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

skin.
    "You have lost your senses. No one is trying
to kill me." Were they?
    "Indeed, Kormad is making plans."
    Kormad. Mon Dieu. "I must have my
clothes, my trunks."
    "We have no time. Bring one change of
clothes. I'll have the others shipped to Draughon."
    "Camille must come with me. I go nowhere
without her." Angelique wrested away from Lachlan, hurried to the
corner and shook her cousin out of a deep sleep. " Parbleu! Camille, wake up."
    "Whaa?" She stirred a bit.
    "She is a heavy sleeper."
    Lachlan went to the door. "Dirk, we need your
help. Can you carry Lady Angelique's companion?"
    The fearsome man appeared at the threshold,
the lantern in his hand illuminating his long red hair and
exaggerating his frown. "Can she not walk?"
    Unable to wait for Camille to wake, and with
no maids about, Angelique quickly threw smocks, stays and a change
of clothes into a sack for herself and the same for Camille.
    "I must dress," Angelique said.
    "No time."
    She yanked a blanket off the bed to wrap
around herself seconds before Lachlan dragged her from the
room.
    After meeting Dirk cradling the sleeping
Camille, and Rebbinglen carrying a lantern and a sword, they
slipped through a narrow doorway she'd never seen before, and
entered a tight dark passage. The dank air and close space made her
feel she would suffocate. Apparently this was one of the secret
passages she'd heard about that riddled Whitehall.
    They reached an exterior door—near the
stables if the stench was any indication. Wind twisted the trees
and bushes. The faint glow of the lantern revealed the muddy
ground. Angelique hung back on the threshold. "I am barefoot."
    "Come." Lachlan scooped Angelique into his
arms abruptly, making her head spin, and rushed her outside. Ma
foi ! She did not want to notice the warmth of his breath
against her hair or the hardness and strength of his body. Before
she had time to decide whether or not she liked his touch, he
pushed her inside a coach with her cousin and slammed the door. The
team and coach took off and raced through the gate, then along King
Street. Horses' hooves clomped all around them—guards, she
hoped.
    "Camille, wake up, damn you." Angelique shook
her on the opposite seat. "You are one worthless companion."
    She roused a bit. "Huh? Are we moving? Where
are we?" she asked in a groggy voice.
    "In a coach, heading for God knows where.
Lachlan says our lives are in danger."
    "Is it Kormad?" Camille sat up.
    "Lachlan says yes."
    "You do not think it is Girard?"
    "No, I hope he is dead of a fever." Angelique
slid back on the leather seat. The coach careened around a corner,
and she grabbed for a handhold.
    "But we cannot be certain."
    "We must not speak of it." Angelique's
stomach knotted with the very thought.
    "Did you get…the item?"
    "Of course. You know I would not leave
it."
    After taking another corner too quickly, the
coach drew to an abrupt halt and the door opened. Lachlan now held
a torch aloft. "Come, both of you. Hold this." He handed the torch
to Rebbinglen.
    "Where are we going?" Angelique asked.
    "No time for questions now." He motioned her
forward.
    Again, he lifted Angelique into his arms and
carried her across an alley as if she weighed no more than an
infant. Amid the chaos, he seemed an island of strength and
protection. She was finding, of a sudden, that she liked this
feeling. She had not experienced true safety for a long time. And
besides, he smelled appealing, like clean male blended with
leather. In the torchlight, their gazes mingled for a moment. He
was not the seductive charmer now. No twinkle of humor danced in
his eyes, no smirk upon his lips. He'd transformed into a
formidable warrior with a firm mouth and dark, indomitable eyes—a
side of him she'd never fully seen.
    They slipped through a narrow doorway, Dirk
carrying Camille behind them.
    "What is this place?" The scents of tallow
and musty books irritated her nose.
    The passage opened up and they moved through
a large dim church filled