“Perhaps fate sent me here to intervene,” he said.
“You certainly have done that.” She chuckled.
He lifted her chin and stroked her bottom lip, sending tingles racing through her entire body.
“You are a good person, you do good work, but sacrificing yourself serves no purpose. Living is what makes the difference.”
She thought at first to argue, but her tingling body advised otherwise and she whispered, “Kiss me.”
“With pleasure,” Burke said and claimed her lips.
Her arms swept up around his neck and she pressed her body firmly against his while his lips worked their magic. She was soon lost in a haze of passion that escalated as the kiss deepened.
She didn’t protest when he lifted her off the ground and lowered them to the bed together. They remained locked in each other’s arms and locked in a kiss. Storm didn’t want it to end.
His hand stroked her back and slipped down over her backside, which he gently squeezed and moved her up more firmly against him.
She felt all of him and she relished the thought of his strength penetrating her, filling her, bringing her pleasure.
She moved against him in a provocative invitation.
His lips drifted to her ear in kisses along her cheek. “This is your choice?”
“It is,” she said.
“You are sure?”
“I have not a doubt.”
His hand moved to her waist, working to free her shirt, while his lips returned to hers. This time Storm was the impatient one and her hand joined his pulling her shirt out of her trousers.
“Storm!”
The shout broke them apart and had them jumping off the bed. Storm shoved her shirt back in her trousers as she ran out of the room. She looked down from the walkway high in the trees.
Tanin looked up at her. “Philip has returned with information concerning the prisoner.”
Chapter 18
Burke, Storm, and Tanin joined Philip at the campfire. He sat stuffing his mouth with roasted venison and looked exhausted.
Burke would have given the man time to digest his food, but not Storm. She plopped down across from him and wanted to know what he had learned.
Her lovely face was flushed with the heat of passion, her lips rosy and plump from their endless kisses, and Burke wondered if the men noticed. He sat beside her wishing that the news could have waited for a few moments more. But moments wouldn’t have been sufficient time to make love to Storm. He would have preferred hours.
Philip shook his head. “You’re not going to like the information, though I can’t confirm it as truth or gossip,” Philip told them.
“Either way we need to hear it, so tell us,” Storm said.
“Someone heard that the prisoner was moved to Weighton.”
Burke felt the stunned silence descend around him like a heavy burden that would be hard to lift, and he grew anxious.
“Why does this disturb all of you?” he asked.
Storm responded bluntly. “There is only one way out of Weighton—death.”
Burke felt as if he’d been punched in the gut and the blow silenced him.
“It makes no sense,” Tanin said. “Only those accused of crimes against the king and country go to Weighton. Why would this man be sent there for being a thief?”
“It would depend on what he stole,” Storm said.
“It could involve treason,” Philip offered.
“You weren’t able to learn any more?” Storm asked.
Philip shook his head. “I heard even that tidbit secondhand.”
“Then we can’t be certain it’s true,” Burke said, hoping the information would prove wrong. “Where is Weighton?”
“Not far from St. Andrew Harbor where your ship is docked,” Tanin informed him. “But make no mistake, it’s the most highly guarded prison in all of Scotland. No one has ever escaped its confines.”
“We still need to determine if the man we chase after is Burke’s brother, Cullen,” Storm reminded. “Philip, did anyone know the prisoner’s name?”
“No, I could find no one with that information.”
“It’s as if his identity is purposely being guarded,” Tanin said.
“Of course. Then he can’t be tracked and found,” Storm concluded.
“Would he have reached Weighton by now, or is there a chance we could intercept?” Burke asked.
Philip shook his head. “Too late for that; he’d have reached the prison by now.”
Burke didn’t like feeling helpless, and he felt that way too often of late. He had followed Storm’s orders since arriving, but things weren’t going as he had hoped. He needed to move things along, and sitting here without funds wasn’t doing that.