health and the status of their endeavors. Beck inquired about the farm
and the village, while Cian asked about the job Beck was doing.
Meg remained silent.
She was going to have to deal with Beck eventually. Meg didn’t
understand him at all. Beck had left her behind, but then he wrote her
every day. She had broken down and read one of his letters. It had
been full of him saying he missed her and wanted to make up for his
treatment of her. He had promised to come home soon with gifts for
her. He promised her a life of comfort.
The trouble was she didn’t want that life. She was enjoying the
one she had found. She felt a great sense of belonging and
accomplishment when she thought about the changes she had made to
the cottage. She was bonding with the villagers and rapidly becoming
important to them. Cian seemed to need her, as well.
She had no intention of allowing Beck to hire a woman to do her
work. Although, if he proved as insensitive as he had been before, he
might have to pay someone to sleep with him.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cian’s whole body was tense.
Meg smiled sweetly at him. She didn’t have high hopes that Cian
would be able to truly top her when it came to sex. He was far too
indulgent. He was nothing like his brother. Beck would have ordered
her to stay away from the goblins. If she had disobeyed, he probably
would have locked her away. Cian had followed even though she
could tell he was a little reluctant.
“Yes.” Meg didn’t feel a bit of the trepidation Cian obviously was
experiencing. She’d met vampires and faeries and trolls and those
rude dwarves. How bad could goblins be?
188
Sophie Oak
“Aye,” came a deep voice. “I thought I smelled something tasty