Page 32 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

It would be far too dangerous.

For both of them.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“A nd what about ye, then, what’s yer big plan?”

The light was dying by the time they made it through the worst of the dirt track across the waterlogged glen. By now, the rain was coming down, thick and fast, freezing droplets flying like bullets from the cold, gray skies above.

Despite the summery start, the day threatened to finish in a hail of storm clouds, each thicker and grayer than the last.

Teasag glanced up at the conspiring skies and shook her head. Today had not gone as planned. By now, she had hoped to be well on her way to Blackness, perhaps even nearly there. Instead, she was here, trapped in a watery field, sharing a horse that had all but collapsed with exhaustion.

The poor brown mare whinnied beneath their combined weight, and eventually, Neacal disembarked. He leaped down from the horse, leaving a warm space in front of her, which Teasag shuffled into. Neacal continued walking alongside them, looking the other way, as if trying to distance himself from her words.

Not to be ignored, Teasag repeated her question. “So then, Neacal, what’s yer plans for the rest of yer life?” she asked sweetly, with a quick flick of the hair.

The sight of her soft face was more than enough to crack him, as her interested gaze drew him in, despite himself, to answer her question.

“An’ what kind o’ a question is that!” he said, lightly brushing her off, but then he looked back up her again. Teasag’s fervent face was still watching him intently, and by the look on her, she wasn’t going to let go until she had got an answer.

“One thing’s for sure, laddie, it cannae be any mair barmy than me being a painter!” Teasag laughed, her gentle blue gaze beckoning him in again. Slowly, he unfurled a smile.

“I dinnae ken,” he said uncertainly. Teasag watched him, picking through the boggy fields with interest. He didn’t seem the retiring type, but she had noticed he never wanted to talk about himself.

“Well,” said Neacal, finally turning to look at her properly. As he walked closer, she noted the violet-blue shading of his almond-shaped eyes.

She couldn’t help shrinking under their azure gaze. His eyes were alive, like a cat’s. Under the darkening skies, they sparkled like diamonds, and as Neacal looked at her, a cold shiver ran down her spine.

She did not know this man from Adam, only that he’d protected her in the face of danger and was now accompanying her through the bad, clan less zones toward Blackness.

Under normal circumstances, she would not be alone with any man in a place as wild as this. But these were no ordinary circumstances.

Her carefully arranged lift had gone up in smoke, and now she was left with little choice than to undertake an arduous journey with a virtual stranger.

Staring into Neacal’s flashing eyes, she felt her cheeks burn. He had a way of looking at her that felt like he was looking into her. Seeing her discomfort, Neacal smirked before turning serious.

“Well, I dinnae ken, but I suppose I have always wanted to have a farm...” his voice trailed off, glancing at her as if for approval.

“A farm?” said Teasag, somewhat caught off-guard.

“Aye, a farm, wi’ animals, ye ken,” said Neacal, archly, as if he were explaining it to a child.

“I ken what a farm is!” she scolded before looking at him again with fresh interest.

“Well, is it really that odd?” said Neacal, with a faux hurt expression on his exquisite face. Now close up, Teasag examined him in greater detail.

She was pleased to find that Neacal’s face was every bit as shapely as it had been the night before.

The Tavern had been dark, with very soft lighting. And it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time that she hadn’t got the measure of a person properly, from meeting them in candlelight.

It was too easy to miss the imperfections in someone’s skin in the bawdy shadows of a tavern. But as she looked at Neacal in the light of the steely gray skies, he looked perfect.

And now that he was right beside her, she had a better chance to examine his creamy complexion in detail. To her delight, it was every bit as sumptuous as it had first appeared yesterday.

From his brow to his chin, she could not detect one single flaw in his velvet-like skin. And as he spoke, she witnessed the dimples in his cheeks deepening, breaking her out in goosebumps as he did so.

A strange feeling burned through Teasag, like a tremble, reverberating from the base of her spine. The sheen on his skin was so touchable, tempting in her in like freshly baked bread, soft and tender under the crust, just crying out for her to sink lips into.