As they rambled onward, she realized what she had told Artair was true, beyond Dingwall Castle and a brief upended contemplation of the moors outside Culloden, she hadn’t seen anything of the country since her arrival. She’d always wanted to visit Scotland. To see if it was as magical in person as it was described in books.
The bright green landscape dotted with wide fields of yellow dillseed and the occasional thatched cottage didn’t disappoint. Against the deep blue sky, the view stole her breath. Shortly after leaving Cullicudden, the land gave way to the shimmering waters of the Cromarty Firth on her left. It was narrow at first with Ben Wyvis on the other side. From a distance, the mountain was long and low, shaded in purple and darker greens. The terrain soon tamed to rolling hills, hazy against the afternoon sky as they progressed. The firth grew wider and wider still. But for one lone, squat castle tower along the shore, there was nothing to obscure the spectacular vista. Though they were passed at one point by a small band of redcoat soldiers.
The afternoon sun pounded down on them, making her glad for the wide brim of her hat to shade her pale skin. It was hot for April and, she gathered, Scotland in general. But where the interior of the closed carriage had been stifling before, she appreciated the cool breezes wafting in from the firth. It made the heat more bearable but she was still hot and sticky under her many layers.
The carriage turned away from the shoreline but while it remained in view, another body of water came into sight on the right. The Moray Firth, Keir explained.
Then Rosebraugh, just as captivating as he had said. It sat on the spit of land close to the southern shore where the two bodies of water met. Appearing through the haze of the hot afternoon like a mirage. The sight took Al’s breath away and she was instantly enchanted.
But the heavenly looking water beyond was what drew and kept her attention. Sunlight danced off the gently lapping surface like nymphs tempting her to join them. As hot as she was, she desperately wanted to. The closer they got to the castle, the louder it called to her. The gates to Rosebraugh were just yards away. As ornate as they were, they didn’t seem near as welcoming.
“Is there a beach on the firth?”
“Aye. Why?”
“Could I walk down there?”
“I suppose. But ’tis a bit of a climb and the day is uncomfortably warm.”
“Yes, but the water looks so inviting.”
“Invit…” He trailed off with a grin as the anticipation in her voice clued him in, and then called for his coachman to halt the carriage. He leapt down before it came to a stop and held his arms up to her. “So, ye fancy a swim, do ye?”
Al nodded eagerly and fell into his arms. “You don’t have to come with me. I can go by myself. I’m sure you have business waiting for you there.”
Yes, it made sense now that he would need to visit Rosebraugh after the revelation of the previous day. “And you did say back in town that we were in a hurry.”
“Honestly, I’m in nae more hurry today tae be a duke than I was yesterday,” he said. “Also, I’m overheated myself. It can wait an hour more.”
They why couldn’t it have waited before?
Before she could ask, he waved the carriage on and clasped her hand, tugging her forward. Soon they were all but running for the edge of the cliff side overlooking the Moray Firth. Then it became a race. Laughing breathlessly, she scrambled down the steep hill without incident. The lure of cool water was all she needed.
They reached the bottom and Keir shot her a wicked grin before he was running toward the surf, throwing off his jacket and vest as he sprinted. She was close on his heels though she reached the water’s edge still fully clad while he wore nothing above the waist and was already kicking off his boots.
She was struggling with her ties when he stepped into the water. “Hey! What about me?”
He looked back at her, his roguish brow lifted. “I anticipated the merest glimpse of yer ankles, lass. Do ye intend tae do more than lift yer skirts and wade to yer calves like a lady?”
“Would there be anyone around to see? Beside you, I mean?”
“Nay, this entire end of the peninsula is owned by the dukedom.”
“Then absolutely,” she retorted, laughing with him as he spun her around to loosen the laces of her dress. Within seconds, her bodice drooped forward. She admired his rakish skills and told him so. He took no offense this time but merely grinned wickedly and unbuttoned the front flap of his trousers.
