Wicked in a Kilt (Hot Scots Book 2)

by Anna Durand

  Hands on my hips, I shook my head. "Gee, Gav, looks to me like you're going gushy over Aidan's sister."

  "What?" His eyes flared wide for a second before he regained his hold on stoicism. "I was being friendly to your guest, that's all."

  "Uh-huh. Flirting is a requirement for proper etiquette?"

  He spluttered, attempting to seem offended but failing. "All I said was hello."

  Grinning, I pointed out, "No, you said 'uh, hey, nice to meet you, can I please shave your legs for you.' Right before you mooned at her."

  And my brother's mouth fell open. Wide open. He flapped a hand, as if trying to pump the shock out of his brain. "I did not say that."

  "Okay, maybe I ad-libbed the shaving part. But you were stammering and gaping at her like you'd never seen a pretty girl before."

  Gavin clapped his mouth shut. "I'm not the one getting naked with somebody I barely know."

  "But you'd like to make time with Aidan's sister. His little sister."

  I could tell by his chagrined look he hadn't missed the double standard. Him, ogling the younger sister of a man he'd criticized for ogling his little sister.

  "Well — " Gavin jammed his hands in his pants pockets, assuming his stoic demeanor once more. "You're a grown up, you can do what you want."

  Ah, of course. Now that he had eyes for Jamie, suddenly I could do whatever I wanted.

  I compressed my lips, struggling to hold back a smile. "Gee thanks, Gav."

  With a grunt and a roll of his eyes, he stalked out the glass doors and toward the yard gate, heading back to his little haven in the woods.

  Jamie and Aidan emerged from the guest bedroom, returning to the living room. Aidan looked harried, while his sister seemed quite chipper and pleased with herself.

  "Sooo," Jamie cooed, "we should get to know each other, Calli. Since you're going to be my sister-in-law."

  Aidan raised his hands, mouth open, and shook his head. "Didnae say a word to her."

  Jamie studied us both, her lips quirked. "Didnae have to, Aidan. I have eyes and I'm not an eejit. Besides, you told everyone you were coming to America to find a wife, like Lachlan did."

  Aidan gave me a pleading look.

  I took pity on him and refrained from telling his sister I wouldn't marry him. Instead, I told her, "It's a bit early to think about that."

  "Aye," she said, "but Aidan has a way of convincing women to do almost anything."

  "Does he now." I arched a brow at Aidan, who hiked up his shoulders, showing me his palms.

  If his sister only knew the things he'd convinced me to do. I hadn't needed much convincing. Making love with Aidan gave me more pleasure than I'd dreamed possible, pleasure both physical and emotional.

  Making love? Emotional pleasure? My stomach plunged through the floor. If I was thinking in those terms…

  Thankfully, I had no time to ponder the end of that thought.

  "Where's Gavin?" Jamie asked, glancing around as if he might be hiding behind the bar.

  "He's staying in the hunting cabin out in the woods," I said. "We'll see him again at lunch."

  Did Jamie seem disappointed by the news? Maybe Gavin would be the one moving to Scotland.

  "Mind if I have a shower?" Jamie asked. "Airline travel makes me feel grimy."

  "Go right ahead." I gestured toward the hallway. "Bathroom's on the right."

  "I know, Aidan showed me." She started to turn away, then looked at me. "Thank you for letting me stay here, Calli."

  "No problem."

  Jamie MacTaggart disappeared down the hall.

  When the bathroom door clicked shut, Aidan approached me and slipped his hand into mine as we faced each other. I laced my fingers with his, loving the warmth and roughness of his palm on mine. The hands of a man unafraid of hard work. He gazed into my eyes for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

  At last, he sighed and said, "Quite a full house, eh?"

  "Definitely." I canted toward him a tiny bit. "Your sister and my brother seem rather smitten with each other."

  "I'd like to tell Gavin to stay away from my sister, but I suppose that would be, ah…"

  "Hypocritical?"

  "Yes."

  I rose onto my tiptoes to peck a kiss on his lips. "You MacTaggarts are a gorgeous bunch. Can't blame us mere mortals for falling to our knees before you."

