“Shall you what?” she whispered, totally unaware of her parted lips and uneven breath. His eyes and voice had hypnotized her. She shook her head slowly, as if to break the spell that ensnared her.
Thirty-five days. For thirty-five days, I’ve been waiting to do this again. He lowered his head an inch more. One hand held her nape, tilting her head toward his, the other meandering to her waist to hold her where he wanted. “Kiss you?”
“Kiss me?” she asked breathlessly.
Why am I asking? His head lowered of its own volition, his mouth finding hers, just a feathery touch. He felt her hands tentatively touch his waist and go around his back. The force of his need made him close his eyes and haul her body onto his.
Her hand clutched his waist and she opened her lips, the tip of her tongue meeting his. He slanted his head and deepened the kiss. It’s too much. It’s too little. I want more. His tongue touched the seam of her lips, firmly and smoothly probing for entrance.
Sophia did not refuse him.
Desire exploded in his body. He hardened even more and pulled her fiercely to him, molding her entirely to him. I’m going to spontaneously combust.
She tasted of fresh honey. She smelled of spring, of white roses in bloom sprinkled with orange juice. Sophia reminded him of a garden. And he wanted to taste all of her.
He listened to her sharp intake of breath. And he heard a moan. His.
Alistair opened his eyes, breaking the kiss to look at her. A vision of paradise. Head thrown back, blood-red lips parted, and her eyes opened to look at him. They were the color of yellow-diamonds. He’d never seen eyes change color like this.
At each deep breath she took, her breasts stroked his chest. He couldn’t resist the temptation. And dropped his head again, being bolder this time.
Oh. This is good. His kisses drove her crazy. She tangled a hand in his silky, long hair, pulling him closer, her body melting on his. Her nipples were aching for his touch, and he knew it, his hand cupped the fullness of one of her breasts. Instinctively, she arched on him, moaning low in her throat.
“Sophia.” His other hand roamed under her turtleneck sweater, caressed her waist and roamed up, his thumb circled a nipple over her bra.
Sophia broke the kiss, and gripping his wrist, she whispered, “Stop.” She left his arms, and walked to a bench that circled a huge tree, sitting there with her feet under her legs.
He sat close, facing her, and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. She seemed so vulnerable, huddled on the seat. Unable to resist, he rested his palm against her cheek. “Did I scare you?”
She pressed her face onto his hand.
Alistair froze at the intimate movement, at the gesture of trust, of her seeking comfort from him. It’s been so long since anyone’s reached out for me like this. So gently. Such innocence, such need. Slowly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. For a long moment, he didn’t move. He just closed his eyes and reveled in the taste of her skin. A sweetness that made him want to drop his head and kiss her again.
Her voice broke his line of thought. “No—Yes—I don’t know.”
“Well, which?” He smiled gently. “Aye or nae?”
She breathed deep, trying to steady her heart. “Too soon, too much.”
After a moment of complete silence, Alistair asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s just—I’m not used to things going this fast. We only started going out a few days ago.”
“You’re right. We have been dating for a few days.” Here we go. A relationship. For now.
“Dating?” she squealed.
“Dating,” he repeated, his smile broadening. “However, we’ve been attracted, even before the day I took you out to dinner.”
“Before?” Her breathing was calmer now, but the desire still raged in her eyes.
“Come on, Sophia. Don’t tell me I was the only one affected.” If I want to fuck her, I have to accept her terms. He smiled, remembering her words at the bank meeting. “That day you entered the meeting room at the bank, January nineteenth, my world turned upside down and it still hasn’t righted itself.” He chuckled. “I doubt it will anytime soon.”
She stared at him and then smiled. “Well, I would be lying if I say I wasn’t affected as well. Still. I don’t usually make out with a man I barely know.”
“I’ll have to amend this strangeness. Promptly.” He stood and picked her up, grabbing her upper arms, lifting her as if she were a feather. “Let’s go. Your lessons start now.”
“My lessons? With you?” She looked as if she wanted to run away.
