“My da warned me about girls like you.”
“Girls like me?”
“Aye. Growing up I was always so keen to come to the city. Glasgow or Edinburgh, I dinna care. Faoltiarn is an auld place. We speak the auld language, and no matter what passes in the outside world, we keep to the auld ways. From the time I was a wee lad, I had a deep yearning to live somewhere else. In a city where I wasn’t known by name to every single person who crossed my path. When I was accepted into the University here in Edinburgh, I thought it were a dream come true. But I needed my da’s blessing to leave. You see, back then he was a verra powerful man in our village. And according to the auld ways, if any of us wished to leave for more than a week or two, we had to have his permission. It was a few months after my mum left him when I came to ask his blessing, so it wasn’t a certain thing at all for me.”
Whoa, she thought, trying to imagine what it would be like to not only have a mother who’d just abandoned your whole family, but to then have to ask the husband she’d left behind for permission to leave. “Did you get it? His blessing?”
“Aye, after fifteen days of thought, he gave it. But before I left he warned me that in time I’d see the auld ways were not so bad. They’ve kept our village safe through good times and bad. He’d gone off to university in Venice and returned to Faoltiarn with an Italian wife. He’d warned me that girls from the city weren’t like the village girls. He said they guard their hearts like wounded animals and are afraid of men like me. Is that how you feel, Milly? Afraid? Are you trying to protect your heart?”
She stilled, hating how close he’d come to the truth. “Look. In my admittedly limited experience, when people get close to you, they either leave or die. So yeah, I guess I’m a little protective of myself. And considering I now have a clear expiration date, I’m really not looking to get hurt.”
“I’m not looking to hurt you, chridhe,” he said quietly. “The faster you start believing that, the easier this will go for us.”
“Not looking to hurt me?” she repeated softly. “So you’re saying I can hand in my two weeks’ notice without you suing me?”
Again, he stiffened.
Milly nodded. “That’s what I thought. Don’t call me that anymore.”
Iain didn’t respond, just continued to hold her while her sex contracted around him, maintaining their physical bond, even as she mentally began to push him away.
And maybe that’s why instead of falling asleep, she said, “My father…the one I’m going to see in New Zealand…he’s dead. Drunk driving accident, and he was the drunk driver. So yeah,” she let out a sad sigh, “…totally his fault. The only reason I know any of this is because I got a Google alert about it a few weeks after it happened. He never tried to reach out to me. He knew he had a daughter and he never sent me a text, an email…nothing. I guess you could say I’m treating Milford Track like his grave since that’s where he and my mom met.”
Iain cleared his throat. “You’ve had a hard life. I wish like hell there was something I could do to change that.”
“Yeah, me too,” Milly said with a soft laugh. “But my point is, your life—Iain’s life—doesn’t have to be so hard. Your parents are alive. Both of them. Look…I know you’re angry at your mom for leaving, but the fact is she’s been trying to reach out to you. Stop pushing her away. And maybe start taking her calls.”
There was a long, heavy silence during which Milly sensed Iain was processing her words. He didn’t seem angry with her for giving him her opinion on a very personal matter. Or even offended. He was just…considering. At that moment, she realized she felt very sure of his emotional state.
More certain of his than of her own.
She rubbed her thumb over his forearm in small circles as in the silence. Until she eventually drifted off to sleep, wondering exactly what this was between them. And why it felt so right, even though she knew it was all wrong.
Chapter 7
Milly woke in near darkness, with only a thin slice of daylight breaking through the room’s thick curtains. To her surprise, Iain wasn’t already up and about. He slept heavily next to her in the bed, no longer buried inside of her.
She watched him sleep, taking the time to appreciate his long angular face up close for the first time. He hadn’t shaven since Thursday, so he now sported several days’ worth of unchecked beard growth. Truthfully, the heavy stubble only made him look that much sexier. Like a bad boy she’d been lucky enough to tryst with for four days, and not at all like her uptight, overly demanding boss.
Milly’s stomach stirred with frank appreciation that someone like him had deigned to spend an entire long weekend in bed with her. Then she braced herself for the next bout of super lust along with the strong arousal smell that popped up whenever she looked at him for too long.
But the lust didn’t come. She could still smell her arousal. But it was very faint, like a breeze as opposed to a tornado. Iain still definitely turned her on, but not in the unhinged, crazed way she’d experienced over the last few days.
She gingerly swung her legs over the side of the bed, waiting for exhaustion to set in… but no, she felt great. Worked over to be sure, but not frail and weak as she had been whenever she tried to do anything not related to sex over the last four days. In fact, even with the residual soreness between her legs, she had no problem standing up.
Maybe the drugs she took on Thursday had finally worked their way out of her system. Milly reached over to the nightstand for her glasses. But they weren’t there. She frowned and switched on the headboard reading lamp, looking to see if maybe they’d fallen on the floor. But no, the floor was clear and the nightstand held nothing but a clock radio and a glass of water.
Four days…
Milly was, as her grandmother used to say, blind as a bat without her glasses. But thinking back on it, she realized the last time she could remember wearing them was on Thursday, when she’d taken them off and tossed them on her office desk to relieve her headache.
