Read Highlander's Reckoning (The Sinclair Brothers #3) for Free Online

tongue and wit
intrigued him.
    Perhaps he had gotten too used to people
unquestioningly following his commands. The lass’s spirited retorts reminded
him that he had to prove himself to all at Loch Doon. Just because the King had
placed him in charge didn’t mean that these people would automatically respect
and follow him. And just because Rona would be his wife didn’t mean that she
wouldn’t challenge him.
    With that thought, Daniel fell into an uneasy sleep.

Chapter 5
    For a brief, delicious moment between sleep and
wakefulness, Rona had forgotten her impending marriage, the secrets she must
keep, and her disastrous first encounter with Daniel Sinclair. Instead, all she
remembered, all she felt, was hard, strong muscle flexing under her fingertips,
and blue-gray eyes like the sea swallowing her, devouring her.
    But then the moment slipped away, and she was left
with the weight of her problems. She did notice, however, that a strange
awareness, a tingling in the back of her mind, followed her throughout the
morning, especially whenever she remembered Daniel Sinclair’s extended arm and
his eyes boring into her. Perhaps she was coming down with a cold.
    To appease both her father and her future husband,
Rona repeated the string of primping and preparing she had been put through the
day before. With Agnes’ help, she was whipped back into looking like a lady
rather than a—what had he called her?—a bedraggled servant.
    Because of the extra time it took to get ready, she
descended the stairs to the great hall later than usual. Before she even
reached the last few steps, however, she heard loud voices in the hall and the
sounds of many people shuffling around.
    The sight that greeted her when she stepped into the
hall had her jaw slackening.
    It looked like the entire population of the castle,
and half of the village on top of that, crowded into the great hall and spilled
out into the courtyard. Rising on her tiptoes, she peered out the open hall
doors to the yard. She had been mistaken. Half the village wasn’t there—nearly
the entire population was gathered on the island.
    “…And do you swear loyalty to King Robert the Bruce
of Scotland?”
    Her eyes whipped around to the raised dais where she
and her father normally ate. Standing atop the dais was Daniel Sinclair, who
had just spoken. There was a small opening in the crowd in front of the dais,
and to her horror, Rona realized that her father knelt before the Highlander.
    “I do swear,” her father said, loud enough for all
to hear.
    “Do you swear loyalty to me as keeper of Loch Doon
and proxy for our King’s commands?”
    “I do swear.”
    The crowd murmured in response to her father’s
words, but she couldn’t tell if it was in approval or dissatisfaction.
    Her father stood and stepped to the side. Just as
Malcolm, her father’s right-hand man, was about to kneel and swear fealty to
their new lord, Daniel Sinclair’s head turned and he caught sight of her at the
base of the stairs.
    She was instantly pinned by his intense gaze.
Sensing a change in him, those filling the hall turned to see what held his attention.
She cursed silently, hating the feel of all those eyes on her. The crowd parted
slightly, making a path directly to where her future husband stood on the dais.
    Forcing herself to straighten her spine, she glided
forward, telling herself that it was her choice to approach and not the power
of his gaze that drew her to him. His eyes raked over her, just as they had
last night, yet his face was hard and unreadable. Did her appearance displease
him again?
    That thought almost sent her spinning on her heels
and clambering back to her chamber. She knew she wasn’t pretty the way the
fair-haired, petite, milk-skinned girls in the village were. She was too
tall—she stood a few inches above her own father—and slim rather than
curvaceous. Freckles marred her face, and her hair was unruly and wild. But she
also knew that this was as good as