Highlander's Ransom Read Online Free PDF

She also struggled to push away the thought that
they might harm her in…other ways. She had heard the stories. She knew what
these savages would do to innocent ladies they kidnapped. No one had yet made
any such move, but she was uncomfortably aware of her captor’s masculine
strength behind her. Although she tried to keep their bodies from touching, she
could feel the hard planes of his torso behind her, and the corded muscles of
his arms and thighs brushing her waist and legs.
    She guessed that they had been riding at a steady and
swift clip for at least four hours. The already dim light of the day had
slipped into an eerie bluish glow, which was now turning black. She had
shivered for a while after her initial fear had ebbed, but now she seemed
beyond shivers, beyond cold. The horse’s stride beneath her had grown
monotonous, and she feared she would go into a trance of shock, frigidness, and
exhaustion soon. The man behind her gave no indication of his own fatigue, nor
did those riding around them. She wished she didn’t have to be so
embarrassingly close to him—she was a lady, after all—but then again his body
radiated heat, which she was grateful for. Although she refused to succumb to
the desire to lean into him, she no longer fought to create space between them.
She would do what was necessary to survive, she told herself.
    It seemed as though these men weren’t going to harm
her, at least not right away. That thought buoyed her, and also gave her time
to plan an escape. Her mind was too jumbled with the events of the day to think
of details at the moment, but she was sure of one thing: she wouldn’t go
willingly with these savages. Although she was not so proud as to try to deny
her own fear, she wouldn’t let it rule her. She was stronger than that—or at
least she hoped she was. She had never had to face something like this before.
She could only pray that her spirit, which her father had tried to break her of
over so many years, wouldn’t fail her now.
    Her thoughts were interrupted when the man behind her
let out a soft whistle and halted his stallion. He dismounted smoothly, then
reached up to pull her off his horse. When her feet hit solid ground, she
gasped and then groaned through the cloth covering her mouth. She hadn’t
realized just how numb her feet were, or how sore the rest of her was. She felt
like she was propped up on two wooden pegs, and she wobbled. Luckily, the man’s
hands stayed around her waist, steadying her. She looked up at him through the
darkness, but was met with a menacing frown and cold eyes. She tried to give
him her fiercest glare back, unwilling to be cowed by the threat in his
expression. Unexpectedly, he spoke.
    “We stop only for a moment. You probably want to see
to your needs.”
    She nodded, and he began to unwind the rope around her
hands. When they were free, she yanked off the gag over her mouth.
    “Who are you? Where are you taking me? What do you
mean to do with me?” she demanded in a rush with more fire than she thought she
could have mustered.
    His scowl deepened, and she wished for a moment that
she hadn’t spoken so rashly. Nevertheless, she refused to cower despite her
fear of the giant warrior before her.
    “See to your needs,” he repeated curtly. “I won’t be
far off, so don’t try anything.”
    She hesitated for a moment, but sensing that if she
didn’t hurry she would miss this opportunity to relieve herself, she turned and
hobbled awkwardly toward a copse of bushes. She registered that her hands were
free and that she would be out of sight of the men for a moment, but quickly
decided against an attempt at escape just yet. She would need more strength
than she had right now. With each passing hour on horseback, her chances of
escaping and finding a friend to aid her grew slimmer, yet to try to run now
would likely only involve her hobbling a few yards on her frozen feet before
being tackled and bound again.
    With a sigh, she concluded