A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,164

turning his gaze to their private hell. The chamber was not as unwelcoming as the common area of the tavern, and Thane was more than happy to take it for the night. Hopefully, that was all they would need it for.

“Ha! I’ll believe that when I see it!”

Though this floor was also dirt-packed, a carpet that appeared recently beaten lay on the floor beside the bed, which was shoved against a wall.

The wooden bed frame sagged from the lumpy straw mattress that appeared to weigh an unfathomably vast amount, and tossed on top of it was a plain wool blanket. At least it did look clean, as Carrie had said. She and her father seemed like they aimed to please. If he’d been on better terms with them, perhaps a regular, Thane might have told them a simple redecorating of the main tavern room would bring in more guests. But they seemed smart enough to have figured that out on their own, which meant they probably purposefully kept it…rustic.

Two stools flanked a small table that was missing half a leg, but an upside-down bucket had been placed to steady it. Best rented chamber in the place—that was saying a lot. He kind of wished that Balthazar had opened the other chamber door, so he’d have something to compare it to.

Perhaps there was a certain charm in providing such a medieval tavern to those looking to go back in time. A time when Scotland had not been trampled over by dragoons. Saints, but he could not remember such a time ever having existed.

Thane turned away from the bed to investigate a crumbling iron brazier that had seen better days. The room was chilly and could do with a bit of heat. He picked up the poker resting on the rim and jabbed at the half-burned logs in the cavern. One of them crumbled to ash, sending up a plumb of dust, which had them both waving in front of their faces and coughing.

“I’m no’ that cold,” Sarah said with a cough and a laugh.

Thane groaned and dropped the poker. “Good. I’m afraid if I light it, the whole room will blaze.”

“It might go to flame anyhow with the way it was roaring in the kitchen and the common room.” She giggled and backed away from the brazier. Either she was daft, or she was the type of person who always seemed to look on the bright side of the coin. While he wanted to think it was the former, he was fairly certain it was the latter, which only ended up endearing her to him.

“I hardly noticed,” he quipped. “Though I did wonder if ye were going to lick the oats off your face.”

“Ha! Maybe I should have, for I am starving.” Sarah tossed her satchel onto the bed, and surprisingly a plume of dust did not rise with it.

Carrie had not fibbed about cleaning the bedding. Well, that boded well for their sleep. Och, but they would have to share a bed. There was barely even any room on the floor for Sarah to curl up on, and he wasn’t going to make her sleep on the dirt-packed earth, despite there being a rug tossed down.

Sarah pulled out one of the stools and sat on it, wobbling a little and catching herself on the uneven table, nearly dislodging the bucket. “Whoa,” she said, finally managing to catch her balance.

This only seemed to make her laugh, and Thane couldn’t help but notice her dimple and the beauty mark that winked in and out with her humor.

She was beautiful, and it wasn’t fair. Under the circumstances, he should not find her so attractive and fascinating. Instead of taking the stool opposite her, Thane leaned against the door, arms crossed, one ankle over the other, and stared in her direction. He told himself he was doing as an abductor would, but truly, it was to put distance between them because the way she was wriggling her bottom on that stool reminded him all too well of their journey on Destiny.

Sarah cocked her head, a tease in her dark eyes. She stared back at him, a bit of humor dancing about her mouth too. “Goodness, but ye sure are brooding. If ye’re doing that for my benefit so that I remember ye’re my captor, I assure ye, I am well aware, and I dinna plan to go anywhere.”

A knock vibrated the door at his back, and Thane pushed away from it, opening it to