Sins of the Highlander Read Free

“I’m here! Hel—”
    His mouth descended upon hers and swallowed up her cry.
    She’d been kissed sweetly before, stylized expressions of courtship during some of the dances favored by Queen Mary’s court.
    This kiss bore no resemblance to those. This was a ravishment, a demanding plunder of her mouth.
    He stole her breath, but she was so surprised by the sudden invasion, she didn’t think to pull away. She froze like a coney confronted by a fox.
    He filled her with breath from his own body, warming her to her toes.
    I should be revolted. I should be screaming to get away.
    But then his mouth went suddenly soft and beguiling on hers. Elspeth had never imagined the like.
    How strange, this shared breath, this mingling of souls.
    Without conscious thought, her fingers curled around his collar. She received a flash of Sight. Not exactly a vision. More like a deep Knowing.
    Rob MacLaren had a hole in his heart, a void nothing could fill.
    He no longer seemed mad to her. Just empty. Her chest constricted in empathy.
    An image forced itself into Elspeth’s consciousness, creeping in softly but with determination. The willowy form of a woman with long coppery hair took shape in her mind, distant and hazy. Elspeth couldn’t see her face. The woman turned and fled into the mist.
    She sensed deep sadness in MacLaren, an ache that wouldn’t be stilled. A loss for which there was no comfort.
    He’d abducted her from the altar, but she couldn’t feel anything for him but pity.
    As the Sight faded, pain seared through her brain. It always did when she was touched by her gift, but it paled in comparison to the nameless hurt he bore. Elspeth reached up a tentative hand to comfort him, palming the cheek that wasn’t covered with woad.
    He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. Her lips parted. His tongue swept in. Her belly clenched, and a warm glow settled between her legs.
    He left her lips and began kissing her chin, her cheeks, her neck. “Ach! Ye’re sweet, lass.”
    Pity dissipated like morning mist. Instead, little wisps of pleasure followed his mouth’s path. The stubble of his beard grazed the tops of her breasts, and her nipples tightened almost painfully. She sucked her breath over her teeth to keep from crying out in pleasure and surprise when his palm covered her breast, the pressure sweet even through the stiff boning of her pink silk bodice.
    She’d been sickened by the thought of submitting to Lachlan Drummond’s intimate caress. Now her whole body thrummed with life. She tingled with awareness as Rob touched her.
    She’d never understood how a maiden could allow herself to be ruined before. Unruly, unwelcome urges seared through her. The sensations were so unlike her, she wondered if they were somehow part of what she’d Seen of the copper-haired woman.
    To her amazement, she ached to lie down beside this man. To feel his body cover hers. To give to him what Lachlan would have taken.
    This was madness, but she couldn’t bring herself to end it. With each kiss, his sadness lessened and her pleasure increased. She’d never dreamed she’d experience such astonishing delight.
    Only a little longer , she told herself as bliss sparked across her skin. His kiss was like a draught of heady wine. The discomfort that usually accompanied the Sight was leaving, but her head still felt fuzzy. Was it clouding her judgment?
    One kiss more. Then I’ll stop.
    She splayed her fingers across his chest. His muscles were like a brazen shield beneath his shirt and plaid. He growled with satisfaction. She smoothed her palms up to his shoulders and down his arms.
    And encountered sticky wetness on the left side.
    “You’re bleeding,” she whispered. One of the crossbow bolts must have found its mark.
    He dipped his head and mumbled into the well between her breasts. “’Tis nothing.”
    It was enough to recall her to sanity. To serve Queen Mary, she must be either a pure maid or the wife of a nobleman. If