by Mina Carter
“Do you own all this land?”
“Aye. It will be yours as well.”
“Way to ease me in.”
He chuckled. “The question is whether or not you want to stay in the guest house or in the big house.”
“Guest,” she said without hesitation.
“Sam knows you well.”
“Is that okay?” she asked.
“Of course it is.” He grinned. “I had the staff get it ready for us.”
“Us?”
“Aye. For tonight at least,” he said, and then added, “If you don’t object, of course.”
She pursed her lips. “Hmm. I don’t know.”
“I just figured we’ve been sleeping in the same bed pretty much since we met, and we will when we’re bound, so… ”
“That is true,” she conceded with a cheeky grin. “I just wouldn’t want the neighbors to think I’m a hussy.”
“No problem with that. We’ve already established that you’re my hussy, so it’s something they’ll just have to get over.”
“Good point.” She giggled. “Sam told you I hate to live alone, huh?”
“She did mention that fact, right before she insisted you move into her flat in town.”
“Is it not a good plan?” she asked.
“It’s a workable plan when you start your term, provided you still want to go to MGA.”
She sighed. “I think I do. I don’t know.”
“Well, whatever you decide is fine, but for now, it’s better to be here. If you do decide to go to Edinburgh, I’ll need to make some arrangements here so I can be with you.”
Pepper smiled. “We have a little time before sessions start, so we’ll have plenty of time to figure things out.”
The car pulled up to a giant building with “Gunnach Stables” written on the outside and Pepper watched as Max led Jonesy calmly from the trailer. She unbuckled her seatbelt, dropping Connall’s coat on the seat, and jumped from the car, ignoring his suggestion to proceed slowly. She wasn’t quite prepared for the wall of ice that hit her. Lucky for her, Connall was right behind her and slid his coat back over her shoulders.
“It’s cold, love.”
“Ya think?” She shivered as she slipped her arms into the sleeves. “Thank you. I forgot about the tundra. This is beyond cold, Con. I think my bones might be frozen.”
“There’s a large claw-foot tub at the guest house. You can have a soak before bed.”
She sighed. “Sounds like heaven.”
Jonesy’s whinny forced her to pull away from Connall and his warmth. She unwrapped a peppermint and handed it to her horse. “I don’t know how Jonesy’s going to handle this cold, babe.”
Connall chuckled. “The barn’s temperature controlled. We’ll tuck him in and he’ll be nice and toasty.” Connall turned to Max. “We can take it from here, brother. Thanks for everything.”
Pepper smiled and nodded. “Yes, Max. Thank you so much for all your help. I would have been a wreck without you and so would Jonesy.”
“It’s my pleasure, Pepper,” Max said. “I’ll probably see you both in a few days. Definitely before the tour starts.”
“Sounds good,” Connall said, and nodded toward the car. “Tavish will drop our things at the house and then see you home, if you like.”
“No need,” Max said. “I left my car in your garage. He can just drop me there.”
“Perfect,” Connall said. He leaned into the car and spoke briefly with Tavish and then made his way back to Pepper.
“I’ll see you later,” Max said, and climbed into the car.
Pepper watched them drive away before following Connall and Jonesy into the warmth of the barn.
“Welcome home, sir,” an older gentleman said as he stepped out of a stall.
“Thank you, Ahearn.” Connall paused and waited for Pepper to catch up. “I’d like to you to meet Pepper. This is her horse, Jonesy.”
Ahearn was a fatherly-looking man who first shook her hand and then spent a good deal of time fawning over Jonesy and exclaiming what a fine specimen of equine flesh he was. Pepper adored him instantly.
“I’ll take great care of him, m’lady,” Ahearn promised, and then turned to Connall. “I’ll call up to the house if anything comes up.”
“We’ll be at the guest house, Ahearn. But call my cell if you need me,” Connall said.
“Aye sir. Do you need a lift?”
“No. Tavish is waiting.”
“I thought he left,” Pepper whispered.
Connall smiled. “I told him to return once he dropped Max off,” he whispered back. Then aloud to Ahearn, “Very good.” Ahearn took Jonesy’s lead and led him into a large stall.
Pepper gave Jonesy one last peppermint and then slipped her hand into Connall’s. He led her out to the awaiting car and opened the door for her.
She slipped inside and once Connall was buckled, Tavish drove them to the guest house.
* * *
When they arrived at the guest cottage, Tavish turned off the car and climbed out. Connall gave Pepper’s knee a gentle squeeze. “Ready?”
Pepper nodded. “Definitely.”
She followed Connall from the car, waited while he gave Tavish some last-minute instructions, and then let Connall lead her into the house.
A small but well-lit foyer greeted them with a large cabinet that Connall opened and hung their coats in. He took her hand and led her down a narrow hallway and into a surprisingly spacious great room. An ornate fireplace was the perfect focal point and Pepper hummed in appreciation. “This is glorious, Con. Has this house always been here? I mean, was it here when you got the land?”
