The Highlander by Elaine Coffman Read Free Book Online Page A

image of a French lass.
    Sophie... Ah, Sophie. The superlatives came easy when thinking of her. A natural beauty, she could have descended from Aphrodite herself, for she possessed all the qualities of beauty, being both pleasing to look at and desirable to touch. A beautiful woman was something to be enjoyed and he intended to do just that. A few simple thoughts of her aroused a wild sort of heat within him that he felt with sharp intensity.
    The sun had not been up long when he slipped away and made his way down to the narrow shallows of the river. He stepped into the icy water, submerged himself and walked back to shore, droplets of water sluicing down his naked body.
    By the time he picked up his plaid and began wrapping himself in yards and yards of fabric, the rivulets of water had pooled into a single channel that ran, straight as a pine, between the muscles of his chest and abdomen.
    He followed the line of water until it disappeared and saw that the cold swim had not had the desired effect. He was still hard. He tried not to think about the best way to rectify that. Slinging the water from his hair, he took long strides back to the lodge.
    He was surprised to find her sitting in the chair by the fire when he walked into the kitchen.
    "What are you doing up, lass? I have no' yet had time to build up th& fire. Right now, it is putting out a sorry amount of heat."
    "I have been here only a few minutes, and I do find the kitchen to be much warmer than my room."
    "Aye, 'tis the warmest room in the house. With the staff is away, I dinna bother to light fires in the other rooms."
    He stirred the coals and added some kindling, which ignited immediately. He continued to poke at the fire for a while and then, with a satisfied grunt, he stacked three logs over the flames. "It should start getting warmer soon. Are ye hungry?"
    "Yes, but what I would really like is a bath.
    I still have all this salt water in my hair, and bits of debris and sand, too. When I awoke, I found a piece of seaweed stuck to my cheek."
    He wanted to tell her it would take more than seaweed to mar her beauteous face, but he decided against it, knowing it would only make her uncomfortable. Instead, he simply watched as she tried to smooth her curly, matted hair back from her face.
    When she saw he was watching, she said, "I fear I am a frightful sight, rather haggard-looking, I know."
    "Och, lass, it would take more than a wee bit o' seaweed or tangled hair to mar beauty such as yours," he said, having decided it was a statement that needed saying.
    She dipped her head and he marked her shy, realizing she had not been able to completely ignore his comment.
    "This is one time I am thankful there is not a looking glass about," she said.
    He did not want to tell her that his opinion was better than any reflection in a looking glass. He wondered at her reaction if he were to tell her she looked good enough that he could easily throw her over his shoulder and carry her up to his bed without hesitation. Or that he would pause only long enough to warm her up, so she wanted him as much as he wanted her, and that she would be crying out for him when he took her.
    "If it's a bath ye want, lass, then a bath ye shall have. I will heat some water for you."
    She glanced down at the gown she was wearing, and he did not miss that she had wrapped his plaid around most of it. "I was wondering if your sister might have something here that I could borrow to wear."
    "While you are bathing, I will go above stairs to see what I can find."
    "It will be heavenly to have a real dress to wear—and a clean one. It is not easy to keep everything covered with a bolt of cloth. Mon dieu, I don't know how you do it."
    "It bothers you more than it does me. As far as my taste is concerned, I would find it far more pleasing to the eye to have you going about in nothing at all. I find myself hoping that might happen."
    "I fear I shall dash all your expectations then, for that is highly