As Kate opened a container of pasta and dug in, a twig snapped in the forest. Chewing paused, she listened. Probably nothing. She was on a tiny island. Not an ideal habitat for large wildlife. She was fine. The island was gorgeous, there was a mountain of food to eat, a sexy book to read, and wine to wash it all down. Life couldn't get any better.
Until a huge pile of sticks dropped down next to her blanket. Kate screamed, fumbled the container of pasta and shot off the blanket as Terry raced around her legs.
Devin stood there, looking as aggravated as she was shocked.
"What the hell?" she demanded, breathless, heart racing.
"You're in my spot."
"Your spot!"
He frowned, lips drawing into a thin line. Otherwise, he looked pretty damn hot standing there in work boots, cargo pants, and a flannel shirt hanging open to reveal a white T-shirt underneath. He looked wild and outdoorsy, and utterly male.
As they stared at each other, the situation seemed to dawn on them simultaneous.
"Hamish," they both said in unison.
Devin swiped a hand through his hair and let out a fed up breath.
"How did you get here?" she asked.
"My boat's just around that rock. It's an easier place to moor." He eyed her small craft. "You paddled all the way?"
"Been on the water since lunch. Eventually made it here." She looked down at the blanket. The container was overturned and the pasta spilled onto the dirt. Fair game for the dogs. "This explains why Fran packed so much food."
Devin's head swung around. "Food?"
She stifled a laugh. "Yeah. Guess she was in on it too. Might as well help yourself."
Devin set to work setting up the sticks and logs in the shallow pit. Kate shooed the dogs off, rinsed the empty container in the water, and then returned to shake out the blanket. Double H went tumbling into the dirt, landing right next to Devin's boot as he knelt to light the fire. He glanced down. His brows lifted high as he turned his attention on her.
Kate wanted to die. Her fingers curled around the blanket and she stifled a mortified groan. His deep chuckle just made things worse. Figures. She should just realize and accept the fact that things would never be normal or easy or relaxing around him.
Whatever.
She spread the blanket as Devin tucked the paperback into the back waistband of his pants.
"Give it back."
He stopped blowing on the tiny flames and gave her an arched look. "Come and get it."
The words were spoken deep and evenly, and came with such a punch that Kate gaped for a second. "Well, it's my book, so . . . I'd like it back."
As he stood and removed the book from his waistband, she stepped back. It looked so small in his big hands. He stared at the cover a long moment, then did the same with her. Kate's throat went dry. What the hell was he thinking?
"We're going to eat," he told her. "Watch the sun set. And then I'm going to read Highlander's Harlot, to you in my best Scottish accent."
Her mouth fell open. The romantic-loving girl inside of her squealed with pleasure. Then she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. Bastard!
Devin laughed and tossed her the book. She caught it. "Real funny," she said, glaring as her stomach went feather-light at the transformation on his face. The grin was blinding and sexy as hell.
"And you're way too easy." He sat on the blanket and rooted inside the basket.
Off balance yet again and more humiliated than she had when he first saw the book, Kate didn't appreciate being made fun off, or being the butt of his joke. And more than anything she didn't like the way she'd reacted to his sexy words and smile. "Who knew you had a sense of humor," she said petulantly, plopping down on the blanket.
Devin shrugged. "It happens. Rarely these days, but it happens."
Well great. It was hard to stay mad at him when he put it like that. She knew he'd had a hell of a time, and him finding laughter where he could, well, she couldn't fault him for that. Though, still. At her expense—not so great.
"Sorry," he said as if reading her mind. "You're wound so tight, Kate." He bit into a roast beef sandwich. "It's like a—" he glanced at the water for a second— "siren's call. Can't resist."
Her eyes rolled. "I'm not the only one wound up tight. You just show it differently."
"How so?" he asked, mouth full.
"You wear your silence like a suit of armor. Makes you seem unapproachable. You're locked up tight, too, and don't let your guard down." She thought of the times she'd been witness to just that. "Often," she amended.
