"Unless it was no' courage that had her running away," Conran pointed out.
"What else would it be?" Alick asked with a scowl.
"She could be lacking the sense God gives most," Geordie suggested.
"Or she could be a few men short o' an army," Alick added reluctantly.
"This lass is no' daft," Conran snapped. "Nor is she witless. The two o' ye ought to be ashamed to suggest it."
"Well, why do ye think she's fainted then?"
Conran eyed her briefly and then said, "Well, now, mayhap she's ailing. 'Tis obvious her brother cares little for her well-being. Mayhap she's taken ill."
"And mayhap," Dougall said, shifting the woman to a more comfortable position on his lap, "Ye should stop acting like a bunch o' old women so we can continue on with our journey."
Conran raised his eyebrows. "Are we takin' her with us then?"
"Well, we can hardly leave her here by the side o' the road in her state, can we?" he pointed out with exasperation. "We'll carry her with us until she wakes."
"And then what?" Conran asked, eyes narrowed.
"And then we'll ask where she's heading and if 'tis on our way, we shall escort her there," he decided with a small frown. The woman was turning out to be a bit of trouble and he wasn't happy about that.
"And if where she is going is no' on our way?" Conran asked. "Or what if we've carried her right past where she was headed?"
"Then we'll deal with that at the time," Dougall said with forced patience, and then added irritably, "Right now, I'd jest be well pleased if ye'd get yer arses in gear and yer horses moving."
"All right, no need to holler," Conran said soothingly. "'Tis obvious the lass has set ye aback." He glanced around and then asked, "What about her cow?"
Grimacing, Dougall glanced at the beast and shrugged. "Leave it behind. It'll most like return to the keep. Then mayhap they'll think she took a tumble and'll waste days searching Danvries' woods fer her."
"But then she'll have naught to ride when she regains her wits," Conran pointed out.
"Then she'll have to ride with me, will she no'?" he asked dryly.
"Aye, but what if her travels lead her away from us. She can hardly follow her own plans with no beast to ride."
"'Tis a cow, Conran," he pointed out with disgust. "No one with all their faculties would ride a cow anyway." Sighing impatiently, he shook his head. "I shall supply her with a horse. We've two spare with us right now anyway."
"Two fine beasts worth a pretty coin or two," Conran pointed out sharply. "Ye can no' be thinking--"
"I'm thinkin' I'm tired o' listening to ye bend me ear and am eager to be off," Dougall snapped. "Do what ye like with the cow, but we are continuing on now."
He put his heels to his mount, sending it into a gallop that had Lady Danvries bouncing around in his lap like a sack of wheat. Muttering under his breath, Dougall slowed the beast and rearranged her before setting out again. But he found himself glancing down repeatedly at the woman in his arms, wondering what she would have done had he agreed to the trade with her brother. Had she been offered and used thusly before? That thought hadn't occurred to him ere this and now that it had, it angered him for some reason. He grimly turned his attention to the path ahead and urged his mount to move faster. But he also tightened his hold on the woman to ensure she wasn't bounced out of his lap in the process.
About the Author
LYNSAY SANDS is the nationally bestselling author of the Argeneau/Rogue Hunter vampire series, as well as numerous historicals and anthologies. She's been writing since grade school and considers herself incredibly lucky to be able to make a career out of it. Her hope is that readers can get away from their everyday stress through her stories, and if there are occasional uncontrollable fits of laughter, that's just a big bonus. Please visit her on the web at www.lynsaysands.net.
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By Lynsay Sands
Immortal Nights
Runaway Vampire
About a Vampire
The Immortal Who Loved Me
Vampire Most Wanted
One Lucky Vampire
Immortal Ever After
The Lady Is a Vamp
Under a Vampire Moon
The Reluctant Vampire
Hungry For You
Born to Bite
The Renegade Hunter
The Immortal Hunter
The Rogue Hunter
Vampire, Interrupted
Vampires Are Forever
The Accidental Vampire
Bite Me if You Can
A Bite to Remember
A Quick Bite
Tall, Dark & Hungry
Single White Vampire
Love Bites
The Highlander Takes a Bride
To Marry a Scottish Laird
An English Bride in Scotland
The Husband Hunt
The Heiress
The Countess
The Hellion and the Highlander
Taming the Highland Bride
Devil of the Highlands
The Loving Daylights
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from Falling for the Highlander copyright (c) 2017 by Lynsay Sands.
immortal nights. Copyright (c) 2016 by Lynsay Sands. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
EPub Edition OCTOBER 2016 ISBN: 9780062316073
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062316066
first edition
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Lynsay Sands, Immortal Nights
(Series: Argeneau # 24)
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