The Highlander's Sin by Eliza Knight Read Free Book Online

companions?” Heather said sarcastically.
    “Nay, lass, not dinner companions,” he said in low tones against her ear.
    Her face heated again as a shiver passed over her. The man had a knack for turning her body heat up ten degrees with a few whispered words.
    “I think I might have preferred the gag. ”
    Priest laughed again.
    Heather clamped her mouth closed, swearing she wouldn’t speak again for…well, for how long she didn’t know. But one thing was certain, she needed to stop entertaining the notion that there was more to this situation than a bad man stealing a noblewoman.
     

Chapter Four
     

     
    R elief flooded Duncan as soon as they crossed through the narrow valley, and the abandoned castle crept into view. He’d been here before. Countless times.
    The sun had begun to set behind the darkened clouds that gathered. They were in for a summer storm. He wouldn’t be surprised if it hit before they had a chance to make camp within the crumbling castle’s walls. But judging by the look of it, the rain would taper into a gentle mist.
    “We are nearly there,” he said, mostly out of courtesy to the lass. She’d been troubling him with talk since before dawn, but the last hour had remained silent, save for the grumble of her stomach.
    “Oh.” She cleared her throat and somehow managed to sit taller.
    Lady H eather was more likely than not stiff as steel. She’d sat straight, prim and proper for the entire ride, and every time he’d tugged her back against him, she’d inched slowly forward. If she sat any straighter, she’d snap in two.
    The woman thought he was touching her indecently on purpose, and while that was partly true, it was also difficult to ride a horse when his companion was practic ally sitting on the mount’s neck. Blade kept shaking his head with displeasure.
    Thank the saints that in a few moments they would be off his poor mount’s back and safely ensconced within the castle walls.
    “Who lives there?” she asked.
    He could tell she tried to sound strong, but beneath her haughty tone was a glimmer of fear. Her fear incited a feeling inside him he’d not experienced often—empathy. ’Twas unsettling.
    “No one.” At least none since he’d been born. It looked to have been laid siege to, not old enough to have crumbled on its own. One entire side of the keep was collapsed, the rest falling piece by piece as the years went by. But not so much that he thought it would be unsafe to sleep there.
    “Then why are we making camp inside?”
    “Because no one is there.” Duncan tried to keep the exasperation from his voice. She still had yet to grasp the con cept of his having abducted her and the need to keep a low profile because of it. “Did ye expect a feast filled with guests clamoring for your attention?”
    Heather’s elbow shot backward. Duncan leaned back just in time to avoid the jab. While she made a pretense of shifting in the saddle, he had the distinct impression she had, in fact, been trying to elbow him.
    He had to clench his jaw to keep from laughing. The spirits of a dozen whiny wenches resided within the lass for certain.
    “I expected no such thing.” She paused a moment, her thoughts hanging nearly visible in the air. “I but wondered if this was where ye’d make the exchange for your pouch of silver.”
    And straight to the heart of the matter she went. “Ah, I see. Not this night. Tonight we make camp.”
    She nodded, her shoulders sagging a little in what he thought might be relief. “And on the morrow?”
    Duncan shoved away that nagging feeling inside him. Forgetting who he was, what his purpose was, would only lead to trouble. Woman trouble was the last thing he needed. “We ride.”
    “South?”
    He’d not tell her a damn thing. Else, she’d be able to concoct a plan for escape—an incident he was determined to avoid. “That, I’ll nay be sharing with ye.”
    “To meet your overlord?”
    Duncan frowned. The idea of anyone lording over him