Blushing hotly, she turned her back. She dropped her dress and untied her petticoat, but clung to both. Getting naked in front of a man was as far beyond her normal comfort zone as having one get naked in front of her was.
The lure of the water was stronger than her modesty, it seemed. Or was it Keir who made her so daring? He’d already proven that he could. She let the garments fall to the sand and stepped out of them.
A splash sounded behind her and she spun around just as he emerged from the water, shaking his head so that drops of water flew into the air, sparkling in the sunlight.
Working faster, she toed off her shoes and unrolled her hose, cursing whomever had decided women had to wear so many clothes.
“Join me,” he called, splashing water at her as he strode closer.
Not naked, as she’d thought, his linen drawers hung low across his hips. The sight of that dark hair sprinkled across his broad chest then narrowing over his rippled abs stole her breath. Her gaze followed it down, down before it disappeared into the wet, clinging garment. The way it hugged every inch of him might have been even more tantalizing than utter nudity.
Sweet, godly perfection. She sucked in a deep, shaky breath. It was obvious why she wanted him. Any sane woman would.
With only her linen shift left over her bra and panties, she paused before lifting it over her head, but hesitated longer in reaching behind her to unclasp her bra.
Normally, she wouldn’t have dreamed of even getting close to skinny dipping in the water where anyone might come across her. Where a man might be witness to her plump curves without the proper support. She just didn’t have the body for it. Especially not one on par with his.
“Is this the bikini ye told me aboot?” he asked, sloshing out of the firth. Water streamed over his muscular body, weighing down his drawers until they hung indecently low on his hips. Closer he came, shaking the water from his dark hair.
Her fingers itched to curl into the hair on his chest. Rub across his flat nipples. Count the hard ridges of his abdomen.
He reached for her and she held her breath but his long fingers only slipped under her bra strap just above the cup. Over her shoulder, his finger lifted the strap before letting it fall back into place.
“‘Tis scanty indeed. Intriguing.” Fire blazed in his blue eyes.
He traced the thin lace edge of the cup before the backs of his knuckles slid over the navy blue satin. Even molded and formed as they were, she could feel every stroke as if it were in direct contact with her skin.
“N-no,” she stuttered. “It’s n-not a bikini. It’s just underwear.”
His fingertips dipped into the band of her panties, tugging them just a fraction of an inch away from her skin before letting them go. Oh, God, she moaned under her breath then she realized he was captivated not by her but by the elastic band. Life could be so incredibly unfair.
Well, if all he had for her right now was more curiosity, it could wait! And she’d be damned if she would get completely naked and leave the friggin’ thing behind for him to play with either!
“Later,” she said firmly, pushing him away. Running into the water, she gasped in surprise but the breath caught. Gooseflesh broke out from head to toe.
Her gasp turned to a squeal when Keir lifted her in his arms, laughing down at her as he strode deeper into the water. “The firth ‘tis fed from the North Sea. Did ye think it wouldnae be cold?”
“N-not th-that cold,” she said, stammering for a whole different reason now. The lapping water kis
sed her bottom, making her squeak and squeal, but not squirm. She didn’t want him to drop her.
“Aye, ‘tis frigid but the only way tae brave it…” He lifted her high against his chest but she suspected what he planned and clung tightly to his broad shoulders.
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Och, lassie, ‘tis the only way.”
And he threw her.
Engulfed by the freezing water, Al froze in shock as she sunk to the bottom. It wasn’t deep, but it took only an instant for the contrast between the temperature of her skin, heated by a long day in the sun, to acclimate to the water. The unbearable chill became a soothing caress, washing away the discomfort, the grime and sweat.
Buoyancy lifted her to the top and she resurfaced, taking only a second to hear his laughter and to draw a breath before she dove under once more, pushing off from his chest with her feet. Swimming under water as long as she could, she savored the rush of the water in her ears. The calm.
