Page 14 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

“Och!” she gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth in shock. It seemed as if all the words had drained out of her, and she was powerless to speak. “What the, but how….?”

Now Neacal looked up, wearing his trademark cocky grin. “Now ye see why I had to find ye,” he said, fascinated as she caressed the thimbles in the palm of her hands.

In confusion, Teasag looked up. “But…,” she began.

Her heart was thumping. Inside, she had a million questions, all competing to get out. But at that moment, none of them seemed adequate. Once again, she found herself drowning in his strong blue eyes, circling around the edges, unable to swim.

“I found them in the tavern saloon,” he said, by word of explanation. “Then I realized that they must be yers, an’ ran….”

“But how?” began Teasag, without finishing, open-mouthed in astonishment. The tavern had been full last night. The pair of thimbles could have belonged to anyone. She was curious how Neacal knew that they were hers. From somewhere in the back of her mind, a faint suspicion started up. I dinnae remember dropping these? What if someone else took them?

But Teasag worked to put the thoughts out of her mind as fast as they appeared. Instead, she received the thimbles gratefully.

“Neacal, I am most grateful,” she said solemnly, although inside her head was whirring. She couldn’t work out the most distracting, visions of Neacal in front of her, his cheeks flushed from running, or trying to work out how she had lost the damned thimbles in the first place.

“But how did ye ken that it was mine?” she said. Now it was quiet and dark in the street outside. What had begun as a sunny and hopeful day was fast turning into an overcast and slightly morose morning.

Neacal laughed at the question. “Och, lassie, it was rather obvious, an’ it’s nae as if it could have belonged to any o’ this lot!” he said, indicating the red-cheeked farmer who had just passed through with his sheep.

Then he looked at her more seriously, his forget-me-not blue eyes sparkling at her through the gloom. “It obviously belongs to a lass, an’ trust me, they were a wee bit thin on the ground last night!”

His eyes seemed to be laughing at her, just like the evening before. However, Teasag found it impossible to fault his logic.

“Aye,” she said, wrapping them back into the rucksack.

Had she been so absorbed by sketching that she hadn’t noticed the thimbles had dislodged from her bag and spilled out onto the saloon bar? But they couldn’t have been stolen; otherwise, Neacal wouldn’t have found them, surely?

Neacal watched as Teasag tried to get her head around the situation.

“Thank ye,” she said weakly, still unable to believe what had just occurred.

“Nae bather,” said Neacal, with a sly glance around the alleyway. Teasag could sense something else in him - a reluctance to let her go. Finally, just as she was about to look away from his gaze, he came clean.

“An’ I couldn’t just let ye go wi’out saying goodbye an’ good luck for yer journey,” he said, hesitantly.

Neacal pressed his hot face against hers. For a moment or two, she had thought he was going to kiss her, but he did not. It seemed as if he was waiting for her.

It was a bold move, and under normal circumstances, she would have pushed back any man who startled her like that. But this was not a normal situation.

Inside, Teasag’s emotions, which had been carefully simmering on a low heat, suddenly flared. Although Neacal had pressed against her, almost inviting her to push him back, Teasag did not. Instead, her trembling skin paled against the merest hint of his touch. Her whole body ached for him; her nether regions burning as if he were deep inside of her already.

The intense passion she experienced took her aback. The only thing that had happened, so far, was the feel of his touch against her cheek. But in her mind’s eye, they were already kissing.

“Well, I suppose this is goodbye,” he said wistfully, but his eyes were saying something very different indeed.

CHAPTER SIX

T he scent of his touch lingered on her hand for far longer than his fingers did. And the sensation remained there, burying down through Teasag’s flesh and straight into her heart.

In the distance, the stranded cartman was blocked in the submerged passageway. He wasn’t going anywhere, and it seemed to Teasag that, despite his words, Neacal wasn’t, either.

He had bid her goodbye, but with a look on his face, that simply said hello. And his hand had lingered close to hers, ready to stroke her again.

Teasag had to remind herself that all he had done so far was simply to take her hand, nothing more. Just like last night, he had bid her farewell with a formal kiss. This was nothing special and nothing to get worked up about. It happened all the time. But not like this.

The sensations inside Teasag had been anything but ordinary. And she was sure that he could tell from the look he was giving her. Even here, in the darkened underpass, she could see the sparkle in his eyes, betraying his hot lust.

All this, but his lips mumbled a lie. “Well, I better get going, I suppose, lass,” he said, unconvincingly, more to himself than to her.