Highland Song Read Online Free PDF

sent a shiver of fear into her already ragged nerves. Yet the man intrigued her, and despite her fears, she couldn’t help but notice how tanned and powerful he was. The sight sent an odd shiver of sensation slipping into her belly. When he smoothed the crinkled parchment, sliding his fingers along the paper as though savoring the feel, another sensation rippled through her.
     
    Don't let this man's good looks fool you, Lainie girl. He's more dangerous and more ruthless than any man you've met, including your brothers. He’ll take what he wants and ride into the hills never looking back.
     
    A slight breeze shivered through the hidden camp, setting the trees to shaking tiny drops of moisture to the ground. Beneath the swaying bows, morning light retreated and returned, concealing and revealing the stranger’s features as he turned sideways to her.
     
    Lainie couldn’t help but stare despite her best efforts to do otherwise. She told herself he was handsome, yes, but she’d seen many men whose features would put his to shame, and she’d also seen men who terrified her, men with angry eyes and mouths eager to sneer. She reminded herself of the pain men could inflict. And she told herself there was no reason for her to find herself so attracted to this man. He was hard, his eyes were cold, and there was certainly no reason for this man to haunt her during her sleep. He was a threat to her existence, and she should keep reminding herself of that fact.
     
      Without the dangerous mission to distract Lainie, she was even more curious about him than she had been when she first watched him set his coat on the table inside the tavern, partially hiding his satchel, an open invitation to her nimble fingers. It was almost as if he had set a trap for her.
    ~ * ~
     
    Aaron turned the papers over in his hand and stuffed them inside his coat pocket. The next thing his fingers ran into in the saddlebag was a length of soft leather wrapped around something and tied with a worn leather thong. Curious, Aaron pulled out the bundle and unwrapped it. One gold button, fabric from the jacket still clinging to it, fell from the wrapping into Aaron’s palm.
     
    Be damned, Aaron thought. It’s a button from the uniform of an English general. Perhaps the rumors are true. The notion gave him pause.
     
    Carefully Aaron wrapped up the button and put it back inside the saddlebag.
     
    The next thing his fingers encountered was the worn dry leather of a journal. He opened it, flipped through a few pages and then understanding the significance of the writing, he closed the book, transferring it to his saddlebags.
     
    The rest of the contents of the girl’s saddlebag made Aaron feel frankly uneasy about his own mission. First appearances were often deceiving, but she didn’t appear to be a spy. From what he’d seen so far, she looked more to be the victim of a crime rather than the perpetrator. All that was left in her saddlebags was a boy’s jacket, a worn out white shirt, and one pair of pants. If she was Lainie MacPherson and he didn’t think he was mistaken, her family had money. She should at least have a small purse, something to get her by until she met up with her companions. It appeared to him that this woman was dirt poor.
     
    It was obvious she was being used by the thieves she worked with, and it was becoming increasingly apparent to Aaron that her own family had possibly disowned her. On the other hand…
     
    "You keep inching your hand toward that dirk," Aaron said without looking up, "and I’m going to drag you out of that bedroll and teach you how a lady should treat a guest."
     
    ~ * ~
     
    Lainie froze, stunned by his words. Until he spoke, she would have sworn the man hadn’t even known she was awake. Did he have eyes in the back of his head? “You’re no guest of mine.”
     
    “I am if I say I am.”
     
    "Who are you?" she asked with a quiet realization he was even more dangerous than she’d