HighlandHeat

by Tilly Greene

  Hamish Buchanan was special and that was a problem.

  In a few short minutes she finished dressing in her clothes and jewelry she wore here. Slipping on her shoes, she smoothed hands over her hips and took a deep breath. Maybe she wasn’t giving him enough credit. It was possible he was downstairs waiting for her and not the cad her overactive imagination was making him out to be.

  Before walking out to the bedroom, she took another look around. There were quite a few toys they hadn’t had a chance to try out and she was sure there were even more in the cabinets. There was no doubt in her mind, their time together had been spectacular, and in her heart, she hoped to be back in here with him again. Soon, if her body had anything to say about it, very soon.

  Going with this new positive outlook, she walked out of the room and down to the main floor without seeing or hearing another person. Seriously, he wouldn’t have left her here by herself, would he? Making her way into the room where they’d had a lovely lunch, spent time getting to know each other, she was drawn to the window. Looking outside, she found a typically drizzling day in London. It was impossible to judge the time because his neighborhood was a quiet enclave that defied the surrounding city bustle.

  The house was silent as she stood there and tried to figure out what to do. She couldn’t see his car parked out front. Obviously he wasn’t here and she needed to phone a cab firm for a ride, except she had no idea of the address. Disappointed in misjudging the man and being left in such a cold way encouraged a self-pitying sigh to escape.

  No, she wouldn’t feel sorry for herself. There was too much going well for her to waste time on that negative emotion. Besides, he was the one who’d be missing out on all she had to offer. Moving away from the window, she made her way toward the front door, only to be brought up short by its opening.

  Feeling both awkward and scared to be found in this man’s house, she didn’t know what to do. Screaming was one idea when she didn’t immediately recognize the man stepping into the foyer. On her first real breath, she realized he was the one who’d been with Hamish at the party.

  “Hello, Grace. I’m sorry to be so late. Hamish sends his apologies. He was called away and asked me to come over to see you make it home safely.”

  “Who are you?” The emotional roller coaster she was riding finally took its toll. While she knew the man must be family and knew his way around the house, by no means did this mean she felt at ease being alone with him. What kept her somewhat steady was that she noticed he kept his hands in the pockets and didn’t walk fully into the room. If it was on purpose, then she’d say he was thoughtful, unfortunately, it didn’t matter. The nonthreatening body language didn’t lessen the tension she felt in being stranded in a strange house with a strange man.

  “I’m Alain, Alain Buchanan, Hamish’s cousin and business associate.”

  “I recognize you from the other night.”

  “Are you all right? I’ve startled you. Here, sit down. You’re as white as a ghost. Let me get you a glass of water.”

  Stunned, she watched him dash off and return with a glass full of water. She took a sip of the cool liquid and then another. By the third, she felt calmer and seriously ridiculous.

  She looked up to thank him and found him watching her with a gentle smile. There was something in his eyes, or maybe it was there on his face, she wasn’t entirely sure what it was except that she saw a flicker of something that made her feel at ease in his company. For the first time since she’d woken in a dark room, she felt on stable ground.

  Grace took another drink and tried to find a good conclusion to her time with Hamish, only she was having a difficult time doing it. No matter how she felt about what they did together or how she’d like to remember it, this was her life and on it went.

  She had a million questions to ask and finally settled on just one.

  “Does he usually leave his guests to wake up terrified to find they’re all alone in a strange dark room?”

  “Never, and trust me, he’ll be very upset when he finds out you were scared.”

  “Oh, come on.”

  “No, Grace, please listen to me because I’m giving you the truth. I won’t put any words into my cousin’s mouth. Trust me. He’s big enough to tell you what’s on his mind all by himself. However, I will say one thing I know for sure. The man never went after a woman with such single-mindedness, until you.”

  “I’m sure it’s because no woman walked away from him before.”

  “You’re right, there haven’t been many who have turned him down, but that isn’t why he came after you or why he wanted a friendly face to greet you when you woke up. For him, you’re in a totally different, never fully defined, category.”

  Lifting the glass to her lips, she watched and listened carefully to what he had to say. There was an aura of sincerity coming from him, which made her think he believed wholly in what he was telling her. This didn’t make it true, though, and Hamish’s absence was speaking louder than his cousin’s comforting words.

  Damn it, when had she become so cynical? This wasn’t like her at all. Before any further damage was done, it would be for the best if she cut her losses and left.

  “Would you mind calling me a cab? I don’t know the address and need to get home before heading in to work.”

  “Grace, you have to trust me about Hamish.”

  “Thank you for everything you’ve had to say, but really it’s your cousin who needs to do the talking. In the meantime, I left work early yesterday and should get back. Hamish knows where to find me if he’d like to explain his behavior.”

  An odd look came across Alain’s face. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was trying not to laugh.

  “What?”