  "You haven't gone on your knees before me." He slid his free hand around to the small of my back, tugging me into his body. "But it's an intriguing idea."

  Flattening my palm on his chest, I gazed up into those hypnotizing eyes. "Have you forgotten? I dropped to my knees and took you in my mouth."

  A slow, naughty smile curved his mouth. "So you did. I have some other ideas for getting you on your knees, though, ones I'd love to try out tonight."

  "Sounds good." I glanced toward the hallway. "We have two visitors within earshot of our screaming orgasms. How do we keep them from hearing?"

  He gave a short, airy laugh. "Jamie won't care how much noise we make."

  "I care." Realizing I sounded like a prude, I added, "I like my privacy."

  "Don't worry." He brushed his fingers across my cheek. "We can be quiet."

  "Not sure I can manage it. Not with you driving me out of my mind."

  Aidan moved his hand in lazy circles on my back, bending his head to skim his lips over mine. "Trust me, I can make certain no one else hears your screams."

  "No gags, please."

  He shook his head slowly. "No gags. I wouldn't do anything like that to you. But I will swallow your screams with my mouth on yours."

  I imagined him doing that, our open mouths fused and muffling my cries of ecstasy, and my nipples hardened at the mere idea of it. "Just making sure." I eyed him with a touch of suspicion. "How exactly do you plan on keeping anyone from hearing us?"

  "You'll see."

  Releasing my hand, he wrapped both arms around me and lifted me onto my toes. His lips found mine, exploring with light sweeps that grew firmer the more he kissed me. I threw my arms around his neck and thrust my tongue between his lips, moaning at the feel of him. He coiled his tongue around mine with a moan of his own.

  And just like that, I didn't give a damn who heard us.

  He pulled back, frowning as if an unpleasant thought had occurred to him. "I brought my sister here to keep her out of trouble. And what happened? The minute she arrived, she found an American man to captivate."

  "Poor Aidan." I skated my fingers over his cheek. "You can't catch a break, can you?"

  With a devious gleam in his eyes, he ran his tongue across my lips. "After a day with your brother and my sister, I will be needing some physical therapy." He dropped one hand to cup my behind. "A lot of it, in fact."

  "Here to serve."

  As we began to kiss again, I tried not to think about what everyone else seemed to know. Jamie assumed we were seriously involved with marriage not far in the future. And Gavin, well…

  Not gushy, not mooning.

  The only one I seemed likely to fool was myself.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Aidan flopped onto my bed on his back, right on top of the covers, his arms spread wide and his head on one of the pillows. He groaned, eyes closed. "No one should have that much energy, bouncing around like a little bird. It's no wonder your dogs love Jamie, she's as energetic as they are."

  I sat on the bed's edge, with his hand at my hip, and patted his chest. "Oh, poor Aidan. You have a sweet, happy sister who adores you. Must be awful."

  "Hm." He cracked an eyelid to peek at me. "Thought I'd get more sympathy from you. After all, your brother was turning you into a bampot."

  "You called me that in the club. It means crazy?"

  He nodded. "You're not literally insane, but sometimes you act like it when you're stressed."

  "I don't mind if Gavin makes me a little crazy. I'm glad to see him having a good time. After the way his wife left him, I didn't know if he'd ever show interest in a woman aga
in."

  Aidan lifted his head. "What did his wife do?"

  Oops. I tried to salvage the situation. "Sorry, that shouldn't have slipped out. I doubt Gavin would want me telling you the story, but I'm wiped out and my brain filter isn't working properly."

  He dropped his head onto the mattress with a grunt. "I'll have to ask your brother."

  "You wouldn't."

  "No?" He rolled his head to the side, giving me a mischievous smile. "Maybe I would. Or you could tell me and I'll keep it a secret so he'll never know I know."

  "Oh, you are wicked. Devious and canny, in bed and out."

  He walked his fingers up my hip. "I'm in bed at the moment."

  "So you are." I crawled on top of him, on all fours, my hair feathering around my face. "Wouldn't you rather have sex than hear about my brother's failed marriage?"

