“I’d been tryin’ to make stew for me family, too young to ken better, when the pot tipped and the fire caught me skin.” She laughed weakly and said she had wanted to be useful, wanted to help her mother and her wee brother. The words tumbled out, half apology, half confession.
As she spoke, Eva felt suddenly bare in more ways than one, her confidence draining away. The scar had always been a thing she hid, a flaw she carried quietly. In that moment, she feltugly, marked, and foolish for thinking she could ever be desired without condition. Her shoulders slumped as the thought settled heavy in her chest.
He lifted her chin so she had no choice but to look at him. “There’s nothin’ shameful in that,” he said firmly, his voice thick with feeling. “Ye were brave, even then.”
She tried to laugh it off, but her eyes stung, and she looked away again. “Bravery doesnae change how it looks, or how folk might see it.”
The words tasted bitter, shaped by years of quiet doubt. She braced herself for pity, or worse, polite silence.
Instead, Connor’s hand slid to the edge of her bodice, and he gently pulled the fabric aside again. He leaned down, slow enough that she could stop him if she wished, and pressed his lips to the scar.
The kiss was warm and reverent, lingering in a way that made her breath catch. Eva gasped, a soft sound of shock and pleasure mingled together.
He kissed it again, then once more, as if committing it to memory.
“This doesnae make ye lesser,” he murmured against her skin. “It tells me ye survived.”
His hands steadied her as her knees weakened beneath the weight of his words.
Eva felt something inside her loosen, a knot she had carried for years, beginning to unravel. The place that had always filled her with shame now thrummed with sensation, warmth spreading outward. She rested her forehead against his shoulder, overwhelmed and trembling. In that moment, she believed him.
When she finally looked up, his eyes held nothing but certainty.
He brushed his thumb along her cheek and said, “Every part of ye is bonnie, scar and all.”
The truth of it rang through her, stronger than fear. Eva closed her eyes, letting herself feel wanted, wholly and without apology.
Connor’s mouth found hers again, slow at first, as if he were asking rather than taking. His lips were warm and sure, and the gentle scrape of his breath against her skin made her knees soften.
She lifted her hands to his chest, feeling the solid breadth of him beneath her palms, and marveled at how alive she felt.
“Ye undo me,” she whispered, the words trembling free before she could stop them.
Connor answered with a low sound in his throat, his brow resting briefly against hers as if he needed the pause.
“I’ve wanted this since the first moment ye looked at me like ye dinnae fear me,” he murmured.
His hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing along her skin with aching tenderness. Eva leaned into the touch, her heart pounding as though it might burst.
He kissed her again, deeper now, and she opened to him without thinking, guided by instinct rather than sense. The feel of his mouth, firm yet unhurried, sent a shiver through her that reached all the way to her toes.
Her fingers slid up into his long hair, marveling at its thickness as she held him there. “Connor,” she breathed, his name a plea she barely understood.
He drew back just enough to look at her, his eyes dark and intent, as though she were the only thing anchoring him.
“Say me name again,” he said softly, his voice roughened by want.
“Connor.”
When she did, he smiled, a flash of something fierce and possessive that made her breath hitch.
Connor’s fingers drifted down the side of her neck, leaving sparks in their wake.
Eva gasped at the simple touch, stunned by how something so small could make her feel so undone. She slid her hands over his shoulders, broad and unyielding, and felt the strength coiled there like a promise.
“I dinnae ken touch could feel like this,” she admitted quietly.
“Aye,” he murmured, his lips brushing her temple, then her cheek, as though he were learning her by heart. “That’s what happens when ye stop fightin’ what ye want.”
