Page 23 of Forbidden Desire

“I’m so tired.” What was wrong with me? I rarely ever got ill, but I wasn’t usually subject to such primeval traveling conditions. The last thing I saw before my eyelids insisted I give up on sight was his inquiring face, his large blue eyes, and the stray strands of his hair as they fell past his face.

“Elodie!”

The dread of his reply should have been more gratifying but sprawled across the hard ground, heat swelling in my aching head, I couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to care.

“Elodie, wake up!”

I was vaguely aware of his warm skin on mine, a callused hand pressed into my forehead, but it wasn’t enough to inspire action. The call to rest, to succumb to sleep had never been greater, and as I let out a long breath, I was grateful the nausea had abated.

My final conscious thought before slumber swept me away was the sense of being moved, lifted from the ground by two strong arms. I went because I had no choice, because I couldn’t persuade my eyes to open, let alone protest the deed. A part of me knew who had taken me into their arms—accepted it the same beast who had flung me over his body—but I had neither the will nor the energy to engage. Whatever battle I expected to fight for my sister would have to wait.

Chapter Twelve

Jeemie

My pace was much faster without the distraction of Elodie. Once I had ascertained she was breathing, I stripped her of the small pack attached to her shoulders, hooked the bag under my belt, and carried her the remaining distance. The woman weighed practically nothing, despite her obvious ability in a boat, and if my arms began to tire, one brief glance at her face was enough to spur me on.

She was breathtaking, more beautiful than any girl I had seen. Her long dark hair—almost as black as her sister’s—was pulled back into a messy up style while her long lashes rested on pale, unweathered skin stretched over high cheekbones. I already knew how mesmerizing her blue eyes could be when she was awake and had witnessed her fortitude. Seeing how enraptured Rasmie had become with Desiree, for the first time, holding her sister, I started to understand why.

Perhaps it was ridiculous to view her this way. Elodie was a stranger. One who had come to take back her sister, but I knew what she was not yet aware of—no foreigner who came here ever made it back to the mainland, and that included her. Rasmie would see her intrusion as a punishable transgression, and most likely, his sentence would be that she stayed and served our people as a wife. If that was to be her fate, I already knew who her husband would be.

The thought emboldened me as the village came into view, though the sight of additional men flanking the outer territory reminded me why I had made such a quick journey. Mawnsie had notified my brother, and Rasmie was on high alert.

Shifting her in my arms, I flung her back over my shoulder and rose a palm into the air as I approached.

“Jeemie?”

Holding on to Elodie tightly, I lifted my chin at Angus’ call.

“Aye, it is me. I have the stranger, and there is no need for alarm.”

“Nighean eile?” Angus inched closer, though his bow never lowered.

“Aye, another lass,” I clarified, turning to breathe in her scent. “I need to see our maighstir.”

Angus nodded. “Aye, leig a troimhe!” He gave the order for the village gates to open, and I strode across the threshold as soon as there was space. The village was deserted, its people no doubt ready to fight or hiding away in their homes, but its leader stood on the elevated platform, his eyes widening as I neared.

“Brother?” Rasmie leapt from the stage, stalking in my direction. “When I sent you hunting, this is not what I expected you to bring back.”

I laughed at his quip, once more glimpsing Elodie slumped over my shoulder.

“She is more than I expected, as well, Maighstir.”

“So, this is the intruder Mawnsie spoke of?” His gaze ran over her ass and long legs. “Are there more or only her?”

“Not that we have found. One boat and one woman.” I gestured to her, my hand patting her rump for good measure.

“She has a boat?” Rasmie’s brow arched.

“Aye.” I couldn’t resist the way my lips curled. “There is much about her that provokes curiosity.”

“And perhaps more?” he goaded with a grin. “I can see when my brother is enamored.”

“It is too early to say that,” I countered, though I knew he was right. I had rarely been so fascinated by the fairer sex.

“But I am not wrong?” he teased. “You have a mind to take her?”

“I have a mind for a great deal.” My cock twitched at the thought of having her in my bed, holding her, and feeling the warmth of her flesh.