Sadie dismissed the fact that she hadn’t exactly been a fountain of words herself. She was the victim here. She had a right to be scared speechless.

His chore finished, he stood up, put his hands around her waist, and picked her up to stand in front of him. Sadie pulled her stick free and drove it at the center of his chest.

She hit that odd-looking object he wore around his neck. It deflected her blow and allowed him to wrest the stick from her hands. Staring at her with forest-green eyes now laced with laughter, he snapped the stick in half and tossed it to the ground. He ducked and lifted her over his shoulder.

Sadie kicked and twisted as if her life depended on it.

And then she finally screamed at the top of her lungs.

Her assailant was so startled he dropped her onto the ground like a sack of wormy meal and covered his ears. His horse backed up a good five paces, shaking its head as if his own equine ears had been damaged. Sadie dug at the tape binding her legs.

“You bastard!” she yelled, pleased with herself for finally finding her voice. “You get the hell out of here, before I claw you to shreds!”

His hands still covering his ears, the man just stood there staring at her. He shook his head slightly, then turned and calmly walked over to his horse. He untied the fishing pole from the saddle and pulled it free of the leather case.

Sadie snapped her mouth shut. It wasn’t a fishing pole, it was a damn big, scary-looking sword.

She kicked her feet and scurried back as fast as she could, until she bumped into a tree.

The man advanced on her, his eyes narrowed, and stopped when his booted feet touched hers.

That was when Sadie realized their little game of cat and mouse had come to an end. She closed her eyes and waited.

But instead of the prick on her skin that she was expecting, Sadie felt his warm, tender mouth covering hers.

She opened her eyes and found herself staring into deep, evergreen eyes. The giant raised his hand and cupped the side of her face and pressed closer, his sweet-tasting lips compelling her to respond.

Sadie shoved him away.

He laughed as he fell backward, the sound a deep, boisterous rumble that echoed through the forest. He stood up, brushed himself off, and turned and walked back to his horse. Goose bumps shivered over Sadie’s skin as she watched him walk away, that long sword held so casually in his hand, his stride almost swaggering. He vaulted into his saddle with effortless grace, then moved his horse closer. He brought his sword up to her hands and cut the tape.

“Take a care,gràineag, until we meet again,” he whispered with a nod, swinging his horse around and thundering away in the direction of the lake.

Sadie sat in stunned silence as she watched horse and rider disappear into the woods.

Holy Mary Mother of God and all the saints and angels in heaven. Who was that lunatic?

And that word he’d used—had he just cursed her?

And what did he mean when he said “until we meet again”?

Hell, not in this lifetime.

Not unless she was carrying a gun.

It took Sadie a good ten minutes before she could will herself to move. She was still trembling so much she had to use a tree to help herself stand. As she gripped the branch and fought to keep from falling, she brushed at her clothes, more or less patting herself down to make sure she really was okay.

She started walking back to her cabin.

For the first time in a lifetime of growing up in these mountains, Sadie realized how arrogant she had been to think she could protect herself from any danger the woods might offer. By the time she reached her cabin, she had worked herself up into a full-blown frenzy aimed more at herself than at anyone else.

She could have been raped or even killed. But instead she’d been chased down by a naked giant who was way too handsome to be real. He hadn’t been angry, or even all that rough; he had just been determined to teach her a lesson.

And he’d succeeded, more than Sadie cared to admit.

For all of her own anger at having put herself in such a vulnerable position, she couldn’t help but remember the feel of his rock-solid body pressing against hers, couldn’t help but think about the sensuous touch and taste of his lips.

And she couldn’t decide if her shivering was the lingering remnants of her initial fear or the awareness that she had found the encounter exciting.

She ran up the steps and shoved open the door of her small cabin, quickly moving to close the wood shutters on each window, locking them securely, throwing the interior into darkness. She threw paper and kindling into the huge stove that sat in the center of the room and lit a fire. She left the stove door open, sat on the floor in front of the fire, and held her hands out to the heat.

Ping, Sadie’s gray tiger cat, came slinking out from under the bed, yawning and stretching as she walked, and climbed onto Sadie’s lap. Purring loudly enough to wake the dead, the cat stretched up and gave her a gritty lick on the chin. Sadie hugged the cat against her chest and buried her face in the animal’s fur.

“Oh, Ping,” she whispered against her rumbling little body. “You won’t believe what happened to me today.”

She couldn’t stop shaking. Her naively safe little world had been shattered by the stone-hard body of a man who had held her very life in his hands.

Sadie already had a rather low opinion of men—all except for her father. She was twenty-seven, and she had never had a relationship that lasted more than two months.

And that had been before the fire had scarred her in more ways than one.

But up until now, Sadie had never actually feared any man. Never again would she be able even to go out on a simple date without realizing that she might be tall and strong, but she was not invincible.

Even her ugliness couldn’t protect her.

Or had it? Had the man felt so sorry for her that he had decided to let her go?

Now, that irked.

Perversely, Sadie got angry that the sinfully handsome man might have let her go out of pity.

She stopped rubbing Ping and lifted her hand to her lips. Hehad kissed her. And after he had seen the ugly scars on her hand. Had it been a sympathy kiss?

Oh, those were the worse kind, quick little pecks that said she was likable, just not in a passionate way. She’d had quite a few of those over the last eight years.

Ping protested the loss of affection by nudging against Sadie’s arm. Sadie absently began scratching the cat again as she tried to judge the kiss she’d received today against those sympathy pecks.

Naw, the guy hadn’t felt sorry for her. He’d been too amused.

Had it been a mocking kiss?

That was just as bad. Sympathy or mockery, when the kiss was from an Adonis, both were equally humiliating.

Chapter Three

It was late afternoon when Morganguided his horse, Gràdhag, through the magical mist of the gorge. He chuckled as he remembered the expression on the woman’s face when she had realized he was right behind her, when she had tried to stab him with a stick, and when she had shoved him away when he’d kissed her.

Morgan simply couldn’t quit smiling. If he had known the ribbon planter roaming his valley these last ten weeks had been a stunningly beautiful woman, he would have spent less time building his house and more time plaguing her instead.

Well, he certainly had plagued her today, and it would be a long time before he found any more ribbons.

His smile quickly faded, however, when he rode into the clearing and saw Daar sitting on the steps of Morgan’s newly completed home. He ignored thedrùidh and walked his horse to the small barn and dismounted. Daar came over, took the beast by the reins, and fed him a carrot.

Morgan shook his head. Gràdhag was as fierce a war horse as any warrior could hope for. But in the presence of thedrùidh, the animal became as docile as a newborn kitten.