Highland Escape Read Online Free Page B

she swung to add more force to the blow. The twin strikes buckled his leg, driving his knee into the soft turf. As she continued her spin, Anna used the momentum of her last attack to power the next, aiming for the back of his skull where the spine joined. The double strikes—one after the other—to this vulnerable area rendered him unconscious with a sickening thud, dropping him like a felled tree.
    Snatching up his fallen blade, she grabbed the back of his hair and placed the dagger against his throat. The crowd, which she’d ignored during the fight, fell into silence. She scanned the crowd for MacGregor. He stepped into the circle. She issued her challenge.
    “Laird, this man owes me a life debt. Agreed?”
    The laird stared at her with surprise for a moment before answering. “Aye, agreed.”
    She dropped her unconscious opponent, turned and stalked toward her campsite.
    “The blade,” Duncan barked.
    Whirling to face him, her knuckles whitened as she fisted the dagger, tempted to fight her way back to Orion. After a moment’s hesitation, she flipped the knife over, blade now in her palm, and hurled it toward the fallen man. It struck between his legs a few inches below his manhood, pinning his plaide to the ground.
    She stormed to her campsite. Fat drops of rain fell, pulling her attention away from the fight. She fixed the waxed cloth overhead on the two poles she’d cut earlier, anchoring the ends to a rock and a couple of stakes, giving it a tug to test its strength. She ambled to the stream and crossed it, not giving her back to the man following her. She washed as much as she dared with MacGregor present, then filled her water skin and a small cooking pot from her pack.
    She returned to the fire and inspected her wound. A three-inch-long shallow slash oozed blood below her shoulder. Uttering a curse toward all things male, she wiped the blood away, grateful she’d sustained no greater injury. After boiling the water in the pot, Anna soaked both the needle and thread. She cleaned and stitched the wound, applying the same salve used on the injured men earlier. Fetching bandage material from her pack, she bound the cut.
    Adding more wood to the fire, she positioned a number of small twigs around her site to signal her if anyone stepped close. Still seething over her treatment thus far, she sat cross-legged under her small shelter. Eyes closed, body relaxed, Anna forced her mind to still. After an hour of calm, she opened her eyes to the night. The fever from battle, along with most of her anger, had ebbed.
    Stretching out, Anna wrapped up in her plaide, trying for as much sleep as possible amongst a group of men who’d proven themselves foes. She hoped her performance against Shamus would discourage any from testing her again this night.
    Drowsily, Anna replayed the day’s events in her mind and wondered what the next day would bring. Though her actions had resulted in capture, she knew she would rescue those girls again if given the chance. Even if the men possessed no honor, these barbarians would not alter hers. Exhausted both emotionally and physically, she offered no resistance when sleep claimed her.
    She rose before dawn and noticed she had a new watchman. She asked for privacy to take care of her early morning needs and walked to the stream. Using a small cloth, she cleaned her teeth and washed her face. After breaking camp, she had nothing to do but wait for instruction. As she finished a slice of bread and an apple, MacGregor the Younger approached with their saddled horses. From his expression, he seemed pleased about something. At least his lighter mood marked a change from the stormy expression he usually wore.
    “Ye will ride with me again. We are three full days from home.”
    Neither answering nor making eye contact, she secured her belongings and climbed aboard her horse. He tied Orion’s reins to his saddle, leaving her only along for the ride. All day Anna bore the men’s speculative