Unwilling to disturb Sin, Braden tiptoed backward until he knew he wouldn’t wake him.
As he drew closer to the camp, Braden forced himself not to look at Maggie. But it was difficult. He knew he had to keep distance between them, and yet it was the hardest thing he had ever tried to do in his life.
“While Sin is sleeping, I’m going to bathe,” he said to her, retrieving his pack from the ground.
He had to give Sin credit. His brother had done a remarkable job gathering most of their supplies before getting them out of Tara and her sisters’ clutches. But then, speed of action and quick thinking under pressure were Sin’s specialties.
When Maggie didn’t speak to him, he glanced at her. She sat quietly alone, not even paying him heed.
No doubt, I hurt her by ignoring her this morning. The pain of the thought sliced through him and inwardly, he cursed.
He should never have come on this trip. Never have volunteered to get the women out. If he hadn’t spent so much time with Maggie the last two days, then he would never have known how much she meant to him. He could have lived out the whole of his life in blissful ignorance.
Sighing, he headed through the trees to the stream they had been following.
He doffed his clothes, and waded in, but not even the coldness of the water could squelch the fiery need he had for her. Any more than it could take her from his mind.
Braden dove under the water and did his best to not think of red-headed nymphs who were capable of stealing men’s souls.
Maggie stared into the trees in the direction Braden had vanished. Her hands shook as she debated what she should do.
Go on, her mind urged. You already made the decision.
Aye, she had made it, but she had yet to act upon it. It was the acting that gave her trouble. She knew Braden wouldn’t turn her away.
But how would it change their relationship? Once she had carnal knowledge of him, they would never be able to go back to the way they had been before.
Of course, she really didn’t want to go back to being invisible around him.
What do you want?
“I want a miracle,” she whispered.
A full-blown, walk on water miracle. She wanted Braden to be hers. And if she survived the meeting with the MacDouglas, she didn’t want to kiss him good-bye and watch him wander off with another woman.
And if you die?
She trembled even more.
Closing her eyes, she tried to decide what to do. As she concentrated, an image of Braden holding her drifted through her mind. She could feel him, smell him.
Taste him.
All her life, she had wanted him, and him alone.
And it was then that she realized the full depth of her love for Braden. Nay, she couldn’t go to her grave or even another day without knowing the man who had stolen her heart.
Even if it ultimately meant letting him go, she wanted to know what it truly felt like to love him completely as a woman.
Her entire body shaking, Maggie rose slowly to her feet, then headed off through the trees in search of the only man she would ever love.
Braden grunted as he ran his hands through his sleek, wet hair. It felt good to be clean again. He bent at the waist to rinse his face. And as he straightened, he heard a slight splash behind him.
Before he could move, two shapely, wet arms encircled his waist and pulled him back against two perfectly round breasts that caressed the hollow of his back.
“Braden?”
He froze at the sound of Maggie’s voice in his ear as her moist, bare breasts burned a hole in his spine. He wanted to say something to her, but his throat was so tight, he could barely breathe.
