Read In Bed with a Highlander for Free Online

allow herself to panic all over again.
    The man was huge, and just as mean looking as Alaric, and she didn’t know how she could think it, when there was so much joy on his face as he swung Crispen into his arms, but he frightened her in a way that Alaric did not.
    The brothers were very similar in build and stature. Both had dark hair that fell below their shoulders, and both wore braids. As she looked around, though, it became apparent that all his men wore their hair the same way. Long, wild, and savage looking.
    “I’m so glad to see you, lad,” his father choked out.
    Crispen clung to the laird with his small arms, reminding Mairin of a burr stubbornly clinging to her skirts.
    Over Crispen’s head, his gaze met Mairin’s, and his eyes immediately hardened. He took in every detail about her, she was sure, and she twisted uncomfortably, feeling horribly picked apart under his scrutiny.
    She started to get down from her horse because she felt a little silly when everyone around her was dismounting, but Alaric was there, his hands reaching up to effortlessly pluck her from the horse and set her down on the ground.
    “Easy, lass,” he cautioned. “You’re healing well, but you need to take care.”
    He sounded almost concerned, but when she lookedup at him, he wore the same scowl he always wore when he looked at her. Irritated, she scowled right back. He blinked in surprise, then pushed her toward the waiting laird.
    Ewan McCabe looked a lot more threatening now that Crispen was out of his arms and back on the ground. She found herself backing up a step only to collide with the mountain that was Alaric.
    Ewan looked first at Alaric, bypassing her as if she were invisible, which was just fine with her.
    “You have my thanks for bringing my son home. I had every confidence in you and Caelen.”
    Alaric cleared his throat and nudged Mairin forward.
    “You have the lass to thank for Crispen’s return. I merely provided the escort.”
    Ewan’s eyes narrowed as he studied her further. To her astonishment, his eyes weren’t the dark, fierce orbs she’d thought, but rather they were an odd pale green. When he scowled, though, his face darkened to a thundercloud, and who could possibly think his eyes were anything but a matching black?
    Startled by this revelation—and if she were avoiding the inevitable confrontation with the laird, who could blame her?—she turned abruptly and stared up into Alaric’s eyes. He blinked then glared at her like he thought she was daft—and she was pretty sure he did think so.
    “Your eyes are green, too,” she muttered.
    Alaric’s scowl turned into a look of concern. “Are you sure you didn’t suffer a blow to the head you didn’t tell me about?”
    “You will look at me,” Ewan roared.
    She jumped and whirled around, taking an instinctive step back and landing once again against Alaric.
    He muttered an expletive and hunched over, but shewas too worried about Ewan to see what Alaric was cursing over.
    Her courage had run out, and her determination not to feel pain, not to allow her spine to wither, promptly died a brutal death.
    Her legs shook, her hands shook, and pain speared through her sides, making her gasp softly with each breath. Sweat beaded her forehead, but she wouldn’t allow herself to back down any further.
    The laird was angry—at her—and for the life of her she couldn’t discern why. Shouldn’t he be grateful to her for saving his son? Not that she’d really done anything heroic, but he didn’t know that. For all he knew, she could have battled ten men on Crispen’s behalf.
    It wasn’t until he stared back at her in astonishment that she realized she’d babbled her entire thought process aloud. The entire courtyard had gone silent and looked at her as if she’d pronounced a curse on all of them.
    “Alaric?” she murmured, not turning away from the laird’s gaze.
    “Aye, lass?”
    “Will you catch me if I faint? I don’t think a fall to the