The Highlander Read Free Page A

under the plaid that was wrapped haphazardly around her. His gaze followed the curve of her thigh, down her bare legs to the shoeless feet.
    He was about to inquire about the lack of clothes and shoes when Tavish said, "We need to get a fire going. It is as cold as the North Sea in here. Where are Angus and Mary?"
    "I dismissed the staff."
    "Why?"
    "You are all questions tonight. Do you remember my telling you I was coming here for a few days to be alone?"
    Tavish rubbed the woman's hands briskly, trying to warm them. "Aye, you did, but I didn't know you meant to turn yerself into a cloistered monk."
    Jamie's gaze was still lingering on her long, bare legs. Just how high did they go? "Hermit would be a better choice of word, since there are some of the more carnal things in life I don't intend to give up."
    Tavish gave him a teasing grin. "Och! I ken ye will talk differently after ye wed and have a wife to box yer ears when yer eyes start to roam."
    "Only until I have an heir."
    Tavish turned his attention back to the girl and tucked the plaid around her.
    "I had no idea you were so motherly," Jamie said, his tone heavily laced with mockery.
    "Make light of it if you like, but I will not be a party to it. Can ye no' see that she is chilled to the bone? Would you rather that I had left her, to freeze to death?''
    Jamie narrowed his eyes, suspicion playing with his thoughts. "By God, you haven't married the doxy, have you?"
    Jamie heard the lass gasp a split second before Tavish leaped to her defense. "It is not what you think. She isn't some tavern wench I picked up."
    Jamie took the poker and began to stir the dying coals in the fire. He placed a few sticks of kindling over them and watched them burst into flame. He shook his head trying to clear away the last residue of sleep. "So tell me, brother, where did you find her?"
    "Weel, half of her was in the North Sea. The other half was lying on the beach. I would have ridden right over her, if my horse hadn't shied away at the last minute."
    His brother's words pricked his interest. He saw the wet hair, the bits of seaweed still clinging to it. "You pulled her from the sea, you say?"
    "Aye. I thought she was dead at first, and when I realized she was still alive, I knew I had to get her to a warm place with all due haste. I thought at first to take her to Monleigh Castle, but then I began to fear she would never survive a journey of that length."
    "Where exactly on the coast did you find her?"
    "Near Ravenscroft."
    Jamie's eyes glazed with thought. A frown appeared between his brows. He walked over to stand before the girl. "What were you doing in Ravenscroft, or better yet, in the water?"
    "I do not recall, monsieur."
    "Where do you live?"
    "I have no memory, monsieur." She continued on in French, but speaking too low for Jamie to catch much of what she said.
    He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gave his head a shake. "Could you speak English? I fear I am not up to unraveling the mystery of who you are and why you are here in a language other than my mother tongue—at least not this late at night, and me with a damnable headache."
    "If you don't like having a headache, then why do you drink?"
    "Who said I drank?"
    "I am not a child, monsieur.''''
    Jamie purposefully allowed his gaze to roam leisurely over her, so he could watch her response. "Ye dinna have to convince me of that," he said. He was thinking she had lovely eyes, as light and blue as the waters that lapped gently at the shores of the Greek islands.
    No, he thought. She definitely is not a child.
    Tavish was scratching his head as he studied her thoughtfully. "We dinna have much to go on, do we? That is aside from the fact that she is a female and in need of our help. Do you think she is French?"
    "Just because she speaks French does not mean she is French." Jamie thought about that for a moment. She had exquisitely fine-boned features, and if he were judging by looks alone, she very well could be French. He had