Read Online Charming the Shrew by Laurin Wittig - Free Book Online

She could not go there, yet she had no horse, no shelter or food, not even a plaid to wrap herself in against the cold. She had little hope of surviving the oncoming night without this man’s help.
    He reached down, extending his square hand. “Step up on that rock and grab hold. I’ll swing you up. Let’s get you to Assynt, and in return for my good deed, you can see that they provide me with a warm meal and a place by the fire for the night.”
    She clasped his hand, momentarily distracted by his sure voice and the way his callused skin felt against hers, warm and rough and strong. Slowly, as he waited for her to climb up behind him, his words sank in.
    “I will not go home,” she said. She forced herself to look up into surprised eyes that matched the color of his hair.
    “There’s a storm breaking over our heads and you would not take shelter?”
    “Nay.” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I will not go to Assynt.”
    “The storm is upon us, and I fear we have but little choice.”
    She tried to free her hand from his warm grasp, but he held it tightly. “I said I’ll not go to Assynt.”
    “You must. There is nowhere else close enough. Dun Donell is a hard day’s ride from here.”
    “I’ll not go there either. I am bound for the sea and my aunt’s village.”
    “The sea? The sea is behind you, lass.”
    “Nay, ’tis just beyond the loch,” she said, but her voice wasn’t as strong as she wished, for snow was catching in his eyebrows and on his lashes and she couldn’t seem to focus on aught but his face.
    “Aye, that end of it,” he said, pointing behind her. “I do not know what you run from, but it cannot be worse than a winter storm at night.”
    “Little you know.”
    “I know enough to recognize a stubborn lass when I meet one. If you ride with me, you can gaze upon my countenance as long as you wish,” he said with a cocky grin.
    “Why would I wish to do that?” Catriona jerked her gaze from his face to the middle of his broad chest, though that wasn’t any less distracting. She tried again to remove her hand from his, but still he held on. She shook herself from her odd distraction. He would not let her go. He meant to return her to Assynt. Panic pushed its way once more into her thoughts. She pulled harder, and he suddenly released her. She stumbled back, nearly falling over a rock. She caught herself then leveled her stoniest glare at him.
    “Be on your way. I shall see to my own well-being.”

    T AYG MISSED THE feel of the beautiful stubborn lass’s cold hand in his, but he feared he would hurt her if he did not release his grip.
    Irritation sawed through him. He had no time for stubborn lost lasses. The storm was upon them, they needed to find shelter, and after reading the message Duff MacDonell had given him for Assynt, he was sure there was a plot afoot, only he couldn’t tell exactly what it was. He had to get to Assynt. ’Twas his duty to the king, and this lass was getting in his way.
    He’d tried charm, he’d tried reason, and judging from the thickening snow and gusty wind he had little time left for arguing, but he could not, in good conscience, leave the lass to freeze—no matter what else needed doing. He must find shelter for them immediately. He had little reason to believe she could care for herself. She was here in the midst of the wilderness, alone and unprepared, and he would not have her death upon his conscience. He had enough to worry about without that.
    Tayg sighed and pasted his best grin-and-bear-it smile on his face. “I will not harm you, lass.” The glare in her eyes said she did not believe him. “Nor will I take you to Assynt, for it seems ’tis too late for that now.” He looked about him in the gloom, then back at her. Her shoulders had slumped, and she was chewing on her lip again. Just watching her straight, white teeth catch her lip made his mouth go dry. He forced his mind back to the trouble they were in and thrust