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Hamish had no idea what had come over him. One moment he had been watching her dance with those posh fools, the next he was following her into the garden. He knew it was scandalous, and was certain that the man she was with had ill intentions. It was his duty, as her escort, to make sure that she was safe. Edward would never have forgiven him if he had let anything happen to Orla. And perhaps there was something deeper inside him as well, something that twisted with the strength of a beast, and yet slipped through the shadows of his mind, hidden and mysterious. There was something about her that he couldn’t understand. She was maddening but beautiful, stubborn but enchanting, and all of these qualities blended together to create someone who was entirely intoxicating to him.

As they were arguing, the passion had risen, and he had become overwhelmed with something that had never possessed him before. He knew that he had to have her, no matter what, and there was nothing that could stop him. She had called him a brute. Perhaps that’s all he was, little more than a bandit, ready to steal a kiss from her lips simply because he could.

And yet it was not a kiss that was stolen, at least not fully. It was a kiss that was given. She did not rear back. She did not slap him. She did not moan and writhe, or seek to be free. In fact, she kissed him back with enthusiasm, her hand running through his hair, her body pliable against his. The air seemed alive with something that he had never experienced before, and he was certain that it was all because of the miracle of her.

It had started when he saw her descend the stairs, dressed in her beautiful gown. It was not the clothes that made her beautiful though, but her innate beauty that imbued her outfit with a special glow. Then, at the ball, he had seen men queuing up to dance with her. All of them were welcomed simply because they were English. But why… why did she have such a fondness for the English? He had taken it upon himself to represent the Highlands, and show her that her homeland still had much to offer. More importantly, he wanted to prove that he was not just as the English thought. He was no mere brute.

And yet there he was, doing what he had thought the English rake wanted to do, stealing a kiss from his host’s sister-in-law. Had he just proven his worst fears true? As clarity struck his mind, he broke the kiss, leaving their breath to swirl together in the air. He gazed into her sparkling eyes, seeing infinity stretch out before him, a future he was not sure he deserved. His hand was on her waist, eager to caress her entire body, but before any heavy petting could ensue, he stepped back and released her, composing himself again. Mixed emotions flickered across her face, and he was not sure how to interpret them.

“I…” he said, but failed to find any words to follow. She smoothed down her dress and rearranged her hair. Her eyelids fluttered as she looked towards him, almost as though she was faced with a mystery. She then turned away. Her quick footsteps pattered against the path that led back to the ball. Hamish slowly followed her, his brow furrowed as he questioned what had come over him. As he reached the doorway, he looked back inside to the hall and noticed that she was talking to the same man he had threatened.

The kiss had been fire and heat and scorching desire, yet it seemed to have meant nothing to her. She had gone running back to her Englishman as soon as she had the chance, and perhaps that was a foreboding sign of what his future held. From what he knew of her, she had wanted to run all her life, and since he embodied the Highlands she was now running from him. How easy it was for her to dismiss the kiss, well, he would make it so that it seemed easy for him as well. He marched into the hall and intended to show that he would not be vulnerable to the kiss. It would seem to mean as little to him as it did to her.

* * *

Orla’s mind was racing, and her heart was beating rapidly. The heat had not yet dissipated from her skin, nor had the flushed color faded. She had smoothed down her dress and tried to compose herself, but the aftermath of the kiss was strong. Her head swam. Had it even been real? When he looked at her, she took the opportunity to run away, because she had no idea what else to do. She hated the man, and yet when he kissed her, something completely new came over her. She hadn’t been able to pull herself away.

No, it was more than that. She hadn’t wanted to pull herself away. The kiss had created a symphony that echoed in her soul, but why? It was Hamish. She wasn’t attracted to him. She couldn’t be attracted to him. She wanted an Englishman. She was going to fall in love and marry an Englishman. This was all just a confusing mistake, and the most important thing now was to put distance between her and Hamish, so she turned on her heels and retreated back into the hall, too scared to even look back towards him. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that he wasn’t following her, that he wasn’t going to grab her arm and spin her around, and then kiss her again in front of everyone.

The thought left her breathless, and for a moment she wondered if she actually desired this.

No… no it wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be possible.