It had been years since she’d been swimming. Her grandmother had paid for her to take part in a swim league while Al was growing up. She’d been determined to extract Al from her books for at least a few weeks each summer to soak up a little of the vitamin D she was certain Al was deficient in. Those leagues had lasted until her sophomore year of high school when her grandma died and her mother hadn’t wanted to waste the money on it.
She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed it. Being at peace, when even the constant churn of her mind stopped to appreciate the sheer nothingness of it all.
Isolated from everything… and everyone.
She exhaled slowly, using every second she had to savor that moment before drifting to the surface. She broke through, inhaled, and rolled on to her back with a sigh of contentment…
That lasted all of two seconds before she was jerked to the side by one arm.
“Al! Lass! Are ye all right?” Keir shouted, gathering her into his arms with a little shake.
“Why are you yelling at me?”
She dropped her feet down but found nothing solid beneath them before he lifted her up once more. He dipped down in the process and she realized her swim had taken her out into water over her head and his.
If he didn’t let go of her, he might end up drowning them both. She pushed away but he held her tighter.
“Dinnae struggle, lass. I’ve got ye now.”
“Got me?” Al swept her now-straggly hair back from her face with both hands and peered up at him. “Are you trying to save me?”
“Aye. What were ye thinking going intae open water rather than back tae shore?” he asked, clearly upset, but she couldn’t completely swallow the giggle building up in her throat.
“I was thinking of going for a swim. I thought you knew that when you asked if I ‘fancied a swim,’” she said, imitating his brogue. Pushing out of his arms, she twirled around with a splash before treading a few feet away from him.
“Ye swim?”
“Aye, laddie, I swim. As well as ye or mayhap e’en better.”
She felt freer than she had in months. Years perhaps. As if the water had buoyed her spirits as well as her body. She dropped a few inches below the surface and came up with a mouthful of water, which she promptly spouted at him.
He sputtered, wiping his face, and when she laughed again it was as if the weight of her entire life had floated away. Ignoring his outrage, real or feigned, she swam toward him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
He was as beautiful as he’d ever been, his dark hair clinging to his head. His eyes as blue as the sky above.
“Thank you for trying to save me,” she said softly, ruffling his curls between her fingers.
“I’ll always save ye, lass. Though obviously, I dinnae—”
She kissed him. Just to shut him up, of course, but in a heartbeat his arms wrapped tightly around her and he was kissing her back.
If she thought she’d run the gamut of possible kisses that day, she was wrong. It wasn’t slow and sensual as some had been, nor was it hot and fervent. Meant to arouse or impassion. Even though she might have begun it with that intention.
No, it was a kiss of joy. Release.
Just plain liking.
They sank below the water before the kiss ended and broke it before reaching the surface once more. Keir smiled down at her as he wiped her hair from her eyes. As if he had gotten a glimpse of the freedom she felt. The smile was one, not of teasing or flirtation or deviltry, but happiness.
“Tell me how ye learned to swim so well.”
And so she told him, opening up for the first time about her family and childhood. The loneliness in her life and the peace she’d found in swimming but had forgotten until that day. They floated along, languidly stroking through the water every once in a while, talking. Just talking. Not about the future. Not about science or innovation. Or the history of the years between them.
But about themselves. About the history of him and her and the stories that had made them who they were.
The sun began its descent by the time they swam toward shore, the water beginning to chill them both after almost an hour in it. He caught her hand, tugging her along with him. When he could touch bottom, she hugged his shoulders and climbed on to his back, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“What is this?”
“Haven’t you ever carried anyone like this?” she asked, running her lips up the side of his neck. Her breasts flush against him.
He shook his head though his hands running familiarly along her thighs to cup her bottom belied his words. “Nay, nae quite like this. But I maun hae carried one like this a time or two.”
He rotated her until she was chest to chest with him. Again he cupped her bottom, but this time drew her down instead of lifting, pulling her tighter against him. The rough hairs of his chest tickled and aroused but not as effectively as the rampant erection pressed between her thighs.