  Aidan rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "At the moment, no. I'm exhausted from spending an entire day with Jamie and Gavin. Siblings are a right trial."

  "But we love them anyway, don't we?" I lowered my head to nibble his lips.

  "Mm, aye." He inserted a hand between our mouths, thwarting me. "I'm genuinely exhausted."

  I fell onto the bed beside him and rolled onto my side, cuddling into my pillow. "Aidan MacTaggart is too tired for sex. Does this mean the world is spinning backwards?"

  He pulled me closer to tuck me under his arm. "Maybe I am ravenous, but it's your fault. I've never needed to make love to a woman this much before. Cannae get enough of you."

  "Likewise. I'm addicted to the feel of you inside me."

  "Thought it was the earth-shattering orgasms that had you hooked."

  I slid my arm across his chest as I nestled my cheek against it. "That too. I've got it so bad, I'm giving serious thought to offering to try whisky again if you'll have sex with me right now."

  "Are ye now." He chuckled. "Can't let ye suffer, can I?"

  "It would be rude of you." His heartbeat thump-thumped under my ear, the rhythm of it soothing, even as the feel of his firm muscles awakened my body. "I've loved every minute with you."

  He buried his face in my hair, inhaling deeply. "I loved every minute of it too. Plan to keep on loving every minute with you."

  The puppies came barreling into the room and leaped onto the bed with us. Naturally, they both cuddled up to Aidan. The little turncoats.

  A moment later, as my lids fluttered shut, a soft female voice inquired, "Want the door closed?"

  I peeked through my lashes to find Jamie in the doorway, looking uncertain, as if she'd disturbed us in an intimate moment. In a way, she had. Aidan and I were curled up together on a bed — though fully clothed and half asleep.

  He waved a hand at his sister. "Best shut it. Otherwise the pups will paw at your door and whine until you let them in."

  "Yeah," I said, " and then they'll assault you while you're vulnerable."

  Flashing us a bright smile, Jamie laughed and said, "Good night."

  We offered our good nights to her and she retreated, shutting the door with a soft click. Soon, Aidan was snoring beside me as I listened to the steady thumping of his heart slowed by slumber. Ensconced in his arms, I let my thoughts wander back through our days together, from the night we met to this day spent with his sister and my brother. Though we'd known each other barely more than a week, I'd spent more time with Aidan than I'd spent with anyone in a long time. I'd shared personal things with him. I'd laughed with him and slept with him and invited him into my life.

  Crazy as it was, I felt like I knew him, like I could trust him. Hell, I'd told him I trusted him and I meant it. I didn't know everything about him, but I'd met his cute little sister and overheard him talking to his bossy older brother, which made me feel like I'd met Lachlan as well.

  A chill of doubt slithered through me, winding around my heart. How well did I really know Aidan? How well could I really know anyone? After two years of friendship with Rade, I'd believed I knew him and could trust him — yet after years of sticking to our agreement, he was determined to change the rules, which meant I'd misjudged him. Even my parents had kept major secrets from me, hiding their financial woes and leaving a giant mess for me to untangle after their deaths. For all I knew, Gavin and Tara kept devastating secrets too.

  Shit. I couldn't do this. Couldn't keep second-guessing my instincts and suspecting everyone of having nefarious intentions. My parents didn't conceal things from me out of malice. They'd done it because they believed, wrongly, they were protecting me and Gavin. But then there was Rade.

  And what about Aidan?

  I raised my head to gaze at his sleeping face. My throat ached, constricted by an alien emotion, a kind of longing I'd never experienced before. A longing to believe in him. To trust him. I already did trust him, and it scared the hell out of me. I'd believed in one man who wanted to marry me, a man I thought cared about me as a friend. Here I was trusting another charming man intent on marrying me, a man who claimed not only that he would love me, but that I would fall for him. Did he want something from me, something as damning as a fraudulent marriage?

  Watching him sleep, his lips forming small smile, I couldn't believe it.

