The Highlander's Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

intensity. As he slanted his mouth against hers, his tongue coaxed her lips open and deepened the kiss with tender possessiveness. She responded so innocently, so naturally, it unnerved him at his core. Never had a woman affected him this profoundly, this quickly. He gradually broke off the kiss and stepped away for a minute trying to catch his breath.
    Laurel didn’t know what to think. The kiss had ended much as it had begun, like part of a dream. This man completely unsettled her like no one had ever done before. Last night he was supportive, this morning cold and aloof, and now, with a simple kiss, he had stirred up feelings and physical reactions she had not known she possessed. The only thing she was sure of was that he had saved her life.
    Conor took several deep breaths before speaking. “You have two cracked ribs that must be bound before you finish dressing. The binding should help ease the pain when riding. We have several more days journey ahead.” He controlled his breathing and steadied his voice, but he had no means to quench his throbbing need for her. The kiss was supposed to have ended this strange attraction. Instead, it was like fuel to a fire.
    She nodded, knowing that he was correct. She watched him tear a strip of cloth from the bottom of his leine to bind her ribs. Every touch seemed to remind her of the physical need he had awakened deep within her. It was only after they returned to camp and were within hearing of the group did she feel calm enough to talk.
    “Are we safe here?” she asked no one in particular.
    “Aye, milady. We are on allied land now,” Loman replied readily. Loman was typically good-humored and eager to please. Yet on the battlefield, he was a terrifying sight to the enemy. He had lighter features, was extremely lean and muscular, and—grinning as he was now—he seemed harmless. But Laurel remembered his demeanor the night he had found her struggling with Seamus, and knew he was not in the least harmless.
    She faced the guardsman and smiled. “Please call me Laurel.”
    Loman glanced at Conor, whose glower clearly made it known that no one was to be given the right to use her given name. That right was reserved for him, and him alone. “No, milady, it would not be proper.”
    “But surely you do not intend to keep calling me ‘my lady’?”
    Loman gulped. “Aye, milady. Until my laird tells me otherwise.” Loman quickly retreated under Conor’s withering gaze. Regardless of previous words, his laird was making it plain this Englishwoman was unavailable. Loman wondered how Hamish would react to his laird’s decision.
    Laurel walked over to the campfire and accepted the offering of the youngest brother’s plaid. “Only if you will sit by me,” she made him promise.
    Using her fingers, she began to untangle the mats in her wet hair and let it dry in the heat of the flame. The brothers all stared as if they had never seen a woman with blonde hair before. As she continued to work the knots, Laurel decided to divert their attention and get to know her champions better.
    “You are highlanders,” she stated, as if she already knew it to be a fact. She received nodded heads for a response. She leaned over and whispered into the youth’s ear, “What is your name, highlander?”
    The boy beamed. “Clyde. These are my brothers—Cole, Craig and Crevan, they’re twins, then Conan and myself. Conor is our laird. The only one not here is Colin.”
    “Colin? Why isn’t he here?”
    “He just got married.”
    “Oh,” she replied. “And with what highland clan am I privileged to share this fire?”
    “We are McTiernays,” said Conan, who sat on her other side, with pride. She wondered if the McTiernays were a large or powerful clan. If so, whom did she just allow to kiss her? And why did he? She forced herself to concentrate and pursue a different topic.
    “Do you know where we are heading?”
    “ We are heading home,” replied the one Clyde had indicated as