Midnight's Promise by Donna Grant Page B

Interesting. “Did the stones tell you someone was after you?”
    “As if,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “They’re the ones who told me to come here so I could hide. No one was supposed to know I was here.” A frown marred her forehead. “How did you know I was here?”
    Malcolm didn’t want to let her know too much too soon. The less she knew about him the better. “I felt your magic.”
    “You can feel my magic? What does it feel like?”
    Sunshine. Harmony.
    Hope.
    Not that he would tell her any of that. Ever.
    Instead he said, “Wholesome.”
    She wrinkled her nose in distaste, her stance becoming more casual and comfortable. “Is that bad?”
    “It would be if the feel of your magic made me sick. That would tell me you had black magic. If you were drough , I’d kill you.”
    “You say that as calmly as if you do it every day.”
    He let his silence be his answer.
    The Druid swallowed hard and shifted her feet nervously. “What are you, some kind of Druid Hunter or something?”
    “Or something.” Malcolm watched the red-orange glow of the torch flicker alluringly over her skin. He remembered how soft her cheek had been, and he found he wanted to test the rest of her body.
    Did she know how fetching she looked standing there with the blanket barely covering her and giving him glimpses of her lean legs and feminine curves? Was she trying to tempt him?
    His body had been aching since he first held her in his arms. That ache only increased the longer he stood near her.
    “Are you intentionally not giving me in-depth answers?”
    Malcolm widened his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re just now recognizing that?”
    “Ah. Answering a question with a question. That was something my mum did,” she mumbled, her voice heavy with sarcasm and anger. Her gaze narrowed on him as she pushed away from the wall. “The stones don’t like you.”
    “The feeling is mutual.”
    She gave a loud snort. “They’re stones. How could you not like them? They didn’t do anything to you.”
    “Really? How do you know? Just because they doona tell you doesna mean it’s the truth, Druid.”
    “Then you tell me.”
    Malcolm walked right into the trap without realizing it. It was the amazing feel of her magic surrounding him that kept him from focusing properly. Her magic crashed over him like the waves against the cliffs at MacLeod Castle—violent and unforgiving. But beautiful and beckoning all the same.
    He wanted to sit back and soak up the wonderful essence of her magic. But he couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to her.
    “You berate the stones for not sharing your past, but you won’t do it either?” she asked with a slight shake of her head. “What am I to think?”
    “I doona give a rat’s arse what you think, Druid.”
    “Is that so? Do you forget I’ve magic?”
    How could he when it enveloped him so completely? His body roused at the first feel of her magic, and the longer he was around her the more he … yearned .
    There was just a thin blanket blocking the tempting view of bare skin and a turquoise bra and panties. He could yank it away from her. If he dared.
    And at the moment, he dared.
    “Are you so sure your magic will work on me?”
    She let her hand not holding the blanket slap against her thigh. “You’re impossible.”
    “If you’re running from something, then you shouldna trust anyone.”
    “You came here to scare me, and it worked. Now you can leave.”
    He studied her closely. She might have been afraid of him, but not anymore. Too bad she didn’t realize she was tempting a monster whose desire built for her with each breath. “Why do you no’ believe I’m the one after you?”
    “Because you didn’t ask for the one thing they would have.”
    “I see.” With great effort, he turned on his heel and started for the door. Just before he reached it, he paused and looked at her over his shoulder. A dark curl lay just over her breast provocatively, as if