She’d never gone this long without her glasses. And then something struck her. She could see everything in minute detail. The furniture, Iain sleeping next to her in the bed, the sitting room beyond the bedroom. She could see all of it. In spite of the low light. And despite her missing glasses.
Whoa…
Five minutes later, Milly left the bedroom to finally take advantage of the suite’s living room. It was still light enough to see outside despite the post dinner hour. But instead of checking out the views beyond the beautiful bay window with crown molding, she plopped down on the striped couch, and settled her laptop on top of her crisscrossed legs. Yet after thirty minutes of research into all three of the drugs she’d taken, she couldn’t find anything to explain her dramatically improved vision.
Milly clicked on another browser tab to start a new search. She’d looked the drugs up individually but maybe the vision thing was a side effect of taking them in combination…
However, all thoughts of the drug combo disappeared when she saw the page already open in the tab she’d clicked. It was for an all-inclusive guided tour of Milford Track in New Zealand. Just a daydream she’d thought back when she researched the trip before driving out to Iain’s cottage just over a week ago.
But Milford Track ranked as one of the most beautiful treks in the world, and it was gentle enough that she wouldn’t have to get in crazy good shape beforehand. It was where her parents met when her father had been the assistant guide for her mother’s summer exchange group of college students on a five-day trek. Where she was conceived.
Plus, sex had also been just a daydream for the awkward 25-year-old virgin she was only a week ago. And look at her now…!
An hour later, she’d gone from freaking out about her dramatically improved vision to researching what it would take to make her Milford Track dream come true. Milly didn’t have the knowledge or wherewithal to manage the trek by herself, but depending on how much severance she got when her time at AlgoFortune
was up, she might be able to swing one of the less costly guided tours—
She suddenly whipped her head to the side, her nose flaring at a now familiar smell.
Iain stood in the doorway leading to the bedroom. But unlike her, he hadn’t bothered with a robe. He was completely, gloriously naked.
“Hi…” Milly said, her mouth instantly going dry out at the sight of all those delicious muscles. Strange. She hadn’t thought twice about jumping his bones for the last four days. But now that the uncharacteristic lust thrall appeared to have released her, she felt as nervous as the virgin she’d been before he completely rocked her world.
And maybe he sensed that because his eyes twinkled with dark amusement as he said, “Hello there, Millicent. What are you up to, then?”
He held her gaze, eyes hooded in a way that let Milly know exactly what he wished she were up to back inside the bedroom. Well, his eyes and the flesh that suddenly sprang to life between his legs.
“Um, just researching my upcoming trip to New Zealand. I’m planning to go after I leave the company in a few more weeks.”
A dark shadow fell over his face. “I see. You’re still keen to leave then? Haven’t changed your mind?”
“No, I haven’t,” she answered gently. “I mean, this was fun—really fun. But Iain…I’m still dying. And I want to cross as many things off my bucket list as possible before I do. The Milford Track has always been at the top of my list. It’s where my parents met, and I want to go…assuming I can afford it.”
The annoyed shadow lightened a little but didn’t lift entirely.
He strode into the sitting room and sat next to her, seemingly not at all self-conscious about being naked in broad daylight. Then again, why would he be? Unlike her, he’d likely never had to feel self-conscious about his appearance. Not with that Greek god physique. Milly briefly pondered her skinny build and small breasts. She shook her head ruefully…clearly not everyone was gifted with a come-hither body.
“I like your breasts,” he said gruffly. “They fit perfectly in my hands, don’t they?”
Milly shot him a bemused look. Had she commented about her breasts out loud? But before she could ask how he knew what she’d been thinking, he took her laptop from her and set it aside on the coffee table.
“So what’s this I hear about you never having been kissed? That can’t be true…”
“Uh…hmmm,” she blinked. “Did I say that? Like actually say that out loud?”
“It’s what I heard,” Iain answered, his eyes lingering on her lips.
Wow, whether it was the meds or the sex or a combination of the two, she’d really been speaking out of character these last few days.
“Well…I mean, it’s no big deal. I enjoyed what we did a lot. Kisses weren’t—aren’t—at the top of my list now. I don’t need to be kissed to have fun.”
Iain smiled broadly, flashing his very white teeth. “I’m glad you enjoyed our time together, but this kissing thing is a big deal to me. If you don’t mind, Millicent, I’d like to kiss you good and proper now.”
Like most of his requests, this turned out not to be a request at all. Before she could answer yea or nay, he’d swung her into his lap and settled her legs on either side of his waist. One large hand cupped the back of her neck, massaging it once with his thumb, before pulling her down. Then his lips caught hers for a kiss that was only 50% as promised. It was good…really good…but not at all proper.
It only took about five minutes of making out before some improper things started to happen. Milly’s robe fell open, and Iain’s hand found one of her small breasts, completely covering it while he consumed her lips.
And though she was no longer under the influence of the strange sex thrall, she could smell her arousal.
By all appearances, he was as turned on as her, assuming the rock hard erection against her stomach was any indication. But he continued to kiss her, taking her lips in a slow devour that soon began to feel like cruel torture.