He popped the cork to the wine. "Fair enough."
She rose to her knees, leaned forward, and retrieved the glasses from the strap inside the basket and held them out to be filled. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
She handed him his glass after he corked the bottle. "Were you always like that? Quiet, I mean."
After taking a drink, he set the glass on top of one of the plastic containers. The dogs had taken up residence by the fire. "You mean before the military?" Kate nodded. "Yeah. Was usually the more quiet one of the bunch, but . . . war . . . it made me more so I guess. It's like you're living in a bubble." He grabbed a stick and poked at the fire. "Every day might be your last or the guy's next to you or all of you for that matter. So it dials you in, nothing else factors in but your job, and your men, and you learn to shut out a lot of stuff."
She was a little shocked he'd said so much about it. "I guess that makes it hard. To come back and relate to our world."
"Right. And those guys that did their job next to you, that held you together, they're not there anymore. You're on your own."
"It must help to have Ian."
Devin nodded. "I have a tight family. I have all this," he gestured to the scenery around him. "I have my girl," he said, smiling, reaching over to give Hildie a good scratch, his words filled with so much love it made Kate's heart trip. Terry nosed his way closer. "And my boy," Devin added, giving Terry some love too. "You guys just want scraps, don't you?"
They did, of course, but Kate could see they'd be equally fine with Devin's attention.
"Just don't give them the cake."
His eyes went wide. "There's cake?"
With a laugh, she gestured to the basket. "In the container with the red lid."
Devin dug into the basket. "Chocolate. And they're big pieces. God, I love Fran. Here," he said, scooting closer and handing her a plastic fork. "Hold out your plate."
Kate moved closer. "They really want to see you settled, huh?"
Mouth full, he grunted in the affirmative.
She pulled the fork past her lips, making sure to get all the icing off. "Hmm. And apparently they think I'm perfect for you," she said with a smile. "Who knew?"
He thought about that and then gave a shrug she couldn't translate. She finished the cake and then stood to stretch her legs. "Sun's going down. As soon as it sets, I'm headed back." She kept her tone light, but it was a warning nonetheless—nothing was going to happen between them.
Devin moved the basket aside, grabbed Double H, flipped onto his stomach, opened the book, and read, "Och, lass, stop yer strugglin' will ye?" he read in an accent as thick as Hamish's. Kate glared at him over her shoulder. "It appears," he said in his regular voice, reading on, "that one Alastair Stewart. A laird, mind you, has just kidnapped the stunning Fiona Campbell, and wants to have his wicked way with her. A lass with raven hair and eyes like the bluest sky."
Kate searched the ground for a rock to throw at him.
"Interesting. She looks like you, Kate," he went on, and she just wanted to walk into the loch and keep going. "A feisty wench, too, with full lips and milky white breas—"
Kate grabbed the pebble at her foot and beamed him in the shoulder before he could continue. "I can't believe I'm saying this—to you of all people—but, stop talking."
"You hit me with a rock," he said with stunned laughter in his tone.
"I was aiming f
or your head. Keep reading and I'll find a larger one."
A spark came into his eyes. Oh no. Not good. "If you can't play fair, Fiona…" he surged up and came after her.
Kate ran. "Me! You started it!"
He grabbed her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She screamed, exhilaration coursing through her veins as she laughed and demanded he release her. Devin walked her back to the blanket, knelt, and placed her on her back. Her legs ended up trapped between his as he hovered over her, using his hands on either side of her biceps to close her in.
The mood change rapidly from breathless laughter to charged awareness. A long moment passed. He was so close she could see the flecks of earthy green and gold in his eyes, and the faint lines at the corners of his eyes. She loved the way his hair curled around his ears and neck. Her hand came up and cupped his jaw, feeling the stubble underneath and the way his muscle flexed beneath her palm at her touch. She wanted him with an intensity unlike anything before, but fear held her back. Fear of how significant the moment felt.
