Bewitching My Love Read Online Free PDF

situation and what he’d done to her to get her there, she looked at him angrily. “You poison me then drag me through a wardrobe to another time, now you’re telling me that in order to insure your future existence, we have to fall in love before the next ten days are up? You know, Rowen, you could have at least given us more time. You should have told me before taking me without my consent.” She took a deep breath and tried not to cry, she wasn’t one for tears, more comfortable with anger. “Now, you want me to have enough trust to lie against you and sleep! What sort of idiot do you think I am, anyway?”
    “ I’m trying to make this as easy as possible for both of us, Fern. The sooner we learn to get along, the better off we’ll be.” He wouldn’t let her temper get to him; he had to keep a cool head. “And for your information, I didn’t poison you. I gave you a few sleeping pills, the kind you get off the shelf from any pharmacy. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to rest, I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Rowen had to think about things, her continual bickering wasn’t helping. He thought about what he was going to tell her when she found out about his lie. If she knew that the only way for the curse to be broken wasn’t by them falling in love but by her taking Mary’s place on the gallows, she would run for certain. He’d only been with her for a day and was already deeply attracted to her. His future depended on his ability to guard his emotions while he was with her. A test he wasn’t looking forward to.
    Fern felt Rowen’s body relax next to her; by the steady rhythm of his breathing she knew he was asleep. Tomorrow while he was gone, she would sneak away, go back to the wardrobe and go home. Surely it would work both ways. Or maybe she could wake up tomorrow morning and be back in her own bed, away from this nightmare. How could he sleep? Crossing her arms against her chest, she sulked, for hours it seemed, until the crickets no longer chirped outside the opening of the cave. Reluctantly she let her eyelids fall; she was asleep before her head found its way to his shoulder.
    * * * *
    The sun was just beginning to filter through the opening of the cave when Rowen heard the footsteps. He’d been watching Fern’s sleeping face where it was lying in his lap. She really was something to look at; he could understand now why Jonathan fell so hard for Mary. Shaking her gently, he tried to wake her without speaking. The footsteps were getting closer and he didn’t want them to be found. They couldn’t be found. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear. “Fern, wake up, honey. Someone is coming.”
    “ What?” She stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “What did you say?” Fern blinked her tired eyes.
    “ Shhh, Fern. You must be quiet. Someone is coming.” He was tempted to cover her mouth with his hand.
    When she looked up and found Rowen staring at her with his finger over his mouth, she sat up quickly and pushed herself away from him. “What did you say, Rowen?” She watched his brows furrow in anger and frowned.
    “ I said, be quiet. Don’t you ever listen?” Rowen hissed between tight lips. “There is someone walking around outside. We must be quiet.” He stared at her in disbelief. Removing his finger from his mouth he put it over hers then turned away when the footsteps stopped outside the entrance.
    They both sat staring at the opening. Fern scooted herself closer to Rowen when she saw the hem of the dress and the small heels of the black lace-up shoes. She was glad his finger was against her mouth to keep the gasp from escaping her when a wooden bucket of water was set down with a thud, splashing its contents all around it, the water then soaked up instantly in the hot sun. Fern looked at Rowen with questioning in her eyes. He shook his head, indicating he to had no clue what the woman was doing. They both sat completely still when her voice broke the