  I pressed my cheek to Aidan's chest again and tried to banish those thoughts. They kept prowling the edges of my mind, keeping me awake until late into the night, when at last the weariness overtook me.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The next afternoon, I walked into the house through the sliding doors to find Aidan lounging on the sofa, one ankle crossed over the opposite knee. He had one arm draped over the sofa's back. A slight smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he gazed at the TV. On the screen, a black-and-white movie played. The two stars, whose names I couldn't remember, spun around on a dance floor in perfect synchronization, seeming to float in each other's arms. Lovely music weaved a spell around them.

  "Jamie and Gavin are taking the puppies for a walk," I said, coming up behind the sofa. My gaze flicked to the TV screen. "Do you like old movies?"

  Aidan tilted his head up and back to look at me. "I like good movies. Don't care about the age."

  "Me too. I like good movies, I mean."

  He watched me for a moment, as if measuring me up, then rose the sofa and strode around the sofa to me. Offering a hand palm up, he said, "Dance with me."

  "Now? Here?"

  "Yes, Calli, now. And here in the living room."

  "Why?"

  "You're here and I'm here and there's music." He waggled his fingers. "Give it a go. Please."

  One thing I'd learned about myself of late? I couldn't resist a Scottish man pleading with me to do almost anything. It was probably just this Scottish man. Either way, I placed my hand in his.

  He drew me to him, one hand on the small of my back and the other cupped around my hand, raising our melded hands the way people usually did when dancing. With that palm on my back, he urged me closer until our bodies were molded together, snug and intimate.

  "The last time we danced," he said, "you wore a bonnie green dress. You're even sexier now, wearing everyday clothes and smelling of soap and honey."

  "It's my shampoo."

  He lifted me off my feet and twirled us in a circle. As my feet touched down again, my heart did a ridiculous little stuttering thing. I swallowed, my gaze inexorably pulled to his. "Don't think this is regulation ballroom dancing."

  "Forget regulations." He began to move his hips and feet, encouraging me to move with him. "We're moving together, that's all. Casual, not formal."

  Stiff and awkward, I shuffled along with him as we made our way around the open expanse of floor behind the sofa. My feet bumped into his. A thread of anxiety inside me snapped taut and my muscles followed suit.

  "Relax," Aidan said, his tone patient, his expression tinged with affectionate humor. "I want to dance with you, nothing else."

  "Nothing else?" I felt one corner of my mouth crimp. "We've gone more than twenty-four hours without sex. How long c
an you hold out?"

  He combed his fingers through my hair, his gaze warm and soft. "I like having you in my arms, with or without sex. So please, take that steel rod out of your spine and tell me what's bothering you."

  "Sorry. Didn't mean to ruin the moment." I hauled in a deep breath and released it little by little, with no measurable effect on my nerves. "Hard to melt steel, though."

  "Close your eyes."

  I stared into his jewel irises, into the depths of their deep blue color. Part of me longed to relax and simply take pleasure in this moment, in the pleasure of being held by a sexy and oddly sweet man who made me feel… worthy.

  Sighing, I shut my eyes and gave in to the rhythm of our movements, the soothing melody of the movie music, and the warmth of Aidan's body.

  He started to hum softly.

  Without examining the reasons why or considering the implications at all, I rested my cheek on his chest. My body went soft, pliant against his. He held our hands to his heart, near my face. I barely noticed when we stopped moving across the floor, our feet now stationary but our bodies moving as if we still glided over the wood beneath our feet. I nestled into him, slipping my hand out of his so I could wrap my arms around him, relishing the feel of his body and the beating of his heart.

  He combed a hand through my hair again, the touch feather-light and soothing.

  A breathy moan whispered out of me. "You're so nice."

  "Nice?" he said, faint laughter lightening his voice. "Thought I was wicked."

  The sensations he evoked in me had my mind weakening, my will too, and I could no longer control the words tumbling from my lips. "You are wicked, but you're also nice. And sweet. You're all of it."

  "Don't spread that rumor, please. I have a reputation to maintain."

  I lifted my head, my chin propped on his chest. "I want to tell you everything, but there's a chance you could get in trouble if I do. Legal trouble. You might become an accessory or something."

  "Tell me. You're worth any risk."

  Nestling my cheek against his chest, squeezing my eyes shut, I explained the whole story to him.