Darkest Highlander Read Online Free PDF

Broc would leave her alone for only so long.
    She bathed her body easily enough, but it was her hair which took the most time to lather and rinse. Sonya was exhausted by the time her hair was clean once more.
    The water was now tepid, and if not for the fire, she would be thoroughly chilled. She reached for the drying cloth and tried to stand. Her injured arm slipped on the side and plunged into the water.
    “Damn,” she mumbled as she looked at the now soaked bandages.
    With the drying cloth once more in her hand and again on her feet, Sonya began to dry herself. Water dripped from the ends of her hair and onto the backs of her legs, sending chills racing over her skin.
    She hadn’t realized that she had become so weak that something as simple as giving herself a bath could tire her to the point that she was about to collapse.
    The end of the drying cloth fell into the water. Sonya hastily jerked it out and realized she needed to get out of the tub in order to finish. It was such a simple task, stepping out of the wooden tub. Yet, it seemed an impossible feat.
    Already her legs shook from the few moments she’d been standing. She was filled with anger at her magic leaving her, putting her in this position.
    The Druids who had hidden her and Anice had cautioned them not to take their magic for granted. Sonya hadn’t bothered to listen to them. After all, once a Druid was born, the magic would always be with them.
    What a fool she had been.
    Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she refused to let them fall. She could get out of the tub without falling. She would get out without falling.
    Sonya took a deep breath and lifted one foot over the rim of the tub. She placed it on the floor, her legs shaking, but she continued to stand.
    After a moment’s hesitation, Sonya lifted the second leg. Her foot hit the side of the tub and she overbalanced trying to keep upright. She began to fall backward when strong arms enveloped her.
    “Sonya?”
    She let out a breath when she heard Broc’s voice. His deep, sensual, all-too-beautiful voice in her ear. “I fell.”
    “I saw that.”
    Was it her imagination or did his voice shake? And that’s when she realized she was naked except for the drying cloth she held against her front.
    Broc’s warm breath fanned her neck, his breaths coming harsh and shallow. She stayed as she was, afraid to move and afraid not to. She hated how she liked being in his arms. She hated that he felt nothing for her while her body went into a whirlwind of longing and desire anytime he was near.
    His hand shifted slightly. Sonya sucked in a mouthful of air, her blood heating with the feel of his fingers beneath her breast. Her head was against his chest, the cloth of his breeches rubbing against her bare legs and bottom.
    Chills of a different kind raced over her body then. How she had longed to be in Broc’s arms in such a fashion. To see his eyes filled with desire for her. To know his kiss, his touch. His body.
    “You’re shaking,” he murmured.
    Sonya’s mouth was dry, her heart drumming in her ears. She closed her eyes and let herself feel the hard sinew of his chest behind her, the strong arms around her. “I’m chilled.”
    That’s all it took to put him in motion. One moment she was leaning against him, and the next she had a blanket around her shoulders as he took her cloth and dried off her legs.
    “Better?” he asked as he stood in front of her.
    She nodded, afraid to look into his eyes lest he see the desire his small touch had brought her.
    The bed seemed a league away, and she would have to walk around Broc to get to the chairs, neither of which she could do on the strength rapidly leaving her body. So Sonya lowered herself as gracefully as she could before the fire.
    “Cara packed this for you.”
    Sonya looked up to find Broc holding her comb. The mention of Cara, who was like a sister, made Sonya’s heart ache. Every woman at the castle, Druid or not, was like a sister to her. Each