Read My Valiant Knight for Free Online

himself. Standing there in all her belligerent glory, she had accomplished what no woman had done for years—stirred a deep, immediate, and fierce emotional response within him. Gabel both savored it and feared it. He had never felt so alive, so eager to face the hours, days, and weeks stretching out before him.
    What he had glimpsed of her character so far had intrigued, surprised, and excited him. That was something he considered to be very dangerous, and not simply because she was a MacNairn, the daughter of a man he had sworn to defeat, and his prisoner. Lady Eleanor DesRoches had shown him the folly of trusting in his emotions. Older and more worldly, she had used the lust and blind love of the boy he was to try and aid her true paramour, a man who wished to destroy the de Amalvilles and coveted all they owned. His friend Paul had tried to warn him, but he had been deaf to the truth. It had taken her attempt to end his life before Gabel had felt his naive trust crumble and harden into a wary cynicism he fought hard to cling to. A flame-haired Scottish lass with fine blue eyes was not a good reason to cast aside that hard-won control.
    And what good could come of such an infatuation anyway? he asked himself as he forced his eyes closed. Even if Ainslee MacNairn was not a prisoner and one of the enemy’s spawn, she was wild, clearly untutored in the proper ways of a lady. She would still be highly unsuitable for him, and would never be able to fit into the life he had so carefully planned for himself. Such a free-spirited woman would indeed make a very poor wife.
    But she would make an exciting lover, a voice whispered in his head, and Gabel found himself staring at Ainslee again. He cursed and tightly shut his eyes. The thought was a tempting one, but he girded himself against its allure. Gabel was no monk, but he struggled to remain honorable in all his dealings with women. Taking a wellborn young lady as his woman, fully intending to cast her aside when he found the wife he searched for, was not the act of an honorable man. As he struggled to banish all thought of an impassioned and willing Ainslee from his mind, Gabel hoped that her father would be swift in ransoming her.
     
     
    A scream echoing in the cave yanked Gabel from his hard-won sleep. He grasped his sword from its place close by his side and staggered to his feet. A quick glance at his men showed that they, too, were in an unsteady state of groggy awareness.
    “M’laird,” called Ronald, drawing a rapidly waking Gabel’s attention his way.
    Gabel looked at the aging Scot, who was struggling to sit up, and immediately noticed that Ainslee was no longer curled up at the man’s side. He whirled to face the mouth of the cave and saw one of his men fighting to hold onto Ainslee. Just as he moved to go to the man’s aid, Ronald’s wavering voice drew his attention back.
    “She is but caught in a dream,” Ronald said.
    “She does not try to escape?”
    “Only from the dark memories that sometimes haunt her sleep. She can be difficult to rouse, m‘laird,” Ronald advised as Gabel strode toward the guard who clearly did not know how to control a blindly frantic Ainslee. “Ye may have to shake her free of the dream’s grip, or e’en slap her.”
    Once at the side of the struggling pair, Gabel knew that Ronald was right. There was a look of stark terror on Ainslee’s small face and no sign of recognition in her wide blue eyes when he called out her name. She was babbling something about her mother, her accent so thick he could barely understand her. What caused Gabel to feel the cold touch of alarm, however, was that Ainslee’s voice was that of a very young child.
    “Ainslee,” he snapped as he yanked her out of the other man’s arms and shook her. “Wake up!”
    “I must get out of the hole. Maman needs my help.” Ainslee pushed at Gabel’s chest in a vain attempt to break free of his hold. “Canna ye hear the women screaming?”
    “No