Highlander's Reckoning (The Sinclair Brothers #3) Read Online Free PDF

man’s lower rank.
But she was no docile, sweet lady; it was best he knew that from the beginning.
    She was prepared for his frown to deepen, or even
for him to berate her for her insolence. Instead his face remained flat and
unreadable.
    “And I take it you must be Rona Kennedy, daughter of
a disgraced and disloyal Laird.”
    She felt her eyes widen and her jaw slacken at the
open insult he flung at both her and her father. Well, she had started it. But
to openly call her father disloyal? Too late, she realized that her temper had
reached the boiling point.
    “How dare you come into our home and insult us in
this manner! My father did what was necessary to keep Loch Doon in one piece!
I’m sure a Highlander like you wouldn’t understand the finer points of
diplomacy and negotiation required in the Lowlands during this tumultuous
time.”
    “You call Loch Doon your home, but I’ll remind you
that it is Robert the Bruce’s ancestral land, and he built Loch Doon with his
own two hands. I am the keeper of the castle now, and I serve the Bruce—not the
English who threaten us.”
     
    Daniel watched as a series of emotions flitted
across the Kennedy lass’s face. Though he doubted she was aware of it, her
thoughts and feelings were written clearly on her comely features.
    Actually, she was more than comely. As Daniel had
approached when she entered the hall, he took in her bright red hair, which
rolled in loose waves down her back. It made her look wild, like some forest
fairy. Her skin was pale, but her cheeks had a pink tinge from the cold
outside. When he was standing right in front of her, he realized that a
smattering of freckles crossed the bridge of her small, pert nose, making her
look all the more impertinent. Her eyes blazed bright blue, a cold fire to
match her flame-red hair.
    Anger, outrage, and stubbornness all warred for
dominance on her face. She nearly retorted again, but she forcefully swallowed
her words and pressed her lips together.
    That gave him another moment to strategize his
approach to the lass. First she had evaded him by disappearing for the entire
afternoon and evening. That had given him plenty to stew about. Though he and
the rest of the castle had taken a quick and joyless evening meal in the great
hall, he had been too distracted and annoyed to bathe or get settled in his new
chamber. Instead, he had paced the empty hall with Kennedy hovering over him
until she suddenly appeared.
    Then her first words to him were a direct challenge
to his authority and rank. Gilbert Kennedy had at least attempted to suppress
his feelings of frustration at being deposed. This lass, on the other hand,
went straight on the attack.
    So, how was he to treat a hostile bride who was
evasive one minute and on the attack the next? Judging by the cracks she was
showing in her steel-spined exterior, perhaps his level coldness made her
uncomfortable.
    After a long silence stretched, he finally spoke,
keeping his voice neutral. “Where have you been all evening?”
    Damn, the question only seemed to harden her. She
crossed her arms over her chest, which caused the thick cloak she wore to fall
back over her shoulders. It was the first glimpse he had of her form. She was
slender and lithe, though at the moment her posture made her look fierce. Her
crossed arms emphasized her breasts, which were high and firm. Though not
deep-bosomed, she was endowed with a slim yet womanly figure. He suddenly
realized she was tall for a lass. Her head came up to his chin, and he towered
over most men.
    The silence deepened as she continued to stare back
at him, refusing to answer.
    “I asked you a question, lass,” he said, no longer
trying to hide his irritation.
    “And I don’t wish to answer. Will you shake it out
of me, as my father would have?” She raised her chin as she spoke, but he
didn’t miss the flicker of uncertainty in her bright blue eyes. She was testing
him, but because she didn’t know him yet, she wasn’t