  “Well, Grace, you’ve actually been here for two days.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not. The charity ball was Friday night, Saturday Hamish came to apologize to you and apparently brought you back here. It’s now almost eleven o’clock on Monday morning.”

  “What did that man do to me?”

  “Well—”

  “Stop! Don’t answer that. I know what we did, what I meant was where did all that time go? Ooo!”

  “Do you want me to answer that one?”

  “No, please don’t. All I ask is that you call a cab so I can get home and try to get back to reality.”

  “I’ll drive you myself.” Any sign of a smile had been wiped from his face.

  “That isn’t necessary.”

  “Of course it is, so please, do us both a favor and don’t bother arguing.”

  “Fine, not many people would be willing to drive to Old Bond Street in the middle of the day.”

  “That’s where your shop is, where do you live?”

  “My apartment here in London is above the shop.”

  Thankfully, from that point on their conversation became less personal and therefore much easier for her to handle. She didn’t know whether it was Alain or her who changed the direction of the conversation. It didn’t matter because she was too pleased by the turn to think about it further. There was enough going on in her head without having to hold a meaningful discussion at the same time or unintentionally walking into another minefield of sexual innuendo.

  As soon as she got home and had a minute to herself in her own space, she’d have to think about how she’d actually spent two days in a man’s erotic playroom and not realized how much time had passed. It was looking like she’d been on a bender, a seriously good sex bender. The way her body still tingled with pleasure seemed to confirm plenty had gone on between them.

  Once Alain dropped her off, Grace thanked him, stepped out of the car and walked into the shop with her head held high. With a quick tug, she made sure her wrap covered the state of her neck, then walked in the front door with poise and purpose. Ignoring her own embarrassment, she cheerfully waved at her startled store manager, employees and a couple of customers while wearing the same clothe
s from two days ago.

  As she made her way down the hallway, she called out over her shoulder to Aimee, who she was sure had followed her.

  “I know, I know, I should’ve phoned. As you can see, I’m all right. I’ll be back down shortly and you can give me the third degree then.”

  “At least tell me if that gorgeous Scotsman survived the weekend?”

  There was no holding her laughter back on that one. The woman’s comment was exactly what she’d needed to hear as she worked to reconnect herself with the person who spent two days indulging all of her sexual desires. She turned back around and dashed back to give the woman a quick hug.

  “He did.”

  “Will you be seeing him again?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Luv, I have no doubt he’ll make every effort to ensure he does. Don’t worry about coming back down, we have everything under control.”

  “No, I’ll be down later. I need to shower, change and get my head back in focus.”

  “Fine, we’ll see you when we see you.”

  With a momentary lightening of her heart, she made her way up the stairs, past the floor that acted as the stock room to the top level where her apartment was. Grace unlocked the door and walked in, pleased to be here.

  It wasn’t a large place and happened to suit her needs perfectly. She set her hat, wrap and purse on the table, then made her way to the couch where it sat beneath a large window. Slipping her feet out of her shoes, she sat down and folded her legs beneath her. She leaned over, rested her chin on the ledge and looked out over the rooftops.

  Within seconds of finding the peace this place offered, her mind drifted back to Hamish Buchanan and how they’d spent the past couple of days together. The finer points were sketchy, but she definitely remembered wonderful sex, eating in bed and even him carrying her into the bathroom when she needed it. What she didn’t remember was the details like if the blindfold ever came off, if they used other toys besides the anal balls, things like that.

  Right now everything she recalled was surrounded by darkness. Did he drug her? No, no, that was one thing she felt sure about. To do something so vile was far beneath the man.

  It took a few seconds to register her phone was ringing and that she needed to answer it. It would surely be Aimee and Grace was prepared to tell her again that she’d be down in an hour.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Grace.”

  Whether she’d been expecting someone else or not didn’t stop the surprise she felt at hearing the now familiar deep sexy voice coming down the line. The Scottish burr ran through her body, raising goose bumps along the way and working on softening her upset. Her lips parted and her breath started to come more quickly. He did this to her with just two words, what could he do with more? Grace wasn’t sure what to say, so kept it simple.

  “Hi.”

  “What are you doing right now?”

  “Sitting on my couch trying to figure out how mad I am with you.” Good, she gave herself a quick pep talk. Don’t hide anything from him.

  “Please don’t be upset. If I could’ve been with you when you woke this morning, I would’ve been.”

  “Hamish, for two days I was in that play room of yours and I—”

  “I know, great, wasn’t it?” Pleased, and without any real doubt what her answer would be, came from him loud and clear.

  “Yes, but—”

  “No buts, lass, it was perfect.”

  “Okay, it was wonderful, fine, but I feel like I missed something I should know and am not at all comfortable with that.” She believed this and yet still couldn’t put her finger on what it was or why she thought it did.

  “Do you know that I’d like to see you again?” There wasn’t a hint of doubt or insecurity in the man. He came across as confident and yet not demanding.

  “That’s a given. I’ve just spent two days as your love puppet. No man would choose to walk away from that.”

