Beneath a Highland Moon (The Highland Moon Series 1) Read Online Free PDF

hands clenched into fists.
    Gordo n chuckled. A sound so sinister that it made cold chills crawl up Jillian's spine. "How noble of you to come to the aid of your lady, but as I'm now in charge here, I'll not tolerate such disobedience. Show this man what happens to those who dare stand against Gordon MacRae," he ordered the two men who'd brought Roderick in earlier. "He'll be an example to the others. Perhaps they will think twice before refusing me."
    One man grabbed Roderick's arms, pinning them behind his back, whilst the other beat him mercilessly. The wound on his head split open further and blood splattered through the air with each blow to his face.
    Jillian looked on, shoc ked. "Stop! You're killing him!" she screamed. "Do you not hear me? Please stop, I beg of you." Her tearful pleas fell on deaf ears, as they continued to beat Roderick until he slumped to the floor and lay still.
    Tears streamed down her face as she ran to his side and fell to her knees, praying that he still lived. She placed her ear next to his mouth and nose. His warm breath puffed against her ear. Thank you, God.
    " Throw him into the dungeon along with the others," Gordon ordered the two men who had just finished beating him, "and you there, Fergus," he called to a skinny, freckled redhead, "take Lady Jillian to her bedchamber and make sure she stays there. Don't allow her outside her door for any reason."
    The man smiled a t Jillian and winked, giving her a good look at the few teeth still left in his head.
    Gordon reached Fergus in two strides and grabbed him up by the front of the shirt, until only the toes of his boots touched the floor. "Lay a hand on her, you miserable cur, and I swear I'll kill you," he said through clenched teeth. "I'll not have the likes of you spoiling her for my bed, do you understand me?"
    Fergus 's mouth dropped open and he visibly paled. He quickly nodded.
    " Now, go and do as I said," Gordon ordered, letting go of Fergus's shirt and shoving him toward Jillian.
    Fergus grabbed Jillian by the arm and yanked her up from the floor. She struggled to pull away from him, but he dug his dirty nails into her skin and held on so tightly she had no other option than to follow him.
    Jillian fought to keep her footing as he dragged her up the narrow stairs. Steadying herself with her free hand pressed against the wall was all that kept her from falling.
    He stopped once they reached the landing. "Which one of these rooms be yours?"
    She held her tongue.
    "Don't matter to me none which one I toss ye arse in. They're all the same t'me."
    " Very well," she sighed, and pointed to her room.
    He opened her bedchamber door and shoved her inside. When he came in behind her and began to close the door, fear knotted inside her. "If it weren't for being afraid of losing m'life," he whispered, "I'd bed ye right here and teach ye a thing or two about pleasuring a man. I still would if given the chance."
    Jillian almost gagged at his stench when he suddenly stepped closer and rubbed his dirty, unshaven cheek against her own. He grinned from ear-to-ear, winked at her and left the room, slamming the door closed behind him.
    She shuddered, quickly rubbing away the horrible smell and feel of Fergus with what was left of her rose scented water. Being bedded by a man like him would most certainly be worse than death itself—and something she had no intention of ever letting happen—nor did she intend to wed Gordon MacRae either.
    As for his taking Ian as his ward, 'twas naught but a pretense. One day an accident would conveniently happen to her brother to take his young life, giving Gordon the opportunity he'd been waiting for all these years—to hold the title of Baron of Lochstorm.
    Jillian might not be able to stop Gordon MacRae, but she knew someone who could. Kade MacLachlan, the laird of Ravenskull Castle.

Chapter Two
     
    Driven by the harsh winds off the North Sea, rain pounded against Jillian 's bedchamber window. Several hours had