Page 87 of A Legacy of the Light

He smiles at me. “Around eighty. They got me good. That’s the last time one got close enough to hurt me.”

“How did it happen?”

“They attacked a village I was visiting and I was outnumbered. The scars on my lower back and a few on my chest are from the same fight.”

“How did you get away?”

“We beat them back eventually, but the battle was brutal. We lost a lot of men that day.” He rests his head back on the stone and closes his eyes, his mouth turned down at the corners.

Unsure how to respond, silence fills the space between us. I keep saying sorry to him when he tells me stories like this, knowing there’s nothing I can say to take that haunted look away from him.

So I remain silent until he opens his eyes again. “What about your other scars?”

“Fights, training. Most of them I don’t remember now. The Brollachan I do, though.”

“I’m not surprised. I only saw a hand and a shoulder today and that was enough for me,” I reply. A shiver walks up my spine, despite the warmth of the water around us.

“We’re lucky it was just one. They’re normally in groups,” he states.

“That’s information I could have done without right now.”

Tavish quietly laughs. “They won’t come here, don’t worry.”

He sighs and pushes away from the wall to float in the water, splaying his arms either side of him.

His body sits just below the surface and my gaze wanders down his impressive chest, noting the scars and the way his abs seem to be tensed even floating in the water. I stop my gaze from going any further south.

I don’t need to know what he’s packing down there. I’m not sure I can handle whatever image that would conjure in my mind.

I move away from the wall to join him, lying back so I’m floating along the surface, too. My hair cascades around me and tickles my shoulders as the water gently ripples with our movements. The sky is scattered with gray clouds, blue peeking between them. The sun makes an appearance and my eyes flutter closed as I soak in its rays.

After it disappears, I tilt my head to the right slightly to find Tavish leaning against the rock, no longer floating like me, and completely motionless.

His eyes rake down my body, which is on full display for him, with an intensity that makes me want to clench my legs.

I glance at myself. The white lace of my underwear is opaque thanks to the water, and clings tightly to my skin. From this angle Tavish can see the outline of my nipples and the shape of my breasts.

Lowering myself below the surface, Tavish’s warm hazel eyes lock with mine. He scans my face, wets his lower lip, and moves toward me. He walks across the pool with a predatory slowness that tightens my stomach and makes me swallow hard.

I back up until my feet reach the bottom but am still chin deep in the water. Tavish doesn’t stop his advance. With every step, the power of his focus makes my heart race faster.

He stops. Barely half a foot of space between us. I have to tilt my head back to look fully into his strong, handsome face.

A droplet of water trickles down my forehead. Tavish watches it as it runs between my brows, over the tip of my nose, and onto my upper lip. When it rests in my cupid’s bow, he slowly raises a hand out of the water, cupping my face.

His thumb, so soft I barely feel it, touches where the droplet has stopped. His thumb moves to the side of my mouth and then lightly drags across my lower lip, parting my mouth slightly.

Tavish moves closer to me and looks into my eyes as he brings his other hand to push back a strand of hair stuck to the side of my face.

I fight hard to keep my breathing even as he looks down at me. My tongue darts out to involuntarily wet my lips, and his eyes track the movement. He moves one hand to the back of my neck, the other still cupping my cheek.

Oh shit, he’s going to kiss me.

I can’t stop it. I’m powerless to do anything but allow this man to kiss me and try not to be swept away by him. He leans down, agonizingly slow.

I brace my hands on his trim waist and his breath rushes out onto my face when he feels my hands on his skin. His choppy breath fans across my lips and he looks into my eyes once more, silently asking me if I want this.

I have made my boundaries clear with him: just friends.