Time Travel Romances Boxed Set Read Online Free PDF Page B

remember anything
beyond pricking her thumb.
    And being surrounded by a dizzying shimmer.
Clearly, she had fainted from the shock of her wound and the battle
had raged on without her.
    Suddenly, Aurelia recognized the room. They
were in the bowels of the old ritual well, though that made little
sense. How did she get from the ramparts to the well while battle
for her home raged?
    She must have been taken prisoner.
    Aurelia’s mouth went dry. Bard had singled
her out, no doubt to pay for her early assault upon his forces.
    Bard suddenly cast aside his unusual green
cloak. He shrugged out of his heavy cream-colored knit tunic and
Aurelia inched backward in sudden understanding the price she would
pay.
    He would rape her!
    “ You must be cold,” he said
smoothly. Ha! Aurelia would never give him the chance to warm her
flesh with his own!
    Bard stepped closer, his emerald gaze fixed
upon her as though he would lull her into complacency. Aurelia
stared back at him with feigned innocence and secretly felt for the
blade she always carried.
    The sheath hanging from her belt was empty.
The treacherous dog had seen her disarmed, while she lay in a
stupor!
    But Aurelia was not without defenses. Bard
took another step and Aurelia coiled herself tightly, waiting for
the moment he came near enough for her kick to be disabling.
    But Bard halted two steps away. He held out
his garment at arm’s length and Aurelia’s breath caught in her
throat.
    Had he guessed her intent?
    “ Take it.” Bard gave his
sweater a little shake when Aurelia did not move. “You’ll catch
cold otherwise.”
    Aurelia did not want to take any garment
that had graced Bard’s sorry hide. All the same, she did not want
to sit virtually nude before that perceptive gaze.
    It left her at a disadvantage, to say the
least.
    Certain that there must be a trick, Aurelia
snatched hastily at the tunic. She moved quickly, but not quickly
enough to avoid the heat of Bard’s fingers brushing against her
own. The contact sent a shiver running along her flesh, and
surprise made her stare into his eyes for a dangerously long
moment.
    He arched an ebony brow, as though surprised
by her reticence to touch him. Aurelia’s heart stopped, before it
lurched forward again.
    Oh, he had a charm, that much was certain,
but Aurelia knew the darkness that filled his heart! She hauled the
knit tunic hastily over her head and closed her eyes against the
seductively masculine scent that rose from the garment.
    She felt suddenly much, much warmer, though
she fought hard against her instinctive attraction to this man.
Aurelia had no doubt Bard cultivated this calm manner, perhaps
practicing the seductive low pitch of his voice, as it would serve
his ends well. All the better to disarm those he would destroy.
    Had her own brother not been seduced by
Bard’s deceitful talk?
    “ I thank you,” Aurelia
managed to say with some decorum. The tunic covered her hips and
would likely fall halfway to her knees when she stood.
    Her suspicion must have shown, but Bard’s
gaze did not waver. Aurelia folded her arms across her chest and
glared at her captor, determined to know the truth. “What have you
done with my father?”
    The men seemed surprised by this question
and exchanged a glance before Bard’s dark brows drew together in a
frown.
    “ Who?”
    “ My father, King Hekod the
Fifth, King of Dunhelm and Lord of Fyordskar across the
sea.”
    Bard’s lips tugged in an unwilling smile
that transformed his features. An unexpected twinkle gleamed in his
eyes, like sunlight dancing on the sea. Bard was no longer the
stern warrior, but an indulgent lover.
    Lover? What had summoned such a foolish
thought? Clearly he smiled because he was pleased to have her
parentage confirmed.
    “ King Hekod?”
    “ The Fifth,” Aurelia
corrected haughtily. “I would see him now, if you please, and
ensure his welfare.”
    Bard’s smile faded. “I don’t know your
father,” he said gently. “Much less