The Renegade's Heart Read Online Free PDF

depressed the latch when
Murdoch snatched her up from behind. She might have screamed, but
he wrapped one arm around her, trapping her arms against her body,
and the other over her mouth.
    Isabella struggled, but managed to make no
difference in her situation. His audacity was outrageous! He held
her captive against his body and, in one fluid motion, carried her
into her own chamber. He shut the door behind them with his weight
and leaned back against it as Isabella struggled. Her fury
redoubled that he should assault her in her own home.
    His grip upon her was strong and sure, but he
did not hurt her. Isabella was keenly aware of his strength – and
her comparative weakness. He was muscled and masculine, the hard
power of his body making her tingle with unwelcome awareness.
    “If you scream,” he murmured in her ear, his
breath making her shiver. “It will be your reputation that suffers,
not mine.”
    Isabella seethed at the truth of that. She
wanted to kick him in a place that would ensure he treated her with
more respect. He wrapped one leg around her knees, as if he
anticipated her intent as soon as she had the thought.
    “I want only to know what you know,” he
continued quietly.
    She shook her head, for she knew nothing of
any disappearing relics.
    “Another liar in this nest,” he muttered and
she struggled against him with new vigor.
    Her outrage seemed to intrigue him. “Pledge
that you will not scream or run,” he murmured. “I would make a
wager with you, Lady Isabella.”
    Isabella struggled with force.
    He chuckled softly. “Pledge your silence and
I will release you.”
    That alone was worth the bargain. Isabella
nodded and Murdoch released her as promised, remaining with his
back against the door and his arms folded across his chest.
Isabella put distance between them, trying to wipe the taste of his
leather gloves from her mouth. He watched her with obvious
amusement.
    And something else, something that heated his
gaze and made her heart skip.
    Isabella looked around the chamber, but she
knew the only other possibility for escape was the window.
    And it was a long drop to the ground.
    There was nary a weapon to be had either, for
Isabella did not count her eating knife or any of the embroidery
needles as suitably lethal. She glanced back to find Murdoch
smiling at her, as if he had followed her thoughts.
    She straightened and spoke with low heat.
“How dare you come here and insult my family...”
    “I dare because a crime has been committed,”
he said, interrupting her smoothly. “I am not the first, and I will
not be the last.”
    “My brother is not a thief,” she
insisted.
    He arched a dark brow. “He is a liar.”
    Isabella looked away, for she had the same
sense. She had heard it in Alexander’s voice, in the tone of his
replies. What did he know of this trouble?
    Murdoch did not miss that hint of her
thoughts, and Isabella could have cursed the man for being so
observant. In a heartbeat, he was directly before her, his
fingertips beneath her chin. He compelled her to meet his gaze,
even as she felt his heat and smelled his skin. An unfamiliar but
beguiling heat unfurled in Isabella, an awareness that she stood
within a hand span of an attractive — if annoying — man.
    “Who does Alexander protect?” Murdoch
whispered even as Isabella’s heart raced.
    “You should not be in this chamber,” she
said. “You should not touch me. You should not...”
    Murdoch slid his thumb over her lips, the
caress silencing Isabella instantly. “I am not interested in what I should do.” Isabella swallowed and he watched her avidly, a
heat dawning in his eyes. “I will go when some soul tells me the
truth. Why not you?”
    Isabella gritted her teeth and glared at him,
moving away from the press of his thumb. “I cannot tell you a truth
I do not know.”
    “Yet,” he said, biting off the word. “I will
make you another wager, Lady Isabella. Tell me what you learn, find
the thief or the