Page 21 of The Highlander’s Gypsy Temptation

Bran studied her face for a moment. “I can agree with that.”

“I only use such a skill when it is necessary. Too much lying and to the wrong people can cause harm.”

“Aye, that is also true. Ye are a wonder tae me, Idalia Buckland.”

Idalia smiled. “Shall we sleep? Tomorrow is another long day.”

“Aye,” Bran agreed and motioned for her to go ahead and get settled on the pallet. Once she was comfortable, he lay down beside her careful not to touch her. He did not trust himself when in such close proximity to her. He wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and kiss her. She had amazed him, made him want her more than he had ever wanted any other woman. She was special in ways he did not even understand, but he longed to know more about her. “Ye were good with the lad. Ye will make a good mother.”

“I do not wish to have children.”

“Ye dinnae wish tae have bairns o’ yer own?” he asked in disbelief.

She shook her head. “I do not.”

“Forgive me for asking this, lass, but why?”

“I have lost too much that I love. I could not bear to lose another person. If I had a child, then it would be in my heart always, and if anything ever happened to it, I would die along with it. I am not willing to commit my heart to another person. My sisters are all that I have left in this world, and they are all I need.”

“What o’ a husband? Most men want children tae carry on their blood.”

“I do not to wish to marry.”

“What do ye wish tae do?” He had never met a lass who did not wish to wed or have children before. Idalia was turning out to be a complete mystery to him.

“I wish to live out my days in the way of my people, but August Raymond has made that impossible.”

“If August Raymond were nae more?”

Idalia sighed wistfully. “I would rejoice at such a day.”

“As would I.”

They lay there in silence for a time, each thinking of a more peaceful time before August Raymond had entered their lives. An image of Mahala’s mother flashed through his mind, but he pushed it away. She was gone. She had been gone a long time. She had rejected him and left their daughter with a mad man. It was time that he let her go in his mind as he had long since done in his heart.

“We should sleep,” he advised, wishing to put all such thoughts from his mind.

He felt her shift beside him, rolling over onto her side facing away from him. “Rest well,” she murmured softly, then silence fell once more.

Bran lay there in the darkness and listened to Idalia breathing, soft and quiet. Her warmth radiated toward him in a comforting way that wrapped its tendrils around his body, seeping into his heart. He let his muscles relax, his body conforming to the floorboards beneath their pallet. The pain in his head throbbed in time with his heartbeat.

His mind turned back to Mahala, left alone without his protection back in the Romani encampment. It had turned out that August was not willing to act on the threat he had made against her. For that, Bran was greatly relieved, but he had no certain way to trust that such a thing would go on forever. He prayed it would at least last long enough for him to find a way to free her from August’s grasp.

Idalia sighed softly and his mind returned back to the woman lying next to him. She had been through a great deal and yet, in spite of his abducting her with the intent to turn her over to August Raymond, she had still cared enough to help him. She had cared more for his safety than her own.

She is a lass o’ exceptional abilities. I am beginning tae understand why August Raymond is drawn tae her. Any man would be after seeing what she did this night with that wee lad. She appears tae have saved his life. Any man who believes she is his will nae be willing tae let her go. August will ne’er let her go, and I was a fool tae believe he would. I should have kenned it was she he sought and nae another. If I am being honest with myself, it would nae made any difference if I had kenned it was she that I was tae take. The threat tae Mahala still would have held more sway than any other prior loyalties.

Returning home was not going to be easy. He had spent nearly his entire life in Orkney serving his laird. Now, he would be returning after he had been gone for more than a year and had abducted Idalia. There was no possibility of being welcomed back without doing some extensive explaining. I may never be allowed tae return.

CHAPTER NINE

Idalia awoke in the morning to the feel of a warm, beating heart beneath her cheek. Confused, she opened her eyes, to find she was laying half across the sleeping form of Bran. She looked up into his face and found him looking down at her. Before she could react, he bent his head and kissed her. Idalia found herself responding, wrapping her fingers in his chest hair.

In one swift motion, he pulled her the rest of the way on top of him. Idalia’s body responded to his touch with lighting fury. Desire coursed through her being and she moaned against his lips as his hands roved over her back and hips. His hand ventured further down, cupping her behind. Idalia pressed against him in her desire for him. When she felt his hardness against her, she was suddenly alarmed by her own wanton actions. She scurried off of him as quickly as she could manage.

“I am sorry,” she whispered, trying to straighten her attire and smooth hair into some semblance of order.

“I am nae sorry, nor should ye be.”