Lion of Caledonia: International Billionaires VII: The Scots (17 page)

And then, took it from her.

“Take this off.” He tugged on the top of her skirt, trying to find the opening. “I need to see ye.”

With her old boyfriend, the only other man she’d had sex with, she’d never wanted to stand naked before him. She’d sped to the bed and once they’d finished, she’d sped to her own flat. But with this man, she wanted to show him everything and anything he wanted.

The skirt fell to the floor right by his jeans.

He brushed his fingers across the plain cotton of her panties. “Take this off too.”

She did. Along with her shoes and his socks.

Naked. Both of them.

He leaned back and looked down. “I’ll want ye to step away here, so I can see all of ye.”

A test.

Jen knew it was a test by the teasing glint in his eye. For the first time in her life perhaps and certainly for the first time with this man, she was ready.

She stepped back.

A long, slow silence fell, the only sound being the quiet ripple of the wind outside.

“Could ye maybe stand there for the rest of my life, so I can take in your beauty?”

His husky voice and lusty gaze made her blush with happiness and excitement. And his words, the words she yearned for, like
the rest of my life,
splattered on her heart, burning it like a torch. Because she couldn’t have that with this man. Neither of them could give that to each other.

Something about her expression must have alerted him to her bittersweet thoughts. Cam’s mouth tightened and his expression went dark.

“Come to bed.” She grabbed his hand before he could get wary again and pulled. “Now.”

“A demanding lass.” The words were hesitant, but he came with her, sliding under the warm, woolen duvet and cool, cotton sheets.

Jen rolled on top of him, pinning him down, kissing him silent.

For long minutes, he lay quiet underneath her, sharing the kiss, moving his rough hands over the skin of her waist, but not taking her offering like she wanted him to.

“Cameron.” She lurched back and peered at his shadowed face.

“Jenny.” He smiled, not his jaunty grin nor his teasing smirk. This smile she’d never seen. A tender, wistful, pensive gift.

“You do want this, don’t you?” Perhaps she’d pushed too hard. She’d never pushed before in her life and perhaps she’d done it all wrong. “You want me?”

His gaze snapped to hers, confusion muddying the brown center of his eyes. “Yes, I want ye. Can’t ye tell?”

He bumped his hips up into hers, his cock wet on the tip with his need.

“Then why aren’t we…?”

His hand smoothed across her rump and squeezed as he closed his eyes and grimaced. “Why am I being a dobber and just lying here, right?”

“I don’t mind taking it slow, but this is…perhaps—”

“I’m thinking too much, aren’t I?” His eyes popped open and a grin crossed his face. But his usual carefree expression was forced. “Can’t have that, eh?”

His flippant manner only made this worse. She didn’t want the wistful Cam and she didn’t want this one either.

What did she want?

She wanted him. The real him. The one she’d glimpsed now and then. The one she wanted to connect to with his body, as well as his heart.

But that wasn’t on offer.

From her or him.

Every muscle in her body tightened with frustration. “I don’t want to force you—”

“Force.” He snorted and his eyes went wide. In the shadows, she could see they’d filled to their usual devilish glow. Yet that seemed forced too. “Don’t be a dobber, yourself.”

“I want you to be happy—”

“How can a man not be happy when he’s got the most beautiful girl in the world, naked and in bed with him?”

Smoothing her hand along the ridge of his shoulder, she let her gaze follow the movement. His eyes might still have that impish glimmer in them, letting her know he was telling her another of his tall tales. She didn’t meet his gaze because she couldn’t bear to see what was there. “I’m not the most beautiful girl in the world, so you must be talking about someone else.”

His fingers tightened on her hip. “Look at me.”

She shook her head, a sudden surge of tears burning in her throat. Why had this become so hard? She’d thought this would be so easy with this man, this man who jumped from adventure to adventure, who never seemed to sweat the small or large things of life. She thought she’d take this one piece of joy and tuck it into her heart when she left. A memory she could pull out every day and remember.

Remember Cam and his body and his heart.

“You’re not going to hide from me.” A long finger poked at her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “Not now, mouse. Not here.”

His gaze held only serious intent. Which only, dammit, made her tears come closer. “I only want to be sure you’re sure,” she sputtered.

“No one’s ever sure.” His mouth twisted in a wry grimace. “Not sure about anything, really.”

Her heart hurt for him. For the despair and pain she saw underneath his words. “I’m sure,” she whispered. “Of you.”

“Jenny.” His eyes flashed to hers, an intensity glowing strong and sure inside them. “Then let’s be sure together. For tonight.”

With a quick flip, done with his familiar feline grace, he hovered above her. “It’s time I took some initiative, eh?”

She’d found him. The real Cam.

