Highland Shadows (Beautiful Darkness Series Book 1) by Lily Baldwin Read Free Book Online Page A

filled with goodness and brought beauty wherever they went and gave it to whatever they touched.
    He surveyed her walls, pausing in front of a tapestry she had made when she had been in a particularly dark mood. It featured a wolf pack and a tangled forest.
    “Ye do not like this one?” she said as she eyed his scowl.
    “Nay, I do in fact. The artistry is incredible. This one made ye feel more than the others, but it forces me to remember the troubling time in which we live. The workmanship, however, is remarkable.”
    She could not contain her smile. He did not flatter her. He truly admired her work. Had he feigned praise, she would have known. She could smell a lie from across the room. Her arm brushed his, and she heard the beating of his heart quicken. She closed her eyes and savored the sound. This time she knew it was not fear or anger that set his heart to race. It was her. She inhaled his scent, which had deepened, growing fragrant with traces of musk. Closing her eyes, she relished his masculine smell and let it caress her from the inside out. Her whole body responded, lulled into a state of euphoria.
    A sudden clamor caused her eyes to snap open. She looked down. She had dropped her cup. She glanced up at Alex who still had his head carefully angled to the side, but he smiled. Blushing, she bent down to pick it up just as he did the same. Their heads collided, causing them both to simultaneously wince and laugh. He looked straight at her now, which she knew meant he must have forgotten himself. Both eyes, blue and green, crinkled when he laughed, and his unmarred cheek dimpled when he smiled. Her gaze shifted to his maimed side. So much pain. Immediately, she sensed a change in him as her eyes passed over his scars. Once more, he tilted his head away.
    “What happened?” She reached to touch his cheek, but he flinched and took a step back. All lightness faded from his expression, but only for a moment. Then his eyes softened. “Forgive me. My courage failed me just now. I’m not used to being touched.”
    “Neither am I,” she said softly.
    They stared at each other, not speaking, just feeling. She saw herself when she looked at his scars—her real self.
    “There was a fire,” he said, breaking the silence. “It happened when I was a lad.”
    She nodded. She knew all about fire and death. She knew how wickedness could alter a life forever.
    “But that is in the past.” He drew closer, taking her hand. “I’ll not allow ye to be forced into marriage to me. I will leave this minute if that is your wish. But if ye’ll have me, I make a promise to ye now. As your husband, I vow to care for ye and protect ye. That is...if...” His voice trailed off. She knew what he wished to say. She reached up and cupped his marred cheek. This time he did not pull away. “I’ll marry ye, Alexander.”
    Relief radiated from his body. She could smell his joy. She could feel his skin warm from his pleasure. He was a good man. This she did not doubt. She cast her gaze to the ground unable to look into his kind, honest eyes. A man like him deserved more. She turned away, returning to her seat by the hearth. Taking up her needle, she stabbed the fabric and tried to catch her breath.
    She felt his scent curl around her when he drew near. She bent her neck back and met his gaze, one blue eye and one green.
    God above, how she wished she could tell him the truth. It was the right thing to do, but fear of rejection stayed her tongue.
    She reached for his hand and pressed it over her heart. “Not all scars are visible,” she said softly.
    He touched her cheek. “Indeed not,” he whispered.

CHAPTER 5
     
    Alex stared transfixed into Cora’s sky blue eyes while the priest spoke words that would bind their lives together. He marveled at how quickly life could change. The day before, he had set out from Sonas clinging to the desperate hope that Clan Ross and MacKenzie might align against a common enemy. And now, not only had