Wilderness Passion by Lindsay McKenna Page B

“the Celts believed that each tree contained a nature spirit in it—a soul, so to speak. They treated trees like living beings, considering their age a mark of wisdom. The druids would ‘talk’ to these trees. The druidesses were women who acted as oracles and worked with their male counterparts in the sacred forests. Even to this day there is a special mystical quality to those areas in Britain.”
    Libby responded to the magical quality in his voice. She was mesmerized by his husky tone. “You’ve seen the groves?’’
    He nodded. “I’ve been where they used to stand. I never believed all those Celtic myths until I walked through the area.” He frowned, searching for the right words. “I felt...different. It wasn’t anything I can explain. It was just a feeling.”
    Libby rose, tucking a fold of the sleeping bag around her breasts, loving the warmth of their intimate conversation. “I sense that you feel uncomfortable with just a ‘feeling,’“ she noted.
    A careless smile pulled at his mouth as he drew the long golden strands of her hair across her shoulders, watching them curl against her. “I’ve been accused of being insensitive as hell in the past,” he replied. “Maybe I am. I don’t know. I was raised to see black and white, to be practical in every circumstance. Feelings are intangible. You can’t prove them, weigh or measure them.”
    Libby reached out, capturing his hand, bringing it to her lips and resting her cheek against the roughened, hairy skin. “You aren’t insensitive,” she protested. “Just the opposite, Dan. I—I’ve never had a man make such wonderful love with me.” She gravely met his surprised eyes. “Never. You’re one of a kind.”
    His fingers brushed her chin. “So are you. Sure you aren’t a figment of my imagination?”
    Libby laughed with him. This was the other side of Dan Wagner, a side that she could helplessly fall in love with. Love? Libby felt her heart race upon that discovery. Suddenly unsure of the emotions that Dan had released within her, Libby gently steered the conversation back to him.
    “I keep hearing you say negative things about yourself,” she said. “You aren’t insensitive, and your lack of education doesn’t take away from your intelligence, Dan. Who made you believe that? You’re a man who has obviously traveled around the world and become familiar with many cultures. Your experience more than makes up for your lack of formal schooling.”
    Dan’s face grew quiet, his eyes veiled and distant-looking. “You don’t miss much, do you, Lib?”
    She swallowed hard. “I care enough about you and about myself to ask. You’re the one who said honesty is the best policy.”
    He looked around the cave, finding his pack and pulling some of the breakfast items from it. “And it’s one of the many qualities I like about you, Lib.” He sighed heavily, turning to meet her gaze. “My growing-up years weren’t very pretty. Suffice it to say that my father beat me and my mother with regularity until the state legally protected us from him. My mother died a year later and I went from one foster home to the next.” He grimaced, recalling those painful memories. “I was a rebel without a cause, Libby. I hated. It was easy to hate and be hated. I had a real chip on my shoulder until I was seventeen.”
    She blinked once, her heart wrenching with anguish at the rough tone she heard in Dan’s voice. “And what happened when you were seventeen?”
    He drew the skillet from the pack, his mouth pursed. “I started stealing. Thank God a cop caught me red-handed. He could have put me in jail, but he didn’t. Instead Hank took me up to a forestry camp and threw me into the world I’ve been a part of ever since. I guess he figured a little bit of hard work and sweat would get the kinks out of my system. He was right.” Dan gave her a strange look. “I know you can’t imagine what it was like, Libby. And I don’t want your pity. I got