Highland Lover Read Free

victorious, the betrothal as good as settled, yet each hour he had sat here in the dark, alone with his thoughts, he had felt less and less pleased with himself. It did not feel right. He hated to think that his cousin Sigimor made sense about anything, yet it was
    that man’s opinion that kept creeping through his mind. Mavis did not really feel right. She did not
    really fit.
    He silently cursed. What did it matter? He was almost thirty years of age and had never found a
    woman who felt right or fit. Mavis gave him the chance to be his own man, to be laird of his own
    keep and have control over his own lands. Mavis was a sensible choice. He did not love her, but
    after so many years and so many women without feeling even a tickle of that feeling, he doubted he
    was capable of loving any woman. Passion could be stirred with the right touch and compatibility
    could be achieved with a little work. It would serve.
    He was just about to ask Alana how extensive a search her kinsmen would mount for her when he
    heard the sound of someone approaching above them. “Stand o’er there, lass,” he said as he nudged
    her to the left. “’Tis time for the bucket to be emptied and food and water lowered down to us. I
    dinnae want to be bumping into ye.”
    Alana felt immediately chilled as she left his side. She kept inching backward until she stumbled
    and fell onto a pile of blankets. She moved around until she was seated on them, her back against
    the cold stone wall. The grate was opened and a rope with a hook at the end of it was lowered
    through the opening. The lantern this man carried produced enough light to at least allow them to
    see that rope. Gregor moved around as if he could see and Alana suspected he had carefully mapped
    out his prison in his mind. She watched as the bucket was raised up and another lowered down. As
    Gregor reached for that bucket, she caught a faint glimpse of his form. He was indeed very tall and
    very lean. She cursed the darkness for hiding all else from her.
    “We will need two buckets of water for washing in the morn,” Gregor called up to the man,
    watching him as he carefully lowered the now-empty privy bucket.
    “Two?” the man snapped. “Why two?”
    “One for me and one for the lass.”
    “Ye can both wash from the same one.”
    “A night down here leaves one verra dirty. A wee bucket of water is barely enough to get one
    person clean, ne’er mind two.”
    “I will see what the laird says.”
    Alana winced as the grate was slammed shut and that faint shaft of light disappeared. She tried to
    judge where Gregor was, listening carefully to his movements, but was still startled a little when he sat down by her side. Then she caught the scent of cheese and still-warm bread and her stomach
    growled a welcome.
    Gregor laughed as he set the food out between them. “Careful how ye move, lass. The food rests
    between us. The Gowans do provide enough to eat, though ’tis plain fare.”
    “Better than none. Perhaps ye had better hand me things. I think I shall need a wee bit of time to
    become accustomed to moving about in this thick dark.”
    She tensed when she felt a hand pat her leg, but then something fell into her lap. Reaching down,
    she found a chunk of bread and immediately began to eat it. Gregor was obviously just trying to be
    certain where she sat as he shared out the food. She did wonder why a small part of her was
    disappointed by that.
    “Best ye eat it all, lass. I havenae been troubled by vermin, but I have heard a few sounds that make me think they are near. Leaving food about will only bring them right to us.”
    Alana shivered. “I hate rats.”
    “As do I, which is why I fight the temptation to hoard food.”
    She nodded even though she knew he could not see her, and, for a while, they silently ate. Once her
    stomach was full, Alana began to feel very tired, the rigors of the day catching up to her. Her eyes
    widened as she realized there was no place to make up