Coveted by Stacey Brutger Page B

interrogation, and liking even less how Aiden treated her as the enemy.
    He strode toward her,
his movements liquid, a smile that was more teeth than friendly. He stopped barely
an inch away. His warmth stole over her, kicking up her heartbeat, but she
refused to reveal any reaction, especially the way she craved his nearness.
    “Like you found me?”
    Shayla gulped,
unsettled at his suggestion. He couldn’t know about her unique ability. He was
fishing, but his accusation gave her pause. Had her gift led her to him? All she
had been thinking about was finding the one .
    Heat instantly
flooded her face, along with a big dose of panic.
    No, not him.
    Fate couldn’t be so
cruel as to bind her to this caveman.
    Her chest tightened,
threatening a full-out panic attack until she remembered that her gift never
worked on her. Finding him had to be chance, a bizarre coincidence, that’s all.
So why did her heart continue to pound against her ribs like a moth’s wings
against a light?
    Anyone could’ve fallen
through the earth at a haunted castle and land in a dungeon that just happened
to be occupied nearly a thousand years later by a man torn right from her
fantasies.
    Her chest constricted
at the unlikely scenario.
    “Who hired you?”
    She dismounted the
ATV with as much dignity as possible, ignoring the mud that flaked off with every
move, and lifted her chin. “I suggest that you take me to town and find out.
Otherwise, I have nothing to say.”
    “Not a problem. Give
me a day to clean up, eat and settle things here first.”
    Mortification turned
her face hot. Of course Aiden needed time to recuperate. The excitement around
him was addicting but exhausting, and she’d been tired for a long time, even
before her stalker came into her life. What could it harm to stay here for a
little longer? She actually liked the big jerk a little. A tiny thrill coursed
through her at the chance to spend more time with him. It would also give her time
to snoop, maybe uncover some of the secrets that darkened his eyes.
    “One day. That’s it.”
    Aiden narrowed his
eyes at her ultimatum, the danger of it sending a shiver through her, before he
gave an abrupt nod.
    Without waiting for
him to make up a bunch of silly rules, she turned on her heel and marched
toward the castle. The baily was dead silent, the men in her path parting for
her. The big lug who’d rescued them opened the door and gave her a slight nod.
    “We have incoming!”
    The bellow stopped
Shayla short, and she whirled, sure that they’d been found. Her first instinct
was to grab Aiden and run. Aiden immediately came to her side, standing
protectively in front of her. Menace swarmed the air. Before she could put her
thoughts into action, the whole baily came alive, a hive of activity as every
man in the place charged toward the gates with lethal grace.
    Weapons appeared in everyone’s
hands, weapons that she hadn’t noticed when she’d first entered. She balled her
hands into fists, feeling naked and vulnerable without one of her own.
    “They’re two of
ours.”
    Two machines raced into
the bailey before stopping their machines feet from Aiden. Both men dismounted
in stereo, so dark and handsome that Shayla could only blink. She glanced
between them, noting they were so similar they could pass for twins. Until she saw
the wicked scar encircling one man’s throat that made him look more dangerous
if that was even possible.
    Only when they turned
to greet Aiden did she noticed the dead body.
    One man lifted and
cradled the small man, gently laying him on the ground. “We pulled him from the
sea just at dawn.”
    The body was dressed
in torn clothes, a style only a teenager would wear, but starvation had aged
him so he looked closer to eighty then the twenty she suspected. Shayla
swallowed hard and forced herself to look, because if what Aiden said was true,
this would be her own fate if something wasn’t done.
    There was a gray
tinge to the flesh, his skin