The Highlander Read Online Free PDF Page A

she did not understand. She could almost imagine his face close to hers, then closer still, until his warm lips were covering hers. Her body trembled and she wanted him to lie beside her, to give her his warmth.
    She blinked her eyes and welcomed the return to reality. This was not the dreamy infatuation of a convent-reared girl. The circumstances were far different, just as the two of them were more than simply a man and a woman.
    They were two people who could not trust each other. He had his suspicions that she was lying, that she was not what she appeared to be.
    And he was right.
    But, she also had her suspicions about him, as well. She did not know if he was someone she could trust—in spite of what his brother said— and consequently they were caught in a stalemate, each determined in his own way to prove the other false.
    The truth was, she was frightened of him. Even the tone of his voice alarmed her. There was nothing kind or gentle about him. She was in a strange country, fearful for her life, with no clothes, no money, and she feared what could happen to her if he found out who she was. Under any other circumstances, it would have been the perfect time to cry, but tears would not soften him, and she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he terrified her that much. It was best to appear confident and unafraid.
    She could see the fire was fully blazing now, but she was unable to tell if it did anything to alleviate her cold, numb state. Yet she welcomed the fire as a diversion, which kept her mind off the fact that she was in this strange place with this strange Scot, completely alone, and completely at his mercy—which she had already decided was something he did not have.
    His brother said he was an honorable man, an earl, and someone she could trust. Another glance at the long-shanked body that looked as rock hard as his face, and she wondered about "hat last statement.
    He did not look very trustworthy to her.
    And it surely looked to her as if he was staring straight at her breasts. Embarrassment rose quickly, and she pulled the plaid higher. He was such a beautiful man—wholly masculine—but beautiful nonetheless. It was a pity he did not have the manners or the disposition to match it.
    She wished Tavish had been the one to stay with her. She liked his jovial manner much better. This man was his brother's opposite, for there was nothing about him that was not dark, hard, and as coldly tempered as the swords hanging on the wall.
    At last, unable to stand it any longer, she broke the silence. "I can tell by your expression that you are not happy about my being here."
    "Aye, I did not come up here to play the nurse. I've more important things to do with my time."
    ' T never asked to be brought here, you know. If you are going to be angry, be angry with your brother. He should have left me where he found me.
    "If he had, you would be dead by now."
    "I don't see that my present circumstances are any better. I am cold. My skin is shriveled from so much water. I have been jostled all over creation on the back of a horse, riding in the freezing rain, only to arrive here to be greeted by an ogre. You never asked if I was tired or wanted to retire. I have not been given anything to eat or drink. I have been accused of lying, and having a poor memory, of being a spy. I have been undressed, threatened, ogled and insulted. Compared to all of this, being dead does not seem so bad."
    "You would be wise to hold your tongue."
    "And you would be wise to learn how to treat a lady," she said, afraid she had angered him now.
    Jamie grunted his opinion of her declaration, then said, "I will get you some soup."
    ' 'Merci,'' she said, trying her best to emulate his irritated tone, and at the same time, immensely thankful that he did not strike her or toss her out into the cold.
    If she had not been so exhausted and numb she would have tried to leave, but she was not so foolish as to believe she would make it ten paces