Page 21 of Her Highland Destiny

“Cassandra.” He reached out to her.

She looked at his hand stretching toward her. “If you mean to read my thoughts by touching me, you will only find I have more strength.”

“What did ye see?” he asked.

“Enough.” She drew the clothing they’d discarded from the ground, grabbing first Fergus’ garments in error. “This is yours.” She handed it to him.

He accepted the bundle and clutched it to his chest. Cassandra did not hesitate with her own clothing. She pulled the linen and wool tunic on together, the two garments still connected from where Fergus had pulled them from her body.

“I dinna want it to end like this.” He took her hand in his.

“As I stated previously, you cannot read my—”

“I dinna want to read yer thoughts.” He shook his head. “I mean, aye, I do, but I wanted…I wanted to touch ye. After what we experienced together.”

She relented and his strong hand curled against her own.

“I want ye to stay with me,” he said. “I want ye to come with me to Edinburgh.”

Truth.

She knew his words to be true. She could sense the honesty in him through the touch of their fingers threaded together.

“To heal your son,” she said.

Guilt.

It scored into him, white hot and ugly before he could cover it. “Aye,” he answered slowly, as if he suspected she did not believe him. “To heal my son.”

“What do you think I know, Fergus?” She met his gaze and he shook his head.

“I dinna know, but I dinna want ye to leave me.”

Fear.

Solitude.

So vastly empty and alone.

She recalled the glow of hope within him, dimly lit and tucked in a corner shrouded by helplessness. He was not all darkness within. She swallowed.

But what of her path? Was she supposed to aid him? Was she supposed to fight him and take the stone? She wished her eldmother were still alive and could read her future - beyond the fate of Cassandra being a Protector and to where she was now.

If she failed in the task to obtain the stone, it was more than she who would suffer. It was all of Scotland.

“Stay with me,” Fergus said gently. He lifted his free hand to her face and ran his thumb down her cheek to her chin, just below her bottom lip.

Her pulse fluttered and despite the uncertainty in her future and the understanding she had to be wary of trusting him, her body warmed with lust. Outside the rain raged against the shutters and thunder grumbled in the distance.

Even if she were to leave now, in wet clothing and amid the mighty storm, she would not have the stone. She needed a plan.

Fergus brought his face closer to hers. His mouth a breath from hers. She found herself tipping her face toward him.

He slid one large hand up the back of her neck to cradle the back of her head. “Will ye come with me?”

Cassandra stared deep into his eyes, cherishing those heady moments before their lips met “Aye.”

And even as they kissed and passion ignited their veins once more, she found herself wondering if it would be she who would betray him, or he who betrayed her.