Page 9 of Highlander’s Burning Touch

Niven buttoned down his amusement and tried to stop himself from laughing out loud.

“Well, am I alive?” he asked teasingly.

The girl fixed him with a look as if she was not amused, but Niven knew from the glint in her sapphire eyes that she was. The woman nodded and then let his wrist go, making it fall down into his lap.

“Aye,” she said, primly. “Aye, at least for noo…”

She moved closer to him to plump the pillows up behind his head. Immediately, the bouquet of her scent overwhelmed him. It was as if she was in him, and breathing in her perfume made him shiver all over. In a good way, but seeing him shudder like that made her turn to him, concern etched across her face.

“Ye’re cold?” she said. Although it was a question, it seemed that she wasn’t very interested in waiting for the answer and immediately set about tucking him in and placing an extra blanket over him.

“Miss, I,” began Niven. He didn’t want to complain, but he was already hot. The fire, which he had only just noticed, burning in the room was almost stiflingly hot. Niven squinted unsurely over at the flames in the grate. How come he had not noticed this before? Yet mere moments earlier, he had been cold.

“Hush,” commanded the woman, coming over to him and pushing his head back gently. Then she looked at him again, loosening the bedsheets this time. Her blue eyes sparkled with uncertainty. “Och, ye’re running a fever!” she said, suddenly stripping him back of the blankets.

Niven watched, mystified, as she fussed around him. Right then, the only thing giving him a fever was her!

Then, something from inside asserted itself. This was all stupid. Why was he even in bed? It was about time he got out of here.

A sudden memory assailed him. He had somewhere to be. Out of nowhere, he had a vision of riding a horse, at speed, in a hurry to get to the MacLean lands.

Then, it came back to him, his uncle, the MacLean clan, and the tournament. They were expecting him!

Niven sat bolt upright, immediately throwing the blankets off.

“I cannae be here,” he said somewhat abruptly. He didn’t mean to sound rude, but the shock of his memory returning overwhelmed him. His uncle was not the sort to take any deviation from his task kindly. He had been sent to make friendly relations with the MacLeans, in readiness of the upcoming games.

Another thought punched him in the face. “Och,” he said, as a rush of blood flew through his veins, “Hoo long ha’ I been here?”

He stared into the wide face of the red-headed girl. But his vision had started to swim, and all he could see were a pair of sky-blue eyes, wavering up and down as if somehow freed of their face.

Niven screwed up his eyes the best he could do, trying his very hardest to focus. But all he could make out were colors, the intense blue of her eyes, the pink of her lips, and the waterfall of red curls to her side.

Just as the world was fading, he caught a glimpse of her eyes, widening with panic. Then, Niven felt the sweet glow of her touch on his spine, sending a tingle all the way through him.

“Nae fash, laddie, ye need to get back to bed…” she said, attempting to guide him. But Niven stood firm.

“Nae lassie, I need to go, an’, I cannae keep calling ye miss, what’s yer name?” he asked, suddenly.

“My, my, name?” she asked as if this was a strange question.

Niven was about to open his mouth to reply, but suddenly he was unable. Without warning, it was like he was drowning in the air around him.

Sweating profusely, he felt his chest constrict.

“Yer name? Who are ye, miss?” he asked, coughing out the words.

Then, everything in the room faded as he fought for consciousness.

It was a battle he would lose.

Chapter Four

“Allyth, bring me the caudle, help me prop him up!”

Deva’s hands were shaking as she tried to secure the lad’s head and rest it against the pillows. No-one had fainted on her before, and, shocked, she lay him back down into the bed gently.

There was a pause, which felt like forever, as Allyth fetched the caudle cup from the side, and the lad lay silent in the bed. Her heart thumping in her chest, Deva went into a mad panic. He wasn’t dead, was he?