“Worse. With Leonard.” He smiled at her as he started to walk back to the house. “After an hour with him, you won’t think me a stranger anymore.”
She eyed him, confused.
“That SOB can destroy anyone’s reputation in five minutes with that angelic smile of his.” He laughed. “I will be grateful if you don’t run away after he finishes telling you all my dark secrets.”
She blinked. “And you want me to know all your dark secrets?”
“Aye.” He grinned at her and laced their fingers. “That way, you won’t be able to use that excuse to stop me again by saying I’m, ‘a man you barely know’.”
They were laughing when they entered the library and Alice breathed relieved and looked at her husband.
Leonard nodded, smiling, and whispered, “The sparks of attraction are in their eyes. Sophia is the right woman for him.”
“Alistair deserves some happiness,” she whispered back. “It was a good thing that Ashford messed things up with her.”
“Yeah. Not that I don’t like him,” Leonard said. “But I like this brother of yours more.”
“Leo, I have a mission for ye,” Alistair said as he neared. He nudged Sophia lightly in Leonard’s direction.
“Hey, your accent is showing. See what I told you, Sophia? In a few minutes, you won’t be able to understand a word of what he says.”
“Pay attention, Leonard,” Alistair ordered.
“Very well,” he acquiesced. “What’s the mission?”
“Sophia thinks I’m a stranger, a man she barely knows.”
“I didn’t mean it that way—”
“Yer words, lass,” he tossed back. “Leo, tell her aw ye ken aboot me.”
“God!” Sophia said drolly. “Does Alice speak like that too?”
“She does!” Leonard laughed.
“I do not.”
“You do too. A heathen mixture of Scots words, English, and Scottish Gaelic drawl in a very strong accent.” Leonard rubbed his hands, grinning angelically. “You’re sure, Alistair?”
“Ach! Aye, verra sure.” He joked and winked at Sophia. “Next time, she won’t use this excuse.”
“Next time? Excuse for what?” Alice asked.
Sophia flushed.
A deep laugh bubbled from Alistair’s chest and he stared at Sophia with a wolfish smile. “It’s a secret, Alice. Don’t be nosy.”
“Come on, Sophia.” Leonard rubbed his hands and pulled her toward the sofa.
She went along and sat beside him. She thought it comical the way Leonard enjoyed this.
“Hey, he’s my brother,” Alice said. “Take care what you’re going to gossip about or you’ll sleep in the stables.”
“Alice, I’m more afraid of what Sophia can do to me if I don’t enlighten her about this jerk of a brother-in-law than of your threats.”
“Can I help destroy your reputation too?” Domitila asked Alistair.
Alistair smiled and answered, “Nae! Aw is tuilled ’s a’ chòir.”
Sophia looked over at Domitila, “What did he say?”
“Sophia…” She chuckled. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”
“He said that one is more than enough,” Alice explained. “Our nanny was a fierce Highlander and she only spoke Gaelic with us.”
“How are you able to understand them?” Sophia asked, astonished.
“Prac
tice,” Leonard replied and shrugged. “And sometimes, I don’t. When this happens, I just say to Alice, ‘Yes, my love’ or ‘Of course, my flower’ and she calms down.”
“Ah! You!” Alice hurled a cushion at Leonard.
He caught the cushion in his hands, throwing his head back in a happy laugh.
“Alice.” Alistair dragged Alice with him to another sofa. “While Leo discloses to Sophia all of my dark secrets,” he said, looking over at Sophia, his eyes burning with desire. “You can tell me all the gossip your husband has given you about the bonnie lass.”
“No dark secrets in my past.” Now it was time for Sophia to laugh. Then her eyes darkened and a strange look transformed her face, a completely different woman appeared in front of them—a dark avenging angel. “At least, none that he knows.”
Chapter 23
Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge
Saturday, February 27, 2010
07:45 a.m.
“Wait, Sophia,” Alistair shouted too late. Sophia had already jumped graciously out of the helicopter. He shook his head, aggravated, and unbuckled Gabriela’s harness. “Your mother is quite stubborn, isn’t she, Fairy?”
