Page 104 of Highlander’s Burning Touch

Niven gasped.

The MacLean tartan set her azure eyes off to perfection. He had not had any doubts about marrying Deva for a single second. But if he ever did, they were undone in an instant.

“Niven,” Deva murmured his name as she approached the top of the hall. It was soft enough to only be heard by him.

When she looked up, her blue eyes caught him in full beam. Deva smiled, her plump lips twisting into a half-moon.

Her hair was teased into ringlets, which escaped around her face, allowing the rest to be drawn back into a graceful ripple. Niven stared, he had never seen her hair so curled before, and the look took him by surprise.

“Ye dinnae like it?” said Deva, her electric eyes twinkling away.

“Nae, l love it,” said Niven. He was so entranced he really did not hear anything else anyone said.

All he knew was that, in an instant, Rory had called for them to come forward and was performing a handfasting ceremony.

“An’ may I also have all yer attentions,” said Rory, calling for calm again in the febrile room. The excitement was at such a pitch that it was hard to hear what was going on.

Niven couldn’t make it all out, but he did catch the words “I proudly announce Niven, my official heir!” and then the crowd in the room going wild.

Beside him, Fingal squeezed his hand warmly. “I’m so pleased for ye both,” he said. Niven smiled. He felt as if he was brimming up.

Suddenly, the noise and the excitement were getting to him. But on the outside, at least, it did not show. Instead, he held her hands tightly and smiled.

And then, his uncle continued, performing the ceremony between them. He didn’t hear all the words, but the realness of her touch was enough to make her his.

Deva slipped her smooth hands down between his and held him tight. With a little grin, she winked at him as his uncle began.

Then slowly, Rory slid the blue and yellow tartan ribbons of the Macaulay clan, with the bright blue of the MacLeans, with both ties meeting in the middle.

As he fastened them together, the only thing Niven could think about was the texture of her skin, smooth on his. Just the sensation of it was enough to trip him into bliss.

With his free hand, he swooped in and brushed back an errant ringlet that had fallen free across her face. As he brought his hand closer to her, he could not help it any longer and simply had to kiss her.

In the background, his uncle was talking over him, saying something about them being legally bound together. But Niven wasn’t listening. He was kissing her, as if for the first time, with the crowds around him whooping in joy.

“Are ye sure about this?” he whispered as they stood there, beaming, their hands bound together with the many-colored ribbons.

Deva just scoffed. “It’s a bit late now, if not,” she grinned, “I’m wrapped an’ bound forever yours now…”

And with that, Niven reached in and kissed her with a ferocity that almost shook the room.

The last thing he remembered was the cheer that went up as he led her out to face their new life together.

* * *

“Touch me,” Deva muttered dreamily as they lay back in the four-poster bed. Although it was warm outside, the curtains were firmly drawn, and the pair of them locked in, together, beneath the silken drapes.

“Touch me, I shouldnae have to ask ye,” said Deva, her blue eyes turning beseechingly to Niven. She fixed him with her best hurt look.

It worked; it did every time.

“Come here, ye minx,” said Niven, making a play to catch her beneath the sheets. But Deva snatched away, just before he could do.

“Och, yer playing hard to get,” he teased. His brown eyes met hers with a wicked smile. “Well, let me tell ye, madam, that I’m nae going to do anything until I hear ye begging for it!”

“Wheesht!” said Deva, playfully, but inside, something ached. She had been overwhelmed with emotions from the outset – the wedding, the dancing, the feasting. But now that her skin had connected with his, in the privacy of the bedchamber, it was all different.

And the buzz she had felt in her cheeks glided slowly down through her neck to her spine, christening the base with the most delicious tingle. Deva felt everything heat up, like a pan that had been on the flame too long.