Tess and the Highlander (3 page)

“I had no intention of frightening you.”

He raised both hands so she could see he was not
armed. She continued to inch toward the steps. Colin could see that
she wasn’t too steady on her feet. He straightened from the wall.
The continuing storm was whistling in through the slits of the
windows.

“Listen, you rescued me yourself. You know I was
washed ashore. Alone.” He kept his tone gentle. “You’ll surely
catch your death in this weather, dressed in those wet
clothes.”

Her foot went out from beneath her as she slipped
again on the same damn shells, and Colin closed the distance
between them. Before he could lend a hand to her, though, she
rolled to her side and slashed at him with the dirk.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed, glancing down at the torn
sleeve of his shirt where the dagger had sliced through. His tone
reflected his rising temper. She’d barely missed cutting his flesh.
“I told you I mean no harm.”

She was struggling to her feet, but he was through
trying to help her. Taking one quick step, Colin kicked the dagger
out of her hand. The weapon clattered loudly against the stone
wall.

“But you cannot expect me to take it kindly when
someone steals my dirk and uses it against me.” He grabbed the back
of her dress and yanked her slight frame to her feet. She was as
light and helpless as a rag doll. He turned her around in his arm,
so he could take a better look at her face. She hadn’t spoken a
word. Maybe she didn’t understand what he was saying. “Now let’s
start from the beginning, lass.”

She kicked him hard on the shin.

“By the devil!” He tightened his grip on her
shoulder. “I told you…”

She delivered a glancing jab to his face and tried
to push away from him. Angry now, he twisted one of her arms behind
her and pulled her roughly against his body. The dark eyes were
spitting fire at him, and she looked like she’d bite him if she got
the chance.

“Now listen, I don’t know what has you so…”

Her knee connected solidly and viciously with his
groin area. He gasped for breath, and his hands released her.

As Colin tried to catch his breath, he saw her run
down the steps and heard the door bang open. Suddenly, he’d lost
all interest in going after her. She was a witch, a devil, a
madwoman.

Nonetheless, she had managed to drag him out of the
water, and he felt a pang of guilt.

Grimacing with pain, he forced himself upright and
took a step. Limping down the stairs, he spotted the leather cloak
that still hung on a peg. This was the same one she had been
wearing when he’d first seen her. He stepped outside. His fire was
starting to burn lower. The bundle of blankets and sticks he’d used
to fool her were still against the wall. The storm continued to
lash at the island, and he braced himself against the wind. Colin
let his gaze roam over the ruined buildings and the hills around
him. To his left, he saw a dark shadow move quickly over the crest
of a hill.

“WAIT!” He set out after her. The fool! He was
certain that there were no more buildings on the island. Cold and
wet as she already was and without any kind of shelter, she would
surely catch her death staying the night out in this weather.

Reaching the top of the hill where he’d seen her
last, he stared in frustration at the wild and dark terrain around
him. The sound of the storm was matched only by the loud crashing
of the surf in the distance. The sleet was stinging his face and he
could see very little. He had no idea where she had disappeared
to.

“By St. Andrew, I told you I meant no harm,” he
shouted into the night.

Still, he was not ready to give up, even though he
couldn’t see much beyond his next step. The ground was shiny from
the rain. Jumping down from a ledge of a stone, Colin pushed
on.

She had to be a daughter to the reclusive husband
and wife he’d heard about. But he recalled hearing that they were
so old, and she was so young. And then there was the mending he
found in the room—the young child’s dress and cap. His curiosity
was definitely piqued.

He had no fear of getting lost. He could see the
light of his fire reflecting on the walls of the priory buildings.
What he needed to be careful of, though, were the bluffs to the
west. One missed step there, and he’d drop forty feet into the surf
and the rocks.

And something told him his bonny hostess would
probably not pull him out again.

Colin stumbled on a mound of stone and shells.
Coming to an abrupt stop, he peered down. Right before him, there
were actually two mounds, side by side. Crouching before them, he
could see a carefully arranged blanket of shells with large smooth
stones piled on top.

