Page 121 of Bride of Mist
“She didn’t believe me.”
Dougal rubbed the back of his neck. “Gaufrid must mean to charge your clan a hefty price for your return.”
“No doubt.”
“Then we’ll have to make his hostage vanish.”
“How do we do that?”
“Haven’t ye been sayin’ all along ye know how to be invisible?”
Feiyan had never felt less invisible. Not because she’d been found out by Gaufrid. Not because she was about to be at the center of the battle to come. But because Dougal desired her.
He’d torn away her mask. Seen her at her most vengeful. Tasted the bitterness of her betrayal. And yet he’d returned.
He’d seen her flaws and foibles. Her drives and her stubbornness. She’d countered him at every turn. Usurped his authority. Lied to him. Abandoned him. Hell, she’d tried to assassinate him.
Still he saw her as a worthy woman. A lass who brought honor to Rivenloch. Victory to the King. And protection to Scotland.
But it was more than that. Dougal looked beyond her mask, revealing a lass she’d almost forgotten. A woman of passion and empathy. Of humor and heart.
The cave had grown light now as they neared the grate that faced the sea. He stopped and turned her towards him, giving her face a closer examination.
“Ye’re certain they didn’t hurt ye?”
She nodded and quirked up her lips in a crooked smile. “I didn’t give them the chance.”
He returned her smile. “Should I feel sorry for the Fortanachs?”
She arched a brow. “Possibly. The one who looks like a boar may never walk right. And the wolfish one’s nose has been rearranged a bit.”
The way he was staring at her mouth now made her heart flutter. There was a gentle hunger in his eyes. A sweet longing. His lips parted and his nostrils flared. When he drew in a deep breath of sea air, she sensed he was inhaling her scent as well.
A timid maid like Merraid would have lowered her gaze and blushed at the attention.
But Feiyan was hardly timid.
She thrust her free hand through his thick locks, catching the back of his neck and tilting his head down toward hers. When he sucked in a surprised breath, she covered his open mouth with a kiss.
Chapter 30
At the moment their lips touched, Feiyan felt the world disappear. The breeze caught strands of her hair and wrapped them around his face like a caress. The sounds of the sluicing tide and the screeing gulls receded, replaced by deep sighs of pleasure and soft moans of desire.
Had it only been hours since they’d joyfully quenched their lust in the barn and he’d fallen asleep in her arms? She was so ravenous for his touch, so eager for his body, it seemed like they’d been apart an eternity.
Her training as a warrior had made her a woman of strict discipline and control. Her every move was executed with purpose and intent. She’s spent her life planning and practicing each step, each motion—meticulously, repeatedly—perfecting her attacks and defenses until they were as natural to her as breathing.
But this…this was unnatural. Making love with Dougal, she lost all sense of authority over her own body.
That should have frightened her.
Instead, it made her feel gloriously free.
Falling into his arms with unfettered abandon felt like diving into the sea itself.
She was rocked by waves of passion.
Tossed playfully about by the sensuous current.
