Bound to the Wolf Prince Read Free Page A

didn’t feel at all safe, though she was beginning to think that the sea posed less danger than the man at her side. She tried to edge away, but the narrowness of the seat constrained her. Though the tiller was between them, his thigh touched hers. It was cold in the force of the wind but she could feel heat emanate from his near-naked body.
    Eoin scanned the horizon, his night-sight probing the haar-encrusted outlook. “Kentarra is more than a day’s sail from here. Perhaps you’d prefer to ride out the storm on dry land?”
    â€œOf course I would, but where? There is no land anywhere near.”
    Eoin smiled with satisfaction as his eyes alighted on the tiny islet, no more than a dot on the horizon. “You just need to know where to look,” he said, adjusting the tiller and the sail.
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    It was tiny, no more than a large outcrop of rock, but a small stand of trees on the summit offered the prospect of some welcome shelter. They beached the boat and clambered up the steeply shelving shore, then Eoin gathered some wood and made a fire, by which Freya huddled gratefully, spreading her skirts to dry.
    Beside her, Eoin was quite unaffected by the weather. Leaning back on his elbows, he looked at Freya afresh. Three months, she had been away from her kinfolk, yet she seemed remarkably self-possessed. “Did they harm you?” he asked.
    Freya shrugged. “When they first captured me they threatened to, if I did not submit. But the Earl of Tarbert knows as well as I do that a marriage without consent can easily be annulled.”
    â€œYou seem well versed in the laws of matrimony.”
    â€œAs an heiress, I’ve little choice. I’m twenty years old, and I feel like I’ve spent my life being pursued, by both fair means and foul. A bride with a bounty such as mine is irresistible, it seems.”
    â€œYou do yourself an injustice if you think your money is your only attraction,” Eoin said softly.
    â€œI would be a fool if I thought otherwise. I have yet to meet a man whose interest in me would survive my penury.”
    â€œI can’t believe that.”
    â€œNo? Would you believe someone who declared they’d fallen in love with you after an hour? Who claimed to be so madly in love that they would have you elope, lest your father object? Who actually forgot, halfway through his proposal, what your name was? Aye, you can laugh,” Freya said with a reluctant smile, “but it’s true. He called me Flora.”
    â€œFreya suits you better.”
    â€œIt was my mother’s name. My fortune is hers too, it passed to me when she died during my birth. My father has made it his life’s mission to keep it in the Ogilvie clan, producing an endless succession of kin claiming eternal devotion.”
    Eoin leaned over and touched her cheek. “Perhaps if you gave one of these suitors a chance, they’d prove themselves worthy.”
    Freya’s mouth puckered. “Do you think I’ve not thought of that? Three months, I’ve been stuck in that tower, do you think I’ve not had ample time for reflection?” She rubbed her foot. Under her stocking, she could feel the mark burning. “But they all know my situation before I meet them. How could I ever be sure that they wanted me for myself?”
    Eoin himself had never been anything other than sought after, even before his brother Struan dramatically abdicated and left Kentarra. Since then, his Alpha status ensured that he was the object of every Faol female’s attentions. Strangely, though he had previously been much inclined to partake of whatever delights were offered, his new status had quenched his desires. Partly, this was because he took his duties as prince extremely seriously, but it was also true that he found such automatic attraction tedious. Where was the challenge when success was guaranteed? Freya’s confession struck a chord. “It must be