The Earl's Enticement (Castle Bride Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

swirled it around the opening first, then inside the slot to collect the webs. A fuzzy brown spider skimmed across her hand and onto the carrot. Yelping in alarm, she jumped away. She heaved the vegetable against the opposite wall.
    Adaira shivered. Whether from the chill of the chamber or the fear she refused to yield to, she couldn’t be certain.
    What a ninny.
    She often walked the woods alone at night with far more dangerous creatures than a few spiders and bats.
    “You must do this for Yvette,” Adaira scolded herself.
    Gritting her teeth, she reached in and snatched the key ring. A wave of relief washed over her. She released a long hissing breath before she grabbed the bundle and buckets off the floor. Then, shoulders squared, she resolutely marched along the passageway. The cloying smells of stagnant air and damp earth encircled her.
    Long since forgotten barrels and crates littered the sides of the passageways. Rustic metal torch brackets were positioned every few feet along the walls. When lit, the bowels of the keep weren’t nearly as ominous.
    She’d not dally to light the torches today. She wanted to prop open the outer door exiting by the loch, one of two entrances undetectable from outside. That would help expedite getting Marquardt inside. She still had to return to the kitchen for the food Sorcha was packing.
    Grandmother had showed Adaira the stone doors years ago. She’d whispered of prisoners, enemy clan members, and even aristocracy who’d been smuggled in and out of the keep’s bowels. A half-smile curved Adaira’s mouth. Grandmother was the bravest woman she’d ever known.
    The occasional rustling of small feet as a rodent scurried ahead of Adaira didn’t slow her pace. She was going to be late. Brayan would wait, of course. That wasn’t what worried her. No, it was the knowledge that Marquardt might very well be nearer the castle than she’d calculated.
    She held the lamp higher and hurried down another passageway. Her steps faltered as she reached her former sanctuary. She swallowed against the lump of fear lodged in her throat.
    “Grandmother, I could use some of your courage right now,” she whispered into the gloom.
    Staring into the cell, its door hanging wide open, time stood still. Everything appeared exactly like she remembered.
    Exactly the way she’d left it four years ago.

CHAPTER 4
    Riding low across Fionn’s back, Adaira raced the stallion to the cottages. The bag of food slung across her shoulder bumped against her spine in an annoying rhythm. The pounding tempo of his hooves matched her frantic heartbeat as she’d torn from the keep’s lower levels several minutes ago.
    Fear and memories surged to the forefront of her mind. She swallowed, ineffectually trying to force both to subside. When she stood before the cell, she’d panicked. Horror had overwhelmed her.
    She’d been terrified , her only thought, escape .
    Dropping everything she’d brought for Marquardt, she sprinted away. Just like that horrific day the blacksmith’s apprentice, Godwin Wallace, attacked her. When she’d regained consciousness, her skirts had been shoved to her thighs. She’d flown from the dungeon then too.
    Today was the first time she’d returned.
    She closed her eyes, trying to block the memory. Father, Ewan, or one of her other Scot relatives would have killed Godwin. The man was as good as dead. Knowing it, he’d fled Craiglocky never to be seen or heard from again.
    Except, Adaira had told no one of the assault. Humiliation and self-castigation muted her. She blamed herself for his attack. She shouldn’t have been sneaking in and out of the dungeon. If she’d been in the schoolroom where she belonged, where her parents trusted her to be, she’d never have been accosted. Thank God she’d fainted before he. . .
    Gulping against the bile in her throat, she closed her eyes.
    She ran a hand over her thigh. She’d begun wearing Dugall’s castoff breeches that very day. He’d