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only wants to roll around on the grass
     with me a time or two?” she asked.
    “Leave your husband?” Colla straightened and blinked at her.
    Had she misjudged how badly he wanted her? Moira did not have much time to persuade
     Colla to take her and her son away. Sean was like a pot of oil on a hot fire ready
     to explode. She took Colla’s hand and placed it on her breast.
    “ O shluagh ,” Colla murmured, calling on the faeries for help.
    Moira swallowed back her distaste. Even through the cloth of her gown, his hand felt
     hot and damp.
    “Please, Moira, I’ve wanted ye for so long. Just tell me where ye want to meet.”
    When will this be over? His hand was on her breast like a limpet.
    “I want ye to take me far away from here,” she said, “to a place where Sean could
     never catch us.”
    “Meet me tomorrow and we’ll talk about it.” Colla’s breathing grew harsh as he rubbed
     his thumb over her nipple. This was taking longer than she’d anticipated.
    “The only place we’ll be safe is at my brother’s castle on Skye,” she said and removed
     his hand from her breast. “My brother is chieftain of my clan and would welcome us.”
    Connor damned well better welcome her, after all she’d been through.
    “Ye would take me as your new husband?” Colla asked. “My heart has been yours for
     years, but I didn’t dare hope ye would consider marrying me.”
    Colla may have convinced himself that his heart was engaged, but Moira knew precisely
     what part of him he hoped to engage with her. And, typical man, he did not even notice
     that she had failed to answer his question.
    “I won’t be parted from my son.” She folded her arms beneath her breasts to draw his
     attention to them.
    “Ach, I don’t know about taking a man’s child from him…”
    “I will not go without Ragnall,” she said.
    Colla dragged his gaze from her breasts to her face. “Whatever ye want, Moira.”
    She let her breath out slowly. This time, when Colla pulled her into his arms, she
     gritted her teeth and let him for a moment.
    “I must wait for an opportunity,” she said, leaning back from him. “Ye cannot tell
     a soul. Sean is a dangerous man.”
    “Ach, I’m no afraid of Sean,” Colla said, puffing out his chest. “I’m willing to fight
     him for ye.”
    Men. She had told him that to make him cautious, not to prick his pride. She cupped his
     jaw with her hand and smiled up at him. “Please. I don’t want a fight.”
    “All right,” he said.
    Panic rose in her throat when Colla crushed her against him. She felt cold and clammy
     as he began running his hands over her.
    “I must go before Sean sends someone looking for me.” Feigning reluctance, she eased
     him away. “We’ll have all the time we want once we are away from here.”
    “How will I know when and where to meet you?” Colla asked.
    “When I wear my dark red gown, that means I will try to get away that night,” she
     said. “Ye know where the old wooden fort is?”
    “Aye.”
    “I’ll meet ye there at midnight.”

Chapter 5
    I ’ll leave for Ireland in the morning,” Duncan said.
    He and Connor were sitting alone having a last drink. Alex had taken Teàrlag home
     to her cow, and Ian had gone home to Sìleas and their babies. After all the commotion
     earlier, the hall had settled down to a quiet hum of voices.
    “The winter storms are still upon us,” Connor said. “Wait another month or two.”
    “After what Teàrlag said, ye know I can’t,” Duncan said.
    “The meaning of Teàrlag’s vision wasn’t clear, and she’s getting old and confused,”
     Connor said. “I expect you’ll find that all is well with Moira.”
    For all Duncan’s years of misery, his one consolation had been that he had done the
     right thing in leaving. He had believed that Moira would wed a chieftain and have
     the kind of life that would make her happy—the kind that he could never give her.
     A thousand times he had imagined her as