The Wolf and the Highlander (Highland Wishes) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fallen, and with the setting of the sun, the night-rich scents of the forest rose up to meet his nose. Damp moss, rotting bark, and decaying leaves. Not long now, and they’d be at his cabin. He’d be able to care for her like the lady she was, even if she didn’t consider herself one.
    Why she didn’t, he could not imagine. There wasn’t a woman alive in Marann who wasn’t revered as a lady. But she wasn’t wolfkind, which meant not only was she not Maranner or Larnian, but she was from no place on Earth he had ever heard of. She had to have come from somewhere, though, since women didn’t just appear out of thin air.
    It was a problem for later. For now, he had a potential party of trackers to elude. Turning against the night breeze, he headed for the creek that bordered his land. His thigh hurt with each step, but the muscle was still strong. The bleeding had slowed to a trickle. With a good dressing and plenty of bread and tea, he’d be mended enough to hunt by morning.
    He smelled the fertile mud of the creek and the musk of the creatures that came to it for drink long before its musical babble reached his ears. Coming to the water’s edge, he loped down the bank, squeezing Anya tight to protect her from his jerky movements.
    She’d slept much of the journey but stirred as he climbed the opposite bank. “Water?” She spoke with her eyes closed. When she opened them, her pupils were large black disks. Even in the darkness, he could tell her gaze was unfocused. She needed to drink, but he dared not stop. Lingering, even for a moment, would make their scents thicker in the air. If trackers were coming for her, he needed to delay their discovery of his cabin as long as possible. And get Anya well away by the time they found it.
    “Soon,” he told her. “We’re nearly there.” He changed direction, doubling back to confuse the trail. Another half-hour’s walk brought him to the branch of the creek that led to his cabin. He stepped into the creek and made the rest of the journey with water lapping at his knees.
    The scent of freshly-chopped wood met his nose as he stepped from the brook into the clearing where his sire had built their log and stone cabin long ago. He strode past where his maul lay propped against the chopping block, ready for him to split more wood for the coming winter. Before he split any more, he had a precious treasure to see to safety. Unfortunately, he could think of only one place to take her where she’d be safe. And once he got her there, he’d have to leave her.
    He would know but a few days in this woman’s presence. The thought sent a stab of disappointment through him. Ignoring it, he shouldered his cabin door open and laid her on the furs covering his pallet. After lighting a lantern and pulling on his shirt and trousers, he filled his finest cup, a pewter tankard, with water from the rain barrel and brought it to her. With an arm at her back, he helped her sit up.
    “Drink, lady.”
    She did, deeply, cupping her hands around his and draining the cup in several swallows. He filled the cup again, and she drank that too, this time sitting under her own power while he sat beside her on the edge of his pallet. She’d been in his home less than five minutes, and her scent already permeated the air. His bed would smell like her for weeks if he didn’t wash his bedcovers.
    He swallowed hard as he watched her throat work. The smooth column looked like bronze in the lantern light. He wanted to feel its smoothness with his fingers, his nose, his lips.
    She finished the water, and her tongue darted out to catch what moisture clung to her lips.
    He felt that lick like she’d done it over the skin of his neck. A shiver passed through him. Shite. He’d have to get his reaction to her under control if he was going to walk across the country with her. Or he’d have to put up with tented trousers the whole way. “More?”
    Thankfully, she didn’t look at his lap, only shook her head