His teasing gaze, his buoyant grin mixed with the fierce soul shining from his eyes.

Her heart went from pain to elation in one second. “That would be a nice change,” she challenged him.

Cameron Steward never backed down from a challenge.

He was everywhere. His mouth moved along her neck and shoulders, leaving a humid trail of pleasure in its wake. His hands touched her waist, her hips, her legs, moving her where he willed. Jen went with him, took a hold of him and went on his ride.

His hand drifted into her curls and found her, wet and willing and wanting.

“Hmm,” he purred near one nipple before using his tongue to draw her into oblivion.

The orgasm came over her in a flash, surprising her with its intense fury and heat. She moaned softly, deep in her throat, as the pleasure subsided.

He let his lips and finger slowly suck the last of the lingering bliss from of her body. “Well,” he murmured. “That was a delicious first course.”

A chuckle erupted from her chest. “You sound like you plan on eating me.”

“Now there’s a thought to warm a man’s heart.” Cam met her gaze, his own filled with heated imagination. “And inspire him to great feats.”

“I inspire you, huh?” She gave him a tentative grin, a bubbling pride filling her.

“Ye certainly do.” He glanced around, eyeing the darkness that had taken over the shadows with a frown. “I’m thinking we need to do something else.”

“Something else?” She didn’t want to do anything else but be with this man and continue what they were doing.

Whipping back the covers, he peered down at her body. “A fire would give me more to look at.”

“I’m already too hot.”

“Ye are hot, that’s for sure.” A confident paw palmed one of her breasts and then another. “We need to put ourselves in front of a toasty fire, though, to make this all exactly right.”

“On the floor?”

“We seem to do pretty well on the floor before a fire, don’t we?” He slid her a sultry smile. “Come on. I’ve had these imaginings of what would have happened if a wee lad hadn’t intervened.”

“Cam—”

“I want to see if my imagination is as good as reality.”

He’d decided, the twinkle in his eyes and the tilt of his head told her. “You have to start the fire.”

Looping off the bed with his natural animalistic grace, he bounded to the fireplace. “The bonny Mrs. Rivers has left us with a fire ready to go.”

Within a few minutes, the flames were merrily dancing and the light from the fire showered the rug lying in wait.

“We’ll want all these covers.” Cam swooped them off her making her shriek in surprise. “Come on, now. Come here with me.”

Jen slid off the bed and examined the mound he’d created. “I suppose I’ll have to be on the bottom.”

“I’m happy to be the bed ye sleep on, fair lady.” Kneeling, he began to settle into the bedding. “Ye can be my cover.”

She stared down at him, drinking in his body. He sprawled naked on the floor, and the firelight flickered across the length of him, highlighting the bulge of his muscles, the ridged cut of his stomach and hips.

“There ye are,” he husked. “Standing before me again, giving me your beauty.”

A smile came over her, lighting her deep inside. “You do think I’m beautiful.”

His eyes glittered with keen intelligence, although the lust never left his gaze. “And ye never thought ye were before, is that right, fair lady?”

“Yes,” she admitted, her heart too soft and full to protect her pride and past. “I never did.”

“Come here.” He lifted one hand to her. “I’ll show ye how beautiful ye really are.”

L
ong ago
, when he’d been a small child, Cam had dreamed. Not the dreams he used in his profession. Not the dreams he sold to the masses. No, these dreams had been different. In his childhood dreams, he’d been the hero.

His father had been determined to stamp that fantasy out.

And he’d done a damn fine job of it.

Jenny smiled, a gentle, tender smile before kneeling beside him. “You make me feel beautiful.”

A wretched grief swelled inside him. Because she believed in him. Believed in his ability to keep doing this correctly. Believed he wouldn’t hurt her at some point in the future.

Believed he’d be her hero.

“Kiss me now,” she whispered. The firelight flickered on her pretty skin, like a bright burn of a kiss, and he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t do what he should do and draw away.

Instead, he took. He tugged her on top of him and took her mouth with his. Her kiss flamed inside and his lust flared. She lay on top of him, a graceful, cool covering of a lady.

So delicate her bones, so exquisite the feel of her.

“Mmm,” she murmured into his mouth, letting him know he was doing this right, being what she wanted.

For now.

Her hands moved across his arms and shoulders, lighting in him a glow that would eventually die because of something he’d do wrong.

He inevitably always did something wrong.

“I want you inside me,” his Jenny said, with a determination he’d come to expect. He might call her a mouse, yet in reality, she had more strength and courage than he had in one of his ugly fingers. If he had the strength and courage she possessed, he’d have been able to be a true hero and stay far from Jennet Douglas.

But he wasn’t a hero. Not in any way.