Graves. Two of them.

Well, at least he knew where the old couple had
ended up.

As Tess worked her way out along the cliff, the wind
buffeting off the rocks nearly knocked her from the narrow ledge a
half dozen times. Once, inching across a particularly narrow ledge,
her foot slipped on an icy spot. Tess clawed desperately at the
slippery rocks, managing somehow to stop herself from falling into
the frothy sea. A few moments later she had made it to her
destination, only to realize it was all for naught.

The tide was too high. She’d never seen the water up
so far on the cliff face. The waves were crashing in above the
opening to her cave. The footpath on the side of the opening was
completely submerged. It was no good. She couldn’t get in.

If she had been able to get inside, she knew the
honeycomb of caves well. Inside, some of the underground passages
climbed upward. Even at the highest surges, there were dry places
where she could take shelter. She’d be safe.

Desperate to get out of harm’s way, she considered
jumping in the sea and trying to swim in. On many of the lower
caves, she’d seen the seals forever playing their games and riding
the surf into the caverns.

Tess turned and started clambering back up the rocks
the way she came. She was thankful that her miserable physical
condition had not affected her state of mind. Banging her head
against the rocks or having her body drawn out to sea by the tide
was no solution to her predicament. Fighting with the Highlander
had given her a temporary surge of strength, but as she finally
climbed up over the ledge, she knew she had nothing more left.

He’d said he meant no harm. But Charlotte had warned
her about the lies, too.

He was bigger. He was stronger. He was quicker.

He was a Highlander.

That alone gave Tess reason enough to distrust
him.

Exhausted, she was barely able to lower herself into
a cleft between two rocks. She was still exposed to the sleet and
the rain, but at least she was protected from the wind.

Colin waited for the first light of dawn to lighten
the sky before going out searching for her again. Other than
finding the graves, no good had come out of his last attempt. But
this time he was determined to find and bring her back. It had been
damn cold last night. Hopefully, she was still alive.

The sleeting rain had stopped, but charred gray
clouds continued to lock out the sky. The wind, though, seemed to
have picked up even more.

Colin started out in the same direction he’d seen
her go the night before. From there, he descended into a valley
that cut the island in half and climbed the next hill. It was the
highest point in the island. Standing on top of it, he now had an
unobstructed view of everything, including the two piles of rock at
either end, known as North Ness and South Ness. His eyes scanned
the turbulent sea to the horizon in every direction. There was no
sign of a ship anywhere.

The Isle of May was much longer than it was wide.
And he had been right the night before. There were no other
buildings. Very few trees even. No place where a stubborn woman
could have taken shelter for the night. But she had to be
somewhere.

Colin tried to imagine what he would do in her
place. The answer was simple. He would have stayed put and heard
the stranger out.

Women!

He again focused his thoughts on where she could
possibly have gone. The east shore consisted of stony slopes
descending gradually to the sea’s edge. A tidal pool here and there
hardly offered any place to hide and not much in the way of
shelter. The west shore, on the other hand, offered a possibility.
He turned his steps in that direction.

Colin’s hopes rose when he reached the high, rugged
cliffs with their sharp ledges and deep crevices. Peering over the
top, he gazed down the rock face and watched the many sea birds
sailing along the line of cliffs, wheeling and sometimes landing on
the ledges. They sometimes would disappear from his view. If they
were nesting here, he guessed that there could be any number of
caves in these rocks.

He could only hope that she had found some place
protected from the sleet and the cold during the night.

He started moving northward along the cliffs,
looking for a place to climb down safely.

Moments later, Colin saw amid the distant rocks
strands of dark hair whipping wildly in the wind. He hurried to
her.

She was lying curled up tightly in a shallow cleft
between two rocks. For a moment, he thought she might be dead. He
knelt beside her, pushed her long hair to the side, and touched the
side of her throat. Her skin was icy cold, but he could feel a
faint pulse. He pulled her out of the hole and rolled her into his
arms. She mumbled something unintelligible and tried to push him
away.

