Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

her feet and face that had been obvious even in the moonlight.
    “But you helped so much.”
    “And have a lot more to do to make you well. I am not even certain I saw all your internal injuries last night.” By the time he’d realized how very damaged she really was, Lais had half exhausted himself trying to see her bruises under the clothes.
    “You can see through my clothes?” she asked in shock.
    “Nay. ’Tis not like that. Part of my gift is the ability to sense or see the injury, but if I use my strength to do that, then I have less available to heal what I find with my mind’s eye,” he tried explaining again.
    ’Twas not as if he could see the creamy curves of her skin, but the injuries called to his inner sight and he understood what they were and what needed to happen to heal them.
    “You are not just going to remove my dress, are you?”
    “Nay.”
    “You want to take off all of my clothes?” she asked in a small voice.
    “They beat you all over.”
    “Yes.”
    He let her draw her own conclusions.
    After a few moments of silence, she finally nodded, looking away. “Very well.”
    “I do not do this to embarrass you, little one.”
    “I believe you.” But she still kept her gaze averted.
    His eagle wanted to comfort her. “Perhaps I should bring Abigail in after all.”
    After all she had been through, Mairi deserved every consideration he could give to her.
    That got Mairi looking at him, the panic in her face a kick to his gut. “No. Please. I would rather no one else witnessed my nudity.”
    “But she is our lady, a healer as well.”
    “And she will see my shame.”
    “Your shame?” Being nude before him caused her to feel shame?
    Tears filled Mairi’s eyes. “The cuts, the bruises—the evidence my father and the man who was to take me to wed thought so little of me, they beat me with no care if I lived or died.”
    “Oh, sweet one, the injuries to your person are their shame, not yours.” He brushed his hand over her shoulder, the need to comfort greater than any other craving in that moment.
    The moisture in her eyes overfilled and slid down her temples. “It does not feel like it.”
    “Mairi, you are beautiful, kind and sweet. You deserve to be protected, not hurt.” And he would protect her.
    “I ran away. I embarrassed my father; I should have kept his promise on my behalf.”
    “No.” Lais cupped her face, forcing her wet eyes to meet his. “You cannot honor the promises of a man who has no honor.”
    “He said I was an unnatural daughter, that I was no use to him. He hates me.”
    “He is an evil bastard that I would gladly eviscerate with my eagle’s claws.”
    Her drowning eyes widened.
    And he could not stand it any longer. She was his, though he could never fully claim her. But he could let her see that she was valuable.
    He lowered his mouth and kissed her softly; he would not hurt her. “My eagle wants to mate with you. You are not useless.”
    He pulled back and she looked up at him sadly. “You don’t want to mate me though, do you?”
    “I cannot.”
    She nodded. “I understand.” Though clearly she did not.
    Lais took hold of her belt, intent on removing it. “Let me show you your value. Let me heal you.”
    “All right.”

Chapter 9

Subdue your passion or it will subdue you.
    —H ORACE
    E irik lifted Ciara down from Niall’s hold and carried her into the cave, leaving the care of the horses to the warrior and his seneschal mate.
    Her eyes were hazy and barely open, so he did not set her on her feet lest she fall right over.
    “Why have you done this to yourself?” he asked her.
    Some of her spirit ignited in her green gaze at that. “I do nothing to myself. I did not ask for these dreams that prevent my sleep, for visions that besiege me until my mind can no longer even think.”
    “You fight them.”
    “Of course.”
    “Why?”
    “They only bring pain.”
    “Because you fight them.”
    “The last time I gave in to them, I lost a brother.” The sadness that filled the space between them squeezed at his own heart.
    “You cannot—”
    “Please, you said you can help me sleep. You can make the constant edge of worry leave me. Do it. Please .”
    It would take a heart of stone to ignore the femwolf’s pleas. She was desperate for rest of both her spirit and her body. He could give that to her.
    “Hush. I will help.”
    “Thank you.”
    Niall came in then, carrying a pile of furs.
    “Place them over there, in the center