Sage bobbed her head placatingly. “Unless he thinks you’re not going to give it to him.”
Marcus sighed in frustration. “Why would he think that? We’re on the way to meet him. It doesn’t make sense. It makes more sense that someone else hired those men. Someone who didn’t hire me. Someone else who wants the book.” He waved the matter away, done arguing his point with her. He placed the remaining trencher in his mouth. “This is really good. When we are finished, we should return to le Carla and have a decent meal.”
Sage gaped at him with a strange expression on her face.
“What?” Marcus asked, pulling back. “Did I say something wrong? Don’t you want to go back?”
“You said ‘we.’”
Marcus straightened. He had said it. He was disclosing that he wanted her with him. And he did. But suddenly, his confidence waned.
A smile spread across Sage’s face. “You want to stay with me?”
Marcus opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was not certain she would want to stay with him. He bowed his head and licked his lips. “We’ll have to see how everything turns out.”
Sage’s smile didn’t vanish, and her eyebrow rose. “I guess we will.”
Uneasily, uncertainly, Marcus began pulling on his breeches and then his boots.
“Where are you going?” Sage asked.
“I’m going to make a round of the forest to check for...unwanted guests,” Marcus admitted.
Sage nodded and returned to sit on the blanket. She picked up the book.
“Would you like to come with me?” Marcus added.
“No. I’ll continue working on the book.”
Even though Sage stared at the open book, her mind refused to focus on the parchment pages, on decoding, on the words. Instead, it continued to drift to Marcus. He was so handsome and strong. His golden hair and blue eyes made her body flame to life. The way he regarded at her gave her a delicious anticipatory thrill.
She smiled to herself, remembering his promise. He had said they would return to William’s farm. He was including her in his future.
She eased the book closed and embraced it. Never in her life had she felt so...vibrant. So beautiful. Marcus made her feel that way, and she would be forever grateful to him. She slowly lowered the book, thinking of his lips on hers and his strong physique. She ran her finger over the leather, recalling the firm feeling of his skin beneath her fingers.
Her fingers trailed over a raised part of the leather. She moved her hand aside to see an embossed flower in the corner of the book. It took up a quarter of the leather, and she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it earlier. She ran her fingertips over it, feeling the raised and lowered markings. It was lovely. Willow would like it.
She took one piece of parchment and lay it flat over the etching. She looked around her on the dirt floor of the forest for a dark, small stone. There were few, and she had to sweep leaves and sticks aside in her search. Finally, she found one buried in the dirt. She dug it out, brushed off the soil, and lightly began to run it across the flower. She tried to carefully get each detail. The more elaborate, the more Willow would appreciate it. She pressed the parchment over it.
She heard the rustling of leaves and glanced up. Marcus came toward her through the trees. Her breath caught. He was marvelous to look at, like a god from olden times. Chiseled features, strong and breathtaking. Each step was purposeful and full of power. His eyes were trained on her with a heated focus.
“Have you worked anything out?” he asked as he neared.
She swallowed heavily, attempting to control her immediate reaction to his nearness. “No. But I did find this beautiful flower in the corner that I think Willow will like.” She showed him the image she had transferred.
Marcus nodded but was clearly not interested in the tracing.
“Any sign of trouble?” Sage asked as he sat beside her.
Marcus shook his head, his eyes sweeping over her face with a hungry look.
Sage’s body reacted instantly, her senses heightening. Tingles spread over her skin. Passion erupted through her body, and she dropped the parchment and book to launch herself into Marcus’s arms.
He caught her with a low chuckle, and then his lips found hers.
The book fell into the leaves, forgotten.
