Read Online Moon Awakening by Lucy Monroe - Free Book Online

of the Church's blessing?" Emily demanded, appalled. It was even worse than she had thought.
    "Yes."
    "That is barbaric."
    Cait shrugged, but her eyes belied the relaxed pose.
    "Lachlan told me that the Balmorals did not harm women or children." And she had believed him. "But he lied."
    "Yes, he lied."
    "I did not lie," Lachlan said in Latin, his voice hard.
    He'd understood the entire exchange.
    Cait flinched and then net shoulders sagged. "I should have guessed. My brother told me the Balmoral laird was more learned than other Highlanders. He considered it a weakness."
    "You have learned differently, have you not?" Cait refused to answer Lachlan's taunt and Emily was too furious to say anything at all.
    The man was a monster!
    Drustan asked for a translation of the conversation and Lachlan gave it to him. Word for word. Despite her anger, Emily blushed to be caught discussing such private things in mixed company. The embarrassment did not last long as fury that Cait could be treated so horribly overtook every consideration, even her fear of the water.
    It was not right.
    She surged to her feet and spun to face Lachlan. He stood at the front of the boat, his stance arrogant and commanding, while the other soldiers manned the oars. His rugged masculine appeal mocked her, for it masked a black heart she would never have guessed at.
    The pain of having believed him to be something he wasn't mixed with her fear for her friend and exploded in a deluge of angry words. "
You are nothing but a lying savage
. Do you hear me?"
    "I believe they hear you in England, lass," one of the soldiers said. He was the only blond one among them and up to now he hadn't spoken.
    She glared at him before turning her frown on Lachlan once again. He looked unaffected by her outburst. She didn't care if her words impacted him, or not. She was going to have her say and that was that.
    "And Drustan is a thief. No… he is worse than a thief," she said with relish. "For he intends not only to steal that which does not belong to him, but to hurt an innocent woman in the process. And most likely her unborn child. You're all a bunch of cowards, too, taking your revenge on a woman rather than facing your opponents in honest combat."
    Several grunts of annoyance met that statement, but she ignored them. She had one last thing to say to the man watching her so impassively.
    "You may be more learned than the other Highland lairds, Lachlan, but to my way of thinking, you are the most ignorant, not to mention heartless man I have ever met here or in England."
    Then she sat back down with a flounce that rocked the boat, reminding her just where she was and making her stomach chum.
    Cait was staring at her like she'd lost her mind. "Are you wanting them to throw you out of the boat then?"
    Still too angry to heed her words, she said, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they did, considering the wicked plans they have for you."
    Ulf grabbed her shoulders as if prepared to do just that and she bit back a scream. She would not let them see her fear, but inside her heart raced with terror at what he would do.
    "Let her go!" The whiplash of Lachlan's voice had immediate impact.
    Ulf released her instantly, but snarled, "It is no more than she deserves for casting such slurs on the Balmoral clan."
    "Not the whole clan, just the warriors here." Unlike some of the Highlanders she had met, she did not judge an entire group of people by the actions of a few degenerates.
    She didn't guess they liked that opinion either when fury-filled silence greeted the airing of it. A large wave crashed against the bow, sending sea spray over all of them. Now, on top of her anger, she had to deal with the fear that the ocean was going to swallow their boat.
    Her nails dug into her palms and she prayed drowning wasn't as horrible a death as she had always feared.
    The strangest expression crossed Cait's face. "I've enjoyed knowing you, Emily."
    Coming on the heels of her anxious thoughts, the