Heart Of A Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney

the face and then kicked him in the chest. He fell backward, smashing into Lance. The gun flew from his hands. Damnation. Lasses didn’t fight like that. Maybe his dream of fighting with her wasn’t a dream.
    “Bitch!” The guard jumped up and grabbed the pistol, pointing the weapon at her head.
    “Just shoot her,” Lance said. “The master will be here soon. We don’t need trouble.”
    “No. Get on the floor.” The woman’s face was still hidden, but her anger was apparent in her stiff movements. “Now.”
    She sat down, awkwardly, because of her short gown. The guard pointed his pistol at her chest and shoved her back onto the floor. She tried to sit up, but the guard straddled her. He ripped the top of the woman’s gown, baring part of her breasts. Not overly large, but plenty. He sneered as he unfastened his belt. “Somebody needs to teach you a lesson. Human women are only good for one thing.”
    A cry of rage rolled up the prisoner’s throat. “Get off her.”
    “Sedate the prisoner,” the guard ordered Lance. “Then leave.”
    In one swift motion, the woman lifted her legs, baring a backside covered in a tiny white cloth and the most bizarre shoes on her feet, and wrapped her legs around the guard’s chest, yanking him backward. At the same time, she swung her arm toward the pistol. It fired into the ceiling. She ducked, and the guard scrambled to his feet.
    The prisoner growled and pulled against the bars. He felt the wounds on his back open with the effort. He wasn’t aware that Lance had entered the cell until something sharp jabbed him in the arm. He turned and swung at Lance, throwing him against the cell door. The prisoner started toward him, but Lance scrambled out of reach. The prisoner’s legs went weak as a new lamb’s. His mind blurred as Lance shoved him onto the bench. As the shackles closed around his wrists, he saw the woman’s face for the first time.
    But it wasn’t the first time. He ’d seen those turquoise eyes before.

    Anna jumped up and lunged at the guard again, striking him in the groin. It wasn’t a direct hit, but he groaned and staggered back. Still, he held on to the gun. She expected him to shoot her, but a roar echoed down the corridor.
    The guard cursed, holding his crotch with one hand and the gun with the other. “I thought you sedated him.”
    “I did.”
    “He’s out of control. We’ll have to give him more.” The guard hobbled to the door.
    “He’s not the only one out of control,” Lance said, looking at Anna. “We need to kill her.”
    “Not until I get what I want.”
    Anna backed against the wall, anger and fear making her blood pound. She didn’t know if he meant answers or rape. She didn’t mind a fight, but rape…the thought made her sick. Her mother had been raped. It had ruined her life.
    The guard slammed the door and started to lock it. “The lock’s broken. The bullet must have hit it. We’ll have to move her.”
    “Not if we kill her,” Lance said. “We have too much to worry about with these other two.”
    Did that mean there were only three of them being held here? The prisoner, the hybrid, and her?
    “No. The master will want to know who she is. She must be a warrior. She had one of those necklaces.”
    She touched her bare neck. Warriors didn’t lose their talismans. It just wasn’t done. What a bloody mess she ’d gotten into.
    “Put her in with Faelan for now. I’ll deal with her later. Move,” he ordered her. He stayed several feet away, aiming the gun at her head as Lance unlocked the other cell and shoved her inside. “We’re not finished. You’ll pay for this.” The guard gave her a dark look, and the two left.
    Anna turned to the prisoner. He sat on the stone bench, his arms shackled to the wall above him, his bare feet shackled to an iron ring in the floor. Dried blood smeared his kilt and shirt. He was unconscious, head cradled between his upraised arms and his chest. Who was he? The guards thought he