Page 51 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

With a sinking heart, Teasag began to realize that maybe, she was lost.

Somewhere, in the heat of the action, they had veered off course, and now they were stranded, some way out from Blackness.

“In daylight, it’s nae too far, aye,” replied Robbie, bringing his deepening green eyes to view her more carefully. “But at night, it’s a fair way. An’ trust me, ye dinnae want to ride through here after dark!”

Robbie winked at her, making her blush unexpectedly. Inside, she felt a stab of fear. It wasn’t so much that he was unsettling her, more that the whole situation had unnerved her.

Neacal ruffled her shoulders, affectionately, in a way that told her to trust him. However, Teasag’s posture remained stiff.

“It was lucky for ye that we were here to help ye out!” observed Robbie, wryly, as the men beside him chuckled softly.

“Aye, aye it was,” said Neacal, bringing his other arm over to Robbie. “So how did ye ken what was happening?”

“We got wind o’ Marcas’s men from a lookout down in Blackness. They sent word that a party was coming a searchin’ for ye!” began Robbie, drawing her into his tale.

“O’ course, at the time, we didnae ken that he’d actually find ye!” continued Robbie, flashing a smile to Neacal. “Since we havenae seen ye in a while! I tell ye when I saw it was ye that the laird’s men were fighting, I almost couldnae believe my eyes…”

Robbie laughed as Neacal smiled but looked pensive. Teasag glanced at him and wondered what he was thinking. She couldn’t help being curious about this man and how they knew each other.

“Well, like ye said, it was lucky for me, us —” Neacal added quickly, his eyes flashing at Teasag briefly. He looked relaxed enough, but Teasag thought she could detect an uncertainty within him.

Sure enough, Neacal looked as if he had something he was about to announce. “An’ I’ve been thinking that maybe it would be an idea to stop for the night,” he added thoughtfully.

But when Teasag looked up, she realized that he was, in fact, talking to Robbie and not her.

“What, here?” said Teasag, casting her eyes about for a good spot to pitch camp. Over in the distance, a small thicket of trees caught her eye. “Well, I suppose o’er there is as good as place as any, to sleep out, …” she said, “unless it rains…”

Neacal brought his hand heavily onto her shoulder, once more, this time with an air of finality.

“Nae fash lassie,” he said. “We’ll nae get wet… there’s a camp already, nae too far from this road…”

Now Teasag looked up, surprised. This, she hadn’t been expecting. “Really?” she asked. But before she could say anything more, Neacal nudged her gently.

“Listen, an, I should have introduced ye afore lassie...,” with a slow smile, he nudged the red-haired man. “This is Robbie, he’s one o’ my oldest friends, an’ this is Teasag, my, um, companion …”

A ripple of awareness passed through Teasag. “Robbie, so yer the pal that Neacal told me about,” she smiled genuinely, finally putting her qualms to one side. “Thank ye for helping us out,” she said, bringing her hand to shake his.

“That’s nae bather, miss,” said Robbie, an impish grin tightening around his face. “An’ besides, I’d say ye were more than capable o’ fighting them off yourself. I saw that stone ye threw; it was a canny strike!”

He shared a glance with the rest of the men, who murmured in agreement. Then, the red-haired man’s eyes passed to Teasag and Neacal.

Neacal blinked unsurely. “That stone, that was ye?” he said, his eyes widening in surprise.

Teasag looked at him with a smile. “Aye, didnae ye ken?” she said. “I had to do something to get them off o’ ye… just a shame I couldnae find nae mair to sling at ‘em!”

Neacal looked at Teasag with an air of pride.

“Jings, lassie, I had nae idea ye were so talented!”

As Neacal’s arm fastened snugly around her waist, a strange wave of pleasure flushed through Teasag’s cheeks.

Today hadn’t gone as expected. And she had barely recovered from the ambush. But finally, it seemed as if things were looking up.

With Neacal by her side and the safety of somewhere to sleep, she felt secure to continue with her journey.

An excitement now buzzed around her midriff and burned deeper still as he took her hand and caressed it tenderly, bringing his fingers around hers.

An exquisite thrill gyrated within Teasag. It burned itself into the heart of her, making her throb and ache in equal measure and bringing with it something she had never experienced before—desire.