The Highlander's Bargain Read Online Free PDF Page B

Delicious and overwhelming all at once.
    Never in his life had he seen so many people gathered in one place—not even in London or Paris! He reveled at the sights, sounds and smells, and tremors of excitement shook him to the core. He’d made it. This was the future, and he could hardly wait to explore.
    Still, doubt niggled at him. How had he come to Lady True’s realm in Minnesota? He’d intended to arrive at the same fair in New York where she’d been working when Giselle sent her back to their century. So that he’d have a place to stay, True had given him directions and the key to the apartment where she lived while attending Juilliard. He’d followed Giselle’s instructions perfectly, fixing New York and the month of August in his mind. Surely the faerie had interfered and manipulated him into something not yet clear.
    Trepidation and uncertainty tightened around his chest like chain mail a size too small. Was he merely a puppet, or did his arrival in Minnesota have more to do with time travel being far from exact? Giselle had warned him. Had he held Minnesota, True’s homeland, in the recesses of his mind while entering the disturbance?
    He glanced at Erin, wondering how she fit in with all of this. His heart leaped at the sight of her. By the Virgin, he’d never before encountered such a breathtaking beauty, and he’d fallen right into her arms. Recalling her shocked expression as they lay entwined like lovers brought a smile to his face—and sent heat coursing through him. It had to mean something. Was she his destiny? Had Giselle sent him to her?
Erin’s eyes, the greenest he’d ever seen and flecked with a rich brown, had held him spellbound from the first moment he’d beheld them. For certes, ’tis why he’d forgotten his manners altogether and kept her trapped beneath him. That and the feel of her feminine softness cushioning him. How could he not linger once he’d glimpsed her luscious lips and that wealth of thick, honey-colored hair she wore bound in a long braid? Lord, he longed to undo that braid and run his fingers through her silken tresses. He was but a man after all, with a man’s lusty appetites.
    Studying her out of the corner of his eye, he prayed fervently that she was indeed meant for him. She glanced at him and smiled, and his heart tumbled over itself. Was this what Malcolm had gone on about? Was this the thrill his cousin felt whenever he laid eyes on his lady wife?
    “We’re almost to the end of the parade,” she whispered. “Then I’m supposed to roam through the fairgrounds and make myself available to talk with our guests. I’m done for the day in a couple of hours.”
    “Aye?” Transfixed, all he wanted to do was gaze upon her like a besotted fool. They’d come to a set of gates bordered by a tower to one side and cottages with windows facing the crowd on the other.
    Roughly clad villeins lined the catwalk. One of them grinned lewdly and pointed. “Oy, what have we here, lads?”
    A corpulent man with filthy hands and face leaned over the railing and called to them, “Ah, such lovely flowers! I might have to pluck one for meself.”
    “I’ve dibs on the queen. You may have her lady-in-waiting,” another coarsely dressed lout shouted. “Such sweet fruit. She’s ripe for plucking, aye?” He waggled his bushy eyebrows, staring insolently Erin’s way.
    Robley tensed and put himself before his lady, shielding her from their vile speech and impertinent gestures. “How dare you speak thus to your betters,” he called out. “You will cease your harassment at once or suffer the consequences.”
    Widening his stance, he glared at the miscreants. His warning only egged them on, making them bolder still, and they continued to make rude gestures and hurl unsavory comments their way. “Stand back, my lady.” He reached for his claymore, and all eyes turned to him. Erin stopped him from drawing his sword.
    “It’s all part of the show, Robley,” she whispered