Highland Vow Read Online Free Page A

but thorough survey of the room.
    “It appears that the only way out of this room is if I succumb to the sinful urge to hurl myself from the window and end my poor life,” she muttered as she sat down on the huge bed that dominated the room. She frowned and idly bounced up and down on the mattress. “Feathers. The bastard plainly intends to be comfortable as he dishonors me.”
    Weary, sick with worry over Payton’s fate, and knotted with fear, Elspeth curled up on the bed. For just a moment she fought the urge to weep, not wishing to give into that weakness. Then, as the tears began to fall, she shrugged. She was alone and a good cleansing of her misery could help her maintain her strength, especially later.
    After what she feared was a disgracefully prolonged bout of weeping, Elspeth flopped onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She felt drained, as if some physician had placed leeches all over her—leeches that sucked all the emotion from a body insteadof the blood. It was going to take a while to get her strength and wit back—two things she would sorely need in the days ahead.
    She thought of Payton and felt as if she could weep all over again if she had had any tears left. Her last sight of her cousin had been that of his bloodied body lying alongside the two men-at-arms who had accompanied them. Elspeth had needed only one look to know that their two guards were dead, but she could not be so certain about Payton. She did not want to be. She wanted to cling to the hope that he was still alive, no matter how small that hope might be. If nothing else, Elspeth could not bear to think upon the pain her uncle Nigel and aunt Gisele would suffer over the loss of their son. Even though her mind told her that it was not her fault, she knew she might never be able to shake free of the guilt she felt, for it had been her rejected suitor who had brought about the tragedy. It struck her as appallingly unfair that the chilling memories and nightmares she had suffered for three long years might finally be pushed aside by the sight of her cousin’s murder—an old nightmare replaced by a new one.
    Elspeth closed her eyes, deciding it would not hurt to seek the rest her body craved. She would need it to be able to endure what lay ahead. Although she had no doubt that her family would come after her, in force, she also knew they might not arrive in time to save her from all Sir Colin intended. That was in her own hands.
    As she felt sleep creep over her, she heard a faint noise at the door. Either someone was bringing her some food and drink or some poor fool had been sent to check to be sure she was still where they had put her. Elspeth resisted the urge to look. She was too tired and too battered to do anything just yet. In truth, she felt almost too tired to even open her eyes. Then someone touched her arm and she tensed, her weariness abruptly shoved aside by alarm even though she felt no real threat from the person she now knew stood next to her bed.
    Cautiously, Elspeth opened her eyes just enough to see her visitor through the veil of her still damp lashes. He was a beautiful man. His long, leanly muscular body was bent over her in a strangely protective way. His face was cut in clean lines and unmarred. A high, wide forehead, high-boned cheeks, a long, straight nose, a handsomely firm jaw, and a well-shaped mouth made for a face that easily took a maid’s breath away. His creamy skin was almost too pale and fine for a man, although many a woman would envy it, and the healthy warmth of it begged for a touch. It was the perfect complement to his deep auburn hair. His eyes, however, were what truly caught and held her attention. Set beneath neatly arched brows and ringed with long, thick lashes, they were the rich blue of clean, deep water—a color she had seen but once before in her life. They were eyes that had filled many a maidenly dream and some that were very far from maidenly.
    “Cormac,” she whispered,