My Wild Highlander by Vonda Sinclair Read Free Book Online Page A

The gold near burned her
finger, warmed as it was from his body heat. And the feeling behind
the gift clutched at her heart—or rather, the feeling she wished
was behind it.
    "Of course." His full lips still held a hint
of smugness.
    He knew he would get her into bed as his
wife. At least, he thought he would. No one said she had to go
willingly to the lion. She would lie like a dead fish in his bed
and he would soon leave her alone.
    She smiled.
    "Glad I am to see you smiling."
    Not for long.
    ***
    "Damn that MacGrath!" Sorley MacGrotie, Baron
of Kormad, paced the small room at the Red Bull Inn.
    "Damn the king," Arnie said in the same
tone.
    "Damn Angelique," Rufus said.
    "Shut up, you fools! I won't let him steal
the estate and title away from little Timmy." Kormad wanted to get
this mess cleared up so he could return to his nephew in Scotland.
His sister's son would inherit what was rightfully his, despite
what Timmy's bastard of a father, John Drummagan, had wanted, and
Kormad would make certain of it. Drummagan would pay, from beyond
the grave, for shunning sweet Lilas.
    Angelique was not the rightful heir, and
MacGrath sure as the devil should not be earl.
    "We tried to throw him in the river," Arnie
whined. "He's big."
    "And strong. A highly trained warrior," Rufus
said. "He has three men with him now, two Highlanders."
    "I don't give a damn where they hail from,"
Kormad said. "Highlanders, Lowlanders, Sassenachs, I will destroy
any man who follows MacGrath. Tell Pike to come in here as the two
of you leave."
    The dolts hung their heads and shuffled out.
He didn't know how he suffered their stupidity.
    Pike was his most resourceful man, not to
mention ruthless.
    Minutes later, he entered, his bald head
gleaming in the candlelight. "Aye, my lord."
    "Desperate measures are called for with this
MacGrath."
    Pike gave an evil half smile; his gray eyes
glinted like dirty ice. "What did you have in mind? Let me torture
him."
    "As much as that would please me…I just need
Lachlan MacGrath dead. In an 'accident.' Angelique, too."
    "Indeed?" Pike looked ravenous of a sudden.
"The lady, too?"
    "Aye, the bitch will never marry me. Don't
bungle this. The king mustn't suspect foul play."
    "Of course not, my lord. 'Tis my
specialty."
    "I will pay you well if you succeed."
    "I ken not how to fail." Pike grinned.
    "Accident, I tell you. 'Haps they could fall
from a high window, a rooftop, a bridge."
    Pike nodded with enthusiasm. "Can I have the
woman first?"
    "I don't care. Just leave no evidence of foul
play, no marks upon her save the ones from her fall."
    Pike's head bobbled up and down again before
he left. The man belonged in Bedlam.
     
     

Chapter Three
     
    Angelique awoke in the night, thinking she'd
heard a thump. Her eyes searched the darkness of the bedchamber.
She snatched her dagger from beneath her pillow and slid to the
floor behind the bed. The faint moonlight glimmering through the
window did little to illuminate the room. Only embers glowed in the
hearth. She caught the whiff of a masculine scent. An
intruder!
    A floorboard squeaked and a large dark
silhouette moved forward. Parblue! Immobile, she waited for
the moment when she could best strike.
    When the intruder bent over her bed, she
lunged toward him, stabbing her blade at his neck. Before she met
her mark, he jerked back, grabbed her forearms and dragged her
against him. She lost the grip on her dagger. Heaven help
me.
    "M'lady?"
    She screamed, trying to wake Camille,
sleeping on a cot in the corner. A hand clamped over her mouth.
    "Release me!" Her demand came out
muffled.
    "Shh. 'Tis me, Lachlan. You must come with
me." He uncovered her mouth.
    She went limp with a bit of relief. The heat
of his strong hands and solid body burned through her. Now she
recognized the pleasant but disturbing male scent of him.
"Why?"
    "Someone is trying to kill us. We must go
into hiding," he said, low and fierce in her ear, his breath
fanning her hair and tickling her