoyed a hot bath.
    Despite the temptation of it, she savored the way the heat eased all the aches in her body for just a short time and then began to wash. She scrubbed her hair until it squeaked, wrapped it in a large drying cloth, and then began to scrub the dust of travel from her body. There was no denying how much she had missed pampering herself in such a way, and she promised herself that she would do very little traveling after this journey was at an end.
    Realizing that some of the heat was already fading from the water, she climbed out of the tub and dried herself off. Since she would have to allow Brian the same privacy he had allowed her, she dressed in the gown Brian had bought for her in the last village. Once he was done, she would wash the one she had been wearing in the bath before it was emptied. She was in the midst of rubbing her hair dry when a rap came at the door.
    “’Tis Brian, Arianna.”
    “Come in. There is an extra bucket of heated water by the fire,” she said as he came into the room. “I used the other one to rinse with. I will go into the hall while you bathe.”
    He frowned. “I am nay sure that is a good idea.”
    “I will stay right outside the door.” She extracted a comb from the pack. “It will take me a while to do my hair. That will keep me busy and I will be close enough for ye to hear me if there is trouble.”
    Brian did not have a good argument against her plan so he let her go. He firmly told himself that Molly would never allow anyone to drag Arianna away without at least making an uproar. After assuring himself that she was staying just outside the door, he stripped off his clothes and climbed into the tub. He washed his hair and bathed as quickly as he could, not wishing to leave her alone and unguarded for long.
    It was not until he was dressing that he looked around the room, at the one bed, and knew it was going to be a very long night. After the talk they had when she had fled his arms for the second time, neither of them had mentioned the incident again. There would have been some awkwardness if they had not been working so hard to stay out of Amiel’s clutches. There had been little time for rest, let alone kissing or talking. Now, however, they were both clean, would soon have full bellies, and then they would be climbing into the same bed.
    He wondered if she had thought about all he had said. Brian wanted to believe he had been clear spoken and his words wise but he was not sure of that. Attempting to convince a woman that she was beautiful and desirable when she had been told for years that she was not was not easy. He had certainly never confronted such a problem before despite having knowledge of how damaging words could be. If he were wise, he would get another room so that he did not have to spend the night sharing a bed with a woman he desired and could not touch.
    There was no other choice, he decided, after considering it for a moment longer. He had to keep her close to him to be able to keep her safe. Brian only briefly considered sleeping on the floor. After days of sleeping on the hard ground he was not about to give up the chance to sleep in a bed. If she insisted on keeping some distance between them, he could roll up the