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tower, helped him take off his shirt in front of the fire. She swallowed hard as more pictures of that night played back. He sat down in his armchair. Then she had a sip of that awful tonic and fainted. So it was true!
    â€˜It was that horrible liquor I drank that made me sick,’ she said, her eyes still closed. ‘I poured some out in a glass for you and drank a little, then everything became blurred and I fell into a great big black hole.’
    â€˜Into my lap, more like.’
    She blushed again. Even in the dim light he could see the pink heat on her cheeks. He’d never met a woman who blushed so violently and so easily before. An image which had tormented him before flashed in his mind – that of creamy white throat and breasts taking on the same delicious shade of pink. He rose and walked to the fireplace. Grabbing a stick, he bent down and started poking at the fire. Sparks rose and flew up in ribbons into the chimney.
    What was the matter with him? He usually had more self-control when women were concerned, yet he only had to remember how deliciously soft and curvy Rose had felt under him for red-hot desire to surge and thrust inside him, and make his body hard and achy.
    â€˜You drank some whisky?’ he asked in a gruff voice.
    â€˜It wasn’t whisky but medicinal tonic, and so disgusting it made me all weak and fuzzy.’
    â€˜That explains the broken glass.’ He turned to her. ‘Why did you go to the cliffs that night?’
    â€˜A… dream woke me, and then I saw the lights outside and I just wanted to be close to the sky.’ She gave him a stern look. ‘It was fortunate I did. You were so drunk you could have fallen off the cliff.’
    He didn’t answer but set his mouth in a grim line. He must have suffered another attack of his unpredictable, debilitating illness. Even if Kilroy was right and he did sleepwalk, there was definitely something else ailing him. Whatever it was, he could only hope he had time to secure the future of his estate before it killed him.
    The water started bubbling in the pot. He filled up two tumblers, sprinkled tea leaves into the boiling water and handed her a cup. Wrinkling her nose, she picked out the brown leaves floating on the surface with her fingers while he cut the cheese and placed a wedge in front of her together with some bread and an apple.
    Outside, the blizzard gathered pace as it swept through the forest and filled the night with howling and screeching, and the sounds of trees groaning like spectres. The wind rattled the door, clawed at the shuttered window, and Rose let out a startled cry when a strong gust hurled down the chimney and made the fire hiss and spit.
    â€˜There’s no need to be afraid,’ he said, calmly. ‘We’re perfectly safe here. These cottages were solidly built.’
    She nodded but her face remained pinched, and her eyes huge and frightened. He bit into an apple, stretched his legs in front of him and crossed them at the ankles. The pains in his head and chest had receded at last, as had the feverish tremors, and a pleasant torpor now filled him. For the first time in days, he felt almost at peace.
    â€˜What will you do when the storm has passed?’ Rose asked, breaking the silence.
    â€˜I told you. I’ll take you back to Wrath then I’ll ride to Westmore to talk to McRae about arrangements concerning you and the Sea Eagle … and about Malika, of course.’
    â€˜Take me with you.’
    She leant forward, put her hand on his forearm.
    â€˜Please.’
    Her lips parted and he caught a glimpse of her pearly white teeth and the tip of her tongue. He remembered exactly how her lips had felt under the pad of his thumb – soft, yielding and moist. His breathing deepened, his blood pumped around his body, hot and sluggish.
    â€˜Cameron must be told about Morven at once. The man must be stopped and thrown into jail.’ Oblivious to the turmoil