Return of the Highlander Read Online Free

nothing to do with that, and you’re lucky we came upon you when we did, or you’d still be out there on your own. Dead most likely.”
    Larena studied their expressions. “It wasn’t you who attacked us?”
    “Nay.”
    Still not sure if she believed them, she exhaled heavily and strove to remain calm. If she had any hope of leaving here peacefully, she had to keep things affable.
    “Well, then, I apologize for the misunderstanding and I thank you for your assistance. But I must leave now, and I need my horse.” Then she recalled that Rupert had spooked during the conflict and run off into the forest.
    Feeling defeated, she cupped her forehead in a hand. “Please tell me you have him?”
    “Why does it matter, lass?” the dark Highlander asked with narrowed eyes.
    She raised her chin. “Because he’s carrying an important document. If you didn’t find him, I must go and search for him.” Neither of the men responded to that, so she elaborated. “He was spooked during the conflict and galloped off. I tried to stop him and that’s when I fell into the ravine. Please. It’s a matter of life and death. If I don’t find him and return home straightaway—”
    The dark-haired one reached into the folds of his tartan and withdrew a rolled letter. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
    Larena stared at him with wide eyes, leaped to her feet, and tried to snatch the document from his hand.
    He shoved it behind his back. “Easy, now,” he said, giving her a fierce look of warning. “First you’re going to tell us what this is all about and who you are. And we’ll need your full name, lass—especially the part that ends in Campbell. Then we’ll see about letting you go.”
    Without hesitation, she said, “I’ll tell you everything you need to know. Truly, I’ll do anything you want— anything —if you promise you’ll return that document to me.”
    Something darkly sensual danced across his face, and he took a step closer, crowding her up against the bed. “That’s a very tempting offer, lass. I can think of all sorts of interesting ways you could deliver on that promise, but I’ll have to respectfully decline, because you’ll be coming with me now.”
    For a few heart-stopping seconds, Larena’s muddled brain couldn’t process the meaning behind his suggestive reply. She was too overcome by his physical nearness, the impossible bulk of his sheer brute size, and the sultry, outdoorsy scent of his body.
    He wrapped his big hand around her elbow, which effectively yanked her out of her confounding stupor.
    “Where are you taking me?” she asked as he led her to the door.
    He banged on it three times with the edge of his big fist. The bar lifted and the heavy oaken door swung open.
    “You’re about to be presented to the Laird of Kinloch,” he replied.
    Good God .
    “You plan to hand me over to Angus the Lion?”
    She’d heard the stories. Angus was the most fearsome, ruthless laird in the Highlands. Some even speculated he might secretly be the infamous Butcher.
    “I don’t intend to simply hand you over, lass,” her captor replied. “I plan to be right there at your side, listening to every word that comes out of your comely little Campbell mouth.”
    With that, he thrust her forward into the torch-lit corridor, while the golden one remained behind.

Chapter Six

    Larena had heard many frightening and gruesome tales about Angus the Lion and how he had taken Kinloch Castle by force a decade earlier, reclaiming it for the MacDonald clan. He had seized it from his enemies, the MacEwens, who had been awarded the ancient MacDonald stronghold through Letters of Fire and Sword from the King, in return for their service to the crown.
    When Angus broke through the gates and staked his claim, not even the English army wished to retaliate and wage war upon the great Scottish Lion. The MacEwens, as a result, had been forced to take oaths of allegiance to their conqueror, who had claimed the fallen