“Except let me kill Robby MacDouglas.”
She grew quiet as she mulled over his words.
“Perhaps I judged you harshly. Perhaps I should hate him for the deaths of my brothers. If not for him and his bloodlust they would be alive now. But somewhere deep inside him, there must be a part that wants an end to this as much as we do. Surely after five years of fighting, he must be weary of it. Aren’t you?”
He didn’t respond.
“Braden?”
“I’m thinking on it.”
She turned to look at him, her face incredulous. “You still want to fight?”
“There is something to be said for it.”
Her eyes burned bright in frustration and she growled low in her throat, then she pushed at his shoulder.
Braden laughed as he pretended to tussle with her.
“Do I need to go for a stroll?” Sin’s voice cut into their play.
“Nay,” Maggie said quickly, moving away from him. “I am merely trying to kill your brother.”
“Ever the charmer, eh, Braden?”
“Hold your tongue, Sin.”
“I would, but with my luck, one of your giant Scottish bugs would land on it. Besides, it makes my hand wet and pruny when I do that.”
Braden rolled his eyes, wishing he had something close enough to toss at Sin.
Maggie laughed softly.
“Good night, Braden,” she said, returning to her original position.
“Good night, little blossom,” he whispered. But inside, he knew a night without her kiss could never be called good.
A few hours later, Maggie awoke with a start to find Braden’s arms wrapped protectively around her. At some point in the night, they had drifted even closer together and she lay perfectly entwined with him before the fire.
An odd, foreign need beat at the center of her body as she enjoyed the strange sensation of his masculine thigh pressing high between her own. Oh but it was a wicked, wicked feeling. One she was certain a young woman shouldn’t be experiencing with a man not her husband.
At first, she wasn’t sure what had awakened her until she realized Sin was just behind them.
He stooped and gently nudged Braden awake.
Maggie quickly closed her eyes and feigned sleep.
“Your watch, little brother,” Sin whispered softly.
She felt Braden stiffen as he came awake and wondered if their position shocked him as much as it had her.
Carefully, he extracted himself from her and to her amazement, he placed a folded plaid beneath her head to cushion it from the ground. The tenderness of the gesture touched her deeply.
The two men stood over her and she felt the stares of both. Uncomfortable with their attention, she started to say something, but for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to betray the fact that she was no longer sleeping.
“I canna believe she cut her hair off,” Braden whispered.
“She is definitely unusual.”
