CHAPTER 1
The Isle of May, off the Firth of Forth
Scotland, March 1543
Tess poked at the corpse with a stick andbacked away.
Her unbound auburn hair, already soaked fromthe driving rain, whipped across her eyes when she leaned in tolook closer.
The Highlander appeared to be dead, but shecouldn’t be sure. Long, dark blond hair lay matted across his face.She looked at the high leather boots, darkened by the salt water.The man was wearing a torn shirt that once must have been white. Abroad expanse of plaid, pinned at one shoulder by a silver brooch,trailed into the tidal pool. From the thick belt that held his kiltin place, a sheathed dirk banged against an exposed thigh.
A dozen seals watched her from the deepwater beyond the surf.
With the storm growing increasingly wilder,she stood indecisively over the body. In all the years she’d beenon the island, she’d never seen a human wash up before. Certainly,there had been wrecks in the storms that swept in across the openwater, and Auld Charlotte and Garth used to find all kinds ofthings—some valuable and some worthless—cast up on the shores.Never, though, had there been another person—at least, not sincethe aging husband and wife had found Tess herself eleven yearsearlier.
Tess pushed aside those thoughts now andcrouched beside the man, placing a hand hesitantly on his chest. Afaint pounding beneath the shirt was the answer to her prayers…andher fears. She didn’t want anyone intruding on her island and inher life. At the same time, she could not allow a living thing todie when she could save it. Or him.
The surf crashed over the ring of rock thatformed the tidal pool, and the young woman pushed herself to herfeet. She drew the leather cloak up to shield her face from thestinging spray of wind-driven brine. When she looked back at thebody, the wave had pushed the Highlander deeper into the pool,immersing his face.
Tess immediately dropped her stick andlifted his face out of the water. Glancing over her shoulder, sheeyed a flat rock at the far side of the pool. It sat higher thanthe tide generally rose. Rolling him forward slightly, she held himunder the arms just as another wave crested the pool’s rim. Thesurge of water lifted the body, and Tess quickly dragged himthrough the water toward the rock.
He was heavier than she thought he would be.Out of breath, she finally succeeded in getting him partiallyanchored on the rock.
Auld Charlotte had once told Tess thatthey’d found her nearly drowned in this same tidal pool. Thethought of that now flickered in her mind. She tried to recall thestorm and the ship and the day, but those memories had long agofaded into nightmares. Now, it was all buried too deeply within herto recollect. She wondered if it was a day like this one.
The dirk at the Highlander’s side caught hereye, and Tess reached down quickly, yanked the weapon from itssheath, and tucked it into her own belt.
The wind was howling, and the salt spray wasstinging her face. Tess looked out at the frothy, gray-green sea,hoping to see some boat searching for the Highlander lyingunconscious beside her.
If they came, she wouldn’t let herself beseen, though. She wanted no news of her presence be carried to themainland.
She had only been six years old when the ship hadsank and she had washed ashore. But the little she allowed herselfto remember from the time before that day was too painful. Tess hadno desire to face that horrifying past ever again. There was noplace else that she ever wanted to be but here. This island was theonly home she had left.
For eleven years, the reclusive couple hadkept her existence a secret. And now, with both of them dead, shecould only pray to continue her life as before, undisturbed.
Her plan was the same as the one she’dfollowed dozens of times since washing up on this island. Wheneverthere was a chance of a fishing boat or some pilgrims comingashore, Garth and Charlotte would trundle Tess off with plenty offood and blankets to the caves on the western shore of the island.She would remain there in safety until all was well and thevisitors were gone.
The only difference now was that she wouldhave to use her own judgment about when it would be safe to comeout.
Ready to push herself to her feet, a tingeof curiosity made Tess reach and push the Highlander’s wet hair outof his face. Instantly, she was sorry for the action, for the man’sfeatures took her by surprise. Even unconscious, or perhaps becauseof it, he was an extremely handsome man. A high forehead, astraight nose, a face devoid of the beard that she’d assumed allHighlanders wore. He had a face not even marred by scars…yet. Onlya few scratches and bruises from his time in the surf.
Angry for allowing herself to be distracted,she started to get to her feet, but one foot slipped, and she hadto brace a hand on his chest to catch herself.
His eyes immediately opened, and Tess’sbreath knotted tightly in her chest. Blue eyes the color of awinter sky stared at her from beneath long dark lashes flecked withgold. She didn’t blink. She didn’t move. Holding her breath, sheremained still for the eternity of a moment until he closed themagain.
She edged off the rock and ran as fast andas far as her legs would take her.
The taste in Colin Macpherson’s mouth wasfoul as a dried up chamber bucket.
Rolling onto his side, he felt his stomachheave. He tried to push himself up. He couldn’t see. As he turned,Colin’s hand slipped off cold wet rock, and he tumbled into ashallow pool of water, banging his ribs hard on the stone as hefell.
“Blasted hell,” he groaned, pushing himselfonto his knees. Holding his head, he blinked a few times, trying toclean the sand and salt out of his eyes.
Rocks. More rocks. And water. And bobbingheads. He pushed back a long, twisted hank of hair that had fallenacross his face, obstructing his vision. He tried to focus on thecreatures moving on the rocks.
Seals—a dozen or so—were staring at him fromthe rocks rimming the pool and from the sea beyond. Their browneyes were dark and watchful. The image of a woman’s faceimmediately flashed before his mind, and he struggled to pushhimself to his feet. A couple of seals barked a warning to those onshore.
“H…HULLO!” he called out, only to have thesurf and the wind slap the greeting back into his face.
