Page 35 of Highlander’s Burning Touch

Niven felt himself losing the battle. Putting his head in towards her, he brushed her with his lips. He had never been very good at listening to his head.

“Niven,” said Deva, slightly pulling away from his face. But only slightly. She didn’t move away. Standing still, closely, she stared into his face.

She pressed her perfectly shaped lips down into his and hovered over him. Inside, she ached to kiss him, but something held her back.

This was not right. Hanging back, Niven held her hand and smiled.

“Deva,” he began. He could see the look in his eyes, leading her on. Everything was confusion. Inside, he ached to kiss her, but something held him back.

This was not right.

Chapter Eleven

It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t weak. The force of her own emotions surprised her.

Taking him by the cheek, Deva leaned in, bringing her long curls over his face, and almost trapping him inside her.

The smile inside his brown eyes played on her mind. What he was thinking consumed her intently. He gazed at her with a curious face, as if his head was thinking one thing, but his heart another.

And he did. He did want her. The smile on his face burned, telling her everything she needed to know about his intent.

But at the same time, he had stopped just short of kissing her. His lips hovered over hers, temptingly, until he removed them with a smile.

“Peace is overrated,” she said softly. But they had both taken a step back now. All the same, she knew that she had got him, hard, where she wanted him. And now the two of them were locked in, staring into each other’s eyes.

Niven looked as if he were about to say something but couldn’t seem to get the words out. Shyly, she took his hand and squeezed it softly.

Deva murmured as the texture of his skin inflamed her, warm and sensually.

“We shouldn’t,” he began. She longed to push him aside and just kiss his sweet lips. Something inside her throbbed, aching for his touch. Deva placed her finger on his face with a teasing smile and just sighed.

She knew they shouldn’t be doing this, but she was drawn to him like a magnet. Inside, her heart wrenched deep, and something inside her intensified. She needed him, and by the look of him, he needed her too.

“Ye’re beautiful,” he murmured, entranced, his finger circling the top of her hair. He let a loose lock fall down over her face.

She smiled, feeling the dreaminess in his eyes. Without speaking, they had walked over to a tree and leaned against it. A cold wind filled the sky, rippling through her. She shivered, pulling her shawl yet closer.

His body was tight by hers, leaning in, so close that she could feel his body heat. The sensation of his skin brushed against hers burned her deep. It was so sweet she almost gave a gasp. She had never known this before, a feeling so intense inside of her.

And he felt it too. It was in his eyes. Maybe it was accidental, but somehow his fingers collided with her shoulder blade, setting off an electric tingle all down her spine.

Deva was not sure she could take any more teasing. In fact, why were they even sitting like this at all? But even so, she couldn’t bring herself to move away from the trees they were pressed against.

And the wind rippling through the glen only added to the feeling of cold. Shivering, Deva pressed closer to him as he shielded her from the chills of the wind.

His body, warm and beautiful, radiated heat, and she could not stop herself pressing into him. Niven smiled but did not retaliate, and Deva’s heart beat hard.

What was happening to her? Why was she doing this? She could simply not understand her own feelings.

He held onto her hands, sending her that same, still smile. Hypnotized by his staring, Deva found herself relaxing into his arms.

“Warmer yet?” he asked. She didn’t reply. She couldn’t form the words.

Yes, she wanted to melt into him, to experience the silkiness of his flesh, but she knew instinctively that right there wouldn’t be right. Instead, she pressed his face towards hers, staring at him deeply.

The firm outline of Niven’s shoulders tempted her in. He looked so fine, like that, the wind billowing through his long brown hair.

The smoothness of his skin tingled on her fingertips, and Deva longed for nothing more than to snuggle down into it.