by Glenn, Laura
Galen shook his head, his hands balling into fists.
Adam shrugged. “I guess she picked it up from one of the men.”
“Yes, that must be it,” Galen murmured. His eyes narrowed when she said the words again. Her pronunciation was somehow a little too perfect for someone who was not a native speaker.
“Are we going to have problems with her family?” Adam asked in a low tone. “You did not mention to whom she belongs and I assume you had not time to request their permission to keep her.”
Damn the woman.
She had sidestepped giving him the name of the Scottish family of which her father was a member. He glanced toward his smirking friend and could not help but relax into a smile of his own. Brushing aside his sudden doubt about Anna, he shrugged in feigned disinterest. “She was abandoned by her father long ago. Her mother is of no threat to us.”
“You do not think the English king will take issue just to start a war?”
Galen snorted. “I doubt he is even aware of her existence, considering the fact her mother owns no property.”
Adam nodded, apparently satisfied by the explanation.
Galen turned his attention back to Anna, his jaw clenched tightly. Lying to the one person who had been by his side since childhood and always stood by him in the heat of battle, settled like a rock in his gut. He was only protecting Anna. There was no need for Adam to know any more than necessary.
“But I still do not understand how she got into the Graham holding,” Adam admitted with wonder. “Is she a relative of the Graham?”
Galen crossed his arms, wishing his friend would drop the matter. “She is a healer from just south of the English border.”
Anna turned and smiled as she walked toward Galen, her arms laden with food and drink. “You have very generous men.”
Galen shook his head, ignoring the stirring of his cock at the sight of her smile. “It is not generosity.”
“Only simply what is expected. A clan shares everything without hesitation,” Adam added as he glanced at Galen. “How is it again that you got into the Graham holding without anyone being the wiser? It is quite a feat, my lady.”
The lashes shielding those greenish-blue orbs that made Galen’s chest tighten every time she cast them in his direction, fluttered as her eyes widened. “Um…did Galen not tell you already?”
“I did.” Galen stared intently into her eyes, determined to make her understand she needed to listen very carefully to what he was saying and not deviate from his story. “I told them you are a healer who was called for by one of the servants who had heard of your work south of the border.”
She nodded slowly, not dropping his gaze. “Yes.”
“The babe, remember?” Galen prodded as he became simultaneously frustrated and pleased by her seeming inability to wipe the fear off her face. “You were snuck in on a hay wagon to tend to the sick babe of a servant who was—”
“Yes, yes,” Anna quickly said. “She is, um…the cousin of a neighbor of mine.”
Galen resisted the urge to smile at her cracking, nervous voice. At least he’d always know when she was lying.
Adam’s brow crinkled as if he attempted to understand. “I see. And where is it in England that you hail from? I must say, your accent and way of speaking are most unusual for an Englishwoman.”
She turned her eyes to Galen in clear panic. He remained silent, however, confident she would be able to give Adam a satisfactory answer.
“Um…well, it is hard to say since I’ve never really been anywhere before this,” she replied with an awkward shrug. “Where should we sit so Galen can eat?”
“Oh, of course, my lady. Pray, forgive me,” Adam cheeks reddened slightly. He took most of the food and ale from Anna and walked toward a nearby campfire.
Anna’s shoulders visibly relaxed and weariness crept back into her features. Galen wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her toward Adam. “You did well,” he whispered before he released her.
She gifted him with a small smile of gratitude, her lashes dancing against her cheeks as she cast her eyes to the ground in an utterly feminine action. His chest tightened and it was all he could do to not pull her against him and attempt to kiss her appealing bashfulness away in order to reveal the tigress that lay just beneath the surface.
Adam motioned to an empty spot near one of the larger campfires. Galen sat on the ground and when Anna did not immediately join him, he grabbed her hand and unceremoniously pulled her down beside him.
“You will eat as well,” he gruffly commanded, handing her an oatcake, an apple, a wedge of hard cheese and one of the flasks of ale.
She wrinkled her nose at the flask, her face screwing up in disgust. “And how many of your men have been drinking out of this?”
“Just drink it or you will become dee-hi-draay-ted,” he instructed, pleased to turn the tables on her.
She rolled her eyes and placed the flask on the ground in front of her.
Galen threw back his head, chuckling loudly. Damn, this woman pleased him. Her reactions to him were refreshingly honest and she had no fear at all of arguing with him. He should probably take exception to those flaws, especially since a wife should never openly disagree with her husband, but instead he found them rather appealing.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he hauled her against his side, eliciting a small, surprised yelp from her lips. She stared at him, but he did not turn to look at her, focusing instead on his lead warriors who had come to join him around the campfire.
As Galen ate, they continued to discuss strategies for the coming battle and what might be the best course of action to ensure Anna’s safety during the fight. He glanced down at her every now and then as she finished her meal in silence, completely lost in her own thoughts.
Anna curled into his side and he marveled at how perfectly she fit against him. Her thigh, soft and inviting against his own, spun a lustful spell around him and soon his thoughts drifted from the important conversation at hand to the kisses they had shared earlier in the forest. She would have surrendered to him right then and there under the cover of the trees if the desire on her bemused face had been any indication. Yes, he had wanted to take her, and would have if he’d had the strength to spare and they were not still on Graham land.
