Cast Love Aside by Flora Speer Read Free Book Online Page B

before she continued on her way.
    Meanwhile, Magnus held tightly to the net,
keeping the rowboat in place at the side of the Daisy.
    “Your turn,” he said to Lilianne. “Get on
board as fast as you can. Captain Piers will want to depart as soon
as possible.”
    Lilianne threw the folds of her cloak back
over her shoulders. Stretching both arms up as high as she could,
she grasped the net. She placed her bare feet into the net, curling
her toes around the crosswise ropes and slowly lifted herself
upward.
    “Don't look down,” Magnus warned. “Just keep
moving.”
    Raising his voice, he gave an order to
someone on the deck above and the line holding Erland tightened.
Lilianne disobeyed Magnus to look down as Erland's unconscious form
was lifted out of the rowboat. She was only a few feet above the
little craft and looking back wasn't at all frightening. Magnus
began to climb along with his prisoner, using one hand as needed to
steady Erland's body and keep him from banging against the ship.
Quickly, before Magnus could notice she had stopped, Lilianne
continued upward.
    She found climbing the net much more
difficult than she expected. But with Magnus beside her, she felt
safe until, halfway up the side of the ship, she disobeyed him for
the second time and glanced downward again.
    This time the view was very different. With
no one holding the rowboat close to the Daisy, it had
drifted free to swing at the end of the line Braedon had secured,
so it trailed some distance after the larger vessel. Thus, when
Lilianne looked down all she saw was black, oily water swirling far
below. To make matters worse, someone on deck shouted a command to
raise the anchor. Winches groaned and the Daisy began to
swing around. Lilianne gulped, clinging to the net and unable to
move or cry out.
    “Don't stop.” Magnus's voice was stern. “Keep
climbing.”
    As soon as she was capable of once again
making a sound, she intended to tell him that she couldn't move
another inch. But just as she opened her mouth, Magnus reached her
level on the net. Almost casually he laid his left arm across her
back to twist his hand into the net below her left shoulder. His
left hip and thigh pressed hard against her trembling form.
    “I told you not to look down,” he said. “Are
you all right?”
    “Of course I am,” she cried, trying to
disguise the tremor in her voice. “Why would you think
otherwise?”
    “Because you’re afraid of falling into the
water.”
    “I am not!” she declared, hoping he wouldn't
realize she was lying.
    “Move up the net,” Magnus told her.
    Flustered by his remarkably intimate
closeness, which she found entirely too disturbing, Lilianne began
to climb again. She told herself she was eager to get away from
Magnus. She didn't know he intended to climb with her. As she
dragged herself upward he unwound his hand from the net and let it
stroke along her back to her waist. She felt the weight of it
through all the layers of her woolen clothing. She caught her
breath and paused again.
    “Go on,” Magnus urged. “I cannot hold you and
guide Erland along at the same time. Since you are awake and he is
not, you must be the one to move.”
    “I know.” She turned her head as she spoke.
The movement brought her lips almost to his mouth. Magnus's breath
was warm on her cheek. She clutched at the net a little harder. A
sudden sharp jab in her hand broke the spell of closeness. Lilianne
cried out in pain.
    “What now?” Magnus demanded, sounding
distinctly annoyed.
    “It's nothing. Just a splinter.”
    “See to it later,” he commanded. “This is not
the place.”
    Without another word she scrambled upward,
trying not to notice the way Magnus's hand remained at her waist
for a moment, as if to guide her and offer unspoken support. As she
moved away from him, his hand slid down, over her hip, thigh and
calf. The touch of his calloused fingers on her naked ankle shocked
her senses. Lilianne bit her lip to keep herself from