‘Well, that’s how it is on St Kilda. Kill or be killed,’ she smiled, becoming distracted as she noticed the length of his eyelashes. He leaned in slightly to the curve of her hand. ‘. . . How’s that?’

She watched his eyelids flicker as he tested out his vision, saw his pupils constrict and then dilate as he focused upon her.

‘Beautiful.’

They stood suspended on the cliff face, a moment of whistling silence whirling around them as even the birds were tuned out. Nothing else existed. Only the two of them.

She knew he was going to kiss her even before she saw the muscles in his forearm flex and he drew himself towards her. She closed her eyes as his lips met hers and the harsh, jagged landscape to which they clung became soft and diffuse, gravity ceasing to have any meaning. She couldn’t have said whether she was flying or falling.

When he finally pulled away, his eyes were aflame. ‘All this, to get you alone.’ He gave a low chuckle at their extreme situation. ‘Although it seems fitting that I should kiss you in the setting where I fell for you.’

He had fallen for her? She felt her heart punching against her ribcage. ‘It’s fitting that in this setting you should talk of falling,’ she said, a wry smile on her lips.

He laughed and she could feel the vibrations through his body onto hers. He kissed her again. ‘I could do this all day,’ he murmured when they finally broke apart, both of them breathless, wanting more.

‘Mathieson can’t. He’s going to be holding on awful hard up there,’ she said.

‘Good.’ His eyes glittered. ‘That man’s been a thorn in my side from the moment I set eyes on you. I could swear he’s been trying to get between us.’

‘Well, he has,’ she said, almost surprised that he hadn’t seen it.

‘Really?’

‘He thinks I’m not good enough to look after the likes of you.’

‘What?’

‘He thinks he’s the only one fit to talk to the laird and his friends.’

Sholto stroked her cheek. ‘Little does he know you’re better than all of us put together.’

It was a lie, but a charming one.

‘I wish we could stay right here,’ he said. ‘Just you and me. It’s all I’ve wanted from the moment you jumped into the boat. I’ve racked my brain trying to find ways to be alone with you. But last night, by the rocks, when you were so determined not to be with me today—’

‘It wasn’t what I wanted. But the factor’s been so angry with me for embarrassing him with you. I was scared he’d put up our rents.’