“You’re such a rake,” she said softly, teasing the curling hair at his nape through her fingers. He gave her a sharp glance but Al only smiled. “A rogue then. Tell me what would a rogue do in this situation?”
Take her in the water until there was nothing left of the firth but steam? Make love to her on the beach until they both had sand everywhere it should never be?
Fantasies spinning through her mind, she kissed him again but to her surprise, he didn’t allow it to deepen as he had before. Instead, he eased her away, carrying her up to the beach before dropping her on her feet.
What was wrong with him? Or was it her?
It had always been her.
No, he wanted her. Badly enough even the cold water of the firth couldn’t diminish the evidence.
What then?
“What is it?” she asked, unable to keep the hurt from her voice. She yanked on her shift, needing even that thin cloth to provide some shielding between them. “I’m practically throwing myself at you, in case you hadn’t noticed. I know you want m—want to. Have sex.”
“Och, lass,” he groaned, hauling her into his arms. Forcing her to look up at him when all she wanted to do was look away in shame. He framed her face between his hands and kissed her gently. “I do want ye, mo ghrá. Ne’er think otherwise. I want ye so badly, I could hae taken ye in the firth or right here on this beach. Bugger it, I’ve been wanting ye since the moment I kissed ye this morn. Before e’en. Dinnae think otherwise.”
“What’s stopping you then?”
“This is what’s stopping me,” he gestured to the wide open expanse of beach. “I’ll nae be taking ye in the water nor the sand like an animal, lass. Nae matter how desperately I want tae. When I bed ye, I plan tae do it properly.”
“Properly?” she repeated in amazement, snatching up her petticoat. “Never tell me the Rake of Ross is a prude who only does it in a bed?”
“’Tis another challenge?” To her surprise, he laughed, lifting her once again into his arms and kissing her until she was delirious with wanting. “I’d take ye any way
a man can, mo rúnsearc. But the first time, aye, I plan tae do it in a bed. Wi’ a door tae gi’ us privacy and the hours required tae gi’ the task proper attention.”
Her eyes rounded. “The proper attention? Would you care to elaborate?”
And he did. Verbosely. Describing every last detail of what he planned to do to her as they dressed in the essentials, carrying their stockings and shoes and Keir his vest and jacket as they headed back up the beach.
Apparently he’d given it a lot of thought, yet the description was filled with starts and stops. He broke off again and again to draw her into his arms, kissing her silly.
As if the telling alone were so arousing he couldn’t help himself.
She hoped so.
Chapter 23
Only years of playing at Rosebraugh as a lad had gotten them through a maze of narrow service stairs and hidden doorways without being detected. He wasn’t making a terribly agreeable impression on his first day as a duke but his mind was occupied with far more undukely thoughts.
Though he knew his new staff would be waiting to greet him—though most had known him since he was but a lad—and Cook would have prepared a feast to welcome him, Keir was more interested in the feast he was about to partake in.
At last.
It had been a day of torment, first in their long exploration of the kiss, but even more so when Al had stripped down to her bikini that was not actually one. Whatever it had been by name, by sight it was so arousing he’d been glad for the chilled water of the firth to cool his ardent erection.
At least to a level fit for her eyes.
Her body was everything he’d imagined it would be. Lush. Curvaceous. Tempting beyond hope. It had taken all his will to refrain from ravishing her on that beach. Only the knowledge that they would soon be alone had given him the strength to watch her run into the water untouched. Though the sight of her rounded bottom cupped by a mere scrap of cloth had sent him bounding after her.
As a sort of reward for resisting, he’d been given a glimpse of an Allorah Maines he might never have known existed. A water sprite, impish and playful. True joy dancing at her lips as it hadn’t before.
Love in the Time of a Highland Laird (A Laird for All Time Book 3) Page 15
