She moaned silently, wondering if the time would come when she surrendered to herself in Brogan’s arms.
8
Annis slipped quietly out of the cottage, leaving Una snoring lightly. Sunrise was just touching the horizon and with any luck she would reach the hills before the light completely drove the darkness away. She cast a quick glance at the fire where Brogan and Iver slept, but with the fire having died down it was difficult to see them. She did not want to take the chance and make sure he was sleeping, for fear of waking him. It was better to be on her way and, pulling her hood up on her head, she hurried her steps.
She smiled as she reached the outskirts of the village, proud of her victory.
“Thought to sneak away without me, did you?”
Annis scrunched her face in frustration, then turned to face Brogan. He stood with his arms folded across his chest and a devilish grin on his handsome face. “I feared we would be delayed yet another day if I waited for you to wake.”
His finger shot out to point at her. “Your nose wrinkled.”
She stopped her hand from going to her face. She actually did not know if her nose did wrinkle when she fibbed or if he knew her well enough to know when she did fib.
“What happened to the trust you had in me?”
Hurt and annoyance mingled with his words, and she shook her head. “It is not that I don’t trust you.”
“It is just that you believe the witch wants to see only you and I will not let you go there alone,” Brogan said.
“Exactly,” she said, pleased he understood and decided now was a good time to tell him about the message. “I know the witch wants to speak with me and me alone because Nolan delivered a message from her to me, and that message was meant for my ears alone.”
He threw his hands up. “You tell me this just now? How can you believe Nolan? He was recovering from a drunken stupor. Oh, and just to make it clear, you are right. I will not let you go alone. I will not take that chance,” he said with a sternness that bordered on a command.
She groaned, frustrated and let loose her tongue. “You have no right to dictate to me. No right to commandeer my quest. This is for me to believe whoever I wish to believe and to do it the way I choose, not you.”
One wide step with his long legs had Brogan in front of her. “I have every right to keep you from being foolhardy.”
“Nay! You do not, and who are you to decide if I am being foolhardy?” she accused.
Your husband, he wanted to shout, but chose a different response, one that would not cause a battle. “Someone who cares deeply for you and lives in fear of you being harmed.”
Her mouth opened to speak, but there was only silence. She shook her head confused. “You care deeply for me?”
“Aye. I know it is difficult for you to believe how a charming man like me can care for such a stubborn woman—OW!” He rubbed his arm where Annis punched him. “You punch me when I tell you I care deeply for you?”
“Stubborn? You tell me you care deeply for me even though I am stubborn?”
He grinned. “I am glad you see the truth for yourself.”
Annis went to punch him again, but he grabbed her wrist and yanked her against him, then lowered his lips to hers. The kiss caught her off guard, yet the power of it, or her own desire, or perhaps a bit of both, welcomed it.
Brogan lingered in the kiss, not eager to end it. When he finally did, he rested his brow to hers to whisper, “I have missed your luscious lips since we last kissed yesterday. Though it was not that long ago, it has felt like ages to me. Kissing you, mo ghràdh, is like breathing—I cannot go long without it—without you.”
Words were lost to Annis, Brogan’s words wrapping around her heart to squeeze it tight. How did she respond? She knew not what to say. She chose to be honest. “I do not know what to say.”
Brogan raised his head and smiled. “My kiss and words leave you speechless, that says it all.”
Annis shook her head and laughed lightly. “You find the good in my ineptness.”
“It is easy to find good where so much good already exists.”
“No man has ever spoken with such favor to me.”
“I am not just any man—” Brogan’s smile vanished, and he stepped away from her. He shook his head. “I am a condemned man, and I should warn you away from me.”
Her heart squeezed tight and the need to protect him rose like a majestic beast inside her, and she was reminded that it was not only her sister she needed to save from the curse but Brogan and others as well.