Ravished by a Highlander Read Online Free Page A

might never stop. They didn’t,
     even when she remembered who held her.
    “Monster,” she screamed, pummeling him with blows to his chest, fighting his strength with the madness of her grief. “Bastard!
     What have you done?”
    “Lady.” His voice was so tender that she collapsed against him, needing mercy. “Be still,” he said softly against her ear
     as she clutched his upper arm, staring at the crumbling walls of her home. “Ye’re safe now.”
    “I’m going to kill you,” she promised just as softly, leaving behind the bodies of those she loved.
    “Ye almost did already, but ’twas no’ I who did this loathsome thing.”
    It wasn’t his declaration, but the deep undercurrent of sympathy in it that almost convinced her to believe him. She pushed
     off his shoulder and stared up at him. He wasn’t one of them. His burr was thick and his appearance far more primitive than
     any man she’d ever seen, English or otherwise. A Highlander. She hadn’t been expecting one of those. The Abbess had told her
     about the men of the North in her lessons and how they wore blankets draped around their bodies, rather than short-coats and
     breeches. Davina’s eyes dipped to the great belted plaid draping one of his shoulders and the bloodstained shirt beneath.
     This one was big. His dark hair was longer than she’d ever seen on a man and tied away from his face, save for a stray lock,
     swept free over his eyes by the rushing wind. He smelled of earth and leather… and smoke.
    “Who are you then?” she demanded through trembling lips. “What are you doing here?” She waited while he stared at her as if
     her simple questions muddled his thoughts. Harry Barns had told her that Highlanders were thick skulled, more interested in
     battle than in books. This one looked like he could take down Edward’s entire regiment.
    “Edward,” she whispered, and a new rush of sorrow flooded through her. “Let me go!” She struggled again. “I must find him.
     Please,” she cried as her captor drew her closer to hold her still. “You don’t understand. He will think they have taken me.”
    “Who will he think has taken ye?” The Highlander withdrew just enough to look into her eyes. “Who did this, lass?”
    She was thinking of Edward, not herself or her safety, when she told him. “It was the Duke’s men, or the Earl’s. I’m not certain.
     Now please, I beg you, bring me back. I must find Captain Asher.”
    It was the stranger’s eyes that told her what he did not want to say. Lapis-colored gems that lost their glitter when he finally
     looked away. Edward was dead. Tears pooled her eyes but she said nothing as she turned in his arms, away from everything she
     knew, everyone she trusted.
    They rode in silence, joined as they raced away by two more mounted Highlanders, and then more waiting at the crest overlooking
     the Abbey. The man riding with her spoke to the others but Davina did not listen to what he said. When one of them asked her
     why the Abbey was attacked she told them she did not know, and then said nothing else. She was alone. Whoever this man was
     behind her, whether he was sent by her enemies or by God to save her, did not matter. She was alone and had nowhere else to
     go but with him. For now.

Chapter Three

    R ob’s shoulder ached. Twice, Angus had insisted on stopping so that he could remove the tip of the arrow still jutting out
     of Rob’s back, but it was too dangerous to make camp so close to the border. Someone had gone to much trouble to try to kill
     the lass in his arms. ’Twas her they’d come for. Captain Asher’s words rang like alarms through his thoughts.
Save her before the flames claim her. It is what they want.
They. The Earl or the Duke. Which ones and why? Why would any man want her dead? Who was she? The captain had called her
     Lady Montgomery. Was she a nobleman’s daughter visiting the Abbey with her family? If so, why the hell was she dressed in
     novice