Page 24 of The Virgin's Chosen Dragon

“I’ll be fine, Theo will be watching the whole time,” she said, patting her friend on the arm. “He won’t let Sam do anything to me.”

“Theo is good man,” Rose said, smiling at her. “The right one for you.”

“I think so too,” she said, smiling back at her. “And the best part is, he agrees.”

Rose giggled, “See, you marry him,” she said. “I was right.”

When she got up the next morning, Rose was already gone, so she dressed and headed to the middle of the village, hoping to see Theo before he set out with the other men on whatever expedition they had planned for the day. But there was no sign of him or most of the men, and it felt a little strange as she walked past the empty firepit to the cooking hut. There were only a few women inside, but she spotted Rose right away and walked over to her.

“Where is everyone?” she asked. “The village looks deserted.”

The men left early this morning to go hunting,” she said, then glanced over at the other women. “Peter made Theo go. Idon’t think they’re going to be back by the time you have to leave with Sam.”

“Sam isn’t with them, then?” she asked, a sinking feeling in her stomach when Rose shook her head. “Theo promised he’d be there, he said he wouldn’t let me go alone. He’ll find a way to get there, but I wish he hadn’t gone.”

“I’m sorry, Eden, he didn’t really have any choice,” she said. “But I’ll go with you, I mean watch out for you. I follow you to the beach and keep an eye on you. I know it’s not the same as having Theo there, but if……well……things don’t go well, at least you won’t be alone.”

“Thank you, Rose, that makes me feel so much better,” she said, then sighed. “I keep thinking Peter is doing this on purpose, I just don’t understand why.”

“Sam is important in village,” Rose said, then shrugged. “He usually gets what he wants.”

She spent the rest of the morning with one of the older women, learning how to weave the fabric from which all of the clothing and bedding was made, and before she knew it, the sun was high in the sky. Only a few minutes later, Sam came strolling up, a bunch of flowers in one hand, a big basket in the other, a smile on his face.

“Picnic now,” he said. “We go.”

She got reluctantly to her feet, wishing she could be anywhere else but there, and took the flowers when Sam held them to her. “Thank you,” she said. “They’re very pretty.”

“Like you,” Sam said, grinning at her. “Prettiest girl in the village.”

His compliment did nothing but annoy her, but she covered it up. “I’m ready to go,” she said. “Let’s get this over with.”

Sam held out his arm, but she shook her head. “No thank you, I’ll be fine on my own,” she said. “Lead the way.”

He looked disappointed but shrugged it off. “Okay, next time,” he said. “You like me Eden; you see, I’m great man; women all want me. You are very lucky.”

“Well, it’s nice to know that you think so highly of yourself,” she said. “This should be tons of fun.”

Sam just nodded his head. “We have lots of fun together,” he said. “You’ll see.”

CHAPTER 14

***THEO***

Theo knew by mid-morning that he wasn’t going to make it back on time to follow Eden on her date with Sam, and he cursed himself for letting Peter talk him into going. Watching the older man as he led the group down another trail, he began to wonder if he’d done it on purpose. They’d been walking for hours with no apparent reason. A few of the other men seemed a bit confused as well, but it was clear that no one was going to question their leader, so they all continued to plod along behind him.

When they finally stopped to fill their water pouches in a stream, he made his way over to Peter. “We’ve been walking for a long time,” he said. “Are we ever going to get there?”

“Patience, Theo,” Peter said, nodding his head and smiling at him. “Good things come to those who wait.”

“I was hoping to be back by lunch,” he said. “You told me we’d only be gone for a few hours.”

“Plans change,” Peter said with another shrug. “You not follow Sam and Eden to beach. They need time alone.”

He narrowed his eyes at Peter. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but that’s the last thing Eden wants,” hesaid. “The only reason she even agreed to go was because she knew I’d be there if she needed me.”

“Too late to get back now,” Peter said, a pleased smile on his face. “Easy to get lost on your own and wander around for hours. Let Sam and Eden be, the island will decide. Sam is good man, he will take care of Eden, give her many children and high standing in the village.”

The truth of what Peter had done slowly began to sink in. “You’re helping him; you want him to have Eden,” he said, trying to stay calm. “This has nothing to do with the island; this is what you want.”

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