How to Handle a Highlander (Hot Highlanders) Read Online Free PDF Page A

stepped toward Bari. Her brother wasn’t small, but Gahan was a huge man. He had devil-dark hair and wide shoulders packed with hard muscle. The man didn’t seem to feel the chill in the air; his shirt sleeves were rolled up and tied at the shoulders, the muscles along his arms clearly on display.
    She was no stranger to listening to Bari proclaim his position, but this man radiated authority. It surrounded him so thickly she would have sworn she could taste it. Gahan glanced at her, and for a moment she was transfixed. It was the briefest moment, yet she felt as if the man looked straight into her soul. Sensation rippled along her skin in response.
    “Ye seem to have forgotten to tell me father that ye had contracted yer sister to Matheson.” Gahan’s voice was smooth and even, but there was a core of solid steel in it too.
    “After ye allowed Sandra to die on yer land?”
    Gahan crossed his arms over his chest. “That bitch poisoned me father. Either confess ye knew her plan or condemn her as a murderess.”
    “I will nae—” Bari shut his mouth so hard his teeth clicked.
    “Will nae what?” Gahan pressed. He took another step toward Bari.
    “Discuss it with ye.”
    Gahan and the other Sutherland retainers were not satisfied with his answer. They pressed forward. Bari suddenly reached for Moira, his fingers biting into her bicep as he dragged her up beside him.
    “Moira is me half sister, and her mother was common-born. Something ye should know a bit about, bastard.”
    “I know a thing or two about it,” Gahan agreed as he reached out and captured her other bicep. Unlike her brother’s grip, his didn’t hurt, but it was firm and unbreakable. “And I know what a man looks like when he’s hiding behind a woman.”
    Gahan set her behind him in a swift motion. In the same instant, his other hand captured Bari’s wrist and twisted it upward. Moira stumbled into Gahan’s men, who parted to allow her through, then closed ranks behind their laird once again. She ended up in the doorway of the keep.
    “Nae that I should be surprised. Ye let Sandra stand in front of ye as well.”
    Bari shouted, “I’m escorting Moira to her groom. It’s a good match, better than her common birth deserves.”
    “And why are ye in a hurry to celebrate this wedding?”
    “It’s spring,” Bari said. “If Matheson made ye welcome, it’s his business. But me sister is going to wed him.”
    Bari stormed through the Sutherland retainers and renewed his grip on her arm. As he pulled her into the keep, she looked back. She really shouldn’t have but couldn’t seem to control her impulses. Gahan Sutherland was watching her, his black eyes glittering. She stared at him, astounded that she hadn’t heard even a hint of rage in his voice. His strength was more than flesh; it was there inside him too. The man didn’t need to raise his voice to make sure everyone knew how immovable his opinion was. There was an intensity that radiated off him. Even separated by several feet, she felt it. A curious sensation raced through her, leaving her breathless. When she looked forward again, her cheeks were warm with a blush—which was very bad. Because if there was one thing she didn’t need, it was to be blushing over Gahan Sutherland.
    She was set to wed another man.
    ***
    “Ye handled that well,” Cam muttered with a good dose of sarcasm.
    “I did nae kill him,” Gahan replied. “All in all, I agree with ye.”
    Cam gave him a raised eyebrow in response but Gahan wasn’t in the mood to banter with his sibling. “He’s up to no good.”
    “Aye,” Cam agreed. “Yer suspicions are proving true. The cook is busy preparing a feast for tonight.”
    “Tonight?”
    “Aye,” Cam confirmed. “Bari is a hard man to be sending his sister to such an old man’s bed.”
    “She might be in agreement. Sandra was nae innocent of scheming. As a common-born daughter, she would do well wedding herself to a laird.”
    But there had still