Page 23 of Highlander's Caged Rose
“Was Glennie ever with you?” she asked.
He gave a short laugh. “Indeed she was. She loved fishing, she still does, and she loves swans too. She always says they look like ships in full sail.”
Moira looked at the stately bird and her little children and smiled. “That is a very good description,” she remarked.
Once again, as she watched the cygnets, she wondered what it would be like to have children of her own, and suddenly a wave of sadness washed over her. She was sure being a mother was not in her future.
Niall watched Moira’s smile fade and her face took on an expression of deep sadness. He studied her shining hair, high, elegant cheekbones and full lips, her long neck and curvy womanly figure, then a surge of desire erupted inside him.
Why had he even doubted what he felt for Moira? He loved her fighting spirit, her stubbornness that was coupled with a deep tenderness and vulnerability that brought out all his protective instincts.
Moira had been admiring the swans, but she felt, rather than saw Niall’s eyes on her, and she turned to face him, realising that he was much closer to her than he had been a moment before.
“Moira,” he said huskily, his eyes on her lips as he reached out his hand to tilt her chin up so that she was looking at him.
For a few long moments, she was mesmerised by his bright, green eyes, and the earthy, manly smell of his body. A sweet pulse began to beat between her legs as he leaned into her, and his lips were slowly, inexorably descending towards hers. As he came closer, she felt the heat of his skin a hairsbreadth from her lips, and closed her eyes.
10
Awareness hit Moira like a slap in the face; she was here in this lonely place, letting this man to whom she was so desperately attracted kiss her. She was suddenly terrified of the thought that she might lose control of herself and allow him to do the kind of things that her body was begging her to let him do.
Why was she so attracted to him? Why was every feminine part of her body responding to him so fiercely?
Moira’s instincts caused her to panic and push him away by putting both hands flat on his chest and shoving with all her strength. She could not give in to him now; she was too confused. Her mind told her to do one thing, but her body told her to do something else, and she knew that if she gave in to her emotions she would live to regret it.
Even though Moira had pushed him as hard as she could, she did not succeed in unbalancing him. He merely took two steps backwards, not even stumbling despite her best effort.
He frowned at her, but it was not an aggressive expression, merely one of puzzlement. “Moira, take a breath,” he said gently, smiling. “I am not going to hurt you. I simply cannot stay away from you.”
He took a step towards her, but Moira held up her hands, palms towards him, in a gesture of repudiation.
“Get away from me,” she said through gritted teeth.
Even as she did so, she felt ashamed of her body’s instinctive response to him. She should not be feeling this way, she reminded herself. Men were brutal, and she had no wish to be under the thumb of yet another one of them, completely subject to his will. That would never happen again, despite the urges of her body. They were only physical, and could be overcome, but she could never force herself to fall in love with this man.
“Why?” he asked. “Do you find me repulsive?” He looked down at himself, then back up at her, and once more she was mesmerised by his built—but only for a moment.
Moira was not going to answer the question because she could not tell him the truth; that she found him deeply attractive, but she was afraid.
“I am not falling into your trap,” she snapped.
Niall let out a peal of incredulous laughter. “What trap?” he asked. He was genuinely baffled by this woman, who reacted with hostility to his attempts at pleasantness and courtesy. If only he did not find her so damned beautiful!
“You want to seduce me,” Moira replied, trembling as she backed even further away from him. “And make me your mistress! Well, let me tell you, you will not succeed! I will not be used whenever you feel the urge. I will never consent to that!”
Niall could not believe what he was hearing. “Why do you think so little of yourself?” he asked. “And of me? Why would I ask you to be my mistress when I could ask you to be my bride?”
Moira was speechless and motionless with disbelief for a moment. Was this a proposal? Surely not, he was making fun of her, but she was having none of it. She looked into Niall’s eyes with utter contempt and shook her head.
“I am not the kind of woman for you, My Laird. You need someone with status, to bring you land and help you with alliances. I am a nobody. A runaway. The best thing I can do for you is to leave here and never bother you again.”
She tried to turn away, but Niall reached out to grab her wrist and pull her close to him, so close that they were touching from chest to knee.
Niall could feel Moira’s soft breasts pressing against his chest, her warm body heating him so that he was almost afire with desire for her. She smelled of lavender and woman. At that moment, if he had been a man of no honour or decency, he would have pushed her onto the ground and had his way with her, but he was not that kind of man, thank god.
As he looked into her pale blue eyes, Niall felt as if all his senses were trained on Moira, and the only people who lived in the world at that moment were he and the lovely creature he was holding in his arms. He had shut the rest of the world out as if it did not exist. He could have stayed there forever.
Moira was dizzy from Niall’s closeness, the musk of his body, the firmness of his chest and his thighs pressed against her. How could she want him so much yet need to push him away at the same time? It made no sense, yet when Moira was near Niall, nothing made sense; he threw her completely off kilter.
