Seducing the Highlander Read Online Free PDF Page B

away.”
     
     
    Swords clashed, sending sparks flying. Stepping back, Ian parried a skilled thrust, anticipating his opponent’s strategy and sending the other man’s weapon skittering across the courtyard.
    “Well-done.” Angus panted in defeat, his black eyes narrowed, sweat pouring over his brow. Stripped to the waist, he resembled a bull: thickset and powerful, his shoulders huge, his chest massive and muscled.
    Also shirtless, Ian was much taller but also leaner, and they usually made good adversaries, practicing with enough fervor that each of them frequently walked away with a cut or two, occasionally needing a stitch here and there to mend the damage. Ian grinned and shook the hair out of his eyes. “I am surprised I have enough strength left to beat you.”
    “Aye, I heard you were closeted with the fair Leanna most of the morning, and I can see for myself the love marks from her nails on your shoulders. You lose no time, do you, lad?” Angus sighed gloomily. “Damn you, boy, now I owe Malcolm good coin. I bet him you’d have enough self-control to last out the day, at least. His money was on the golden beauty of the English lass.”
    “I could hardly ignore her and prove a poor host, could I?” Ian laughed, then sobered. “I’m not jesting, and this is not for any ears but yours, Angus, but she hates Frankton, I’m guessing more than I do. You should have seen her face when she implored me to take her innocence, willing to bed a stranger rather than give it to the man she is pledged to marry.”
    “That’s his loss—and your gain in more than just retaliation.” Angus grunted as he bent to pick up his lost sword.
    “It makes things a little . . . complicated.”
    Plucking at his beard, his friend straightened and said gruffly, “How so?”
    “She knows she was taken to use for bargaining. I am sure she still thinks I wish to trade her back to him for my uncle’s freedom, for I have not told her any different.”
    “Tell her you mean to kill him. Who knows, she might reward you.” Bushy brows wiggled suggestively.
    “And then what do I do with her?” Ian asked quietly, remembering soft, silken hair, long-lashed eyes, and the warm reception of her beautiful body. “When Frankton is stone dead and rotting in hell, what do I do with his intended bride?”
    “Send her back to her family.”
    “You mean to the father who sold her to a toad like Frankton in the first place?”
    “Perhaps the man didn’t realize what he asked of her when he made the marriage arrangement.”
    “It was her father’s responsibility to select a decent husband, not use her beauty to his own end. She told me she agreed to the marriage for the sake of her sisters, because the settlement offered was so large. You cannot tell me that if up north we know of Frankton’s perfidy, her father was completely unaware of it.”
    Angus had a kind heart, though he tried to hide it behind his blustery facade. “I see your point, lad, I do, but other than keeping her, I don’t see another solution.”
    Keeping her —that was an interesting notion. Ian elevated his brows, sweat dripping off his jaw.
    Angus saw his expression and frowned ferociously. “She’s . . . English and noble. It’s out of the question, lad. Hell and blast, you’re thinking with your cock.”
    “As long as that’s not the only thing I do with it.” Ian shrugged, grinning.
     
     
    The room was warm, lit by only a single lamp against the subtle darkness outside, and Leanna straightened when she heard the lift of the latch. From her reclining pose on the seat by the window, she saw Laird McCray step into the room, filling it suddenly with his presence, his dark hair brushing his wide shoulders. “Were you waiting for me?” he asked softly.
    “I hoped you would come,” Leanna said with more than a little truth to her response.
    “You told me to avail myself of your very lovely body whenever I wished,” he said evenly, “and that offer was