Galen slid his hand up her back to the base of her neck and rubbed it with his thumb and forefinger. A sigh of contentment escaped her lips and she leaned the side of her face against his shoulder.
He wanted to hear that little moan again—the one she had uttered as he ground his cock against her while her legs were wrapped around his waist. This time, however, he wanted to force it out of her as he rammed into her while her naked body clung to him, her hardened nipples rubbing against his chest in rhythm with his thrusts.
A scowl threatened, but he fought it back so as not to draw the attention of his men. His thoughts about Anna were not honorable, but bedding her was the first thing that had popped into his mind the moment he climbed out of the dungeon pit. Despite his weariness, despite his hunger and their perilous situation, this one thought had continued to haunt him.
And when that damnable Graham guard had dared to press his lips to hers…
Anna shivered next to him, breaking his train of thought. He briskly rubbed her arm, his temper flaring. He’d been self-absorbed since arriving in camp. He should have seen to her comfort as she had to his.
He interrupted the conversation around him and ordered a couple of his men to construct a tent for Anna so she would have a comfortable, private place to sleep out of the wind. Despite having spent quite some time walking through the forest, their clothes were still damp due to the moist, chilled Highland air.
Perhaps if she were out of sight for awhile, he would be able to focus on the battle plans rather than seducing her. Besides, she had just been through hell. The last thing she needed was him mauling her all night.
Once the tent was ready, Galen sent Anna off to sleep wi
th full intentions of leaving her alone. As the camp settled in for the night, he dismissed his men and walked toward it, telling himself he would simply check on her and then bed down near Adam next to the campfire. But as he approached the tent, his thoughts quickly turned to slipping under the blankets next to her as she slept.
“Hell,” Galen muttered as he gave into his wayward thoughts and pulled off his still-damp clothes. He draped them over the top of the tent so they would fully dry by morning and lifted the tent flap to duck inside.
He knelt down, sensing her curled-up body to his left. Brushing against her foot, he reached forward to grasp the edge of the blanket. A soft gasp cut through the silence.
“Galen?” came Anna’s voice from under the blankets. “Is that you?”
He could have kicked himself for waking her. “Yes, Annie. It is I.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her last word swallowed by a yawn.
“Sleeping,” he tersely answered, “which is what you should be doing.”
He pulled the blanket back and slipped underneath, his breath catching in his throat as he came in contact with her.
Damn it all. The woman was naked.
Chapter Five
“You’re naked!” Anna exclaimed.
Galen inhaled sharply against her ear. “As are you,” he drily replied. “Care to explain, lass?”
She rolled from her side to her back so she could face him, her pride pricked by the annoyance in his voice. The motion caused her head to swim a bit and her attention was drawn back to the strange ache that had settled into her muscles and the dull throb in her head. The sickly sensations, probably courtesy of some stupid virus, had taken over as she sat next to Galen by the campfire.
She shivered as the cool air rushed under the blanket and yanked the covering back over her, determined to recreate the warm cocoon he’d destroyed. “My clothes were still damp. I had to get out of them just to get warm.”
He grunted in response and pulled the blanket toward him again, settling it over both of them.
Anna stiffened. Here she had been lusting after the guy since the moment they met and all he could do after finding her nude was act annoyed. “Sorry. I didn’t realize my nakedness would offend you so much,” she mumbled as she turned away.
She froze as he stretched the length of his unyielding body against her side. The heat emanating from his bare skin increased the dizziness in her head, but eased the ache from her muscles.
Galen exhaled heavily against her hair, sending a shiver through her scalp and down her neck. “I am the opposite of offended.” He leaned down to brush her cheek with his warm lips.
Her pulse jumped. He did want her after all.
No, this was stupid. Sure, this giant, sexy-as-hell man wanted her. He was a man and she’d already made her desires known when she threw herself at him in the forest. What man wouldn’t take advantage of that? But she had absolutely no business having sex with him. She’d only known him for a few hours and there wasn’t a condom in sight. No, this definitely couldn’t happen.
She attempted to turn her back to him once again but he threw his massive thigh across both of hers. She tried to shove it off and scoot out from underneath him, but her weakened muscles would not cooperate. He grabbed both her hands and held them above her head as his body covered the length of hers, trapping his stiff cock against the soft flesh of her thigh.
“Oh,” she whispered, half in shock and half in wonder. Her nipples hardened, aching as he shifted his weight and his chest hair brushed against them. It had been a long time, far too long since the weight and heat of a naked man pressed down upon her. A swell of warm, wet arousal moved through her core.
“Well, now, seeing as how I have you in my bed.” Laughter laced his voice as his lips came persuasively down on hers.
The tenderness in his kiss caused a shiver to run down her spine. She instinctively parted her lips and he smiled against them.
“I had no idea you would feel so damn good, woman,” he murmured, slipping his tongue between her lips.
