The Fearless Highlander (Highland Defender Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

a better look. “Are those finger marks?”
    “You do not remember?” she asked with a wee chuckle.
    “Pardon? I did that?” Hugh’s gut turned over.
    “You were fevered,” she said as if it were nothing.
    “Devil’s fire, I would never knowingly hurt a woman.”
    She tugged her sleeve down. “Not to worry.” The tip of her tongue snuck to the corner of her mouth as her gaze slid to his hands. “You’re stronger than you think.”
    Hugh kent how strong he was—but that still didn’t make it right. He folded his arms to keep from grabbing her again. “Forgive me.”
    “There’s nothing to forgive. The mark will fade in a sennight.” Who suffered a bruised wrist and then returned for more? This woman must be Saint Margaret incarnate. Charlotte picked up a knife and a tined implement and cut a piece of sausage.
    “What is that?” he asked, pointing.
    She held up the two-pronged stabber. “It’s a fork. I always use them. My father purchased these in London from an Italian merchant. Says they’re the latest fashion to adorn a well-set supper table.”
    Hugh shrugged. He’d not be soon adopting a new English practice of eating with a fork. A knife had served him perfectly well all his life.
    Miss Hill skewered another bit of sausage with the two-pronged implement and held it up.
    Well, Hugh might allow her to feed him with a fork this once. After all, he deserved some pampering after having been locked in a dank pit by Charlotte’s father for nearly two years. Hugh opened his mouth. God’s bones , it was a good thing he wasn’t standing because the burst of flavor would have made him go weak at the knees. “Mm,” he moaned a bit too loudly.
    Miss Hill grinned. Lord, she could nearly make him forget about escape with that smile. “You like the sausage?”
    He glanced toward the plate wishing he could just shove both links in his mouth and savor them as the juice ran down his chin. “Delicious.”
    “You must eat slowly, otherwise it could come back up.”
    Hugh clenched his fists to avoid snatching the newfangled fork from her hand and helping himself.
    Instead, he licked his lips and watched her carefully cut a piece too small for a bairn’s mouth. “You didn’t mention what happened to you.” She looked at him out the corner of her eye. “I mean, why you are a guest here at Fort William.”
    He threw back his head and laughed. “Guest? Ah, lassie, you do have a sense of humor.”
    She busied herself swirling a bit of sausage in the egg yolk. “You don’t seem like a vile criminal to me. I only sought to confirm my suspicions.”
    He cleared his sore throat. “You needn’t worry about my character. I fought for Bonnie Dundee when the Jacobites won at Killiecrankie, and then had the misfortune of being captured in Dunkeld, wrapped in irons and marched to this miserable outpost.”
    Her hand stilled. “How awful.”
    “I’d be a mite happier if I could return home and resume my life.”
    She placed another bite in his mouth. “What did you do before…ah…the war?”
    Closing his eyes, Hugh chewed and gulped his mouthful down. “Raising cattle, mostly.”
    “Beef?” Her lovely eyes brightened. “You must be well-to-do.”
    “Och, I wouldn’t say that. We mind our own affairs, there’s food aplenty for the clan, and sheep’s wool for clothing. We just…” His eyes trailed aside.
    “What?”
    “We just don’t care to be told how to live—or to have unfair tariffs levied against our wares because of our religion. We’re Highlanders is all—equal in the eyes of God.”
    “I daresay I agree.” Her shoulder ticked up. “There’s even speculation King William might pardon all the Jacobites.”
    Just the name of the Dutch king sitting on the throne in London made Hugh’s blood boil. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Charlotte. She was one of them. Her father was the reason he’d suffered as a guest at Fort William for the past year-and-a-half. A bleeding pardon from