Captured by Desire Read Free Page A

group, but the man refused to listen. The others seemed to debate whether they would continue on with him and Jules or go with their friend.
    “I’ve only paid you half the money,” Jules reminded the five remaining men. “If you leave now, I won’t pay you another penny.”
    That made their decision. For the moment. Cristian knew that frightened men would let their fear rule them sooner or later. There would come a time when nothing he or Jules said could convince them to stay.
    He turned back the mountain and she walked beside him. “Should I let them go?”
    “No. We need them.”
    She bit her lip. “They’re frightened, Cristian. They know something is out there.”
    “So do you, but you aren’t running back to the village.”
    She smiled wryly and looked up at him through her lashes. “True, but I’m an Englishwoman.”
    Cristian found himself chuckling at her response. “You might not be so brave once that thing out there finds us.”
    “I have you to be brave for me.”
    He glanced at her, surprised at her words. They warmed him deep in his chest. It was an emotion he both craved and feared. “You don’t even know me.”
    “I’m a good judge of character. I’ve learned to be since my father never was. He gets buried in his work and would forget to eat if I didn’t set a plate in front of him.”
    “So, without him you don’t feel needed.”
    She gave an unladylike snort. “Lest you forget, you don’t know me either. I won’t deny, however, that I do feel needed with my father, but that isn’t why I’m looking for him. He gave me stability when my world was knocked off kilter. He was the lone person who stood beside me when others turned their backs. What kind of daughter would I be if I didn’t look for my father?”
    He didn’t have an answer for her. “You seem the type of woman who does what she wants, regardless of society’s rules. I gather that’s what made others turn their backs on you?”
    She lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “It doesn’t matter now.”
    But he could see that it still affected her in more ways than she realized. He admired her strength and courage in an age where women were dictated to by society. She was a rare gem, one that he was surprised hadn’t been snatched up by a man already.
    If he was in the market for a wife, Cristian admitted that he would fix his gaze on her. There was something about Jules Little that made his blood heat and his cock thicken with raw need and wild longing.
    But he wasn’t looking for a wife.
    His parents had been lucky when they’d found each other, but it had been a chance meeting. In all his thirty-two years, Cristian had never found a woman that wouldn’t run screaming from him once she learned what he truly was.
     
    * * * *
     
    It wasn’t until the sun lowered in the sky that the men began to grumble again, not that Cristian could blame them. The higher they had climbed on the mountain, the less and less animals they had seen. To make matters worse, he had lost his parents’ trail.
    All in all, it wasn’t a good sign. If he was honest with himself, he’d make Jules return to the village – even if he had to carry her there himself.
    At midnight, Cristian stood to take his watch. He paused beside Jules to see her on her side facing the fire. The need to touch her was so great, he fisted his hands and remained still.
    Once he was in control, he drew in a deep breath and stepped out of the firelight. He blended into the darkness, searching for a sign that the evil was near. There was no doubt it was out there watching them, waiting for a chance to strike.
    The farther up the mountain they climbed, the deeper into its territory they walked. But Cristian had no other choice. He had to find his parents, and their trail led this way. Although deep down, he knew they would have returned had they been able.
    Whatever had gotten them, he intended to make it pay.
     
    * * * *
     
    Jules woke after a restless night