Bannockburn Binding (Beloved Bloody Time) Read Online Free PDF Page B

but if he learned that no one would ever come to pay for her, Tally couldn’t predict what he would do with them both.
    But in the meantime, she had to deal with Rob himself…and her own betraying body.
    The blessing—and curse—of travelling back into history was this two-edged bonus. A vampire’s symbiot went into stasis with a jump back in time. That meant the vampire became essentially human again. The flood of real human sensations and emotions were wonderful…and terrifying if one wasn’t used to it. Tally had become accustomed to the rush of sensations and emotions long ago. Seasoned travellers grew to enjoy the side benefits of becoming human for a short while; eating and drinking, sleeping…and sex. Sex was a thousand times better when all the senses were fully engaged and you could feel with all your body and nerve endings.
    The agency didn’t advertise the fact and it wasn’t talked about openly, but most of the travellers freely enjoyed themselves when they were back in history. The agency made no move to prevent it. There was no disease or infection the travellers could catch that could be brought back to their personal timeline and all the travellers were trained to avoid historical anomalies and prevent time waves.
    Tally couldn’t simply indulge herself with Rob, though, despite the way her body was tugging her toward him. He thought her a maiden from a good English family and was expecting they would hot foot it to the encampment to pay for her release once word wended its way to them. If she revealed her less-than-maidenly state, he would know something was awry and everything would unravel from there. Rob was not stupid. She had learned that much already.
    The idea of a smart man brought the thought/image of Lee into her mind, as she had last seen him. They had been arguing. Everyone who knew Lee, especially women, always spoke of him as being so polite and quiet-spoken. If only, Tally thought wryly, they saw him just once with his dander up! But Lee only showed Tally his true nature, as if he didn’t care what she thought of him. With her, he thrust aside his Southern chivalry and bared his hot temper and fiery demands. Lately, it was a rare day if they didn’t tear shreds from each other.
    And always, it came back to travelling.
    Lee, despite being made nearly two centuries later than her, was convinced he was a better traveller than her. Or, his campaign to have her quit the medieval tours and travel in tandem with him, the more safety-conscious one, made it seem like he believed he was better than her.
    It was true that his fury over her timing of tours had made her more conscientious about resting properly between tours and letting her symbiot recover. Perhaps that was a good thing. As a result, she had started this tour completely fresh and fully recovered. What would Lee say if he knew of her dilemma now?
    “Where does ye mind wander, m’lady?” Rob asked. “Ye gaze travels far away.”
    Tally returned her focus to Rob’s face. His jaw was dark with stubble, but he would shave in the morning, using his dirk. It was a strong jaw.
    “I was thinking about…a friend,” Tally told him truthfully.
    His hand, which had been moving in little restless circles on her waist, grew still.
    “A man friend,” he said flatly.
    “Yes.” Tally felt her heart quicken as she saw the way ahead open up for her.
    “Ye are betrothed?” Rob asked.
    “It isn’t like that,” she said, unwilling to lie completely. “There has been no formal understanding.”
    Rob licked his lips. “What has there been, informally?”
    Tally flickered her eyes and looked away.
    “D’ye love him, Natalie?” Rob asked softly.
    Her heart thudded. “I know not for certain,” she replied. “He’s a hard man to understand.”
    “Hard to understand, but easy to be informal with, hmm?” There was a hard note in Rob’s voice that brought Tally’s gaze back to his face. His eyes were cold.
    “You think I am a