“Iain,” she sighed into his lips, back to pleading even though her arousal wasn’t nearly as all-consuming as it had been before. Her hips circled with a mind of their own against his heavy rod, which now lay flat on his belly trying to find relief.
“Ach, Millicent, see what you do to me? All I wanted was a kiss from you, but I canna help myself. I must have it all when it comes to my wee mate.”
Mate? Had Milly not been in the middle of foreplay, she would have paid more attention to Iain’s odd choice of words. After all, “mate” was a term she typically associated with BBC nature documentaries narrated by David Attenborough, not with long weekend flings with your boss.
But she only barely registered Iain’s choice of words because without breaking their kiss, he lifted her hips and aligned himself with her sex so when he set her back down…
She groaned long and hard against his lips. Getting repeatedly taken on her hands and knees had been terrific. But this long kiss turned into front-facing sex was just as good. And sweeter somehow, because he never stopped kissing her. Not even when she came…keening against his mouth. Not even when he held her against his body and put her on her back.
No, he didn’t stop. He kept kissing Milly even as his powerful hips drove into her. Pinning her lower half to the couch as he kissed her and kissed her and kissed her some more. Until finally, he released with a hard grunt against her mouth.
This man… Milly was the one who finally broke the kiss, her mouth falling away from his so she could cry out with pleasure when a gentle but still mind-blowing orgasm rolled over her. This time, she was surprised to note, Iain didn’t knot inside her. Nor did she fall asleep, even when he pulled out, disappeared into the bedroom, and returned dressed in a hotel robe of his own.
She listened as he ordered sandwiches from room service—the same type she typically had brought in whenever they had to stay late at the office.
Which reminded her…
“I wonder if we should call it a night after the sandwiches,” she said when he settled back down on the couch beside her. “I have to be up early, you know. I’ve got a 4:00 A.M. stand up with my boss.”
“I tell you what,” he said, grabbing the remote off the coffee table. “Even though tomorrow’s technically a Tuesday, why don’t we designate it a lazy Sunday? Beg off work and spend one more day here.”
Milly’s eyes widened because in the three years she’d been working for him, Iain Scotswolf hadn’t taken so much as a single vacation or sick day outside of his Highland retreats. “Are you serious?”
“Aye, very serious,” he answered, with a sideways grin as he clicked on the T.V. “I’d like to spend more time with you in an upright position if you don’t mind.”
“No, I don’t mind,” she answered, trying to sound casual because there was no reason for her to feel so shy with him—especially when you considered everything they’d done over the last four days.
“There’s no need to feel shy with me,” he said, once again seeming to read her mind. “You’ve nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, I’m the one who should be embarrassed given the complete lack of control I’ve displayed during our time together. Letting you go unkissed for so long because I was so verra hot to knot inside you.”
His words and the memories they brought forth heated her skin. They also brought up a question.
“Speaking of—what did you call that thing that happens when you’re inside me? A knot? I noticed it didn’t happen this last time on the couch.”
A throaty chuckle. “Ah. That only happens on occasion. A verra special occasion. In our case, nearly four days of verra special occasion.”
Milly inwardly shook her head. Why was it every time she asked him a question, his answers only made her more confused?
“I’m sorry I haven’t given you more answers, chridhe,” he said, once again seeming to address her unspoken words. “But trust me, Millicent. I’ll give you all the answers you seek after your month is up.”
&nbs
p; With that unusual promise, Iain started flipping through the channels until he found one of the Lord of the Rings movies on ITV2. “This all right? Filmed in New Zealand.”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, wondering if he’d guessed like he guessed so many things this weekend, that this was one of her favorite movies.
If he had, he didn’t say anything about it. Just settled an arm around her shoulder as they snuggled up to watch the film together. Like a real couple, she couldn’t help but think.
This was nice, Milly thought, laying her head on his chest. And potentially addictive. No wonder Tara seemed perfect satisfied with her purely “hanging out” relationship with Brian. Milly got so caught up in watching the movie with Iain that she very nearly forgot why she’d missed out on the experiences most other women her age took for granted.
But waking up to a call from the Edinburgh Cancer Care Centre the next morning brought it all back to her. She took the call, picking up the phone from where she’d left it to charge the night before, and keeping her voice low as she talked to the nurse.
“Who was that?” Iain’s gruff voice asked behind her after she hung up.
She looked over her shoulder and found him, now wide awake and sitting up in bed.
“The nurse from my oncologist’s office,” she answered. “Dr. Keller wants to see me right away to talk about my latest blood work and, um…run some more tests.”
She kept her explanation simple. Telling him the truth without telling him much at all. That more tests mean something was wrong. Which in turn meant she probably would have less time than originally forecasted.
“Right,” he said, getting out of bed like a man on a mission. “You take a shower. I’ll go ‘round to the hotel shops downstairs to pick up some clothes for you.”
She watched him pull on a t-shirt. He was doing that thing again. All business, no eye contact.
Milly watched him leave, the door softly clicking closed behind him. Then she rubbed at the spot on the back of her neck. The one he’d massaged so often with his thumb over the last four days.
Her Scottish Wolf (Howls Romance): Loving World Page 7
