Read Online Seduced by Sophia Johnson - Free Book Online Page A

weak."
    She set a handful of clean, wrapped linens on
the table. His bed looked like, like... She turned her back to him
and motioned to Maud with her eyes. Had they not changed the
bedding after she had left?
    He silently walked closer to her. A flush
crept up her throat and heated her face. Was the full-of-himself
Scot strutting about naked? She stole a glance from the corner of
her eye.
    "Ye blush. I didna think ye were the sort to
shift yer eyes from a naked man."
    "You are not naked." Letia frowned.
    "And ye are disappointed?"
    "That is fool's talk. Why would you think
it?"
    "Ye frowned."
    She sucked her teeth. If it were true, she
would hardly be disappointed from the view. Raik was a fine-bodied
man, as fine and strong as the warhorse he rode. From what she had
seen when tending his wounds, and what she had felt last night, she
did not have to gaze at him to see his body.
    He stretched his arms out, bent his elbows
and lifted his hands as if he asked her a question with them. His
muscles bunched at the shoulders and he flinched, bringing her
thoughts back to where they belonged.
    "Are ye through, lady?"
    "Through? Sit. I have not even looked at your
shoulder today. You should not stretch the wound, for it is only
now growing together."
    As he padded over to sit on the chair beside
the window, she studied him. His skin, a deep brown from the sun,
was firm over a broad, muscled chest that tapered to a flat, hard
belly. A drying cloth covered what had given her such pleasure
during the night.
    She steeled herself to approach him. Maud had
placed all she needed there on the table, close to Letia's hands.
The knot that held the bandage around his shoulder and chest had
pulled tight during his fervor the past night. She had to cut it
away.
    He had loomed over her in the dark, his arms
on either side of her head. Doing so had stretched the bandage to
its limit. Her hands began to tremble.
    She motioned for Maud to finish removing it
as she stood behind him. 'Twould be dangerous if he learned she was
afeared of him. Glancing up, she met Giles' questioning look. To
quiet any suspicion he might harbor, she curled her lip when she
looked at Raik's back and shook her head, acting as if she would as
soon not touch the man.
    A shaft of sunlight fell on Raik's head,
highlighting his shiny long hair. It was healthy and full, a deep
brown. Where the sun struck it, it appeared near black.
    Once Maud removed the bindings, Letia washed
her hands in the basin Giles brought to her. She cautiously peeled
off the pads covering the wound. She worked down to the last one
then stopped.
    Guilt gave her a sharp twinge, for dried
blood held the cloth to his flesh.
    "You should not have banged on the door
earlier," Giles scolded. "You made your wound bleed."
    "That puny exercise didna make it bleed,"
Raik muttered.
    "Well, then, what..."
    "Giles, empty the basin," Letia interrupted.
"I need hot water."
    Silently, he tossed the water out the window
opening and did as she asked. Holding a clean pad of linen with her
fingertips, she dunked it in the water and drew it back.
    Below full, black brows, Raik's gaze drew
hers to meet his. They were strange eyes. She had heard that if you
stared into them, they could hold a person in a trance. Likely,
naught but lust-smitten women felt so. Not tempting fate, she
spared him no more than quick glances.
    "What flowers do ye grow in yer garden,
lady?"
    Puzzled, she glanced up to find him staring
at her.
    "As many as we can coax to grow."
    "What, then, are yer favorites?"
    She bit her lower lip, thinking. Mayhap he
felt the need to talk after being in this room alone. Nay. The man
was not pining for someone to talk with. Near every woman in the
keep added his room to their rounds each day. 'Twas a wonder they
did not trip over each other in their comings and goings. She
huffed and then shook her head.
    "Ye snorted! Does that mean ye leave the
choice of flowers to someone who enjoys womanly things?"
    Her head