The Hellion and the Highlander Read Free Page A

day in an effort to keep you from starving to death. She has also been talking to you nonstop. Averill assured me that it would keep your soul tied to your body, so you did not wander to heaven and not return.” Will grinned as he added, “Your ears must be ringing from her nonstop chatter. You probably regained consciousness just to shut her up.”
    Kade shook his head at the words. He had no recollection of anything since the boat broke apart. Though he must have heard her with some part of his mind, for he found himself missing her dulcet tones. As if called by his thoughts, he heard the door open and the patter of feminine footsteps.
    “Here we are.” That gay voice was accompanied by a gust of the spicy floral scent he’d noted earlier as Averill bustled back in. Her arrival seemed to brighten the room, her cheer helping to wash away some of the bitter memories that had been occupying his thoughts. Blinking the rest of them away, Kade watched her dark, little figure hurry forward, leading what appeared to be at least two maids,possibly three, all carrying items he couldn’t make out. He strained in an effort to see better, but the women remained smudgy blurs in his vision, refusing to come into focus.
    Kade scowled with frustration and tried to raise his hands to rub at his eyes. They felt gritty, as if he had something in them, though he suspected they were just parched, as was the rest of his body. His head felt stuffed with cotton, his mouth so arid he could not even work up any saliva to oil his throat, and his skin everywhere felt dry and stretched tight, like leather being cured. Still, it was his eyes that troubled him the most at the moment. However, the hands he was trying to lift to rub at the two irritating orbs merely flopped where they lay. He did not even have the strength to raise them. Kade gave it up with a small sigh. He had never felt so weak and helpless in his life, and he wasn’t enjoying the experience.
    “Here, Will, help me sit him up to drink,” Averill ordered.
    Kade grimaced as the Englishman slid an arm beneath his back and lifted him halfway upright. He knew he couldn’t manage on his own, so didn’t protest, but merely waited as Averill leaned down to press the drink to his lips. The liquid, sweet and cool, the finest honey mead he’d ever tasted, poured into his mouth. He would have gulped it down in two swallows, but Averill only gave him a sip, then waited while he swallowed it before tipping the mug up again.
    “More,” he gasped impatiently, when she did that a third time.
    “Nay. You have had little or nothing to eat or drink for weeks. ’Tis best to go slowly at first.”
    Forcing back his impatience, Kade suffered her slow and sensible approach, and by the time the chalice was empty, had begun to think she had the right of it. While he still thirsted and yearned for more, his belly was churning in a threatening manner.
    “How is your stomach?” Averill asked as she set the mug aside.
    Kade grimaced for answer as Will eased him back to lie in the bed.
    “We shall wait on the broth then, I think,” she decided. “Do you think you can stay awake long enough for Mabs to help you clean up? Or do you wish to sleep now and wait until the next time you wake up?”
    Kade opened his mouth to assure her that he wasn’t at all tired. After all, he’d just woken up, but the words were drowned out by a sudden yawn that made a mockery of what he’d wanted to say.
    “Perhaps tomorrow morning then,” Averill said gently, as if he’d spoken, and he blinked his eyes sleepily as she tugged the linens and furs up more closely around him. “Sleep. You shall feel better in the morning.”
    “Should he be tired already?” Will asked, as Kade felt his eyes begin to droop closed. “He only just awoke.”
    “He will probably stay awake a little longer next time, but he shall tire easily for a while. I am surprised he stayed awake long enough to drink all the mead.” Averill’s