Read Insolent: The Moray Druids #1 (Highland Historical) for Free Online

cheeks with the back of her hand. “I am an Autumn Druid,” she said tearfully. “My element is water . Blood is comprised mostly of water, and blood magick is strong and dark in the hands of one with my power.” Her eyes were earnest pools in her luminous face. “So you see, warrior, I have taken a vow never to spill even one drop of another’s blood. Not by weapon or with my magick.”
    Bael’s shoulders fell. “Then I will go back to the Saxons, and take as many of them to the afterlife with me as I can.”
    Her eyes suddenly brightened as though she had an idea. “Or, perhaps you can take me home to Loch Fyne. My brother, Malcolm, hates Vikings. He’d probably kill you soon as look at you. Especially if I tell him that we’ve…that we’re… What we did just now.” Even in the near-darkness, her eyes flickered down toward the mossy earth.
    Bael longed for the pleasant illusion of before. More than tempted to pull that lush, naked body close and drag her back to the moss beneath him, he clenched his fists at his sides as recognition jolted through him.
    “You are a Pict.” He took a step toward her, repeating her last words. “Your brother is named Malcolm.” She retreated from his next step. “And you hie from Loch Fyne.”
    “Aye,” she nodded, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering in the chilly autumn night.
    Bael snarled, trying to ignore his instinct to warm her. “Is your brother not the prodigal King of the Picts, Malcolm, The Mormaer of Moray? The last of the Highland Druids?”
    His little mate snorted and tossed her head, her eyes flashing with their first bit of temper. “He was never prodigal, our father, Duncan, was betrayed and Malcolm was taken captive. And, I’ll have you know, Malcolm is most definitely not the last of the Druids, there are three of us in the de Moray family alone.” Her imperious posture was a bit ruined by her nudity. “And yes, while he is one of last male Druids left on this earth; there are more than a few females left. Though our numbers are quickly dwindling.”
    “You mean to tell me you’re a Pictish Princess?”
    “A bit,” she winced, obviously correctly reading the disapproval in his voice. “I am Morgana de Moray. Malcolm is my older brother.” She dipped her head in a polite gesture, as though from habit.
    “Everyone knows only men of your people are Druids.” Bael crossed his arms over his chest.
    She scoffed again, flipping her hair over one shoulder uncovering a globe of pink-tipped perfection, obviously unaware that he could see her.
    Bael’s mouth watered at the memory of her breast in his mouth and bit back a frustrated groan at the unfairness of it all.
    “Everyone knows that because it is what the Druid men wanted everyone to think. It is how they protected the Druid women from the Romans and the Vikings.” She glanced up at him, though Bael knew she only saw shadows. “When Malcolm was captured, my cousin Kenna and I were protected no longer, and that is how I find myself so far from Loch Fyne. That is why I saved you, warrior, because I knew when I saw you take that bridge on your own, that you were the only man alive who could get me home.”
    “You were wrong.” Bael informed her, stooping to gather his axe and looking around for his trews. He found them stretched out by the river, clean and dry.
    Just how long had he been asleep? He went to them, turning his back on the woman whose glowing nakedness was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. “Put some fucking clothes on,” he ordered.
    “But… it’s dark,” she pointed out needlessly. “Why does it matter?”
    “I can see in the dark,” he growled. “I can see everything .”
    “Oh,” she gasped, sounding less distressed than she should. “Oh my.”
    Bael heard her soft foot falls as she tiptoed next to him and snatched her shift and kirtle from the moss. Shaking it out, she pulled it over her head in an adorable sort of hurry.
    My mate .
    Bael