Page 70 of Highlander’s Burning Touch

“They’re nae goin’ tae leave us alone, Niven, an’ that’s a fact,” she cried. “My father’s coming here today, for one reason only, because I’m to be wed, an’ if I ken him, he’ll want it to be done as soon as possible…”

Her eyes reached into his plaintively. From the morose look he gave her, Deva could see that Niven knew exactly what she was talking about.

“Soon, I’ll be wed, an’ then, there’ll be nae going back,” she said. Her tears had dried, leaving track marks down her cheeks, which Niven traced with his index finger.

“Lassie,” he murmured, trying to quieten her. “We can still be together,” he said. But from the unsure look he gave her, it was clear he didn’t know how that was going to be achieved.

“Nae, we cannae, Niven,” said Deva, aghast. The clarity of the situation was dawning on her. If she hadn’t seen it before, then she did now. And so starkly.

“We’ve been blind, this is doomed, we are doomed,” she said jadedly. Niven watched her unhappily. “We can nae be together in this castle, there’s always someone around every corner, listening in…I shouldnae even be outside here, wi’ ye now, it’s madness!”

Quickly checking that no-one was around, Niven brought his hand down her shoulder, rubbing it up and down. The sense of his touch felt so good. She never wanted it to stop. It tingled and burned around her shoulder frame, sizzling into her belly.

Then he walked her a little way further from the castle until they were behind a wall that hid them from view.

Only now could Deva relent a little. She knew what she had to say and did not want to be overheard. But now they were alone together, other thoughts rushed through her mind.

She wanted him so badly. The desire was driving her half crazy. Of course, it was. Which was why she had never seen this before.

“So, what are ye saying,” asked Niven, once they were sitting down. He looked despondent as if he feared the worst. “That we should stop seeing each other?”

He cast her a painfilled glance. Shard-like ice ran all the way through Deva. She could not stand to see him hurt.

“Nae,” said Deva, taking his head and putting it to hers, “Nae, that’s nae what I am thinking at all… more the opposite… that we need to work out some way o’ being together….”

She cast her eyes towards him anxiously.

“Like what?” Niven asked, looking at her afresh. Deva pushed back the errant hair which insisted on falling into her face and looked straight at him.

“Well, that’s just it, I’m nae quite sure,” she said gingerly. “But our options are very limited. Either we come clean to Rory an’ beg him for forgiveness, or…”

Her eyes cast away from his momentarily. Inside, she felt her heart beating. This was the thing she had been dreading and longing for, all at once.

“Or we run away together, start again, somewhere new… outside o’ the Highlands…”

Her eyes twinkled as they met his. She hoped desperately to have him on board, but when she saw Niven’s face, she was hardly reassured. He appeared to be thinking.

Breathless, Deva looked at him.

“What is it, what do ye think?” she said, her heart pounding in her chest. “Is it madness?”

Beside her, Niven gave a sigh. He breathed deep into her neck. Then he kissed her softly on the head and fixed her with such a tender look that Deva feared for the worst.

He was going to end it. She was sure of it.

But instead, he smiled softly.

“It is madness, but I want to more than anything, lass!”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Niven!”

The sound of his uncle’s voice froze Niven’s heart over.

“Niven?” Rory called, still unseeingly from across the dusky room.

“Quick,” whispered Niven, tapping Deva on the shoulder. Within a second, she was out of the way before Rory came closer to him. With just a brief nod to Rory on the way out, she managed to leave without eliciting any suspicion. But it was close.