She searched the crowd for Collin and found him standing with some of his friends. Composing herself, she wore a placid smile and approached him. She was feeling a little disappointed with the way he had so easily retreated when Hamish had appeared, but she assumed he simply did not wish to cause a scene.

“Excuse me, Collin, I’m sorry for what happened outside. I dinnae mean for it tae be that way,” she said.

Collin’s eyes glazed over. “Is your bodyguard not with you? I don’t know how they let someone like him inside. He’s more of an animal than a man,” he scoffed, and tittered with laughter afterwards, clearly assuming that she was going to join in. While she did not like Hamish, she did not think it was appropriate to speak about him like that, but clearly, Collin had been offended by what had happened, so she did not mention this.

“I was truly enjoying our conversation, Collin. I hope that ye dinnae think his presence means I am nae interested. I dinnae get a chance tae answer ye question. Of course, I would love tae hae ye call on me,” she said, her voice imbued with hope. As she gazed at him she tried to envision a life in which they would be married. However, thoughts of Hamish and the kiss that should never have happened continued to invade her mind. How was she supposed to fall in love with Collin when Hamish had given her something else to think about? Hamish might well be the present, but he was not going to be the future. Her future lay with an Englishman, likely Collin himself.

She wore her daintiest smile as Collin sighed.

“Well, I must admit that I don’t take kindly to being accosted like that, nor do I appreciate my intentions being assumed to be wicked. All I wanted was to spend some time with you, but as long as you can assure me that this man is not going to interfere with our conversations, then of course I would be happy to spend some more time with you. It’s clear that you are far more suited to life in England than he shall ever be. Much like it’s clear that you can put a suit on a man, but that does not change his nature,” he said and smiled as though he had just made an incredibly witty comment. “I mean, look at him now. Does he even know how to dance? He looks like a fool.”

Collin was looking beyond Orla’s shoulder towards the dance floor. As the night had gone on, more and more people had taken to dancing, and many of the women who had been sitting on the side of the room had had their patience rewarded. One such woman was now dancing with Hamish. His hands were upon her waist and she had her head tilted back, laughing with glee at something he said.

“Really, she should be ashamed of herself at dancing with a man like him. I suppose some women have no standards,” Collin muttered, but his words became white noise as she stared and Hamish and the stranger, a ball of tension swelling within her heart. She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes at him. How dare he kiss her like that, and then march straight into the hall and dance with another woman? Did he have no manners? Did this mean nothing to him?

Well, how easy it must have been for him to just kiss her and then move on to another woman. What a scoundrel he was! She was right to have called him a brute. She had a good mind to march across the dance floor and slap him from the dishonorable behavior, but then she caught herself and considered why this should mean so much to her. It was just a kiss, a strange moment between them that should never have happened and would never happen again. She closed her eyes and tried to turn away from the sight, but she found her gaze drifting back towards the dancing pair, feeling envy surge within her at the sight of them whispering in each other’s ear. She had laid her arm around his broad shoulder, and he was spinning her around. There was a smile on his face. How was this the same man who had just been kissing her?

Her mind was awhirl, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to have an intelligent conversation again for the rest of the night. She thanked Collin and told him that she looked forward to seeing him again, and then she walked away, a grim cloud writhing in her mind. Yet again Hamish had ruined an aspect of her trip. She fetched a glass of wine and downed it in one gulp, wiping the scarlet liquid away from her lips. There were shadows under her eyes as she descended into a dark mood, wondering why Hamish had tortured her with a kiss, and why it even meant anything to her.

No matter how many times she continued to tell herself that it meant nothing, she still thought about it, and then about him with his arms around another woman. Did he truly have no shame? After all he had said about the English, how could he now be dancing with her?

Somehow it seemed as though the kiss was just a bad dream, and she wanted the ball to be over with as quickly as possible. The excitement had transformed into regret, and she had ended up kissing a man that she had never dreamed of kissing. She wiped her lips again, but this time not to get rid of the remnants of wine, but rather to try and eradicate the lingering echoes that tormented her.

She quickly went up to Halle and Nova, claiming that she felt ill and had been overwhelmed by the evening. They took pity on her and ordered a carriage to take her back to the town house, while Edward and Hamish remained. They could stay there all night as far as she was concerned. Hamish clearly didn’t care about her at all.

So why… why did it still torment her mind?