Page 73 of A Dangerous Highland Affair

Somewhere in the distance, hooves could be heard, and although they could not be seen, Teasag froze and waited for them to pass.

“If it wasnae for that, I would have let Marcas have it oot wi’ me, one to one,” he said. “In fact, I almost did the other night, but, well, ye were there too an’ it wouldnae have been fair…”

Seeing him so lost was too much for Teasag. While he had been telling his tale, she had backed away, perhaps a little wary about what he was going to say. But now she could see that none of what happened had been his fault… not really.

She came closer, stroking his cheek with her finger. “Ye will clear yer name, Neacal,” she said, resolutely. “We will do it together…”

Neacal turned to her as if he had just awoken from a bad dream.

“Really?” he said. “Would ye do that for me? I couldnae ask ye… nae…”

His eyes widened.

“But yer nae asking, I offered,” she said. “I ken yer nae a killer, Neacal, noo it’s time to tell the world…”

Behind them, the sound of hooves grew louder, but Teasag was too absorbed to pay any attention,

Bringing her closer to him, Neacal embraced her, toying with her hair. Softly, he kissed her. First was experimental, the next, deeper, until Teasag felt a shiver to the bottom of her boots.

Neither of them heard the advancing hooves crash louder until they came to an abrupt stop.

“Yer a braw lassie…,” murmured Neacal. His lips delved down on top of hers, sealing it with the promise of his touch, when suddenly, he stopped.

A voice from behind her rang out.

“Well, dinnae let me stop ye, Neacal!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“G aie?”

When Teasag turned around, it was to see a woman laughing.

“Well, I say, she’s quite the sweetie isnae she, Neacal, where did ye find her? Should I be jealous?”

The girl’s face suggested she was joking, but Teasag didn’t know what was going on. Enquiringly, she looked into the stranger’s face. With her long brown hair falling in waves around her shoulders. From inside her heart-shaped face, a pair of razor-sharp hazel eyes glinted out.

At first glance, Teasag knew it was the woman she had seen in the woods.

“Neacal?” Teasag gasped, embarrassed to be seen in such a compromising position by a complete stranger.

The woman in front of her laughed, waving her arms around as if to put her mind at ease. “Och, nae fash lassie,” she said, going up to Neacal and putting her arms around him. She threw a kiss at him, then stepped back, laughing.

“Where did ye come from?” Neacal asked, looking as if his eyes were about to pop. This only had the effect of making Gaie laugh more.

“Och, I’ve been riding around for some time, Neacal. Why didnae ye come an’ see me last night? Ye nae told me ye were back toon!” she made to thump Neacal in the ribs, which he was not quick enough to avoid, and sent him flying against the spreading oak tree.

“Neacal?” said Teasag, now getting annoyed but trying her hardest to hide it. She pulled Neacal up, groaning from his slumped position on the ground.

But when he got up, he had the beginnings of a mischievous grin wrapped around his face.

“Teasag,” he said solemnly. “This is the friend I told ye aboot earlier…”

“Hello, hen, I’m Gaie,” she said, bringing her hand up to Teasag to shake it. “An’ I wish ye all the luck in the world because ye sure are going to need it with this one…”

Her heart-shaped face split into a grin. Teasag felt her head whirl.

“Och,” she faltered before recovering herself. “Pleased to meet ye too…”