Warrior's Bride Read Online Free Page B

sails flapped, then filled out as the force of the wind worked upon them. The Ategenos leapt, climbing one swell, falling softly down toward the next. He welcomed again the experience of the ship's rhythms, the creaking of the hull, the rustling of the sails, the humming of the rigging. He drew a deep breath of air, relishing the dewy spray of white water as it broke over the lee rail to caress the deck.
      "Excuse me." The girl brushed past him. Her face had lost all its color. She lurched toward the rail.
      He followed her to the railing as she hung over the starboard side. "Have you never been on a ship before?" he asked with irritation.
      "I have never been off the isle," she moaned.
      His gaze moved over her. In any other situation he would have allowed himself to feel some compassion for the girl, but this time he could not. To feel anything toward her would only give his father more leverage against him. Why else would the king have insisted on this marriage? As Walter had knowingly pointed out, their father intended to use Wolf's connection to the girl to bend him to his kingly will. Wolf straightened. He would never allow that to happen.
      The same breeze that had cleansed his soul only moments before now felt heavy and cold. Wolf reached for the cloak he had left draped across the railing. He shrugged the heavy wool about his shoulders, then turned back to the girl. Shivers racked her body. He frowned as he watched her lean against the railing, her arms crossed over her chest, trying to gather whatever warmth she could to her frail body. Her threadbare clothing offered little defense against the wind's gathering force.
      He shouldn't care about her comfort, and yet with each shudder of her body his resolve faltered. He groaned. As a future husband it was his duty to provide his bride with at least simple comforts. He moved beside her and slipped his cloak about her thin shoulders. "This should help."
      She turned to him, her eyes reflecting a challenge. "Thank you for the cloak. I may need your protection right now, but I do not have to like it." The words caught him off guard. He had never met a woman more in need of help, and yet she refused to give him any advantage . Intriguing .
      Wolf turned abruptly away at the unwanted thought, searching the receding shoreline of St. Kilda. He could not afford to connect himself to this woman emotionally. Danger lay down that path for both of them. Neither had any choice but to play the game the king had set in motion with as much distance between them as possible.
      "How long until we reach this Black Isle?" she asked.
      He turned back to her. "We have one day of hard sail ahead of us, then two more over land."
      "And when will we be forced to marry?"
      If it were possible, he swore her skin turned even paler. He had no reason to lie to her, and yet he hesitated.
      "I have a right to know my future." Her voice grew stronger as she pushed herself away from the railing.
      "As soon as we reach the Black Isle we shall marry."
      "I see," she replied, her tone mournful.
      Was she that repulsed by him? "It is a fate neither of us can avoid."
      Her gaze moved from the deck to the sea beyond, at the receding shoreline that was barely visible now. "Perhaps." She sounded resigned, but the set of her chin warned of something more.
      He stared at her without speaking, snared by her image, both vulnerable and strong. Again, an intriguing mix.
      He allowed his gaze to linger on her full lips, the soft skin of her neck and shoulders that gleamed with beads of sea spray. A hint of fullness peeked out above her bodice, and Wolf imagined the sculpted breasts that lay beneath. What he could not see, what he imagined, enticed him.
      "My lord Wolf." Brahan's shout broke into his thoughts, jerking him back to the moment.
      He turned abruptly away from the source of his speculation. "What?"
      "Another vision." Brahan clutched the small white stone in his