Highland Mist Read Online Free PDF Page A

chest. His body once again responded to her. He knew he had gone far too long without a woman when the simple touch of a maiden set him on fire.
    He was more than a little surprised when she fell asleep in his arms. Her upturned face looked so innocent and trusting, that he wondered if his course of action had been the right one, but then he hadn’t had much of a choice. Glenna had been right. The only way to get MacNeil and find Iona was to take her. He still didn’t like the thought of kidnapping her, but there wasn’t another way.
    As much as he hated to admit it, he was attracted to her. She was a MacNeil. An enemy. But she stirred his loins like no other. Her simple touch, hesitant and featherlight, brought out his protective instinct that hereto now had only been given to his family. It disturbed him to no end that she could stir such strong feelings within him.
    It had been awhile since he had held a woman this close. Ever since his sister vanished he had foregone any kind of physical pleasure and concentrated on being the laird his father had wanted him to be.
    His mother’s dying wish that he bring Iona home had been his driving force. He had given his mother his word and nothing would stop him. Nothing. Honor was all he had left and nothing would be able to change that.
    “The music grows louder,” she mumbled, and snuggled closer.
    He froze. Music?
    How could he have been so dimwitted? He knew what she heard. The Druids. They were calling to her, one of their own.
    By St. George’s baldhead, his life had become infinitely more complicated if that was possible. His life was based on honor yet now that would be sorely tested.
    For more generations than he knew, his clan had kept the Druids hidden.
    Now he would have to break a vow. The one he had made the day he had become laird to protect all Druids, or the vow to his mother to find Iona.

Chapter Three
     
    Glenna awoke to the smell of horse, pine and…man. She jerked straight and would have fallen to the earth if Conall hadn’t caught her.
    His powerful silver gaze questioned her wits, and she couldn’t blame him. “I forgot where I was,” she said quickly as the plaid fell from her shoulders.
    He didn’t speak as he tucked the plaid around her and pulled her against his chest. “We’ve still a wee bit of riding ahead. Rest while you can.”
    But she didn’t hear him. The music had grown so loud she could scarce hear anything else. It pulled at her soul, urging her toward some unknown force, and she instinctively knew she would find her answers if she just followed the music.
    Her heart squeezed tight. Soon. Soon she would know who she really was, just as Iona had promised. Her heart was lighter than it had ever been, but her body ached too badly to rejoice. It became difficult to hold her head up, so she rested her cheek against Conall’s strong, muscular chest.
    With each step the horse took, pain exploded through her body. Her belly grumbled with hunger and she prayed he didn’t hear it.
    “We’ll be stopping for food soon,” he said into her ear.
    Would her embarrassment never end? She listened to the hauntingly beautiful music as she gazed at the wild surroundings of fir, yew and pine trees and the occasional clump of heather. The trees were budding and flowers sprouted from the earth as the sun’s rays warmed the cold ground.
    Strikingly beautiful is how she would describe the Highland landscape, and the mountains that rose around them only added to the majesty of the scene. Anger for all she had missed these past years welled up and nearly consumed her in its intensity.
    For years she had tried to understand MacNeil’s need to keep her at the castle, but the more he refused to answer her, the more resentful she had grown. He had never been a very caring father, so it had been easy to stay away from him. And she had escaped him. Finally. Thanks to Iona’s foretelling of Conall.
    “Tell me about yourself,” she asked, needing to take