Untamed Read Free Page A

shoulder more firmly.
     
    Trystan wondered who the idiot was that had bound his tongue in cotton gauze. He managed to lick his lips and then swallow the water dribbled into his mouth. His response to the soft mush placed against his mouth was to turn his head away.
    “Keep still, please.” That husky voice of his dreams was back. “You must eat. Please, try,” the so-feminine voice begged. How could he refuse? He managed to consume most of the bowl before he slipped out of consciousness once more.
     
    Desarae set the bowl aside and consumed her crusty bun filled with sliced goat cheese. She drank a glass of milk then set the dishes back on the tray.
    “I will return, Athena,” Desarae promised, scooping up the tray and the lantern. “Guard the man.”
    The terrier whimpered once but was soon settled comfortably next to the bed. She only lifted her head when her mistress returned. She went out of the tent to do her business while Desarae laid out an oiled cloth on the grass. On top of the cloth she placed a thick folded blanket. A pillow was dropped on one end. Desarae tucked a quilt over the man so he wouldn’t be cold in the middle of the night. She shook out the other quilt, wrapped it about her nightgown-encased figure and lay down on her pillow. Athena returned and crawled over beside her mistress to share her warmth before she fell asleep.
    “It is strange, is it not, Athena?” Desarae whispered as she turned down the lantern wick until it was almost extinguished. “To have a man—a very fine specimen, to be sure—other than Jim on the isle again.” Desarae fell silent. Her next words were spoken in a gasping rush. “I’m a little afraid of him, Athena…I…I…do not know what he will be like, you see?” she breathed, hugging the colorful quilt about her more tightly. “I’m excited too…because, well, because he is different…because he is beautiful…because I feel different when I am around him,” she explained. “I’ll be twenty-one in two days…you thought I had forgotten my age, did you not, old friend?” Desarae challenged softly. She tucked her hair behind her small shell-shaped ear. It was inadequate for her purpose and the unruly hair easily slipped free. “Twenty-one, Athena…too old to be afraid…But…not too old to be excited,” she confessed.

Chapter Two
     
    T rystan moaned and rolled over, promptly falling out of a low, narrow truckle bed. He grunted and lifted a hand trembling with weakness to rasp it across his beard. He dug his fists into his eyes and rubbed the sleep from the corners even as he moaned once more. Oh, Lord, I feel like last year’s salt pork.
    A wet tongue slid across his cheek causing Trystan’s eyes to snap open. Blinking rapidly, his eyes adjusted to the red light beneath the coverlet that formed a crude tent. They turned and met big brown eyes, shaggy fur, and a cold wet nose.
    “Hello,” he croaked. Trystan grimaced and cleared his throat. The dog’s bark reverberated across his aching head.
    Trystan untangled himself from the bedclothes, wondering under his breath at his strange lodgings. A book fell onto his foot. He winced, picked it up, and read the title: Fragmemta Auria, A Collection of All the Incomparable Pieces Written by Sir John Suckling. Hunh , he thought, impressed, mother has this book . He carefully put the old book down on the bed and then his hands smoothed the fine cotton nightshirt he wore while he attempted to take his bearings.
    He remembered little—just images really: a looming angel, wings outstretched; a persistent feminine voice; a blurry woman’s face above his as he ate something soft and sweet. He sat now on the ground beside a truckle bed set up outside, not in a bedchamber. His heels dug into the damp, cool grass. How did I manage to survive? Has the Lady May sunk along with her crew, cargo, and passengers? His stomach muscles clenched. He had not cared for his passengers, but he had loyal friends among his