historical-romance

It was a chaste kiss, but as her lips brushed his warm cheek, her eyes met his. They were deep and dark, warm with passion and longing. And somehow she knew, without question, what he thought. What he felt. Time held its breath - and in that moment, looking into Buchan's warm, tormented gaze, Tatiana's heart awoke.

Her smile hollowed out his chest. She__ changed since last he saw her. She was brighter. More vibrant. Happiness suited her.

She laughed, and the duke might actually have smiled, though one could never be certain.

Like a brilliant shooting star, she had almost reached her zenith when her light was extinguished.

You want me at your mercy, Princess. Question is, why?___o,_ she whispered. __uestion is, do I?

The breeze was calm and the sun beamed between the scattering clouds. Glancing across the rolling heather-covered landscape and toward the burn, he didn't see Remy or anyone else. "Twas too bad that the heather was not in bloom for the sight would have been lovely. Glancing up, he noticed something else. A giant double rainbow spanned across the horizon, one slightly dimmer than the other. "Ah," he halted and turned in the saddle. "Have you ever seen such a bonny rainbow?" Shona gasped. "Nay. 'Tis very bright." Even lovelier, at least to Keegan, was Shona's smile as she took in the scenery. She was so beautiful, his chest ached. Yet, he knew not how he was going to keep her in his life so that he might see her smile every day.

You challenge me to be a better person. And no one else does that, except maybe my mother.

He remounted. __ will ride with you._ With some effort, he gentled his voice. __f that would be agreeable to you._ __ow kind of you. Thank you.

Would you like to see where I will build your house, m__ady?_ She grinned. __ou mean our house?_ He mirrored her smile. __ye._ Taking her hand, he led her along the path to the mouth of the River Coe. They stood on a curved peninsula high above the river where it would be free from floods. Hugh spread his arms wide and looked across Loch Leven. __he hills of Glencoe will be our backdrop, the river of the Coe will be our music, and our galleys will sail through the water of the Leven to Loch Linnhe and out to sea. Mark me, my love, Clan Iain Abrach will rebuild, and will once again rule these lands._ He looked into her eyes and saw joy there. __nd you will be my queen.

It proved what he had always instinctively known.Love is Forever.

He crushed her mouth in a searing, hungry kiss. A kiss that made her stomach drop away.

He fell quiet, but she understood this was his way. He was not a talkative man. Once, she__ imagined him sitting alone in his house, a monster ready to devour anyone who came near. What she imagined now was a man who had both his rank and his natural reticence working against him. She smiled at him. If he continued in his gruff ways the rest of his life, she would defend him to anyone. Anyone.

You're safe now.

She swatted the fur beside her. "Sit." Growling, he shoved his dirk back in its sheath. "I'll listen, but if ye lift a finger against me, I'll slit your throat afore ye can draw your next breath." "I'll keep that in mind." Eva smoothed her fingers over her throat ...

I should never have expected loyalty from a Douglas,_ he spat out. He turned his back on her and went to the window.

You should not have kissed me," she replied breathlessly."I do a lot of things I shouldn't. It does not mean I won't do them again.

And what she does not know, what nobody else knows but you, is that I have a special place where I go to be with her; my first, my only love.

He slipped his tongue between her lips and thrust it wantonly inside her mouth over and over, echoing the enticing move of his hips against hers. She clutched him closer, reveling in the feel of him, and the fact that she'd made him moan for her, whisper her name over and over, beg her without words for more. To kiss him more. To touch him more.