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hair draped over his face. She wanted to brush it aside to see if he was smiling. Messing with her. Anything to ease her racing heart.
    “What curse is this? Ye swear ye are not a—”
    “I’m not a witch, Cade.”
    He muttered something, but she couldn’t make out his words over Tex crashing through the underbrush. She grabbed the leash and scrunched her nose. “Ugh, you stink.” The dog responded with a yap and leaned into her while she scratched him behind his ears. Cade didn’t even look up.
    “Hey, we can figure this out.”
    He raised his head. “We?”
    Oddly enough, she wished to kiss the worry from his eyes, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Yeah. I was the one to find you.” She shrugged and nudged him. “Finders keepers and all.”
    He chuckled and patted Tex. Both Cade and Sage jumped at the dog’s piercing howl.
    He snatched his hand away and stood. “I hurt him! Ye speak the truth, ‘tis my touch. God’s eyes, did ye curse me?”
    She jumped up. “No! I don’t know why your touch—” She nearly confessed how it made her want to kiss him, run her fingers through that dark hair, find out what lay beneath his strange clothes. Made her want to make love to him. Discover him. And herself. “Listen.” She paused, hoping he wouldn’t deem her a nut case. “I think have this figured out.”
    Tex barked and ran in circles, wrapping the leash around their ankles.
    “The poor cur, I have driven Tex mad with my touch.”
    “Get a grip,” she said, trying to free their legs. “He’s fine.”
    His eyes widened. “This is natural behavior? Running about like a fool for nay apparent reason?”
    “It is for Tex.” She plopped on her bottom to untangle the leash, dismayed at the crack of her sunglasses. For once she appreciated her dog’s idiocy because it interrupted what she was about to say. Cade already suspected she was a witch. If she told him what was on her mind it would no doubt freak him out even more.
    He seemed to read her thoughts. “What is thy explanation?” He offered to help her up, then jerked his hand away the moment she was on her feet.
    “Wait, don’t move.” Entranced, she ran her finger along his palm. An odd waver distorted the air around it.
    He sucked in a breath. “Sage, ye know not what ye toy with.”
    She peered up at him from behind her lashes. “Oh?” She tickled his wrist with her fingertips. Her whole arm vibrated from the inside out. “I think I do.”
    He shook his head. “I feel...” His Adam’s apple bobbed with a hard swallow.
    “I feel it too.” She brought his hand to the bare skin above her tank top. The force of the emitting tremors to each breast made her moan in ecstasy. It felt as if she’d been lifted from the ground, but she could see she hadn’t moved. Oh, but the warm, heady feeling seeped from her chest to her stomach...and below.
    He snatched her wrist and pulled her into his arms. The heat of passion pulsated and shot tiny jolts throughout her whole body. Sage knew she wasn’t one to make herself so available, but something about Cade erased any residual trust issues. And it scared the crap out of her. She barely knew this guy, yet felt the oddest connection.
    “I want you.” There. She said it.
    “Ye are a wicked maiden.” His breath heaved with each punctuated word.
    Wicked or not, reasoning evaporated and her body took over. Tex’s tail thumped the ground in rhythm with her rapid heartbeat. Time staggered with anticipation And then Cade’s lips met hers.

Chapter Two
    Cade’s body felt liquefied, as if shimmering water cascaded into his veins and carried him into rolling rapids. Imaginings of Sage lying in his arms, crying out this name, flooded his mind. Defiantly dismissing the images, he relished the feel of their tongues and bodies discovering each other. He could not stop, and realized he did not wish to. She was a stranger, different from any woman he’d known. She cursed like a rough warrior,