“Ye ken how ye make me feel. Ye canna mistake it.” He tipped her face up to his with a gentle finger under her chin.
“Nay, I canna.”
“Can we set aside everything else? Yer talent? The clan? For now?”
“And just be? Aye.” She kissed him back, searing his lips with her breath.
“When ye touch me, when I touch ye,” he continued, stroking the side of her face, “nothing else matters. It all goes away.”
“I had hoped for that.”
Logen wrapped her in his arms and held on for dear life. For the peace and tranquility that slowed his heart and settled his mind. She did care for him. She would not allow this if she did not, not after what she’d said on the beach. She risked much, knowing his feelings, his pain, his desire for her.
“I want ye, Coira, past all reason. And I need ye, just ye. Can ye understand that?”
Her hesitation stilled his heart, but then her hand slipped from his shoulder to cup his face. “I do understand, Logen. I feel what ye feel, after all. Even if I canna do everything ye wish for me to do, it doesna mean I dinna want ye. If I could be strong enough—”
“Ye will, lass. Ye are, even though ye dinna trust yerself, yet.”
“If only I could.”
He covered her hand with his own and leaned his head into them. “Then I’d make love to ye as I truly wish to do. But I’d no’ take ye here, on the cold ground, where others may interrupt our coupling. Ye deserve a fine chamber, a warm fire, silken sheets, and furs piled high.”
“I wouldna need those things.”
“But I will give them to ye.” He brought her fingers to his mouth and kissed each one in turn. “When the time is right.”
Her cinnamon eyes were bright with unshed tears. “If that day ever comes. But Logen, I fear it never will.”
****
Logen’s mouth on Coira’s palm set her whole body to tingling. His kiss melted her bones. She held on to him, certain she could no longer stand on her own. The fire that raged within him burned in her as well, making her weak, making her forget who he was. What he was. She could feel nothing but the desire sweeping through him. It heated her blood, overwhelmed her senses, and made her bold.
“Dinna release me,” she warned. “I will fall.”
“Have I harmed ye then?” The sudden cold fear that lapped at her senses mirrored the concern in his voice.
“Nay, nay. Dinna fash.” The chill receded. Coira lifted a hand and touched Logen’s face yet again. His gaze burned into her as if he was trying to read her mind. She knew he could not do that, but the idea he wished to know her so well pleased her. “The opposite. Ye make me feel...things I’ve never felt before.”
Logen stayed silent, his gaze moving over her face.
The feelings flooding through him seemed to well up from his soul. His unspoken longing brought tears to her eyes and threatened to consume her. Coira’s throat tightened as her own impossible longings escaped her control, blending with his.
He finally spoke. “Ye bring me peace. Did ye ken that? I desire ye. I canna hide it. But ye bring me peace.”
“Ach, Logen.” She kissed him softly while her heart broke in two. “Ye make me wish to weep.” He was completely open to her, strong and confident, yet she only sensed his vulnerability. “No one has ever said anything like that to me. Has the Healer’s gift changed me so much, then?”
“I think it was always a part of ye, lass, this caring.” He tipped her head back with a gentle finger, so her gaze met his. “Perhaps ye buried it deep under yer own pain, to protect yerself. The Lathan Healer broke down yer walls and helped ye find it again. She didna give ye anything ye didna already have.”
Coira shrugged, unconvinced—though it was a beautiful thought, and Logen’s conviction of its truth pleased her. “If it helps ye, I’ll try to be content with it.”
“Nay, Coira. I think she meant ye to find joy in it. To ken who ye could trust, who really cared for ye, who loved ye without reason, so ye would never again feel unwanted.”
Coira laid her head on Logen’s shoulder and considered his words. “But I also ken who I canna trust. Who scorns me. Who hates me.”
“And ye can avoid them, or if ye wish it, if ye think they’re worth the trouble, work to change their minds. Ye have the means to do that now.”
“I hadna thought of it that way.”
