Read Online Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss by Alexia Praks - Free Book Online Page A

the sight took her breath away. It was very
large, and stacked with books she could never have imagined any
house could contain. The room was even bigger than the ground-floor
medical library, which she often frequented during her university
years back in Dunedin.
    “ Thank you…
um…?”
    “ Lizzie, lassie,” the
woman replied before she left.
    Once the maid was gone,
Ruby rushed into the room and shut the door quietly behind her.
Despite that she loved books and wished she could leisurely browse
through them all, she had to ignore that urge and find a way to
escape.
    She sprinted to the large
window and tried the lock. As she struggled to get it open, she
heard him. His voice was loud, but incoherent. She recognized
Lizzie’s voice as well. Then she heard the woman saying something
about her name.
    Oh, God, hurry! Why won’t
this damn window open?
    She struggled with the
lock, and just when she was about to give up, managed to fling the
stubborn window open.
    She heard his footsteps
rushing along the hallway toward the door as she nervously climbed
onto the window and jumped down. She landed with a thud! on the
grass, and instantly shot up and raced across the field.
    Alec was at the door when
he saw her running across the field toward the stream. He dashed to
the window, hurdled over it, and chased after her in a full
sprint.
    “ Ruby!” he
shouted.
    Ruby wasn’t listening, or
looking back either. All she knew was she had to get
away—fast.
    Just then, Alec saw
Bernard with Storm. They were going toward the stables.
“Bernard!”
    The man saw his signal and
pulled Storm over to Alec.
    Alec was impatient. He
raced toward them, grabbing the reins from Bernard’s hands, before
climbing onto the saddle and kicking the horse hard in its
side.
    In response, Storm started
galloping fast toward the stream.
    Ruby felt she was far
enough away that it was safe to look back. He could not catch her
now.
    Glancing behind her, instead of seeing him tiring of the
chase and allowing her to escape, to her horror, she saw him now
pursuing her on horseback.
    She nearly died of fear,
for the giant man and beast galloping after her looked so much like
a Scottish warrior charging into war in medieval times, especially
because he seemed so big and forboding.
    She kept running until she
reached the stream. Her breathing by then was short, hard gasps,
and her heart was pumping out of control. She was not a very fit
person, for the long exertion managed to cause her heart to launch
into a silly rhythm.
    Ignoring her difficult
breathing, she jumped into the ice-cold water and staggered across
with her bare feet, but started shivering from head to
toe.
    When she reached the other
end, she hiked up the small hill and stopped for a moment to catch
her breath. A second later, she started running again, but only got
about twenty meters when the sound of horse’s hooves echoed in her
ears.
    The man and beast passed
her, and about a meter away after that, they intercepted
her.
    She slowed down and
stopped. Her legs were getting tired.
    Alec moved his horse
toward her.
    Ruby staggered backward,
swaying just slightly because of her exertion. Her face was flushed
red, and her breathing was hard.
    “ Ruby, you’ll only tire yourself, lass,” he said as though
he were talking to a little girl. She was not his darn daughter, for God’s sake.
    She stared up at him. He
and his steed were still approaching her, and she continued
stumbling backward, avoiding capture. Then she turned and darted
away.
    “ Ruby!” he shouted as he
nudged Storm. The horse lurched forward and raced after
her.
    Ruby didn’t get very far
in her attempt to flee. As Alec was about to pass her, he leaned
his upper body down on his right side and spread his arm out while
his other hand held onto the reins. Seizing her by the waist, he
hauled her up onto his lap. He slowed Storm down, turned the horse
around, and rode off in the other direction toward the
manor.
    Ruby was