“I’m taking you back to your house.”

She made a feeble attempt to push away from him
again, but she was clearly exhausted. She ceased her struggle and
slumped limply against him. Lifting her in his arms, Colin pushed
himself to his feet.

“But I am warning you, lass. No more attacking me
with my own weapon. No kicking. No fighting. No more attempts to
unman me.” He started toward the priory. She was slightly built,
but Colin hadn’t forgotten the courage she’d shown in facing him
last night. “And no running away, either.”

She mumbled something again and tucked her hand
inside his shirt. Her fingers were like ice.

“I don’t know how long we are going to be together
like this, but you’d better get used to having me around.”

Stirring slightly, she wrapped her arms tightly
around his neck and pressed her face to the exposed skin of his
neck. Her cheek was soft as cold silk.

“And I’ll do my best…to get used to you, too,” he
finished hoarsely.

Tess tried to burrow deeper into the ground, but
something was stopping her. The wind was stronger and colder.
Something was pulling at her. She was so cold. She had to push
herself in deeper to stay warm. It was right there, so near. She
couldn’t bear being separated from it, but she was being pulled
away. She held on tighter.

“You need to let go, lass.”

She shook her head. The words were spoken very close
to her ear. It was a deep voice. It was the Highlander’s voice. She
tried to bury herself deeper beneath the stones. She had to hide
from him.

“I cannot be much help with you wrapped around me
like this.”

Wrapped around me. Wrapped around me
. She
didn’t know what he was talking about. She was wrapped around a
piece of rock. She clutched more tightly. She was growing warmer.
If she could just hold on tightly enough...

“Not that I’m complaining. But you’re cold and wet
and…and I suppose we need to get you out of these clothes before
you come down with a fever.”

Wrapped around me.
The words were finally
sinking in. She forced her eyes open and found herself looking at
smooth muscles of a man’s neck. She lifted her head off a broad
shoulder and looked into eyes the color of a turbulent blue sea.
His face was so close to hers. Hazy and confused, she studied every
aspect of his chiseled face. At the same time, she became aware
that her feet were not touching the ground. Her weight was being
supported by pair of strong arms. An unfamiliar warmth seeped
through her, and her gaze fell on his mouth. A hint of a smile
tugged at the full lips.

“So, you’ve decided to come around.”

“You…are
n-not
…g-getting me out of these
c-c-clothes.”

His expression turned sober. “I’m afraid you have
left me no choice.”

She started struggling in his arms. “L-let…me…g-go.
Let…me…go!”

Immediately, he dropped her onto her bedding,
extracting a sharp cry in return as she fell. She scowled up at
him.

“You…didn’t have…to drop me!” Separated from his
warmth, she felt the chills again wash through her. The skin on her
face was stiff. Her eyes felt puffy and dry. She tried to tug a
blanket from beneath her and pull it over her, but her hands hardly
responded. She could not move her fingers. She watched him move
away from her to the hearth. Squatting, he started building up the
fire. Helpless in the light of her useless limbs, she put her head
down on the covering and pulled her knees to her chest. She was so
tired. She felt like crying but fought back the impulse.
“’Tis…c-cold in…h-here. ‘Tis very…c-c-cold.”

“You’ll be warm soon.”

The Highlander put another piece of wood on the
fire. In a moment the flames were snapping and hissing, and he rose
and came to her. He crouched down beside Tess and tucked the edges
of the blanket around her legs. “I am glad that you at least
understand what I am saying.” His strong fingers started removing
her roughly-made shoes. Tess was too weak to protest As he pulled
them off, she realized she had no feeling in her toes.

“I am Colin Macpherson. Do you have a name?”

She stared at the pale skin of her feet as his large
hands cupped them.

“We’ll worry about your name later.” He looked about
the room. “We
need
to get you out of those wet clothes.” He
reached for another blanket that was lying at the foot of her
bedding and tucked it around her bare feet. “Do you think you can
manage it by yourself?”