Stolen Vows Read Online Free PDF Page B

find her staring at him.  Her eyes were riveted on his face.  He was finally able to determine that they were green, the flecks of color brought out by both the mossy hue of her dress and the fading bruises on her cheeks.  What a sight we must make , Roan thought.  Both he and his bride were beaten black and blue. Roan would have laughed at the absurdity of the situation if things had not been so deadly serious.
     
    Roan barely noticed when the ceremony began.  Ian had to prod him sharply in the back when it was time to speak his vows.  Roan spat the words out like poison.  His voice grew harsher with every line that he was required to speak.  Isla’s voice, in contrast, was barely a whisper.  She was asked to repeat one line twice, her words barely decipherable. 
     
    Roan realized that Isla’s body was shaking just as hard as her voice when he was asked to take her.  He couldn’t help but frown.  Hadn’t she planned this whole charade?  Wasn’t this what she wanted?  Maybe she was just as trapped as him?  Roan didn’t really see how that was possible, but something in the way she was standing there beside him, teary and trembling, tugged at his heartstrings.
     
    Roan forced his tone to soften, as he in turn was forced to speak the final words that would bind him unbreakably to Isla Cameron.  Isla MacRae , Roan corrected himself bitterly.
     
    When the pronouncement came that they were man and wife, it was not followed by any jovial call to ‘kiss the bride’ – that was fine by Roan, he couldn’t imagine that anything would ever induce him to kiss the woman that was now his wife.
     
    ..ooOOoo..
     
    Isla thought she might actually be ill.  All the warmth that she remembered on Roan’s face the day before was gone.  It had been replaced by a burning anger.  Well what else could she expect? Roan had never volunteered to rescue her. She doubted that he even understood what he was rescuing her from, but she had altered the course of his entire life to suit her plan. She couldn’t deny that the anger was justified.  The only way out now for either of them was through death.  Isla reflected, rather grimly, that her death might not be very far away if she had misjudged her new husband as badly as she feared. It was a long ride back to Castle MacRae.  No one would be around to prevent an “accident” if Isla were to stumble off a cliff - or onto the end of Roan’s sword. 
     
    Isla stumbled as she walked back up the aisle.  Roan caught her, and offered a puzzled frown. At least that was an improvement on the black scowl he’d been wearing throughout the ceremony.  Isla’s heart gave a painful, guilty beat when she looked up into his beaten face.  My fault , she thought, all my fault , deciding that she couldn’t really blame Roan if he took his freedom back by force.
     
    No one had organized any of the ceremonies that typically followed a Cameron wedding.  The Camerons were not celebrating this union.  There was no large feast, no dancing and no speeches.  There was a simple meal of roasted Highland beef in the Laird’s hall, a cask of ale and then an awkward nothingness that no one seemed to quite know how to fill.
     
    The hours wore on slowly.  Roan didn’t say a word during dinner.  He ate hungrily and Isla had a nasty suspicion this was the first time he had eaten since arriving at the castle. Roan concentrated on his food and ignored his new bride.  She couldn’t keep her eyes from drifting towards him, though. 
     
    Isla had controlled matters up until now. She had forced their marriage.  It still didn’t seem quite real, but very soon she would be at the sole mercy of Roan MacRae.
     
    “Ye need time to pack I suppose?” Roan said gruffly.  Isla jumped when she heard his voice after such a long silence.
     
    “To pack?”
     
    “We’re leaving,” Roan growled.  “as soon as possible.”  Sitting in the seat next to his sister, Ian tensed.  Roan saw the