Donovan's Woman by Amanda Ashley Read Free Book Online

considered the unthinkable. He could slide into the bunk beside her and ease the ache her nearness aroused. He could keep her for himself until he tired of her and then take her home.
    He muttered a vile oath, disgusted that, after what he had endured at Serepta’s hands, he could even consider such a thing.
    Turning his back to her, he closed his eyes and forced himself to think about the route they would take tomorrow. It wouldn’t be an easy journey. There were cutthroats and robbers between here and the next town. With any luck, the storm he sensed would arrive before morning and keep the thugs in their holes.
    * * *
    At daybreak, they ate a quick breakfast, then left the cabin. After making sure the woman was safely settled in her seat, Gryff fired up the skiff’s engine. Overhead, lightning forked through the lowering clouds.
    He couldn’t help noticing that she kept as much distance between them as possible. Nor did he miss the surreptitious glances she cast his way once they were on the road. He grinned inwardly, amused and somewhat flattered. Maybe she wasn’t as upset by what she had seen the night before as he supposed.
    “So, princess,” he said as the skiff leveled out, “why don’t you tell me about yourself? You married? Betrothed?”
    “No.”
    It was obvious that she wasn’t in the mood to talk, leastwise not about herself. Or maybe just not to him.
    “Gonna be a mighty long, quiet trip, girl, if you won’t talk to me,” he remarked.
    She shrugged.
    “How about this? I ask you a question. You answer, and then you ask me a question. Where I come from, we call that conversation.”
    Stifling a grin, she smoothed a wrinkle from her skirt. “Are you married?”
    “No. Not now, not ever.”
    “What do you have against marriage?” she asked.
    “Nothing. It’s just not for me. My turn. Why does your brother want to kill you?”
    “He thinks I want something that he feels should rightfully be his.”
    “And you don’t want it?”
    “No. That’s why I’m going to Tarnn. Aren’t you going to get in trouble for leaving your job?”
    He shrugged. “I’m not afraid of trouble.” He slid a glance in her direction, his gaze moving over her in a way that made Marri’s toes curl. “If I was, I wouldn’t be with you.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “I can smell trouble a mile away, honey, and you reek of it from the top of your pretty red head to the soles of your feet.”
    Lips drawn in a tight line, she gave him a decidedly dirty look. “I have nothing more to say to you.”
    With a shrug, he turned his attention back to the road.
    Marri folded her arms over her chest, determined not to speak to him again. She didn’t mean to cause him trouble. After all, it wasn’t her fault that her brother wanted her dead. And if Gryff didn’t want her around, then he shouldn’t have offered to take her to Tarnn.
    Several silent miles passed.
    “Did you get all those scars in the arena?” she asked abruptly. Too late, she realized she had just admitted to spying on him the night before.
    He looked over at her, an amused expression in his deep brown eyes.
    Heat climbed up her neck and into her cheeks. Mortified, she looked out the window again.
    Silence again stretched between them. Marri chewed on her thumbnail. Maybe she should tell him everything. What difference would it make if he knew who she was? The immediate and obvious answer was: a big difference! He could demand a ransom from her father, or worse, from her brother. Her only protection was to keep him in the dark as to her real identity. Once they reached the abbey, she would be safe and she would never see him, or any other man, again.
    It was mid-morning when he stopped at a small tavern so they could get something to eat.
    When Gryff opened the door, every eye in the place turned in their direction. Suddenly uneasy, Marri pressed close to his side. Never in all her life had she seen such a group of rough-looking men. Most had shaggy