Tess and the Highlander by May McGoldrick Read Free Book Online Page A

sat
up and watched him across the way. Restless. Tonight, the two of
them had argued more than they’d talked during their meal of smoked
fish and dried bannock bread. He was so full of questions about who
she was and who her parents were and what she was doing on this
island. Tess had taken great enjoyment out of continually changing
the topic and turning the questions back on himself. Naturally, he
wouldn’t answer anything unless she did. Alternately funny and
angry, Colin had been entirely attentive to every word she said and
every movement she made. So they had gone round and round, and
she’d enjoyed every minute.
    Tess tucked her knees against her chest and admired
the glow of the fire reflecting off the handsome planes of his
face. He was not like any of the sailors or pilgrims from the
Highlands that she had spied on over the years. He was not loud or
rude. And he had not tried to handle her with any of the roughness
that Charlotte had warned her of.
    As Tess considered him, Colin murmured something
aloud in his sleep. She scrambled from her bedding and stood
watching him move his head from side to side. He was struggling
against something in his dream.
    “STOP!”
    She moved quickly to his side. He was still asleep,
but his face was covered with sweat, and he continued to thrash
about. His arms and legs were moving, too, as he struggled. Tess
crouched down and placed a hand on his brow, wondering for a moment
if he had caught a fever.
    His blue eyes opened instantly. She immediately drew
her hand back, but stayed where she was.
    “I think…you were having a nightmare.”
    He blinked a few times, trying to clear his
head.
    “I died in my dream.” His voice was raspy and
hoarse. “I have never before died in my dreams.”
    The vulnerability in his voice tugged at her
heart.
    “Have no fear. You’ll live a long and full life. The
sea cast you up, so your life thread is that much stronger.” She
used the corner of the blanket and ran it gently over his brow and
wiped his face. She brushed back his hair. He still had the dazed
look of one who hovered halfway between sleep and waking. “That’s
what Charlotte used to tell me when I would have bad dreams.”
    When she started to pull her hand away, he
reached up and caught it in his own. “Stay.”
    Her hand seemed so small wrapped in his
large one. Tess stared at the contrast of their skins—at the
strength that was so pronounced in his sinewy arms and yet the
gentleness with which he held her.
    “Tell me about the dream,” she managed to
say. “Sometimes it helps.”
    His eyes were so blue that Tess thought she
could drown in them. “I had forgotten how to swim. My legs and arms
were not mine to command. And every time I thought I could catch
some air, another great wave would crash over me and take me
deeper.”
    She edged closer to his side and sat on the
bedding. Their hips were touching through the blanket, and she was
very conscious of the contact.
    “That is just a scare held over from your
struggles during the storm.” Her fingers moved of their own accord
and touched the roughness on his chin. She touched the cleft and
hesitantly traced his lips. The difference in texture was so
interesting. “You are safe here.”
    Tess watched as his expression changed.
Shocked by her own behavior, she guiltily withdrew her fingers. His
eyes focused on her face in a way she could not identify.
    “You said you had bad dreams,” he said
softly.
    “Aye. Many times. Sometimes I still do.”
    “Were you ever caught in waves like that,
too? Washed ashore?”
    “I was.” Tess knew she had made a mistake
the moment the words left her mouth. She tried to pull away, but
his grip on her one hand held her where she was.
    “Tell me about it, Tess.”
    She shook her head and looked away. “There
is nothing to tell. I…I almost drowned swimming off the western
bluffs.”
    “You blush when you lie.”
    She turned sharply to him. “I blush when I
am considering