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“Neither did I until I saw him. He came tae me da one day. I’ll never forget the way he looked at me, like he was waiting tae enjoy me. I heard shouting, and then he left in a storm, vowing revenge on me da. He terrified me, Ruairi.”

“Well, whatever problem he haes, it’s with yer da, nae with ye. It just means that getting home will be a wee bit more difficult.”

“Aye,” she admitted, and couldn’t help but feel that she was somehow responsible. “I know one of my da’s associates. He should be able tae help,” she said. They made their way to his office, but he was out for the day. Time was getting on, and they had just about enough money for a room and some food, so they found an inn and relaxed. It was easier to relax now that they were nearing the last legs of their journey, but they seemed farther from home than ever. At least while they had been traveling, they had been responsible for their own well-being. Now it seemed as though their fates were in the hands of others.

“Ruairi, thank ye for nae leaving me. Ye could hae gone with Liam and left me here alone,” she said as they closed the door. That moment had been a reminder of how fragile her life was, how easily the thread could have been snipped. Ruairi stood before her, tall and alluring, as though he was a rock that would never disappoint her.

“I could never hae left ye in a place like this alone. I know ye dinnae think much of me, but I am no monster.”

“Ye are wrong, Ruairi. Ye are wrong, and ye dinnae even know it. I think sae much of ye. Ye saved my life. Ye…” She was lost for words, and reached up to caress his cheek. He recoiled at the touch, so unused to human tenderness was he, but she insisted and spread her fingers across his cheek. She ran her fingertips through his thick beard and gazed into his mysterious eyes. They held in them a whirlpool of emotion. In those eyes, she saw that he was like the sea: mysterious and unpredictable. All she could think was that she wanted to fling herself into him and explore the unknown. Heat rose between them, and the air shimmered. His lips parted, and the rest of the world melted away. There had been a flickering spark between them from the first moment they had met, and only now were they ready to acknowledge it. An invisible force pulled them together. She rolled onto her tiptoes as he leaned down, his hands running across her back, pulling her into him, her arms stretching around his broad shoulders. Then, suddenly, she was lost in him. Tingles spread all over her body as their lips met, and fire sparked in their minds.

She was pressed against the wall, trapped between the wall and his hard, muscular body. Ten years of loneliness spilled out of him in this intense kiss, and it shook her to her core. It blazed through her, scorching her mind. The world teetered just as it had done in the storm, and she felt just as out of control. Yet this time, instead of every moment being laced with fear, she felt excitement soar within her heart. She moaned softly as something was awakened inside her, and then it was over.

Ruairi stepped back and breathed deeply, turning away from her. Kenna sank to her bed, her knees week. She raised her hand to her mouth and touched her lips. They still felt as though they were on fire. She glanced at Ruairi and wondered if he was still going to be aloof and distant, if he was still going to deny that he was a man with manly needs. All he had to do was accept that he could be a husband, and she would have pledged herself to him, heart and soul. All he had to do was ask…and yet that seemed beyond him.

“I’m sorry. I shouldnae hae done that,” he said.

“We both did it,” Kenna said, annoyed that she was the only one without regret. But she was still feeling playful, so she tried to lift the tension with a joke. “Cal certainly wouldnae have approved.”

“Aye, that he wouldnae,” Ruairi said without humor. Kenna sighed and slipped into bed. The kiss and the sensations that came with it rattled through her mind. Emotions fluttered, and she didn’t want them to stop. All she wanted was to be close to Ruairi again, to wash up on the shore and have her trembling body held in his steady arms, to lose herself to the rhythm of his heart. But he was so distant.

And then she asked a question that neither of them had dared to ask. “Ruairi, what are we gaeing tae dae if we cannae get back tae Scotland?” she asked.

His voice was heavy as he spoke. “I’ll get ye back, lass, if it’s the last thing I dae. I dinnae care if I hae tae swim across the channel with ye on my back. I’ll get ye home.”

The determination in his voice was thrilling, and yet she wished he had given a different answer. For now, the last thing she wanted was to return home to where another life would be waiting for her—a life without Ruairi.