A Fire Within (These Highland Hills, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Campbell name. But this man-this Darach
MacFarlane-barely knew her.
    There was nothing he wanted but a brief, sordid tryst behind
a locked door. A wee kiss indeed! He wanted that and so very
much more.
    With an angry, frustrated sound, Caitlin wrenched first her
mouth and then her body free of his possessive, controlling clasp.
She brought her hands up, placed them on the hard-muscled
expanse of his chest, and pushed.
    It was like trying to move some huge boulder. Darach released
her but didn't budge.
    "Had enough for now, have ye?" he asked, his voice rough
and raw.
    "Enough for a lifetime, were we to live a hundred years and
more!" Caitlin glared up at him. "Ye got yet wee kiss. Now go
before I change my mind and use my knife on ye anyway."
    Darach laughed but began backing away. "Dinna fash yerself,
lass. I'm a patient man and verra satisfied for the present. There'll
be other times, and no need to make idle threats with that wee
knife of yers."
    "Wee knife? Other times?"

    This man was insufferable! Caitlin stooped, picked up the
knife, then straightened and advanced on him.
    "Are ye daft? Make no mistake. There'll be no other times.
Not now and not ever!"
    "Have it yer way then," he said as he reached the door, slid
back the bolt, and swung the portal wide. "But we all know how
oft a lass is wont to change her mind, don't we? And especially
one who kisses a man like ye just did me."
    With an outraged cry and knife held high, Caitlin flung herself
across the room. Darach was far too swift for her, though.
    By the time she reached the door and hurried into the corridor,
the fluttering edge of his kilt disappearing around a corner was all
that remained of the dark Highlander. To her chagrin, however,
their exchange apparently hadn't been totally private. Anne and
her cousin Janet stood transfixed just outside the kitchen door,
their eyes wide and mouths agape.

     

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    "I take it that was one of our guests?" Anne inquired once she had
sent Janet on her way, escorted Caitlin back into the storeroom,
and closed the door. "Considering his quite admirable agility and
speed, I can only also assume he was Darach MacFarlane and not
the bard."
    If she had walked into the Great Hall dressed only in her
nightrail, Caitlin couldn't have been more humiliated. Curse that
vile, contemptible, loathsome man! At every turn, he managed
to shame her in some manner or another. Shame and trick her,
if the truth were told.
    But nothing was served making excuses to Anne. Her sisterin-law was too quick of mind for such futile ploys.
    "Aye, that was him," she muttered, not quite able to meet the
other woman's gaze. "Would ye like for me to go after him and
fetch him back so ye can finally make his acquaintance? Then ye
could take over his friend's care, and I could be well and finally
rid of him."
    "From what I overheard-thanks to yet wide open door-it
didn't seem to me that ye or he were all that disposed never to
see each other again. Leastwise, not for long."
    Hot blood flooded Caitlin's cheeks yet again. "It was but a wee
misunderstanding, and naught to trouble yerself about."

    An auburn brow arched, and Anne eyed the knife still clenched
in Caitlin's fist. "And which misunderstanding might that be?
The threat to his life and limb or the kiss? And do one or both
necessitate a talk with yet brother upon his return?"
    "Neither, Anne. Neither, I beg ye!"
    Caitlin laid the knife on the table and rushed back over to her
sister-in-law. She grasped both her hands.
    "Please, Anne. Don't tell Niall. Och, don't tell him!"
    "He's not some ogre, lass." Anne's silver eyes warmed with concern. "He just cares for ye and doesn't wish to see ye hurt again."
    Caitlin gave an unsteady laugh, released the other woman's
hands, and took a step back. "Then more's the reason not to
unduly upset him. Darach MacFarlane means naught to me.
I despise the man. Indeed, I rue my shortsighted folly even in
inviting him to