“Sort of. When we split up the land after our father died, I wanted to build a house in the Arts and Crafts style. This building was already on the property, but was in disrepair, so we fixed it up and gave it a similar façade as the big house. The only thing truly original is the fireplace. I didn’t have the heart to change it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Pepper said as she took in the space. “It certainly doesn’t look old.”
“We’ve made a few changes in the past five years to modernize things,” Connall said as he turned to face Pepper. “Max loves the American open-concept idea, so he helped with the renovation.”
There was a well-appointed kitchen with a large granite island, and Pepper noticed French doors that probably opened to the backyard. She planned to investigate in detail tomorrow.
“There are three bedrooms upstairs. One of them has an en-suite and the other two share a bathroom. Come on. I’ll show you. You must be exhausted.”
Pepper took his hand and followed him up the stairs. He pushed open a door to a small but cozy room and stood back to let her precede him.
An iron bed, a little bigger than a double, took up most of the room, with its headboard positioned against the wall between two windows. Her bags sat in the middle of the mattress begging to be unpacked. Two small nightstands flanked the bed and the sliding doors of the closet were on the right.
Connall opened a door to the left of the bed, which revealed the bathroom housing the promised claw-foot tub along with a pedestal sink and toilet. “The shower here is workable, but the one down the hall is bigger and has a special steam setting, so you may want to use that instead.”
“This is perfect, Con. Thank you.”
“Are you hungry?”
She shook her head, stifling a yawn.
“Why don’t you grab what you need for tonight and I’ll run the bath?” He gave her a quick kiss. “Then you can go to bed.”
“What about you?” she asked.
“I have a few things to do, but I’ll be in the room down the hall.”
“Oh. Okay.” Pepper tried not to look disappointed, but his gentle smile indicated she failed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong, I guess.” She shrugged. “I just like sleeping with you.”
“I’m not sure how long my business will take, lov
e. I don’t want to wake you.” He slipped a lock of hair behind her ear. “But if you’d like me to join you when I’m done, I will.”
“Yes, please,” she said quickly.
He chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Your wish is my command.”
Pepper put a few things away while Connall started the bath and then left her to make his phone calls. Pepper piled her hair on top of her head, undressed, and slipped into the warm water with a contented sigh. This is perfect, baby. Thank you.
My pleasure, love.
Pepper smiled and closed her eyes.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
AN URGENT KNOCK brought Pepper out of a painful dream. Her head was pounding.
“Pepper?” Connall called through the door.
“Huh?” she said.
“Pepper!” Connall pressed as he jiggled the doorknob.
“I’m here, Con.” She realized the water was cold and she shivered as she stood and grabbed a towel. “What’s wrong?”
“You haven’t answered me in almost an hour. I thought you were asleep, but you weren’t in bed,” he said.
“Sorry, babe. I must have fallen asleep. I’ll be right out.”
She rushed to pull on her pajamas and then stepped into the bedroom.
Connall stood, typing into his phone. He looked up and smiled. “Hi. Feel better?”
“Much,” she said. “Are you done with work?”
“Almost. Just a couple more emails.” He nodded to a glass on one of the nightstands. “I brought you water and was going to leave you something for your headache, but now that I’m here, I can take it away for you.”
“Yes, please.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s working its way to a nasty migraine.”
He set his phone down and laid his hands on her head. She sighed as the relief wove its way through her skull. It was almost instantaneous.
“Where were you all through high school?” she complained.
“Pining for you,” he retorted, and patted her on the bottom. “Now, go to bed. I’ll be in soon.”
Pepper climbed into bed, waking to blinding light, her head feeling as though it might explode. She stumbled into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. It didn’t help. When she returned to the bedroom, she noticed that although it appeared Connall had slept in the bed, he wasn’t there now, and neither were the painkillers that had been on the nightstand. She flopped back on the mattress.
Con? Where are those pills? And where are you?
“I’m here, sweetheart,” he said as he slipped into the room, a tray in hand. “The pills are right there, love.”
She covered her eyes with her hands. “I couldn’t find them.”
“I’ll take care of you and we can have breakfast.”
She shook her head, covering her mouth with her hand in an effort not to throw up. Connall set the tray on the nightstand and stretched out beside her, pulling her onto his chest. He ran his hands over her scalp and she took a deep breath and relaxed against him.
“That was a bad one,” he murmured.
She shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
She raised her head and saw the pills nestled by the lamp. “I see the pills now.” She glanced at him. “What am I going to do if you’re not around?”
“When we’re bound, I won’t have to touch you to heal you.”
She giggled. “Well, then, you should bind me tomorrow.”
“Whenever you’re ready, love.”
“How about today?”
He chuckled.
“I’m serious.” She sat up. “Can we do it today?”
“That might be a bit soon.” He sat up as well. “I’d like to set up a few things first.”
“You don’t need to make it romantic, Con. I just want you.”
He shook his head. “I want to make it romantic, but it’s not just that. We’ll need to be prepared for your change.”
“Oh, right.” She leaned over him and grabbed a strawberry off the tray. “What do I need to do?”
