Highland Protector by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online

but MacBean was right. One reason he hesitated to take Ilsabeth Murray Armstrong at her word was because she was a bonnie lass.
    Memories swarmed into his mind and sweat dotted his brow as he fought them. He had been a fool at eighteen, a fool who had thought himself a grown man and one who knew all about women just because he had bedded a few. Sweet-faced Mary with her tempting body and tears had led him along by the nose. His brutal brother’s third wife, she had been only a few years older than Simon, but she had been many years older in guile and experience. She had even been able to draw him close to the home he had left at the age of ten swearing he would never go back.
    Guilt over what he had done could still bring a sour taste into his mouth even though he knew he had not hurt his harsh brother’s feelings. His pride, surely, but Henry Innes had not loved Mary any more than he had loved his other two wives. What troubled Simon was that he had not seen the lies, the manipulation, the betrayal. Neither Mary’s nor Henry’s. He had not seen the truth. He knew that was why he sought it so avidly now.
    Seeking the truth back then had only added to his pain, but that had not turned him away from it. Simon stared into his goblet at the dregs of his wine and sighed. He had accepted the beating and the scars it left as his due for breaking one of God’s laws. What he could never accept was that he had given his heart and sympathy to a woman who had deserved neither, and worried, for a brief naïve time, about a brother who had no love or respect for him. No brother should have used his kin as Henry had used him.
    He shook away the memory of that time and turned his thoughts to Ilsabeth Murray Armstrong. It annoyed him that his body hardened when her image appeared in his mind. He was going to have to be very careful about that. Simon wanted to blame the sudden, fierce attraction he felt for her on the fact that he had not had a woman for a long time, but he knew that was a lie. It was something about her, the way she stood firm before his stare, a stare that had made even grown men quiver with fear. Her glorious hair and her beautiful eyes drew him like a wasp to honey. She was dangerous.
    Then again, could he resist if she tried to seduce him to influence his decision on her innocence orguilt? Probably not, he decided, but he would still seek the truth. He would just find a little enjoyment and pleasure as he did so. Simon felt certain that, although his body might succumb, nothing she could do would change him from his course. It could be that giving in to his lust for her could clear his mind enough so that she could no longer cloud it with her scent and her husky voice. It was something to consider.
    Simon nudged the cat off his lap, stood up and stretched. He would be spending a lot of time in court over the next few days and it was best if he got some sleep. A man needed a sharp mind to weave his way safely through all the intrigues, lies, and betrayals that went on in the king’s court. It was good to have another puzzle to solve, he mused as he strode off to his bedchamber, Bonegnasher and the cat at his heels.
    It was not until he was settled into his bed that he realized there was another more subtle reason that he was eager to get started ferreting out the truth. A part of him wanted to prove that Ilsabeth Murray Armstrong was innocent. Worse, to his way of thinking, it was not simply his thirst for justice that made him eager. It was a pair of bright blue eyes and a soft, husky voice that acted like a caress on his skin every time she spoke. Simon cursed. Ilsabeth was definitely trouble and not just because she was caught up in plots, murder, and treason.

Chapter 4
    Sir Walter Hepbourn was the type of man most women found very pleasing. Shining fair hair, a flirtatious smile revealing good teeth, and a well-muscled form dressed in the finest court clothing. Simon wondered why all of that irritated him so