Hot pleasure rippled through her skin and she tentatively caressed his tongue with her own. But as soon as he released her hands and separated her thighs with his leg, reality descended upon her. She pushed on his chest to break the kiss.
“Wait, Galen,” she insisted as he attempted to remove her hands from his chest. “We can’t be doing this.”
“Like hell we cannot,” he muttered, easily pressing himself down despite her resistance. He recaptured her mouth, his lips hot and demanding.
The painful throb in Anna’s head responded to his body heat and faded. A desperate longing to melt into his kisses took over, but her brain continued to fight against it. “You don’t understand. I think I’m coming down with a fever,” she replied against his lips.
His head shot up. “What?”
Grateful for the reprieve from the assault on her senses, she relaxed her shoulders. Now maybe she could talk some sense into him. “I feel achy and my head hurts.”
Galen pressed his palm against her cheeks and forehead, and then shook his head. “You do not feel feverish to me. You simply went through hell today, lass. Of course your body aches.”
“No, it’s more than just that. For all I know, I’ve already made you sick from kissing you,” Anna persisted. Hopefully, he wouldn’t demand an explanation. The thought of explaining germ theory to a thirteenth-century man as he lay naked on top of her nearly overwhelmed her fragile state of mind. “That’s why we have to stop.”
“Hell, woman, I get feverish just looking at you,” he grumbled, dropping his lips to the base of her neck.
The searing heat of his mouth liquefied her pulse, sending weighty waves through her core. She tilted her head back, her eyelids trembling as they closed. “We shouldn’t do this.”
Undeterred, his mouth blazoned a trail down her shoulder before moving across the top of her chest. “You go ahead and give me all of your reasons why not, lass,” he whispered, his tone laced with amusement.
He wove his fingers through hers, drawing her hand up next to her head. He trailed the back of his other hand down her arm and grasped her hip as he lightly pressed kisses along the side of her neck to her earlobe, leaving a mass of tingling nerves in his wake.
Anna swallowed hard, determined to keep focused. But her body would not cooperate. She rotated her hips beneath his palm and he dug his fingers into her tender flesh as he traced her collarbone with his moist tongue. She shivered, goose bumps trailing behind his tongue as the moisture evaporated from her skin. “Well, we barely know one another.”
“You are a woman. That is all I need to know.” He rocked his hips against her, rubbing the length of his hot cock against her thigh, and threaded his fingers through the curls at the junction of her thighs.
She pressed her thighs together and squeezed his fingers with her hand, resisting the urge to open up to him. “I could be married or engaged for all you know.”
“Are you?”
She whimpered as his hot breath scorched the cool flesh of her neck. “No. Are you?” she asked, hoping for something—anything—that would douse her ardor and bring her back to sanity.
“I have no claims on any other woman.” He chuckled softly.
Damn it.
His hand glided across her waist and she threaded her fingers through his thick hair as he peered down at her through the darkness. She chewed her lower lip as a warm wetness gathered between her thighs. She was losing the battle. She craved his mouth on hers, on her neck, sucking on her aching nipples. If he continued the seduction she would surrender. She had to convince him that he really did not want to do this. It was the only way.
“I’m not a virgin, you know.” She was grasping at straws, but how the hell else was she supposed to turn off a thirteenth-century man?
“I figured as much.” He kissed her brow.
Crap.
She squeezed her eyes shut as he grazed side of her br
east with his palm, sending a thrilling shiver through her nipple and eliciting a gasp from her throat.
She grabbed his hand and held it still against her as her pulse thudded in her core. “I could get pregnant.”
His hand flexed beneath her fingers, but they refused to budge. “I do not know the meaning of that word,” he whispered against her cheek, gently cupping her breast as his thumb traced torturous circles around her nipple.
She sighed, half in exasperation and half in pleasure. “A baby. You could…I mean, I could…”
The pad of his thumb skipped across her erect nipple and she moaned.
He nipped at the skin on her neck with his teeth and dragged them across her collarbone. “And if I did get you with child?”
What? How could he not be freaked out by that thought? She sure as hell was. “I could be socially ostracized as a whore or something, couldn’t I?” she whispered, fighting the urge to draw his hand between her trembling thighs.
“I would kill anyone who dared call you that.”
Her defenses worn thin, she arched her back as jolts of electricity shot directly from her nipple to her clit, causing her vision to blur. The last threads of control were slipping from her fingers and she could only come up with one additional reason she shouldn’t surrender to him.
“You could break my heart.”
Galen paused for several long, agonizing moments. Her nipple throbbed under the weight of his thumb. His cock, so hot and hard against her, fairly beckoned her to part her thighs and wrap them around his waist in complete submission.
He brushed the hair away from her face. “I would sooner die.”
Anna’s resistance melted and she descended into molten heat coursing through her veins. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his jaw as the last threads of coherent thought slipped away. Her head swam, lost in the hard smoothness of his massive form as it pressed her into the hard ground. She inhaled his heady, masculine scent, allowing it to fill her lungs and seep into her blood.
She slid her fingers along his shoulders, tracing around each muscular bulge. Was any of this even real? Or was she dreaming?