She was safe. Loved.
He turned abruptly and walked away from the dance floor through the huge doors and outside to the gardens, following the torches along a path away from the castle. The cold air stung his eyes, but that was good. It helped blur the image that had just dropped into his head of Nia lying upstairs in Andrew Airlie’s arms.
He wished it would freeze his heart too.
Why shouldn’t that happen? Why shouldn’t Nia have that?
Airlie was offering her more than sex. He was offering her a future. A future without the fear that it would all fall apart.
Farlan knew he could never have that for himself, but he wanted that for her. He wanted Nia to be able to love without fear. And he wanted someone to love her, to take care of her. To do what he had failed to do and put her first.
‘There you are.’
He turned. Nia was standing behind him.
‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’
She was alone. His relief was so overwhelming that he had to take a breath to steady himself before he spoke.
‘I was just getting some air.’
She was shivering and, pulling off his jacket, he slipped it over her shoulders. ‘Come on, let’s go back inside.’
But she didn’t move. ‘Actually, if you’re okay with it, I thought we might go back to the cottage.’
He stared at her in silence, his heart pounding.
‘Or we could go back to Lamington…’
Her words hung between them like the moths fluttering above the torchlight.
He knew what she was offering. It was the final step in resetting their past. The two of them together in the house where they had separated.
Leaning forward, he kissed her on the mouth. ‘Your carriage awaits.’
The big house was quiet and still and dark. They left the lights off, and Farlan led her upstairs and into his guest bedroom.
It was so familiar—he was so familiar—and yet she could feel her heart racing as if she had fallen through a rabbit hole into a parallel world where they had never split up.
She stopped in front of the dressing table. Farlan was behind her, his unblinking gaze reflected in the mirror, watching her image. ‘Could you undo me?’
She met his gaze, her mouth drying at the heat in his green eyes as he nodded.
Turning round, she felt her pulse begin to leap in her throat as his fingers brushed against her skin, and the zip slid down her back.
‘Nia…’
He whispered her name, his breath warm against her cheek, and she turned towards him as the dress slipped to the floor, pooling at her feet. Now she was naked except for her stockings, her panties and her heel
s.
She heard his breath hitch, and her muscles clenched as his hands slid up over her waist, capturing her breasts, his fingers pulling at the already aching tips. Pulling her round, his lips found hers, and he kissed her with an urgency that made her head spin.
‘Undress me…’
With fingers that felt thick and unwieldy she pulled at his shirt, her hands growing steadier as they touched the smooth, toned muscles of his chest.
They started to tremble again as she unbuckled his kilt.