  “Well, I want more than your submission in the bedroom. I want much more than that.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you, Grace? Do you know how it hurt to leave your side? Do you know I wanted our first time together to be perfect? I wanted you to know how very special you are, except I couldn’t seem to stop myself from taking you over and over. There’s an insatiable hunger building inside me and it’s for you.”

  Her quivering hand moved up and covered her mouth. Telling her what he was feeling made her heart leap and stomach drop. They were a good pair. No doubt about it, but she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel and let him have total control over her. It was time to give him a few hard truths.

  “It was terrifying to wake up in your room, in the dark and all by myself. I didn’t like that at all.”

  “I’m sorry, because I wanted to watch you wake up, see you in the sunlight.” She heard his voice deepen and felt her body respond to him. She wanted him, but knew it wasn’t enough to be all about sex for him.

  “I enjoyed what we had and while you gave me a taste of your brand of desire, I actually want to be more than someone who gets you off.”

  “Don’t ever doubt you engage all of me. My brain and body.”

  “Pretty hard to do from where I sit right now. I feel used, Hamish, and don’t like it one bit.”

  “Don’t, please don’t think for a second that I hunted you down merely for sex. What we shared was much more than that. It’s just that my cock ruled the time we spent together.”

  “Sweet words, Hamish, but I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

  “None given. I know I’ve screwed up from the beginning.”

  “What do you mean?” She liked this man, really liked him and wanted to be able to see past her anger. There was a real chance of something more between them.

  “First, I insult you. After that I basically keep you as my, what did you call it, love puppet? Yes, that’s it, love puppet, without caring about your responsibilities. Then, to finish it off with a cherry on top, I’m not there when you wake up. This isn’t what I intended to happen when I stopped by your shop on Saturday. I promise, Grace, none of this was planned. What can I say? I lost my head when I set eyes on you and my brain went with it.”

  Grace listened to him and appreciated how he didn’t offer any more excuses for what happened. Although the head loss thing was pretty close, it was one she actually understood. She didn’t exactly behave as she would normally either. It wasn’t usual for her to go have wild and kinky sex with a man who insulted her one minute and gave her flowers the next.

  “I’m upset about what happened and don’t know what to do.” What else could she say? Apparently confusion ruled her mind.

  “Will you go out with me tonight? Start again as we mean to go.”

  “I don’t know, Hamish. I can’t afford to lose more days like I already have. Not right now.” There was the new season coming up, the awarding of her royal warrant and the fact that her success was reliant entirely on her. If she didn’t do the work, then there’d be nothing to sell.

  “How about good food and interesting conversation, but no sex?”

  “I’m not so sure we need to go that far. What would you say if we eat and talk, then decide about sex?”

  “Ms. Strachan, are you negotiating with me?” There was a delighted element of surprise to his query and she felt empowered again.

  “Why not? I’m a businesswoman who knows what she wants and it just so happens to be you, all of you, not just your delightfully kinky passion. We’ve done that one already, let’s see if we can go for more and this time bring our brains to the party.”

  “Deal. I’ll pick you up at six. How do you feel about Chinese food?”

  “Seven-thirty and what about a curry?”

  “You’re just begging for my hand to spank your ass, aren’t you?”

  “Absolutely. Do we have a deal?”

  “Deal.”

  “Hamish?”

  “Yes, lass?”

 
“I like the way you do business.”

  “You wouldn’t know it, but I have a reputation as a hard-nosed businessman. I can be ruthless, brutal, demanding everything as suits me. Apparently when it comes to you, I lie down and roll over.” His laughter was contagious.

  “It’s all good as long as you’re hard and demanding when it’s necessary.”

  “No need to worry about that. With you I can’t seem to be anything except hard and horny.”

  “Now that’s the image I’ll take with me while I clean up and change before going downstairs. Thank you.”

  “You’re naked now?” His voice lowered like it had when he was about to do something deliciously naughty with her body and it made her shiver.

  “Nope, but I’ll get there in a second and think of how well your hard-on can lift a kilt. See you tonight.”

  With joy filling her, she blew a kiss down the line and hung up. There was no way to keep the smile off her face. It was simple, really. There was something about the man that encouraged her to feel more alive than she ever had before. She was looking forward to exploring him further,

  All of him.

  Mind, body and soul.

  Chapter Eight

  After she hung up, Hamish was thoughtful. When he set out to claim Grace, he’d brimmed with confidence in his success to bring her to his side. Then, while he had her in his grip, he’d been even surer they were meant to be together. Now that she wasn’t here and was angry with him, his assurance that he had control over what was happening between them or where they were heading had diminished.

  It was taking a great deal of effort for him not to drive over to Frivolity and bring her back to his home so they could start the day differently. Of course he knew this wasn’t a realistic idea, but he’d keep it in mind because he was sure he’d be more in sync with everything if he could reach out and touch her.