Free Echoes of Magic by Donna Grant Page A

“But only if you do what I say when I say it. No arguing,
no questioning.”
    She smiled, her eyes dancing with glee. “You
have my word.”
    “ Don’t make me regret
this.”
    “ Never,” she murmured and
walked away.
    Grayson watched her go, his gaze moving to
the gentle sway of her hips that made him think he had another
sport in mind that could make her eyes dance so.
    He ran a hand down his face and tried to
rein in his desire. The memory of his hands around her trim waist,
of fighting the urge to slide her down his body as he lifted her
from the cart invaded his mind.
    He’d seen the way she looked at him. The
hunger in her pale blue eyes was palpable and would make his
seduction easy. And he wanted nothing more than to seduce her, but
he couldn’t, not when he knew of the curse.
    Adrianna was a good woman. She deserved
something good in her life, and that most certainly wasn’t him.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Adrianna couldn’t believe Grayson had agreed
to let her accompany him to the village. The need to go had been
overwhelming. It had also been a test for Grayson. She wanted to
know what to be prepared for when they left the gypsies. Would he
keep her in her cart at all times, or would he actually allow her
to help when she could.
    A fool she wasn’t. Adrianna no more wanted
to get mixed in a battle if she could help it, but there were other
ways she could aid Grayson. And she was going to make sure he let
her.
    As Adrianna walked among the gypsies, she
caught sight of the young, beautiful Nadya watching Grayson.
Adrianna stopped and turned to look at Grayson who stood talking to
Yoska, unaware of the young girl who wanted him so desperately.
    Adrianna didn’t like the way Nadya looked at
Grayson. She told herself it was because Nadya was too young to
know the ways of a man such a Grayson, but she knew it for the lie
that it was.
    Grayson had brought a measure of excitement
into her life she hadn’t had in years, and Adrianna didn’t want
that to end. She was being selfish she knew, but she liked having
Grayson all to herself.
    Soon it will be just the two of you. No
Milosh and no Nadya to interrupt.
    Adrianna swallowed and fisted her hands as
her breathing accelerated. Almost as if her thoughts had summoned
him, Grayson’s gaze swung to her. For a moment they stared at each
other, oblivious to the people around them.
    It was she who finally looked away. Adrianna
hastily walked off by herself. Each time Grayson’s silver gaze met
hers, a piece of the wall she had erected around her body crumbled.
He was handsome, sexy, powerful and made her heart beat faster each
time he moved near her. When he had lifted her from the cart, it
had taken everything she had not to place her lips on his, to feel
his warm breath mix with hers.
    It had been so very long since a man had
touched her as Grayson had. He was a temptation she knew she should
resist. The problem was, she didn’t want to resist him.
    How many times had she looked at his lips
wondering how they would feel on hers? She touched her mouth with
her fingers. It had been so terribly long since she had kissed
anyone that she was afraid she no longer knew how.
    A sudden shift in the wind made Adrianna
jerk from her revelry. She glanced at the sky and cursed as she
lifted her skirts and hurried back to camp.
    “ A storm is coming,” she
said as she passed Milosh, Yoska and Grayson.
    She had only gotten two strides before
Grayson caught up with her.
    “ The sky is clear,” he
said. “I can see for leagues.”
    “ Trust me, Grayson. There
is a storm coming. If you want to visit the village, we must move
out now. As it is, we may not reach it in time before the storm
hits.”
    By the way his face scrunched in doubt, she
waited for him to argue. Instead, like everyone else, he helped
ready to move out.
    Adrianna checked her cart to make sure all
her herbs would be safe from the winds she knew would descend upon
them. She parted the cloth that separated the