Highland Moonlight Read Online Free PDF

as long as he could keep her safe.
    From his position several feet away, he could see her features clearly.
    Against the dark fabric she wore as a liripipe to cover her hair, her skin
    glowed creamy and warm in the firelight. From a distance she could pass
    for a young lad. On closer view, her face appeared too delicately wrought to
    be anything but feminine. Her lips, full and finely shaped, were parted, her
    features relaxed in sleep. She looked very young curled on her side with her
    hand tucked beneath her cheek
    The memory of how she had grasped the tartan about her to hide her
    nudity from her father’s men rose up to smite his conscience and he drew a
    deep breath. He had known they would be coming, but had not offered her a
    warning. Her virgin blood had been smeared bright red on the sheets and
    between her thighs for all to see. He had spared her nothing. Nothing.
    He had not just taken her innocence when he possessed her body, he
    had crushed it beneath his admission of betrayal. He remembered how the
    color had leached from her skin as though she had received a mortal blow.
    Shame and regret brought a hollow feeling to his gut. He had been a
    warrior too long. He had known nothing but fear and death, blood and
    ruthlessness. But even when he killed in the name of his king and his
    country, he had believed himself to be an honorable man. But that night, he
    had not behaved as one. His belief that his actions would force Collin to
    honor the betrothal contract had given him an excuse to act with as little
    honor as the Mac Lachlan Laird. And he had done so. He hadn’t wanted to
    lose her, but his own actions had insured he would.
    Raking his fingers through his hair and pushing against his temples
    with the heel of his hands, he bit back the warrior’s yell of frustration and
    pain that built inside him. There had to be something he could do to make
    amends. Regaining some control, he folded his arms across his chest.
    His attention moved back to Mary. It was a miracle she had conceived
    so easily. It would take another for him to win her back.

Chapter Three
    “If I had to bock as often as she, and you were the cause of it, I’d hate
    you myself,” Duncan whispered. “She has spent more time in the brush
    than she has upon her mount this morn.”
    Alexander flashed Duncan a warning look. He could see for himself
    how ill Mary was and how miserable because of it.
    “‘Tis the way of it sometimes in the beginning, Alexander.” Derrick
    Campbell said from behind him. “‘Twill ease in time.”
    Reappearing from the brush, Mary leaned against her horse for
    support. She filled her mouth from the water bag then spat it on the ground.
    With obvious effort she dragged herself atop the gelding.
    “Should she fall from her mount, she could bring harm to herself and
    the bairn.” He voiced a concern that had plagued him since she had gotten
    sick the first time.
    Like distant thunder, the rapid rumble of horses approaching from the
    south sounded. As they appeared from around a bend in the road, the pale
    gleam of Collin MacLachlan’s hair came into sight. Mary whipped the reins
    against the haunches of her mount, sending him forward with a leap.
    Alexander swore and crashed through the underbrush in quick pursuit.
    “Slow them, if you can,” he yelled to his brother.

    ****
Mary glanced behind her, seeing the large black gelding gaining on
    her with each steady stride. She swung away from the road and charged up
    a steep slope, then veered to the left, following the winding trail of a well-
    used path. The pursuing horse’s hooves pounded behind her with the
    same furious beat as her heart’s. She urged the gelding to a faster pace.
    Dogs bayed nearby, drawing her attention and she turned her horse in
    that direction. The path became a rain gully running downward. The horse’s
    footing uncertain, they slid down the bank to a flatter plain. The smell of
    damp vegetation hung strong in the air. The creek