The Highlander's Runaway Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

through her mind, a memory of someone or something, then darkness again. Had he been sent by her father to find and bring her back?
    â€˜Who are you?’ she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. ‘What is this place?’
    â€˜I wondered how much you would remember,’ he said. ‘You have been ill for days. I found you in the cave and brought you to this cottage.’ He stared at her, clearly expecting her to remember.
    She remembered shadows moving around the cave and something approaching her. A large beast-like creature. Then he’d spoken.
    â€˜I thought you a bear from long-ago times,’ she admitted. ‘I do not remember much else.’
    â€˜I have been called worse, lady,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘You mistook my plaid and furs for the beast.’ He nodded towards the corner where he’d draped several cloaks and then at her, or rather the pallet beneath her where his furs now were. ‘The dirt floor was damp, and I feared it would make you sicker.’
    Only then did she realise that she lay naked on those furs! Her garments, even her shift, were gone, and the woollen plaid was her only cover.
    â€˜Your garments were soaked with water and sweat. They are dry now,’ he said, once more nodding to the corner.
    Eva had been here for days. She’d been sick and unconscious, and this man had been with her. Who was he?
    â€˜Are you my father’s man?’ she whispered, still not certain of what had happened. She remembered seeking the cave and falling into it. Then...nothing more.
    â€˜He sent me.’
    This man held his tongue well, never saying too much. Mayhap he would hold that tongue if she paid him? If he was a hired man and not kin, it was not an insult to offer him coins for his silence.
    â€˜You took care of me and I am grateful. I would know your name,’ she said.
    He must have noticed her hoarseness again, for he came closer with the cup. Each sip was like a soothing balm as it slid over her tongue and down her throat. Why was she so hoarse?
    â€˜Rob,’ he said, offering her another sip.
    â€˜I would pay you for your time and service, Rob,’ she said. ‘I have coin.’
    He seemed to choke on whatever he wanted to say. Instead, he reached inside his tunic and took out a small flask. After drinking a few mouthfuls of what she thought must be strong spirits, he returned it and looked at her.
    â€˜And to return to your father without you, lady?’
    His words were spoken evenly, but there was so much anger within his tone. Nothing in his gaze or manner gave her any clue of the reason for it, so she thought she must have insulted him in some way. When she would have offered words of apology, her body began to fail her. A yawn escaped when she would have spoken instead.
    â€˜You are still weak and need to rest,’ he said, standing now. ‘Sleep. We can speak later.’
    In spite of her efforts to prove him wrong, her eyes closed and she lost herself in a deep sleep.
    * * *
    The lady’s eyes had barely closed before he stormed out of the cottage. He needed some air and some space, or he would have said things he knew he would regret later. He’d learned early in life that words could damage as deeply as the sharpest blade, and he’d sworn not to make the same mistake that his father had.
    Rob walked around the cottage, saying all the things he wanted to say to her to himself and adding a few choice words he would never say to a woman. She thought him a mercenary, ready and willing to take whatever coin offered him!
    She so wanted to avoid marriage to him that she offered him money to walk away. Even not knowing who he truly was, she’d suggested that money could buy her way out of this.
    He turned his face into the winds and closed his eyes. Margaret had warned him about his temper, and he’d fought to keep it under control. But this, this insult burned. Was he again not good enough, not