In Her Highlander's Bed


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Contents
 Prologue
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 About the Author
 An Excerpt from The Perfect Wife
 Prologue
 
 
 Praise for Lynsay Sands
 By Lynsay Sands
 Copyright
 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
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 Guide
 
 Cover
 Contents
 Prologue
 
 
 
 
 Prologue
 
 “Allie?”
 
 Allissaid MacFarlane glanced up from the tunic she was darning as her younger sister Annis suddenly dropped into the chair
 next to hers in front of the fire in the great hall. Eyebrows rising slightly at her sister’s troubled expression, Allissaid
 asked, “What is it, love?”
 
 
 Annis hesitated briefly, but then queried, “Now that Claray has married and moved to Deagh Fhortan with her husband, will
 you be taking over the running of MacFarlane?”
 
 
 Allissaid stared at Annis blankly for a moment, her mind slow to comprehend what she was suggesting. But then, she’d been
 having trouble coming to grips with the sudden change in their lives since waking that morning to learn that their eldest
 sister, Claray, had married her betrothed, Bryson MacDonald, and left for her new husband’s home.
 
 
 Apparently, it had all taken place while Allissaid and the rest of her siblings had slept. Claray, who had been off visiting their cousins the Kerrs, had been brought home by her betrothed after the castle had settled down for the night. The servants had been woken for the wedding and celebration that followed, but Allissaid and her brother and sisters had not. They’d simply woken to the news that their sister had returned home, married and left at the break of dawn without seeing any of them. 
 
 There had been a bit of an uproar as Allissaid and the others burst into question, which shouldn’t have been surprising. They’d
 been told their whole lives that Claray’s betrothed had been murdered along with his parents, almost before the ink was dry
 on the betrothal contract between the pair. But her father had not answered most of the questions they’d shot at him. He’d
 merely explained that the tale of Bryson’s death had been a lie to protect the boy from his parents’ murderer while growing
 up. But MacNaughton’s antics had forced the situation.
 
 
 Allissaid sighed at the thought of MacNaughton. The man was their neighbor, and was causing them no end of troubles. It had started a couple of years ago with his petitioning to marry Claray, the only daughter of the house who had appeared to be without a betrothed. Of course, Allissaid understood now why her parents had refused the offered marriage contract. But at the time, she had thought it terribly unfair of them to refuse it and leave Claray unmarried. Until Allissaid had met MacNaughton on one of his visits. The man wasn’t more than ten years older than Claray, and was handsome as could be. He was even polite and somewhat charming in his address, but . . .
 
 Allissaid even now couldn’t put her finger on what it had been about him that had troubled her. But she hadn’t liked him at
 all, and had sensed that he was dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. His persistence in trying to get her father
 to agree to the marriage by using everything from bribery to threats had only confirmed those instincts. But it appeared he’d
 given up on gaining his permission and moved on to trying to force the issue. It was his following Claray to Kerr and convincing
 their uncle to