Isle of Mull 03 - To Love a Warrior

Isle of Mull 03 - To Love a Warrior by Lily Baldwin Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Isle of Mull 03 - To Love a Warrior by Lily Baldwin Read Free Book Online
Authors: Lily Baldwin
MacKinnon. Then he had been a young man with only seventeen years to his credit. Now at two and twenty, he had lost the remnants of the boy. Before her stood a formidable man. His black leather jerkin fitted across his broad chest. His wavy black hair had grown and now gleamed beneath the sun, falling past his shoulders. She thought he never appeared more handsome. He was strong, fierce and mesmerizing.
    “Where is the wee lass, I remember?” he said. “Before me stands a woman.” His eyes searched hers and then traveled the length of her tall frame. She recognized the glimmer of appreciation in his eyes. She dipped her head to conceal the blush that warmed her cheeks, but then she regretted the loss of his gaze. Her eyes found his once more. She stood straight and tall. She would not hide from him.
    He took a step forward. His closeness thrilled and terrified her all at once. She stopped breathing as she watched his hand reach out and then his fingers grazed her cheek. He smelled of the sun and the sea, of faraway lands and adventure. Her chest tightened against the desire his touch inflamed. The wind picked up and whipped her hair into a frenzy. She closed her eyes and laughed as the strands covered her face.
    “You have vanished,” he said, his voice deep and unhurried. The allure of his strange accent washed over her. He brushed the hair from her eyes, then withdrew a strip of leather from a satchel that hung across his chest. Circling her, he stood at her back, gathering her thick mane in his hand. While he fought the wind to contain her hair, his fingers brushed her neck and throat, sending a rush of sensation down her spine. When he set about tying the leather, he drew closer, and she could feel the heat of his body behind her. Her heart raced. She breathed in his smell. His heat and scent surrounded her. She felt as though she were under siege, but never had an assault been more welcome. And then his hand gripped her waist. The touch was fleeting. Just as suddenly, he was gone, but the pressure of his hand remained.
    For a moment, she did not know herself. Her hands hung useless at her side. Her eyes fixated on the choppy water, and she listened intently to the ship rapping against the side of the dock.
    “Nellore,” a voice called, breaking through the haze of her thoughts.
    Her mother and father were standing arm and arm and looking at her expectantly.
    “Aye, mum,” she answered.
    “I do not trust ye by the docks alone,” Brenna said as she wrapped her arm around Duncan’s waist. “Ye’re liable to sail off in search of trouble.”
    Logan walked over to her and took her hand in his. “Good and calloused,” he said as he examined her palm. “Ye’ve continued your training.”
    “I swear if ye start encouraging the lass again, Logan, I will beat the life out of ye. Do ye ken?” Duncan said. His tone held a warning his smile could not hide.
    “’Tis too late for that,” Logan said, clearly undeterred. “I’d wager these hands have gripped a sword every day since we left. And besides, look at the lass. She’s as tall as any warrior.”
    “She is that,” Garik said. Her heart raced. She could feel his eyes on her body. They burned where they touched as though his hands caressed her skin. Her eyes left his, and she suddenly was very aware that everyone stared at her, except for Rose. She looked to Logan. Embarrassed, thinking they had all read her mind, she cleared her throat and joined her mum and da. Pressing a kiss to Duncan’s cheek she said, “I’ve missed ye so much, Da.” Duncan pulled Nellore and Brenna close. Then he reached past Logan and grabbed Rose, also pulling her to his chest. His black eyes gleamed. “I’ve missed all my bonny lasses,” he said.
    They walked together toward the village, meeting kinfolk along the way. Joyful word of the warriors return had spread throughout the village. Anna, Bridget’s daughter, rushed past them without a word, her eyes and heart

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