“No, she is not,” Gabriela answered immediately. “She’s courageous. Not stubborn.”
Alistair smiled, and got off the helicopter, carrying Gabriela in his arms. “Ready for some mystery, Fairy?” he asked in a secretive voice, as they followed the uniformed guide who escorted them on a private tour inside the circle of Stonehenge.
“Yes,” she whispered back, “I love tales.”
Sophia bit back a smile as she eyed the interaction between her daughter and Alistair.
“Do you know who King Arthur was, Gabriela?” He watched her little face and she nodded. “So, according to legend, a long, long time ago, there was a very ugly war here on which lots of English soldiers died and were buried in Salisbury Plain.”
“Poor guys.” Gabriela listened with rapt attention. “And?”
“King Aurelius Ambrosius, Arthur’s uncle wanted to build a monument to the slain soldiers. A big, big one to represent their bravery.” Alistair smiled at her and pushed a curl of blonde hair behind her ear, which the cold wind had blown out of her ponytail. “So, he enlisted the help of a wizard, called Merlin, who told him about a circle of stones in Ireland called the Giants’ Dance. The king sent the wizard and his brother to get the stones and bring them here.”
“Why did they call them the Giants’ Dance?”
“Because they were giants who were dancing and celebrating something they shouldn’t have and their punishment was to be turned into stone.”
“How did they move the stones here?”
“With the wizard’s magic.” Alistair struggled to restore order to his strands falling over his eyes because of the wind.
Gabriela thrust her little fingers in his hair, keeping it away from his eyes and said, “I’ve told you already. You have to cut your hair.”
Alistair laughed and Sophia smiled.
The sun rose above the horizon painting the monument and the ground with yellow, orange, and pink hues.
Sophia breathed in the frigid morning air, enchanted with the sight and the perfection of the moment. But then her smile fell as a thought scared the hell out of her. Is this for real?
The early morning wind had waned into a soft breeze that still tousled Alistair’s long black hair.
Sophia lifted her hand to touch the silky strands, brushing them to uncover his eyes.
“Gabriela keeps reminding me I have to cut it,” he said, smiling.
“I like it this way. Don’t ever cut it short,” she ordered.
He wound his left fingers in her very long hair until he held a fistful at her nape. “As long you keep yours like this.”
“Done,” she agreed, a mischievous look entering her eyes. “It’s this cut that gives away the…barbarian inside you.”
He blinked, amused. “Barbarian?”
She entwined her fingers in it and pulled his head down. “It reminds me of the legend of Highland warriors. Fierce, courageous men, with a battle cry on their lips.”
“Legend? We’re not a legend.” His hand brushed her hair back, exposing her throat. He raised an eyebrow as his fingers caressed the column of her neck. Oh, Sophia, what I could do to you. “You like barbarians? Savages?”
“I like intense men,” she whispered and parted her lips, nervously wetting them with the tip of her tongue.
It was everything he needed. He took full advantage of her opened lips, touching her mouth with a feathery kiss, his tongue meeting hers. He stood there for a moment, simply enjoying her sweet taste. Her tentative touch on his nape undid him and his hands circled her slim waist, jerking her to his body, pressing her to him as he devoured her mouth, thrusting his tongue deep, mimicking what he wanted to do with his body.
“Gabriela.” Sophia broke the kiss, panting.
Alistair looked over his shoulder at the little girl bundled on his overcoat on the grass. “She’s sleeping.” And once more he dropped his head to kiss her. Her taste was like a drug he wanted to be addicted to.
All thoughts flew away as their tongues danced and he felt her pliant body leaning heavily against his hard, chiseled form. Her scent branded him. He pulled her even closer, his hands wandering down her back, cupped her butt, pressing her against his painful erection.
They gasped in each other’s mouths when his hand touched her waist and his fingers skimmed up her spine.
“So soft, Sophia,” he breathed the words out, and his mouth glided over her jaw to her ear and he bit her earlobe, sucking it into his mouth.
