Wiping a hand across his eyes, he offered his elbow. “Would you care to take a wee stroll with me?”

She placed her fingers in the crook of his arm. They were far more delicate than he’d remembered, making his skin tingle beneath. “Ye do not want to dance?”

“I’m nay much of a dancer. I prefer a more intimate crowd.”

“For dancing? That makes it difficult when there’s a gathering of so many people.”

“I mostly watch the others kick up their heels.”

“That can be fun, too.”

“Did you have dancing lessons as a lass?”

“Nay. We danced, though. Whenever there was a gathering—I guess I do not remember the steps all that well.”

Kennan stopped and faced her. Though they were in the shadows beyond the light of the fire, the music still swirled around them. “We could dance here where no one will see us.”

“Here? With ye?”

“Aye.” He brushed a wisp of hair away from her face. “Though ’tis Beltane, lass. That means you choose to dance with whomever you please.”

She grinned, her white teeth gleaming blue in the moonlight. “My choice?”

He stepped nearer and was blessed with the fragrance of rose and the unmistakable scent of Divana. “Yes,” he whispered.

Drawing a sharp breath, she tilted her chin up, her gaze locking with his.

Damn it all, his body shouldn’t be responding like a stag, but his mind refused to take charge. Holding both her hands, he started in a slow circle. “Dancing like this is more diverting.”

Luminescent blue eyes filled with trust gazed up at him. “It is intoxicating.”

He pulled her nearer. “So you agree?”

Together they stepped out. “To what?”

“Dance with me,” he whispered, bringing his lips to her ear as he lifted her off the ground and spun in circle after circle. “You are the bonniest woman at the gathering, and I cannot bear to watch all the young Highland whelps gawking at you as if you’re a prize to be won.”

As he twirled, she turned to butter in his arms, resting her head against his chest. “I’ll dance with ye, Kennan. Ye’re my choice always.”

He set her down and ran his hands along her arms. She shivered beneath his fingertips. “Are you cold?”

“Nay,” she replied, her breasts heaving—begging to be caressed, kissed, fondled, adored. Looking like a goddess, she tilted her face upward and gazed directly into his eyes.

When had she woven her way into his heart? Dipping his chin, he pulled her into his embrace. “Then I aim to kiss you, lass.”

Chapter Twelve

Heaven. Floating in Kennan’s arms must be exactly what it was like to be floating on a heavenly cloud. As soon as his lips touched hers, Divana turned to liquid honey in his arms, sighing against his mouth, praying his kiss would never end.

And it didn’t.

He brushed the parting of her mouth with a warm tongue, as if asking permission to taste her. Holding on for dear life, wanting to please him with every fiber of her body, Divana timidly opened her lips, wishing, craving, needing to prove worthy of his affection. As she let him in, his tongue swept inside her mouth, making her body gush with want. Making something coil deep inside, as though she’d die if he dared pull away.