Midnight's Seduction Read Free Page B

he saw her shoulders relax a fraction before she walked around the table to sit next to Fiona and Braden.
    Camdyn wanted her to know who he was, but how could she? She only knew his voice, not his face. Why he’d wanted her to recognize him, Camdyn couldn’t begin to fathom. But it made him uncomfortable.
    He surreptitiously glanced at Saffron to find Fiona and Braden both talking to her.
    It was because of Isla’s magic of shielding the castle from view, as well as keeping the mortals from aging, that the Druids, including Fiona and Braden, who had been at the castle over four hundred years, hadn’t grown older.
    Camdyn didn’t blame Fiona and Braden from staying at the castle. The world had changed drastically since they took refuge in the castle in the seventeenth century, and with Deirdre still out there hunting Druids, it was better to stay hidden.
    But he couldn’t help but wonder what they would do when Deirdre was gone. There was still Declan to consider, but Declan didn’t hunt Druids for their magic as Deirdre did.
    Once Deirdre was gone, Declan was next on their list.
    The thought of Declan reminded Camdyn of Saffron. He’d never forget how he’d first found her, chained and half starved, how she had quivered in his arms when he’d broken the chains and lifted her.
    She’d been frightened by him, but despite the horror Declan had put her through, she had gathered her courage and wrapped her arms around Camdyn’s neck.
    He’d been the only one who could gain access to Saffron’s prison because of his power to move the earth, and that was how he’d become her rescuer. Or so he told himself.
    The truth was, once he saw her, he’d wanted to be the one to free her, the one to bring her out of the darkness. Camdyn wasn’t sure why, nor did he understand this yearning he had to be near her in case she needed him.
    Saffron had proved to be adept and courageous. Yet, regardless—or maybe in spite of that—Camdyn kept a close eye on her at all times.
    Out of the corner of his eye he watched as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was a nervous gesture she probably didn’t even know about. But her anxiety caught his attention.
    “How do you feel, Saffron?” Quinn asked.
    Saffron’s tawny eyes shifted to the youngest MacLeod. “Better now that Declan’s magic is gone, Quinn.”
    Quinn chuckled. “How did you know who I was?”
    “Your voice,” she answered.
    One by one Camdyn watched her call out each person’s name after they spoke to her. Her shoulders relaxed each time, and her smile grew more genuine.
    Inwardly he nodded as realization dawned. She had been afraid.
    That was something Camdyn hadn’t expected. As long as Saffron had been at the castle she’d had an iron will, an unbreakable attitude.
    However, it wasn’t the first time Camdyn had seen a chink in her armor. No one but he knew of the nightmares she suffered, and he only knew because he heard her in the lonely hours of the night when he walked the corridors of the castle.
    He’d been unable to stay away from her strangled cry that first night. Every night since then he had gone to her. He did nothing but lay a hand on her forehead, but that seemed to calm her.
    Until the next night.
    At first it had been just to quiet her, and then he’d needed to touch her, to see her. He dared only to touch her forehead, but he’d come to love the feel of her thick hair and the way it fell against the pillow. He’d come to need the sound of her soft breath as she fell into a dreamless sleep.
    Camdyn had tried not to see her bare legs that had kicked at the covers, or see the dusky nipple that poked through her white tank.
    He’d tried and failed.
    A flood of heat seared through his body as the memory of her lithe body flashed in his mind.
    He cocked his head to the side as he studied her. Would she have more nightmares now that Declan’s black magic was gone? More importantly, could he keep away from her?
    Suddenly, her tawny