The Highlander Read Online Free PDF Page B

sleep in damp clothes." He picked up a nightgown from the end of the bed. ' 'This belongs to my sister. It should fit you."
    "Your sister is here?"
    "No. I came alone this time." He grabbed the end of the fabric, and for the second time that night unrolled her from a plaid.
    Beneath his gaze, her body felt like it was melting from the inside out.
    "Is that shift all you have to wear?" he asked.
    Shivering violently now, she grabbed at the sheet and tried to cover herself.
    He cut her off, and removed what was left of her shift with one yank.
    Any other time, Sophie would have fought him to the death, but she was weak as a moonbeam, and her teeth were chattering so loud she feared they might crack. She knew any resistance would be pathetic at best, and could only serve to prolong the period she lay naked and exposed to his eyes.
    Her second choice was to snap her eyes shut, for she could not bear to see his face during the most humiliating experience of her life. Please, God, she thought, let this be over as soon as possible, and let him not remember a thing about it on the morrow.
    When her humiliation was over and he had the gown pulled over her head and her body covered, she heard his chuckle as he said, "You can open your eyes, lass."
    He was buttoning the gown with total indifference, but when he reached her throat, he paused to lift the small gold medallion that hung on a delicate gold chain around her neck.
    His expression changed immediately to a hard grimace. "Where did you get this?" he asked, his words clipped and cold.
    "I...I don't know for certain, but I think it was given to me," she said, her teeth still chattering.
    "By whom?"
    "I seem to have the feeling I was a lady's maid, and that perhaps she gave it to me."
    "You seem to have a very odd way of remembering things and having an explanation handy when it is necessary."
    "I have heard it said that the mind works in strange ways," she said in her defense.
    "Aye, and it was beyond strange how your mind conveniently conjured up a memory of being a lady's maid when you had no recollection of it earlier."
    She was afraid to look him in the eye, but after a few seconds of silence, she could not resist. When she saw the cynical look of detachment, she shivered. "Of course, that is only a guess, a feeling," she said.
    "Of course," he said, and dropped the medallion where it rested on her gown, and it seemed to burn into her flesh on contact.
    She pushed it back beneath the buttons and out of sight.
    He picked up a decanter of wine resting on the bedside table. He poured a glass and handed it to her. "Drink this. It will warm you."
    "I'm not thirsty."    "
    "I didna ask if ye were thirsty, lass. Now, drink it," he said, "or I'll pour it down your throat. You are too pale. It will warm you and put some color on your cheeks."
    Her hand came up to touch her face. "I can't even feel my cheeks, so why should I care if they have any color or not?"
    "Drink it. It will warm you."
    She did not take the glass. "If stripping me naked won't put color to my cheeks, I don't know what will. Do you think I was on that ship? The one that wrecked?"
    "Aye, and washed ashore like so much wreckage. It is the only explanation, so it must be the one we accept for now." He thrust the glass of wine toward her again. "Drink it," he said. "I won't tell you again."
    She had a vision of him pouring it down her throat as the French do when force-feeding geese to enlarge their livers to make foie gras. There was little doubt in her mind that he would not hesitate to do as he threatened.
    She scooted back to rest against the headboard and accepted the proffered glass of wine. He pulled the covers over her and tucked them in before he took a seat in the chair beside the bed.
    "It really isn't proper for you to be in my bedchamber, even in Scotland."
    "Hang propriety. This is an unusual circumstance. I want to make certain you drink the wine.. .all of it. Besides, if you are a lady's maid like you