When Taylor's eyes opened to the white ceiling above her masked by a white gauze canopy, she wondered for a brief instant where she was. But the musky male odor reminded her of the previous night.
She looked at him nearly sprawled over the remaining bed, his back slashed with faint scars of careless companions. Taylor looked his back over wantonly, wishing he were awake so she could ask him how he gained such lasting scars. She shivered knowing that he must have suffered painful nights and days to recover from such a harsh punishment. She sat up partially to kiss one particularly vivid scar that wrapped around his shoulder, hinting that it crossed his chest when she heard the door open. She turned and saw Laurie and obediently she slipped out of the bed, gathering the clothes that Mr. Leif had hastily discarded last night while muttering something about unnecessary garments.
"When did he finally sleep?" she asked in a hush whisper reaching up on the bed to pull his covers about him giving Taylor a moment to dress.
"Sometime after dawn. He paced nearly the whole night." she replied equally quiet wondering how Laurie knew that Mr. Leif barely slept.
"Do you need anything?" Taylor shook her head.
"He's a good man, despite what he thinks of himself and what some may think of him. With a little time he'll be a rival to even Sir Glen." Laurie's foreboding words shocked Taylor and she looked back at the man who lay in the bed.