Fear of being hurt. Betrayed. Of feeling more for him than he felt for her.
"What are we doing?" she asked, looking him square in the eyes.
He lowered his big body, pinning her to the ground, his weight feeling good and right. His forearms kept him from crushing her completely. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I can't think straight when you're around. I don't know. At this moment, I don't care. Do you?"
Her stomach flipped like crazy. Her pulse rushed through her ears so loud she could barely hear herself think. Her lips parted as his hand smoothed her hair back from her cheek. She knew she was lost before she even shook her head.
Chapter 11
Thank God. The relief that filled Dev was so huge it hit him like a damn truck, scaring him into stillness for a moment. He didn't scare easily, but damn if that hadn't done the trick. He had to take it slow, had to hold strong against the driving need to claim her, to take everything she had to give and give her everything he had in return.
And it stunned him he wanted that, to stop holding back a part of himself. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.
Maybe Hamish and Fran are right. But the thought breezed into and out of his mind, tiny and fleeting, as he lowered his mouth to hers.
The soft feel and the taste of chocolate icing lingering on her lips nearly killed his resolve to go slow. He licked her bottom lip, kissed her again, and then slid inside, meeting her tongue in slow deep strokes that told her exactly what he wanted to do to her later. All the blood in his body retreated south, and pulsed there hard and demanding.
When he lifted his head next, he was damn near lost in a haze of sexual fog. "Kate," he whispered. Asking. Needing to know.
She answered by reaching between them and unbuttoning his pants and then hers, pulling down her zipper. The sound was just about the sexiest thing he'd ever heard. "Now, Devin. All the other stuff can wait." Her voice was faint and desperate, filled with need, and he had to amend his earlier thought. Her voice. Those words. Sexiest sound ever.
He pushed off the ground and helped her shimmy her shorts over her hips to reveal the most mind-altering pair of hip-hugging black lace panties he'd ever seen complete with a tiny pink heart in the center. "Now yours," she said, her words barely registering. Christ. He wasn't going to make it. Those panties… "Devin."
Knocked from his distraction, heart pounding, he stood and dropped his pants along with his boxer briefs. It was the fastest he'd ever moved in his life. Kate was already shoving her panties down, but he stopped her with his hands. Her eyes were glassy and filled with desire and emotion—overwhelmed, like him.
His heart constricted. He leaned down and kissed her softly.
"I just need…" she tried to explain as a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. "Shit." She laughed even as her brow drew together in a frown. He would've been worried by this, but Dev understood her completely. What was happening between them was more than just sex. So much more. It was terrifying and humbling. And, yeah, it was love plain and simple. It had struck them hard since the day they met, working its magic and leaving them scrambling to keep up.
"God," she said squirming beneath him, her voice breathless and quick as her palm slid up his biceps to his shoulders and around his neck. "I'm losing it. I don't know why I'm crying when I'm horny as hell and about to go off. Please do something."
Aye, he loved this woman. As crazy as it sounded. As crazy as she was. And he was going to give her the night of her life, every damn night for the rest of his life if she'd have him. He pulled up her shirt and placed a kiss on her stomach. "Hold on, Fiona," he said, smiling against her soft, warm skin. "I'm about to have my way with you."
"About time," he heard her dry mutter.
While Dev loved the underwear, they had to come off. His hands were shaking as he slid the material down her legs. He couldn't fucking see straight. He had wits enough left to reach for his pants, grab the condom he'd been optimistically carrying with him every since their first mind-shattering meeting.
Condom on, he returned to Kate, her arms coming around him, and pulling him down as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She kissed his temple, his cheek, bit his earlobe and breathed, "Do it," in his ear. His eyes went crossed. In one long stroke, he buried himself deep into the hottest place on Earth.
