Read Boyett-Compo Charlotte - Wind Tales 01 for Free Online

Shivering, she went to the fireplace and stirred the pot of
    rabbit stew bubbling away in the black cast iron kettle. The aroma drifted over her and she inhaled
    deeply. “It's ready."
    Nick hated to leave the comfort of the bed even though the heat of the other man's body was making
    him sweat. He eased out from beneath the covers and quickly drew on his breeches, feeling his testicles
    shrivel as the chill of the still-damp breeches touched them. “By the gods, but I hate the cold,” he
    shuddered.
    Gillian ladled some broth into a chipped bowl and set it aside to cool. Spooning a large helping of the
    stew into another cracked bowl, she handed it to her brother.
    “You eat,” Nick ordered even as he shoveled the hot stew into his mouth. “Hopefully he'll be waking
    soon, and I'm too clumsy to feed him."
    Gillian ladled stew into a third bowl, drew the cotton wrapper closer around her, then slid gracefully to
    the floor in front of the fireplace. “Why do you suppose they've allowed him to live this way, Nick?”
    Gillian asked, glancing up at the unconscious man before cautiously taking a sip of the stew.
    Nick shrugged. “Why do the Hesars do anything, Sweeting?” he sneered. He thoughtfully chewed a
    thick morsel of rabbit for a moment, then shrugged again. “There never was any love lost between
    Duncan and Kaelan, I've heard. And besides, the Hesars aren't known for their forgiving natures, as you
    might well remember."
    “But to make him live like this,” she protested. “It's cruel, Nick."
    Nick Cree sighed. “We don't know the whole of it, Gilly.” He held out his empty bowl for a refill. “I'm of
    a mind that no one outside the Hesar clan, themselves, know the whole of it."
    “The Sinclairs do,” Gillian argued.
    “Aye,” Nick agreed. “They would, I suppose."
    “Do you remember her?"
    Nick nodded. “Only too well,” he grumbled. A picture of a stunning blonde vixen flitted across his mind,
    but he deliberately erased it. “Too many men remember that one, I think."
    A groan from the bed brought sister and brother their feet: Nick with an immediate frown of concern. He
    went to the bed and leaned over, his gaze assessing the consciousness of their patient. “He's coming
    ‘round,” Gillian heard him say.
    Taking up a cup of water, Gillian brought it to the bed. She sat down on the coverlet and slid her hand
    under the man's hot neck. Placing the rim of the cup against his parched lips, she let a trickle of water
    seep into his mouth. “Drink, dearling,” she said quietly.
    Nick watched the man's face carefully. There was a drawing together of thick dark brows as confusion
    replaced unconsciousness. The eyes remained shut, but the lips parted to allow the cool water to enter.
    “He's still burning up,” Gillian pronounced. She was bracing the man's head against her breast, her arm
    around his thin shoulder.
    “He needs a poultice,” Nick explained. “Camphor for his chest.” A deep frown etched Cree's face.
    “He's mightily congested. I sure as hell don't like that wheezing."
    “I'll have a look about the kitchen when you come back with the wood,” Gillian told him.
    Nick sighed, sharply. “How many times are you going to remind me about the gods-be-damned wood,
    Gilly?” he complained.
    She looked up at her brother. “How many times do I need to remind you before you realize none of us
    will survive without it, Nicholas?"
    Neither Nick nor Gillian saw the man's eyes flutter open. As they glared at one another, they missed the
    look of stunned surprise that passed over the febrile face.
    “I haven't eaten all I want, yet,” Nick snapped.
    “Then be about it, man!” Gillian shot back. “The wood in the grate won't last all evening!"
    Dark brown eyes shifted from the creamy underside of a smooth chin to a belligerent square-jawed face
    that was flushed with the room's heat. Perplexity made those dark orbs narrow.
    “I know that, woman!” Nick responded in kind. He cast a