The Trouble with Highlanders Read Online Free PDF

into her, potent as a drug. But she wasn’t its only victim. Norris growled softly, the savage sound one she recalled from the darkest hours of the night they’d spent together. He trailed his lips along her jawline and onto her neck, where he bit her gently. She shivered, the reaction instant and uncontrollable. His grip held her in place as he raised his head and locked stares with her. For a moment, he let her see what the darkness had prevented her from gazing upon the night they shared his bed. Hunger glittered in his green eyes, making them glow. She was mesmerized by the sight, because it echoed her own longings so closely.
    â€œSince ye kissed me back so passionately, ye’ll be in the stocks beside me.”
    His words were bold. She tried to shove him away and would have bitten the beast if he hadn’t released her. Her skirt got caught beneath her feet, and she stumbled farther away.
    â€œYe insufferable marauder.”
    He tipped his head back and roared with amusement. Her temper sizzled, turning her cheeks scarlet.
    â€œTake yer demands somewhere else, Norris Sutherland, for I do nae care whose son ye be or what title ye’re set to inherit.”
    He smirked at her, but it was a very personal expression, one that reminded her he knew her… intimately.
    â€œSince yer father is dead and yer brother has yet to arrive, ye’ll face me demands, Daphne MacLeod, as a vassal should. I’m here to see what condition yer land is in.” He closed the gap between them, gripping a handful of her skirt to keep her near so his last words could be shared only between them. “But if ye’d like me to run ye to ground, I will be happy to do so. So turn yer back on me, lass… I dare ye.”
    ***
    Insufferable brute. Dare her?
    How could he suggest such a thing?
    Daphne stormed into the storeroom and picked up a mortar. She used her frustration to grind the peppercorns into a fine dust. The grains tickled her nose, but she didn’t take any pleasure in the scent of the costly spice.
    Damn Norris for that, as well. She had precious few luxuries for her table. The man didn’t need to irritate her so much she failed to enjoy the ones she had.
    Gitta spoke softly. “It would help if ye softened yer heart.” Daphne turned on her with a whirl of her skirts but froze at the look on her old nurse’s face. There was the unmistakable sheen of desperation there.
    â€œHe’s sought ye out, lass. Think before ye toss what fate offers ye out the window.”
    â€œTo what end, Gitta? Father Peter is already threatening me with Church authority.”
    Her old nurse shook her head and grinned. “Ye are his vassal. ’Tis a tradition, which goes back to before the Church meddled so much in the doings of everyday life. Go to his bed, and yer child will bring us good fortune. Father Peter will baptize it sure enough, with the heir to the Earldom of Sutherland swearing it is his babe.”
    Gitta took the mortar from her and sniffed. “This will help light a fire in yer blood. I’ll help the cook make ye a fine rabbit pie to share with his lairdship.”
    â€œI doubt he is accustomed to eating something so common as rabbit.”
    Gitta raised a hopeful look toward her. “Ye’re right. I’ll have one of the ducks brought in.”
    â€œYe will nae,” Daphne protested. “We need their eggs more than their meat, and we need every last one of them so there will be additions to the flock next year.”
    â€œBut we must set a good supper for yer courtship. If Norris Sutherland is yer protector, he’ll ensure we all have more than enough. I hear the tables groan under the weight of the plenty set upon them on Sutherland land.”
    â€œWe can nae trust in gossip. Everyone likes to tell tales of how easy life is elsewhere.”
    Gitta offered her a blunt look. “It is certainly nae so grim as it is here, and the labor