She was allowed to try again.But she might as well as have skipped her turn.The arrow landed in the outer ring.The crowd muttered in disappointment.
He supposed the other archers shot well.He paid little heed to them.All he could think about was Aillenn.Here at Darragh.His sister’s keep.Standing less than five yards away.
Now that they’d been reunited, would she try to explain herself?
Was she only a clever outlaw?Or had she had a good reason for abandoning him?
Did she feel guilty for leaving without a word?
Or would she avoid him and steal away as she had before?
He had to make sure that didn’t happen.She owed him his medallion.And an explanation.
Eve’s hopes of winning an archery prize at the tournament were dashed.
But that was the least of her worries.
What was Adam doing here?Had he managed to follow her after all?Had he been waiting all this time to confront her in the most public place possible?
Her heart told her nay.When they first locked eyes, he had looked just as astounded as she felt.
But what were the odds, in all of Scotland, that they should turn up at the same place at the same time?
The way her heart had flipped over when she recognized him—despite his cropped hair and his full beard—had shaken her to her core.
She thought she’d exorcised him from her brain.Tucked him into a dim corner of her mind as a distant memory.Relegated him to the past as one would a fond old friend.
But seeing him in the flesh, with his dark and piercing eyes, his flaring nostrils, his firm yet supple mouth, had left her breathless.
Like a beast waiting in the shadows to leap, her feelings for him came roaring back to life.
Her heart thrummed.Her blood warmed.Her nerves sizzled.
Every solemn vow she’d made at the convent—to forget him, to forget his kiss, to forget his love—burned into vapor as readily as silk over a flame.
She had imagined she could close her eyes and ears to love.Ignore affection as one did hunger or thirst until it was tamed.Or pray to forget the earthly feeling and replace it with holy devotion.
It was clear now that none of that was possible.Once tasted, the fruit of temptation could not be put back on the Tree of Knowledge.
But what was she to do with that knowledge?
She didn’t even know his disposition.
Was he angry with her?Disappointed?Hurt?
There was no way to tell.At the moment, they were John and Falco.They couldn’t exactly converse in any meaningful way.
Should she try to meet with him later in secret?
Or would it be best to pretend they’d never seen each other?
It was his turn again at the archery.This was his last shot.And hers.
She looked at him with all the yearning deep in her soul as he eyed up the target.Then he trained his eyes on her, and she caught her breath at the intensity of his gaze.
This time when he shot, he didn’t even glance at the target.He was still staring at her when his arrow went wide of the straw bale and landed in the sod beyond.
There were grumbles from the crowd.
