A Highlander Christmas Read Online Free PDF

a complete stranger.
    She continued watching in silence as he rebelted his plaid then folded it over his shoulder and pinned it in place. Two steps took him to the table in the center of the room, and he rifled through the items piled on its top.
    “Is this your cottage?”
    Busy opening a small sack of oats, he didn’t look at her. “No.”
    “Whose is it, then?”
    “I don’t know, but I expect him to return once the storm abates.” Taking a pot from the table, he strode to the door. When he opened it, a blast of snow and cold whipped through the room. Quickly, he knelt to scoop some fresh snow into the pot and then stepped back inside, closing the door firmly behind him.
    His dark gaze speared her. “Tell me if you become cold again.”
    She was already cold. Keeping her lips pressed firmly together, she nodded.
    Kneeling beside the hearth, he hung the pot on the hook over the fire. “What’s your name?”
    “Margaret MacDonald. Everyone calls me Maggie.”
    He inclined his head and reached out to her. “Come, Maggie.”
    Lured by the promise of warmth, she stepped around the bed and sat on its edge, extending her legs toward the flames.
    “Why do you think the owner will return?”
    He gestured at the table with his chin. “Someone brought supplies in anticipation of his arrival.”
    “Oh.” She gazed at the tabletop, at the bottles of whisky sitting upon it, and realization dawned. This must have been where Innes Munroe had intended to bring her. He’d had it all planned—he’d wanted to take her somewhere isolated so she couldn’t escape. So no one could hear her scream. How long had he thought to keep her here?
    Until she gave everything to him, no doubt. Her body, her soul. Her independence. A shudder racked her body. In an instant, Logan was at her side. “Cold?”
    “No.” But the tremble wouldn’t go away.
    Tentatively, he reached toward her, and when she didn’t pull away, he tugged her close, fitting her against the side of his muscular body. This time, she didn’t fight him. It was Innes who scared her, she realized, not this man. As big and intimidating as Logan Douglas was, if he’d intended to hurt her, he would have done it by now.
    He was, in his harsh, masculine way, attempting to comfort her. To help her.
    “Shhh.” He patted her head awkwardly, but his touch was gentle and more soothing than she would have expected. “You needn’t fear him any longer. I won’t let him hurt you.”
    Logan touched his fingertip to the wound Innes’s dagger had inflicted on her chest. The light skin-to-skin contact sent an unexpected prickle of desire rolling through her. Her breath caught, and for a suspended moment, she froze. And then her wits returned in a rush. She jerked away, tamping down the unfamiliar sensation.
    She crossed her arms and gazed at the flames licking at the bottom of the pot. Logan sat beside her in silence.
    “He thought brutality was the way to win my affections,” she murmured eventually, moving her fingers to press over the dagger wound. She slid Logan a glance. “That approach never works with women, you know.”
    Logan nodded grimly. He didn’t try to touch her again. “It doesn’t work with anyone.”
    “He has wanted to marry me since my husband died in a hunting accident five years ago . . .” Maggie sighed. “It seems like for ever.”
    She never spoke of this to anyone, and yet she wanted to tell Logan Douglas, stranger though he was. She forged onward. “His name is Innes Munroe. He’s threatened, cajoled, coaxed, but I’ve refused him again and again. All I want is for him to leave me in peace.”
    Logan sat stiffly, staring at the fire. His fingers curled into fists. His face was hard, his expression angry. He truly felt protective of her, she realized. But that was absurd—he hardly knew her. Perhaps he was the kind of man who felt it his duty to protect the weaker set.
    He spoke through tight lips. “What happened last night before I found