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Ewen tugged at the neck of his shirt That lapse of concentration had al As it was, he had a rather deep wound on his neck to show for it, which he was currently finding to be an inconvenience

No, he definitely did not need this wo a ravity itself pulls water over a cliff’s edge And anyone can see all the good that does the water Besides, his days of succu to the attractions of wo the daht by such like this Lily

Lily’s eyes fluttered open as Eas setting her down by the side of a lake "Wake yourself, lass The o no farther till daylight I’ll not risk Ares catching his hoof in a rut and going laentleness in his voice unsettled her, the soft roll of his accent pitched to her ears alone The unexpected intimacy of it sent a shiver over her skin, yet the heat that suffused her in its as as intense as any peat fire

Mistaking her tre for a chill , Ewen set up camp with an efficient focus that spoke of aoff the land Lily merely stared wide -eyed at the vision of the Scottish warrior as heAres ’s tack, s leaves for rasped one end of his tartan and unfurled it Yards and yards of red plaid wool billowed to the ground, leaving hi short of beautiful Despite his injury, despite the frost in the air, he stood tall in the darkness, hs tostill in the night, fortified by an inner tranquility and courage Ewen pinned her with his gaze, unconsciously raking a hand through his long black hair, and Lily thought she would be undone

"Aye, you’re looking a bit dazed, lass I fear the fever froed a wordless nod

He stalked toward her with a driven glint in his eyes, and she watched the scene unfold with a dreahs were cut with the same steely muscle that she had felt in the rest of his body His feet ed terrain, like an aniot closer, Lily noticed that his shirt had beco the smooth chest beneath He bent down, and the smell of him filled her senses, the scent of a h the day, all h her, the flah her body, asfro-clenched from reserved isolation, released in a rush of physical need

Erapped his ar her buttocks with his other hand, lifted her effortlessly into his arh from between parted lips opened herself to hi water assaulted her senses The pain of he r wounds radiated anew, stoked by her anger and the frigid water, and white -hot agony tore up her legs and settled in her joints as Ewen dangled her feet and hands in the lake

"What the hell are you doing?" Screa at him, Lilyfrom the trance she had been under just a moment earlier

"Shush, Lil’ " Nobody, but nobody, had ever called her that How dare he? Where did this et off? And was that a smile on his face?

"I’ve hadcompared to what you ’ll feel if we don ’t wash these now I ’d like to save this big foot of yours if I can "

Save her foot? The reality of her situation crashed down on Lily with renewed force She was in the pastNo doctors No antibiotics Nointo life-threatening injuries

And, dariers and wounded foot Eventually the frigid water began to soothe her powder-burned hands and feeling returned to her fingertips Although she esti pain below her knee was pure anguish Cartilage had torn the sole of her foot when she so savagely broke the soldier’s nose and the resulting gash was deep, and still oozing blood

She thought back in wonder to the scene earlier How could she have sustained such a serious injury and not fully noticed it until now? A prih her She had clawed, kicked, and fought for her life And here she was She was the survivor

Such e since she so naively opened herself to what she thought was going to be a ro a little eain thought with aht for her life and survived It was surely just a combination of adrenaline and the heady power of victory and escape that had ist could point to a connection foruided seduction fantasy

For sothrough the world Her grandmother had chided her, "You’re not just a head on a pair of shoulders, Lily Haet some fresh air, and enjoy life a little " Instead she had chosen a self-imposed exile from her own physicality and creative spirit

But now, somehow, this otten instincts She would wear her newly discovered physical and liht just keep tucked away as her own personal treasure

Ewen set her down beneath a large birch tree She leaned back against the peeling gray bark, nestling into the leaves he had piled intoSoft with rot and daly co in the rich, woodsy smells around her She couldn’t re For someone who had just shot aunder th at " Ewen indicated a dense bushy area Though she assumed that he didn ’t have any tents hidden about, Lily could not see for the life of her what the that was that he was pointing to