Highland Lover Read Online Free PDF

take a rest from it. Last night Alana had been knocked unconscious for several tense, frightening minutes when, after he caught
    her as she had stumbled from her precarious perch upon his shoulders, they had both come up hard
    against the stone wall of their prison. When she had gone limp in his arms, he had suffered a
    moment of blind terror he had no wish to taste again.
    It had seemed such a simple plan but was proving to have far too many unforeseen complications
    and dangers. When one was landing upon rock and hard ground, the distance one fell did not matter
    quite as much as how one landed. As they had struggled again and again to move that lump of iron
    keeping them from escaping, Gregor had realized Alana was right. The weight of the thing was not
    as big a problem as the angle they were approaching it from. Alana not only had to find the strength
    to lift it, but also to then push it aside. That required some stretching and twisting of her small body, and that was where their trouble would begin.
    The moment Alana began to straighten up, one small bare foot on each of his shoulders, Gregor
    grasped her ankles. Thinking it might steady her more as she worked, he slid his hands up the front
    of her legs. With his arms slightly curved around her legs, he firmly clasped the front of her slim
    thighs. He felt Alana jerk ever so slightly and the muscles in her slender legs tautened beneath his
    hands.
    “Good lass,” he said. “Keep yourself as taut as a bowstring. ’Twill help lessen our chances of
    stumbling.”
    Stumbling was the very last thing Alana had been thinking about as she had felt those big hands
    move up her legs. She almost looked down to see if she was on fire, such was the strength of the
    heat his touch stirred within her. There was nothing seductive about his touch, but that did not stop her pulse from leaping. He is just trying to hold ye steady as ye struggle with this cursed lump of
    iron, she told herself, but herself did not seem inclined to listen. The heedless part of her that
    desired the man was not interested in the struggle to escape; it wanted him to stroke her legs again.
    Alana forced herself to concentrate on moving aside the contrary iron grate that barred their escape.
    Her hands were sore, covered with scratches and bruises, but she had done her best to hide those
    injuries from Gregor. Once she realized she could stand on his shoulders without shaking in fear
    and that she could reach the hatch, she became determined to succeed. Instinct told her that Gregor
    would try to halt her attempts if he knew what abuse her hands were suffering. He had almost done
    so when she had taken that little sleep after slamming into the wall, but she had managed to talk him out of quitting. If he knew about all the other injuries she was aching from, Alana felt absolutely
    certain he would give up.
    Slowly, Alana lifted the grate. Stretching herself up as far as she could, she began to push it aside.
    Distracting though it was, she had to admit that Gregor’s new hold upon her legs did keep her
    steadier. She took several slow, deep breaths, willed every ounce of strength she had into her arms,
    said a little prayer, and shoved the grate. The sound of heavy iron landing on stone rang in her ears, but it took her a moment before she fully realized she had, at long last, succeeded. Disbelief rose up and she used her hands to confirm her success, feeling around the opening—the now completely
    unobstructed opening.
    “I did it,” she whispered.
    Just as Alana opened her mouth to more loudly announce her success, she found herself yanked off
    Gregor’s broad shoulders. Left a little breathless by that abrupt dismount, she could barely utter a
    squeak of surprise as he enfolded her in his strong arms for a vigorous hug. She was still reeling
    from the heady effects of that embrace when he set her on her feet and moved away. A moment
    later she felt blankets being draped around her shoulders. Alana