A shot of pure, undeniable lust whipped through Sophia’s body and she flexed herself on him, completely lost in his caresses. His feathery touch climbed up her body to intimately cup a breast encased in a skimpy lace bra and he circled his thumb over her nipple, reveling in the low moan that escaped her throat.
“Too much. Too fast,” Sophia managed to say, between heaves. “We are a few feet away from Gabriela.” Her hand stayed his. “And Alistair, we’re in a public park.”
He stared at her, eyes glazed with need. “Ye make me forget where I am.”
She rested her forehead on his chest, trying to control her breathing.
“Sophia.” His hand encircled her throat, a thumb lifting her chin and in his eyes blistered hot green flames. “You’re unraveling me. Are ye doing it on purpose?”
She looked up into his eyes, “I’m just being me.”
His hand stayed on her throat, not letting go, a fierce anger taking control of him. It is just lust, remember.
Sophia glanced at his face.
He looked down at her, scrutinizing her face and an intense emotion unfurled as his sun peeked out from behind the dark clouds of his sky. Immediately, he shoved it down deep into his darkness. She’s just another woman.
He took her mouth in a searing kiss, pouring into her all of his confusion about how she made him feel. Feel? I don’t want to feel anymore. His hand removed her hair from the path his mouth traced from her ear to the base of her neck.
Moaning low in her throat, she gave him room.
His fingers tightened on her waist, pulling her against his frame.
She gasped as she felt his erection print itself on her belly She pulled away, panting, and stepping back, put a hand on his chest. “Alistair. Stop.”
With a scowl, he led her to sit near Gabriela, leaning his back on a tree and nestling her between his firm thighs, an arm snaked around her, his erection pressed on her hip. “I’m sorry.” Fuck. What am I apologizing for? “When I have you in my arms, all my thoughts and reasoning fly out the window.” You’re driving me mad. “I have to have you, Sophia.”
“You cannot expect me to go to bed with you after such a short time.”
“Why not?” he whispered roughly. “I’ve been aching for you since the day I met you. And I know you feel the same. We’re grown-ups and we both have been married
. You know me.” His fingers caressed her neck and wandered down, pausing at the swell of her breast. He whispered, “Let me know you.”
She took his hand and put it below her left breast, pressing it on her ribs. “Can you feel my heart? I do want you, but…we need to talk about what is happening between us.”
Talk is never good. He didn’t want her rationalizing what was happening between them. Their attraction was magical, intense, and aggressive even, and had nothing to do with reason. “About?”
“Things are going too fast. I need more time. We have to slow down before it gets out of hand.”
“Slow down?” Is the woman a nun? Christ! He felt rejected. He felt denied. Never had a woman asked him to slow down.
“I want you, but I don’t want to rush things this time.” She stared at his taut, serious face. “So, yes, slow down.”
“Slow. Down.” He released a breath. “I don’t know if I can.”
A long silence ensued between them.
Sophia watched as he schooled his features into his usual poker face and hooded his eyes, so she wouldn’t see the irritation in them.
She licked her lips. “You okay?”
“Aye.” He expelled a long breath. “Aye, I am.”
Sophia shook her head and shifted in his embrace to better look at his eyes. “The thing is…I don’t know if we should insist on this relationship. I’m not the kind of woman you’re used to. I don’t do one-night stands. I don’t have sex just for sex. I need something more than a hello-let’s-go-to-bed handshake to…” Make love? Sophia’s bitter laugh echoed inside her. She bit her lip and tapped her fingers on her thigh. I’m an idiot. He doesn’t do relationships. A complete idiot.
He noticed her ticks. He remembered them well from that day at the pool.
“I wonder if I—”
He lifted his hand and softly put his fingers on her mouth, interrupting her words. He shifted her to straddle his lap and his fingers curled under her chin to raise her face to him. He breathed deep, exhaling slowly, deep in his thoughts, because he didn’t know what he was going to propose or say to convince her. In fact, Alistair was avoiding getting in touch with his feelings. “Listen to me.”