She saw, glared, then flicked the covers over him. He continued to smile, probably foolishly; he was still in so much pain that he couldn’t really tell. But he had noticed one thing-he was naked. Stripped-to-the-skin, not-a-stitch-except-his-bandage naked-and his not-an-angel hadn’t turned a hair.

And although most of his body had wilted, one part hadn’t-and she had to have noticed; she couldn’t have missed it as she’d looked down when she’d steered him to the bed, then laid him down, stretched him out.

Which surely meant he and she were lovers. What else could it mean?

He couldn’t remember her, not even her name-couldn’t remember sinking his hands in all that rich, warm hair, pressing his mouth to her sinful lips… lips he could imagine doing wicked things… none of which he could remember, but then he couldn’t remember anything through the crushing pain.

An older lady came in, spoke, and frowned at him. She came to the bed as his lover tried to shift him further into the center of the wide mattress. Thinking he should help, he rolled to his right-

Pain erupted. His world turned black.

Linnet winced at the gasp that exploded from the stranger’s lips-saw his body go lax, boneless, and knew he was unconscious again.

“Damn! I didn’t get a chance to ask who he was.” Leaning against the side of the mattress, she peered into his face. “But what caused that?”

Muriel, too, was frowning. “Did you check for head wounds?”

“There weren’t any… well, not to see.” Linnet knelt beside him and reached for his head. “But his hair is so thick, perhaps…” Infinitely gently, she took his skull between her hands. Fingers spread, she searched, felt… “Oh, my God! There’s a hugecontusion.” Drawing back her hand, she studied her fingertips. “Blood, so the skin’s broken.”

The observation led to another round of careful tending, of warm water in basins, towels, salves, and eventually stacks of bandages as between them she and Muriel cleansed, then dried, padded and bandaged the wound. “Looks like he was hit over the head with a spar.”