Highlander's Captive Read Online Free PDF Page B

chose you.”
    Torr didn’t respond. He knew that she was seeking information, and he could not blame her. He was, after all, a complete stranger whether he was one of her brother’s warriors or not. Though she appeared to trust his word, it made him understand just how much she trusted her brother. But then who would dare go against the infamous Cree?
    After Wintra realized that Torr had no intentions of replying, she asked a question that had been disturbing her. “Why do you think Owen a vile man?”
    Torr shot a question back at her. “How did you come to know him?”
    Wintra smiled. “Owen stopped by the abbey on occasion, though what business he had there I do not know. He asked to speak with the person who tended the gardens, curious with their abundant harvest. I was introduced to him and with his many visits we—”
    “The fool convinced you that he loved you and could not live without you,” Torr finished with a snort. “And of course he knows who your brother is.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    “Owen knows your brother will provide you with a favorable marriage chest.”
    Wintra gasped. “You think Owen is only interested in my brother’s wealth.”
    “His last wife didn’t fair too well after he wed her. She died a week later.”
    “Owen has never been married.”
    Torr plastered his nose against hers. “He lies. He always has and always will.”
    “You know him so well?”
    “Well enough.”
    “Well, I know him better,” she argued. “He is a good, decent man who loves me.”
    “If he truly loved you as he claims he does, he would have done right by you and gone to see your brother and formally request that a marriage agreement be made. But instead, he went behind your brother’s back and abducted you.”
    “He most certainly did not. He and his warriors saved me from those who claimed to be my brother’s warriors. With the snowstorm and a friend’s keep close by, he thought it was best he take me there. Where we could be properly chaperoned until Cree gave permission for us to wed.”
    Torr shook his head. “Owen probably set up the whole kidnapping scheme to make himself look good.”
    “Owen would never do such a thing?”
    “Yes, he would. He’s not an honorable man.”
    “Until that can be proven otherwise, I intend to wed him,” Wintra said stubbornly.
    She was too angry with her brother to think he would be fair with her, though he had been the most wonderful brother until he had stuck her in the abbey after their mother had died. She had wanted to stay with him. He was all the family she had left, and she felt safe with him. But it hadn’t mattered how hard she cried or begged, he had refused to take her with him.
    It’s best you stay here.
    His words still echoed in her head, since he had repeated them each time he had visited her. Would he tell her it was best she not wed Owen? She didn’t care; she would wed him anyway.
    “Cree will provide proof.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I intend to wed Owen.”
    “That decision isn’t yours to make.”
    Wintra was furious. Having spent time at the abbey and being dictated to, she yearned to make her own choices, to taste freedom, to live her life as she pleased after so many years of restrictions. She had discussed the matter with Owen and he had assured her that once she was his wife, she could retain the freedom she enjoyed. He would not dictate to her like most husbands. She had been overjoyed with the prospect, and if she was truthful with herself it had been what made her decide to wed him. She was all too aware that it was Cree’s responsibility to arrange a marriage for her, and she feared being stuck with a husband who would dictate as badly as her brother and the nuns had.
    “Cree will have no choice but to agree to a union between Owen and me. After all, we did spend a night alone together.”
    “You claim to love Owen, yet you would place him in such danger?”
    “What do you mean?
    “Once Cree hears