Untamed Read Online Free Page A

of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island.”
    Intense relief flooded through Trystan. With so much fishing and shipping occurring in this region, he should have no difficulty discovering the fate of the Lady May . His eyebrows rose. “Is this not Baron Wensley’s island?”
     
    “Yes. He was my uncle.” Her smile disappeared. Desarae’s hands fluttered through her long curls. “He’s been gone so long…so long.” Unaccountably, she had revealed their big secret. She didn’t know why. She didn’t understand her lapse. What if her nasty grandfather discovered? What if he came now after all these years and carried her away? Back to the castle she barely remembered from her childhood.
     
    “How long?” Trystan asked quietly, extraordinarily touched by her distress. His gaze was drawn to her hands. They were long-fingered and graceful, but calloused. They looked strong and capable. She tossed back her hair and spread her hands, revealing odd tiny white and pink scars scattered across her palms, the backs of her hands, and along her sun-kissed forearms. He tried to think of a reason for those scars. However, no understanding would come to him.
     
    “Five years.”
    Desarae looked up and discovered that somehow the captain had managed to cross the distance between them. He stood so close she could feel his heat extending to her.
    “Have you been living alone here all this time?”
    “Hmm?” she hummed, unconsciously leaning into the heat. Comfort. Warmth. Companionship. All seemed right here within her reach. But, that was not all that was here. Something else thrummed between them. Her breath felt short. She wanted to take in great gulps of air—enough to save herself. But she was not certain she wanted to be saved.
     
    Trystan lifted his hand and cupped this delicious woman’s soft cheek. She leaned into his touch, inching herself even closer to him. Cotton skirts stroked his bare legs and he held his breath. Her eyes gleamed from between her thick, sooty lashes. He felt bewitched.
    “I am not alone,” she whispered, raising her chin and so bringing her lips closer to his.
    He lowered his head until his lips hovered over hers. Their breaths mingled. “No?” was his gravelly reply.
    “No. Jim looks after me.”
    Icicles replaced the heat in his veins. “Jim?” Trystan yanked his hand away from her cheek.
    The woman swayed. She reached out and steadied herself with the wall.
    “Who is Jim?”
     
    Confusion dotted her mind like raindrops. A flood of bewilderment washed away the haze of arousal. “You have no need to worry about Jim. He is away to the mainland to get supplies.” She tried to summon a smile. “He always goes to Canso this time of the month.” Trystan’s stark expression frightened her. She did not understand what had gone wrong.
    “Who is Jim?” he repeated harshly. Urgently.
    “My friend,” she gasped, backing away from him. “Jim is my friend. He was my uncle’s batman.” Desarae clasped her hands to her chest. “Why are you angry? I do not comprehend. Why? Why are you angry?”
     
    The relief that swept through Trystan could not be described. It was unreasonable. It shocked him. He took several deep, calming mouthfuls of air and then laughed at his own ludicrous behavior. She gifted him with a hesitant smile. His laughter subsided into a self-deprecating lopsided grin.
    “I am a fool,” he confessed and reached out to her. When she responded by an infinitesimal flinch, he silently cursed and let his hands fall to his side. “Forgive my outburst, I beg of you.”
    Desarae blushed beneath his regard and nodded.
    Gently, he asked, “Do you have any other clothes that I may wear?”
    “Certainly,” she murmured. “Follow me.”
     
    Desarae skirted as far around her unpredictable guest as the hallway allowed. She raced up the stairs and paused on the landing to glance behind her to see if he followed. He’d scooped up Athena and held her under one arm while he grasped