Kate was pretty sure she was going to pass out. Right there on the blanket. From too much blood flow. From her heart beating too fast. The feel of Devin buried deep inside of her, filling her, pressed so tightly against her, connected in a way that made her see stars and know something far bigger and grander was at work.
This was right. He was right.
Then he started to move, a slow, steady pace that had her moving with him. Dev reached under her, one arm around her back, the other cupping her bottom, and pressing her even closer to him, going as deep as possible.
His ragged breathing made her feel sensual and powerful. "God, Kate," he whispered against her ear as though stunned. His shoulders were tense, his body rock hard. She knew he was holding back and she loved him for it. But this slow build was killing her.
"Let go, Devin," she said, running her fingers through his hair. It was damp with sweat. He lifted his head, his eyes a little unfocused. There were two ways to take that, she realized, and she definitely didn't want him to let go, literally. "I mean…" She bit her lip. How did she say it? But then her muscles clenched around him, releasing a zing of pleasure through her. "Just . . . hard, okay?"
With a relieved breath, he grabbed her hands and drew her arms over her head, pinning her wrists with one hand, while grabbing her right leg with the other and lifting slightly. And then he withdrew and plowed into her, hard and fast just like she wanted, until all thoughts ebbed away, sensations took over, and fireworks exploded like New Year's Eve in Times Square.
Chapter 12
"I can't believe I did this," Kate said, staring over the fire at Devin as he reached for another log. "I can't believe I slept with you."
Sparks shot into the dark sky as he tossed the branch onto the fire. "There are worse things," he said quietly, and Kate immediately felt like a jerk.
"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
He sat down on the opposite side of the picnic blanket. He'd put everything back on except the T-shirt that had been beneath his flannel shirt. Now that flannel gaped open revealing a chest that Kate was very familiar with and very attached to. He looked so comfortable, completely at home on their little island in the loch. And, yet, there was a vulnerability in his eyes mixed with the quiet sense of strength that always surrounded him.
Emotions swelled inside of her. She wanted him, all the good and all the bad. And it terrified her.
"All right," he draped his forearms over his bent knees and met her gaze. "What did you mean then?"
"I don't know… I just meant I didn't come here for this."
A brown eyebrow arched and he flicked his gaze to the novel
lying discarded on the ground. Did he think she'd come to Scotland to relive the things in that book? There was some truth to that, she supposed, seeing as how that had been one of her fantasies for a long time. But that wasn't why she'd come. Far from it. And she was pretty sure he already knew that. "I think you ought to leave Double H out of this."
A smile tugged one corner of his mouth. "Double H, huh?"
Her eyes rolled to the night sky. "Please. Like you didn't have fantasies growing up. What was it? Playboys under the bed? Sexy French maid? Italian beauty? British school teacher?" Yeah, she was pretty sure Devin had a ton of such fantasies in his past. No man could do the things he'd done to her and not have a vivid imagination, and most likely the experiences to back it up.
"All of the above I'm sure."
"See. Plus, that book isn't just sex you know. It's about relationships. Love. Overcoming all obstacles to be together and find happily ever after."
He eyed her a long minute, his gaze making her uncomfortable. There was definitely something cooking in that head of his. "Nothing wrong with that."
Heat stole into her cheeks. The last thing she wanted was to chat about happily ever after. Things were too raw right now. She was still coming to terms with the fact that she'd actually slept with him. With a sigh, Kate gathered her loose hair, twisted it, and tied it into a knot. She could feel his eyes on her, tracking her movements, watching her, wanting her. She released a low breath and tried to appear nonchalant when her body, on the other hand, was firing up again. Jeez. That's all it took? For him to look at her?
"I'm not a big talker," he said with a wry smile at her snort. "But I'm about to start…" Kate stilled. He paused a minute, and then continued. "I've learned not to waste time. Learned life is short. Too short to dance around the obvious things in life. Too short to live in fear. Too short to play games or pass up on . . ."
A Scot Like You (The MacLarens of Balmorie, 2) Page 7
