The Hidden Princess

Gavin

"Get out of my house!" Beth screamed at the intruder.

"Oh, come darling, I just need to borrow a couple of supplies to patch myself up, then I will be on my way." The tall rogue man replied.

"Borrow supplies!? You have the whole Black Watch looking for you! They were just in front of the cottage questioning me. I will report you to the Black Watch if you don't leave this instant!" Beth cried and turned towards the front porch. The Black Watch couldn't have gotten far. She would have to find one of the men. They were combing the area for this thief. And here he was in her living room, bleeding all over the place.

"Listen, please." The intruder whispered, trying to calm her down. "My name is Gavin. I was a part of the Black Watch, but there is a good reason why I deserted them. They aren't what they seem. They are wicked and dark men who have done terrible things. Please, you have to believe me. Or don't, but please let me patch up this bullet wound, or I will bleed out right here on your floor." Gavin pleaded. His sparkling green eyes met hers. She felt a pull to those green orbs. Knew she could get lost in them. And for some reason, she felt sorry for him. Knew, she couldn't just hand him over to those cocky men. They had already insuated that they would kill him. No, she couldn't be the reason for this man's demise.

"Ok." She whispered. "I will help you patch up the wound. But then you have to leave."

Maybe if she was quick enough, she could patch him up and clean up the blood before her siblings made it back home. It would definitely scare them to come home to this scene before her.

"Thank you." Was all that he said.

"Remove your coat and shirt and then lie down on the table. I will go get some water and a couple of things to clean the wound." Beth stated as she walked towards the kitchen. When she made it to the kitchen, she firmly shut the wooden door behind her. "What are you thinking, Lucy? That man is a thief! Probably has killed people. He deserted the Black Watch, and they are currently searching the whole countryside for him! What will happen when they find him here? Arrest you? Gavin said they were wicked men. Probably won't bother with arresting you. Just kill you on the spot. Then what about your brothers and sisters? And Papa? Oh goodness, what have I gotten myself into?" Beth was pondering all of this as she grabbed some warm water off the stove and clean towels. Beth had cleaned and bandaged all sorts of wounds, growing up on a farm, for people and animals alike. But she had never tended to a bullet wound before. That was new. She grabbed the tweezers out of the first aid. She was going to have to remove the bullet if it was still in him. Then, she grabbed Papa's bottle of whiskey. This is all she had to clean and sterilize the area with. It was definitely going to hurt to pour this into such a deep wound. She then grabbed a sturdy thick stick from the kindling box beside the wood stove for him to bite down on. "Oh my goodness, Beth, what are you doing?!? You are no doctor!" She mumbled to herself. "But you must do this! He will surely die if you don't get the bleeding under control. Just like when Betty the cow stepped on a rusty stake from an old fence. You were able to pull that out and bandage her up no problem. And she is doing fine today. Still out in the pastures, giving you quarts of fresh milk a day. You've got this!" Beth was trying to mentally pump herself up. She was actually terrified of accidentally killing that man out there. She could make his bleeding worse. And he could bleed out right on her family's dining room table. "Ugh, get it together, Beth." She stood up tall, rounded her shoulders, took a deep breath, and opened the door to the dining room.

What she saw stopped her heart, and she nearly dropped all her supplies to the floor. Scalding hot water and all.

Gavin was lying face down on the table. She could smell that damn intoxicating smell again. His back was bare. She could tell he worked outside a lot because his skin glowed with a sun-kissed warmth. He also had a sheen of sweat all over. It was probably because he was in so much pain, but Beth couldn't help but notice how it showed off every muscle on his back. He had broad shoulders and bulging biceps. Lucy wondered what it would feel like to have those arms wrap around her and hold her close. She followed the dip of his spine all the way down until it dipped and met with his black and dark green tartan. Also noticed the firm butt underneath that wooly cloth. Lucy wondered if he wore anything under it? She had heard they didn't wear anything underneath the tartan.

Gavin suddenly winced in pain, which made Lucy jump. She then, with a great effort, pushed all impure thoughts of his body from her mind and walked closer to the table. She set her supplies down on the sideboard. She then handed the whiskey bottle to him.

"Drink as much as you can. I think it will help." Beth urged him.

Gavin grabbed the bottle and chugged a third of it down. She took the bottle from him, but as she did, their fingers touched. Lucy felt electricity shoot up her fingers, up her arm, and bloom inside her stomach, then felt a tingling warmth between her legs. Lucy gasped. And their eyes met. Sparkling green staring back at her. Did he feel that as well? What was that? Lucy panicked and looked down, breaking their trance. She cleared her throat.

"This is going to hurt Gavin. All I have for cleaning the wound is whiskey. Then, I will need to feel around for the bullet with tweezers. And you will have to lie very still. There is no way I can hold you down myself if you start thrashing." Beth told him.

"It can't hurt any worse than it does currently, and you have my word I won't move." Gavin said, biting down on his teeth. Lucy could see the muscle pop out on the side of his cheek. Lucy bit her lip nervously. She prayed that he would pass out quickly from the pain. She had never knowingly hurt someone like this, and she was getting nauseous just thinking about the pain he was about to endure at her hands. She grabbed the stick and put it sideways in his mouth. Told him to clamp down tight. He did. Then she took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back. Then, she poured the whiskey over the wound.