“Let me put on the condom.” Her pretty fingers flew to the foil package he’d pulled from his jeans moments ago.

Who did he try and kid? Himself? Did he think he’d convince anyone, much less his foul soul, that he hadn’t schemed for just this moment? He’d known his filthy plan from the moment he’d stuck the condom in his pocket this morning. Hell. He’d been walking around with a condom since the day Jenny had walked into his life.

He’d known. He’d planned.

All his wary moves tonight and the other night were a sham.

“You’re beautiful yourself, you know.” She smiled once more, catching his gaze as she touched his stomach and then his cock.

Cam groaned, a deep, low sound of lust and loss. “Jenny.”

She straightened above him, her focus on the condom rolling over his straining erection. The sparks from the fire turned her hair into a blonde halo and traced a line of gold along her profile. She glanced at him, her misty eyes gleaming.

With love.

Fuck. He knew it. He’d known what would come of this. He’d never been stupid about people and what would come of his actions.

“I’m taking you now,” she stated, her hand sliding to his base.

He groaned again as her body slowly eased down onto his. Wet, hot, tight. Even through the condom, he felt her take him. A desperate need to rip that one fine layer away, so there would be no barriers between them, made him moan in frustrated desire.

“Say something, Cameron.” She looked at him, a puzzled frown on her face. “It’s not like you not to talk.”

A rough laugh escaped him. “How can a man talk when he’s being taken by a fair lady?”

A smile replaced her frown. “I am taking you, aren’t I?”

“Yes. Definitely yes.” His hands gripped her hips and pushed her down until he was inside her to the hilt. “God. Ye feel good.”

“You, too.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. The skin of her neck glowed like luminous marble. Her breasts bobbed as she began to move, her small, tender nipples puckered with lust for him.

Cam closed his eyes, too. He couldn’t take all of her in.

But his hands didn’t know that, and neither did his cock. They both took greedily. His hands clamped onto her fair skin, so tight he’d bet there’d be bruises tomorrow. His cock strained inside her, pummeling into her warm, welcoming core.

A sheen of sweat broke out over his body as the lust swam through him. He opened his eyes again because he couldn’t help himself. He needed to stare at her beauty, making pictures in his mind so he’d always have her near in one way. She stared back, her mouth slightly open in her pleasure, her lips wet with his need. Her soft hands glided across his chest, plucking at his nipples, grazing through the hair on his belly, turning him feverish with passion.

All his regrets and old dreams drifted out of his head to be replaced by an agonizing need to plant himself in her.

“Cameron, yes,” she hissed her pleasure and her hands came down on him with a slap. “Keep going.”

“I can’t stop,” he admitted, another moan erupting as his hips and hers picked up the pace.

The fire he’d lit minutes ago in the hearth seemed to slide right into his heart. It blazed past his old scars and weary, restless soul and flamed a dark, passionate pain inside, making him gasp.

“Cam,” she hummed above him. “Come inside me.”

He did. He came all the way inside her, past the pain and the pretense of his life. Shaking with need, he roared past his present life and jumped into the vast blackness he’d hid from for most of his life.

He cried out, in fear and hopeless wonder. “Jenny.”

“Yes.” Her body tightened around him, pulling more and more from him. More than he’d ever thought he had. She cried out too, an ardent response that echoed in his soul.

“Jenny.” His body relaxed, even though the ache inside grew.

Murmuring something unintelligible, she slumped on him, her precious body lush with love and comfort.

He couldn’t be comforted.

He didn’t deserve her. Or her comfort. And especially not her love.

He was not her hero.

* * *

“
W
hat is Da doing here
?” Robbie’s voice woke her, his tone disgruntled.

Jen rolled over in her bed and congratulated herself for having the foresight to slip on her flannel nightgown before joining her teasing lover in bed. “Robbie.”

“I’m asking ye. What’s he—”

“Shh.” She glanced across to see Cam still asleep. “Let’s go and make some tea and we can cuddle on the armchair.”

“But I want to know—”

“Shh.” She crept out of the bed, pulling the covers over one naked male shoulder before facing her accuser. “Come on. You can help me make some tea.”

Robbie scowled at her, not willing to be diverted. “I want to know—”

“Perhaps some biscuits, too.”

His two-toned eyes lit and the frown fell off his face at the offer of a treat. “All right, I guess.”

He clambered onto the cozy armchair as she laid out the teacups and platter of sweets, and stirred the latent fire to life. She hadn’t let the teapot whistle, allowing Cam to slumber in oblivion.

“Now ye can tell me.” He munched on his treat, a look of satisfaction mixed with puzzlement on his face. “Why’s he here?”

She went to seat herself in the opposite chair, trying to gain herself more time to answer.

“No.”

Jen stared at him.