“Nothing. I’ll take care of everything, but I still think we should wait.” Connall ran his thumb over her bottom lip, wiping the juice from it, and then licked his thumb.
“Why?” She took another bite of the strawberry.
“Wouldn’t you like to take some time to explore Scotland?”
“We’ll have plenty of time.”
“I think you should have time to look around a bit. So, we should really wait.”
“I disagree.” Pepper frowned. “I think we should get the pain part out of the way, so we can be free to enjoy everything together.”
“All of this can wait, love.”
“Connall.” Pepper crossed her arms. “Are you changing your mind?”
“No.”
“Then why are you being weird all of a sudden?”
He ran his hands through his hair. “I didn’t realize I was being weird.”
She laid her hand on his leg and sighed. “Babe, I can handle a little pain. Sam’s proof that this whole process won’t kill me.”
He climbed off the bed. “I know it won’t kill you.”
“Okay, then. Let’s do it tonight.”
“How about in a week?”
“Con.” She stood and looped her hands around his neck. “I don’t want to wait a week. I’d like to do it tonight.”
“Well, I’m not doing it here.”
“Oh? Where would you rather ‘do it’?”
“At home. The home we’ll live in together.”
“The big-ass mansion.”
“It’s not that big, Pepper,” he argued.
She grinned. “Okay. Let’s do it at the ‘not that big’ mansion.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled her close. “Let me make sure that works for Sam.”
“We need Sam?”
He nodded. “Aye. She’ll need to monitor you and make sure that nothing goes wrong… unless you’d rather have Kade.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Sam will work. She doesn’t need to be in the room when we ‘consummate’ the binding, does she?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Good.” She kissed him. “I’ll be fine, Con.”
“I think you should see the house first, though.”
“Why? Afraid I’ll back out?”
“No?” he said unconvincingly.
“I’ve messed up your plan, haven’t I?”
“Not at all.” Connall chuckled. “It’s just that when I think I have you figured out, you zig when I think you’re going to zag.”
Pepper grinned. “And that bugs you a lot a bit?”
“‘A lot a bit’?”
“More than a little, but less than a lot… ”
“Damn, I love you,” he said, and kissed her.
They ended up back on the bed and Pepper knew with the thoughts running around Connall’s mind that if one of them didn’t stop, she’d be bound and going through the conversion within a matter of seconds. She pushed on his chest and broke the kiss, squeezing her eyes shut in an effort to block him out.
“Do you see why we can’t wait?” she challenged.
He nodded and took a deep breath. “Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll take you over to the house and then to see Jonesy. If I bind you tonight, you won’t be able to do much for a few days.”
“Okay.”
Connall left her to make arrangements and Pepper dressed in her warmest and most comfortable clothes.
* * *
The weather was too cold for Pepper to walk to the main house and she was grateful Connall warmed the car before she climbed inside. Even if sixty-seven still felt cold to her, it was a heck of a lot better than the arctic chill outside.
Connall drove into the large garage attached to the house and turned off the car. Pepper shook her head. The garage was twice the size of her mother’s home and it housed four cars, probably each worth more than her mother’s home.
&
nbsp; “What?” Connall asked.
“Boys and their toys.”
“All of them serve a purpose.”
“Really? Enlighten me. What purpose does the Ferrari serve?”
He smiled. “Except the Ferrari. That one’s just for fun.”
She sighed. “I’m nervous now.”
“Why?”
“What’s the inside of your house going to look like if your garage is this extravagant?”
“You can make any changes to the house you want if you don’t like what you see.” He slid out of the car and made his way to her side and opened the door. She climbed out and took his hand. He gave her a gentle squeeze and led her through a door that opened into a mudroom, filled with rubber boots, coats and towels, and various sizes of shovels.
“Wow,” she said. “You’re prepared.”
“We have to be when the weather changes as often as it does,” he said and pushed through another door, standing aside to let her walk ahead of him.
Pepper entered the room and stalled. “Con,” she whispered in awe.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head as she took in the space. “Absolutely nothing.”
Pepper felt like she’d been transported into a lodge more akin to something in Montana than what she’d imagined a Scottish home would look like. The room was vaulted and dark wooden beams were exposed in the ceiling, with a large picture window that revealed a view of snow-covered trees that seemed to go for miles.
“This place is perfect.”
Large, overstuffed furniture was positioned in front of a fireplace that had to be taller than Connall, and a flat-screen television was hung artfully above the mantle.
Pepper shrugged off her coat and turned to face Connall. “I really thought a place this big would be cold and uninviting.”
“This is my favorite room in the house,” he said. “I just hope you like the rest.”
“Lead the way.”
Connall led her from the great room, through a giant foyer, and up a wide staircase that just happened to be identical to the one on the opposite side of the entrance. Pepper felt like she was visiting a governor’s mansion in some historic state.
“This is out of control.”
He squeezed her hand. Once at the top of the stairs, they turned right and walked down a hallway. Double doors opened to an anteroom of sorts and Pepper realized the house was much, much larger than it appeared on the outside. Connall pushed open another set of double doors and waited at the threshold for Pepper to enter the room.
