Her Highness and the Highlander: A Princess Brides Romance Read Online Free PDF

exactly who they were and what they wanted of her.
    “Which is why you are no’ to worry further,” he continued. “Once I retire for the
     night, you are to lock the door securely behind me so no one can startle you as I
     so regrettably did earlier.”
    “And where will you be once you leave?” she asked, a quaver still audible in her tone.
    “Right next door. If anything frightens you, you are to knock on the wall and awaken
     me. I assure you, after ten years of war, I’m a very light sleeper.”
    She studied him again, then nodded once more. “Thank you. You are…extraordinarily
     kind.”
    “Ha. I doubt you’ll convince anyone else of that, since I’m no’ known for my sympathetic
     nature. Rather the opposite, or so I’ve been told.”
    “I cannot believe that,” she said gravely.
    “Believe it, lass. I’m as tough as they come.”
    He’d had to be in order to survive; men with soft hearts and weak constitutions didn’t
     last long on the battlefield. He’d done things that would make her blanch with horror.
     He’d cut men down where they stood and left them gasping their last breath while he
     turned his back to slay the next.
    But that was over now, his days of blood and carnage in the past; peace was the blessing
     that lay ahead.
    Suddenly he didn’t want her to know him for who he was, wanting her to believe he
     was the hero she seemed to imagine.
    Daniel smiled. “But enough of such talk. You’re safe and have no reason to worry.
     Are we agreed?”
    Slowly, her lips curved up as well. “Yes. Agreed.”
    “Good.” He gave her hand a light squeeze, noticing how silky smooth her skin felt.
     Whoever she was, she’d clearly never done a day of manual labor in her life.
    Is she a runaway?
he wondered again.
If so, who has she run from and who does she fear?
    “On second thought,” he said, “I could do with a helping of that tart. Assuming you’ll
     join me, that is.”
    She smiled. “I suppose it would be rude to disappoint the cook.” Reaching again for
     the serving spoon, she began to portion out the sweet.

    Bushes scraped her skin while tree branches tangled in her hair and snatched at her
     clothes like a hundred bony hands. Her breath burned hot as flame in her heaving lungs,
     her feet aching as she ran and ran and ran.
    She was lost. Hopelessly lost.
    But not alone.
    The forest echoed with the heavy footfalls of the hunters giving chase, and she knew
     how the fox felt as the poor animal dashed for freedom.
    If she stopped, they would have her. But how could she keep going when she was so
     tired? How much longer would she last?
    Suddenly a man’s hot breath whispered in her ear and she screamed.
    “Got you, Your Highness.”
    Mercedes sat bolt upright in bed, a silent scream lodged in her throat. Shaking, disoriented,
     she gazed around the dark, unfamiliar room, not sure where she was or how she had
     gotten there.
    The inn,
she realized suddenly.
I’m at the inn.
    She peered through the low light toward the door, relieved to find it closed and locked.
    At least she assumed it was locked.
    But was it still? What if someone had come in while she was sleeping? What if the
     man from her dream hadn’t been a dream at all?
    The room looked exactly as it had when she had gone to bed; nothing was different
     or out of place. And another careful inspection showed that there was no man—only
     her.
    A nightmare,
she assured herself.
It was nothing but a nightmare.
    Her gaze went again to the door, her pulse racing fast, her mouth dry.
    Before she gave herself a chance to lose what sliver of nerve she had left, she flung
     back the tangled covers and hurriedacross the room. She rattled the doorknob in its frame and checked the iron bolt above.
    Both were locked.
    She dashed back to the bed and climbed in, pulling the covers as high beneath her
     chin as they would go.
    The single candle the maid had lit earlier had gone out, leaving only a watery moonlight
     to shine