Page 37 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

Then Teasag turned to him, flashing him the merest hint of insouciance. Again, Neacal felt himself burn as if hot coals were being warmed within his cheeks.

Patting down next to her under the tall tree, where he could sit, Neacal’s heart was full of trepidation. The lad groped his way carefully through the boggy mud to the small dry patch against the tree where Teasag was sitting. Cut against the blackness of the night, her almost white colored hair stood out, shining in the dark like a moon.

Closing in beside her, he pulled her tight and commenced his story again, wishing he could hold her this close for the rest of the night. Wistfully, he caressed her locks wishing the moment could last forever.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“O ’ course, that’s nae the only story. There’s more…there’s the story o’ the moon,” Neacal’s voice drifted through Teasag’s mind, comforting her overwrought head and making her want to sleep.

But even as she shut her eyes, she was curious to know more about this beautiful lad.

“There’s another story I want ye to tell me,” she asked, in a drawl.

“Och aye? What’s that? I’ll see if I ken it,” said Neacal, looking slyly at her

The wind whistled around them, but pressed against the old oak, with Neacal’s arm around her, Teasag felt her problems drain away.

Smiling, she reached for him. “The story of ye, like, where did ye come from?”

“Come from?” asked Neacal, his voice curious.

“Aye, ye ken, yer home,” said Teasag, she might have been slipping off, but she still yearned to know more about him.

“Well, I’m from around an’ about, ye ken,” said Neacal, enigmatically.

Teasag felt herself sinking into him, listening as he talked.

His voice was the nearest thing she had to a sedative, flooding her senses with sweet ecstasy. Suddenly, she found herself floating on his words, and before long, was oddly reinvigorated. At once, she was both drifting off, yet alert to his every touch.

Neacal’s voice floated through the darkness like an intoxicant. “Well, I grew up nae far away, in Blackness…”

As he spoke, Neacal drew closer, coming over to her and caressing the palm of her hand with the tip of his fingers. A shiver ran through her, as once half asleep, she was now wide awake. The shiver spread around the palm of her hand, where Neacal’s fingers caressed her gently. Neacal continued:

“Well, there isnae much to tell, my ma didnae have a muckle, an’, well, I didnae ken what to be an’ when I left home…ah, it isnae interesting,” his voice drifted off to nothing.

Teasag wanted to protest and tell him she wanted to hear more, but at that moment was too wrapped up in his touch—stealing up her arm and beginning to reach her shoulder blades.

A shiver awakened her body. The sensation heading down her spine and landing in the pit of her stomach with an unfamiliar ache.

Everything inside her was burning up, the tingle ruminating around and within her until she could take no more. Stealthily, Neacal’s fingers extended, reaching over the tips of her spine.

Tantalizingly, they lingered there a while, dancing around the base of her spine, caressing, and stroking her longingly.

Teasag sighed at the brazenness of his touch. She should really protest but was too busy enjoying it. Somehow, in the dark, it didn’t seem as if it was really happening, and despite herself, she lay back and began to melt into his touch.

A ripple of joy ran through her, his fingers electrifying her hands and setting her body alight with pleasure.

But it was dark, and she could barely see the outline of his face as he caressed and toyed with her body and soul. Every now and then, a cloud ran across the sky, freeing the moon. In those moments, a bright silver light shone down on Neacal’s eyes, as they glistened with life, teasing and tempting her.

At times, it felt that he was close enough to kiss her, the warmth of his lips pressed close against her brow. Although she could not see properly, he was taunting her, cajoling her into making the first move.

And she almost did. It took Teasag all her powers of restraint to hold back the kiss that she so desperately wanted to plant upon his silken lips. As she glanced back at him, she saw he was waiting for her to start things; a flash in his eyes daring her on.

But despite the ache inside proving too strong, Teasag managed to reign it in, and with a monumental effort, wrenched herself free from temptation.

Neacal had stopped talking and looked ready to settle for the night. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, the corners of his mouth turning up slowly into a smile, as a burst of moonlight revealed his face in silvery profile.

Teasag could not help but gaze; he looked so beautiful, skin washed by the soft, clear light. She wanted nothing more than to get out her charcoals and draw him right there.