Scarlet Moon (Once Upon a Time) by Debbie Viguié Read Free Book Online Page A

her more closely, and his eyes narrowed. “Did someone tell you not to speak with me? Your father, perhaps?”
    She averted her eyes. “Where is your horse?” she asked.
    “I’m afraid I’m alone today.”
    “The woods are a dangerous place,” she warned. He was so close she could feel his breath.
    “Not for me,” he said in a low growl.
    The sound made her shiver. “They told me you are dangerous.”
    A strange look crossed his face and for a moment he looked in pain. “Whoever told you that was telling the truth.”
    “And I am a girl alone in the woods. If it is the truth, I would do well to heed their warnings.”
    He reached out quickly and grasped her forearm. She blanched as she felt his fingers pressing into her muscles. “If you are the same girl I met the other day, then you have little to fear from men in the woods and even less to fear from me”
    “And why is that?” she asked, unsure of his meaning.
    He smiled slowly, “Because you can take care of yourself. And because I would never consciously hurt you.”
    And what about unconsciously?
she wondered, but she said nothing.
    He took a step back and let go of her arm. “Where did you say you were off to?”
    “Grandmother’s house.”
    “Then I shall escort you,” he said, offering her his arm.
    She wanted desperately to trust him, but she also wanted to try and obey her father. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” she said finally, in a last effort to avoid prolonged contact.
    “Ah, but you and I are hardly strangers, are we? Come, come, I shall be a perfect gentleman.”
    Despite her best intentions, she laughed andimpulsively took his arm. “You promise not to bite?”
    The smile left his face instantly, and she shivered as he stared down at her. “Not today—today you are safe,” he whispered.
    She felt a chill run through her, and something deep inside her told her that she had seen those green eyes somewhere else. She shook her head to clear it and tried to keep her tone light. “In that case, escort away”
    “Your grandmother lives in the woods?” he asked at last.
    Ruth nodded. “She was banished before I was born. She was falsely accused of witchcraft.”
    She felt him stiffen, and fear brushed against her. “Of course that’s ridiculous,” she hastened to add. “My grandmother studies nature, medicine, the way things grow. Only the ignorant believe in witchcraft.”
    “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he said softly. “There are more things in this world than can be explained with reason.”
    “Spoken as a man who has seen some of them,” she teased.
    “That I have,” he whispered so quietly she had to strain to hear him.
    They finished the walk in silence, though Ruth was acutely aware of his elbow where it brushed her side and the play of the muscles in his arm beneath her fingertips.
    Just before they entered the clearing he suddenlystopped and turned to her. “I almost forgot, I have something for you.”
    Ruth tilted her head to the side, puzzled.
    From a small bag hanging from his belt he pulled out a rough cross, all four sides equal in length, attached to a chain of thin silver metal. “It belonged to my mother,” he explained. “I wanted you to have it as a payment, a thank you, for your help the other day.”
    “I did nothing more than what was needed,” she said, aghast. “And you already paid me for that more than generously.”
    “No, this isn’t for the horse. It is for your kindness. You did much more than you’ll ever know. Here,” he said, placing it at her throat. “Lift your hair,” he commanded.
    She obeyed, and he fastened the clasp behind her neck. He moved his hands and she let her hair fall back down. Reverently he touched the cross where it hung low on her throat.
    “Perfect,” he said. “I want you to have this. I pray to God that it will offer you protection in the days ahead.”
    She stared down at it for a moment before looking back up at him. “They tell