“I want ye to sit with me here.” He stared back. “Ye said you’d give me a cuddle.”

“All right.” The frank need in his voice made her heart tremble with an awful love. She tiptoed to the armchair and curled herself around the warm, little knot of a boy. “There. Satisfied?”

Slurping on his cream-filled tea, he shot her another scowl. “Not until ye tell me why Da’s in your bed.”

This wasn’t her child and she had no idea how much he knew about what went on between a woman and a man. Robbie was too intelligent, though, not to pick up on any tall tales she’d attempt. The truth was always better than trying to paper over something. It was one of the few sayings she remembered her mother telling her. “We slept together because we like each other.”

She winced. Because that wasn’t the whole truth. Not for her.
Like
didn’t come close to what she felt for Cameron Steward. The word she’d let slip last night—love—had been much more accurate.

The boy frowned before he grabbed another biscuit. “Da told me I should learn how to sleep alone and like it.”

Jen winced again. This time for the child lying in her arms and for the man behind her. She didn’t know exactly what horrible words had been spoken to Cam when he’d been a boy, but she’d very much like to punch his deceased father. “I think it’s fine if a person sleeps alone. Still, if they like someone a lot, they can sleep with them, too.”

“Hmm.” He pondered her explanation, his short, spiky hair brushing her chin. “I like ye a lot, so does that mean I can sleep with ye from now on?”

“No.” A deep voice rumbled from the bed. “She’s mine to sleep with.”

The boy slammed his teacup down and jumped out of her arms, running to the bed. “You’re awake!”

“How can I not be when I hear all sorts of gabbing?” Cam leaned on one elbow, letting the covers slide down to his waist. His hairy chest gleamed in the firelight, setting off a blast of want deep inside her.

“You’re naked,” his son observed, a quizzical note to his voice.

“I am.” His father didn’t appear fazed.

But Jen’s face heated with embarrassment at being caught by this boy. Yet, what did she expect? Robbie was too smart not to grasp the change in their relationship and anyway, she’d only be here for another five days. How much damage could happen in that amount of time?

The reminder she had only days left with these two hit her like a blaze of hot coals.

“Hand me my jeans, Rob.”

“Why?”

The father grinned at the pointed question, again undaunted by his son’s leery censure of the circumstances. “Because if ye and Jenny are going to have a wee feast in the middle of the night, I want some, too.”

Apparently finding that answer understandable, the boy bopped to the pile of clothes lying on the floor and pulled out the requested clothing.

“Now go back and sit with Jenny while I get these on.”

Robbie skipped to her, a grin on his face. Like his father, it didn’t seem to take long for him to recover from any perilous adventure or pointed rejection. His experience on the loch and his father’s pained rebuff of him mere hours ago appeared to be forgotten. “I’m going to eat all the biscuits before ye get here, Da.”

“Naw.” He jerked his jeans on and snapped them shut, then prowled to the table, swiping the platter into his hands. “I get them.”

“Da!”

“There’s enough for both of you, and leftovers for me, as well.” Jen rubbed her hand across the child’s hair, relishing the prickly points and wishing with an aching heart, she’d have the chance to ruffle this boy’s hair for years.

Five days.

That’s all the time she had with these two.

“Ye don’t say?” Cam plunked the platter down and headed for her small kitchenette. “What other goodies might ye be hiding in this room?”

“I think you’ve had more than enough of my goodies.” Before she could stop the uncharacteristic tease, it was out.

A deep bark of laughter made her smile.

Robbie peered at her, puzzled. “I’ve only had two biscuits, Jen. That’s not a lot.”

Teasing felt good, instead of scary. As a kid, her cousins had teased her unmercifully and she’d always thought it was mean, not fun. But now, now she realized she’d been wrong. So she gave it another attempt. “Your father has had far more than that.”

The roll of his laughter came again, as rich and redolent as his voice. “Not nearly enough, though, Jenny. Not nearly.”

His declaration made her stupid heart sing. She’d thought perhaps tonight would be the only night, yet it appeared this wasn’t the case. This made her so glad, so happy and ecstatic. The emotions zinging through her blood told her she’d better be prepared to face a long, horrid slog back to reality once she left here.

Cam’s mouth swooped in from behind, startling her out of her emotions and straight back into sexual need. His lips captured a kiss. He lingered on her, letting his tongue slide over and in.

“You’re kissing again.” Robbie’s voice came from the nest of her arms. “It's not fun, it's disgusting.”

His father tilted his head and glanced at his son, his eyes glittering with humor. “Do ye think so, Rob?”

“Yes, I think so.” The child burrowed deeper into the chair and her.

“But ye don’t know, do ye?” He grabbed his boy, lifting his squirming body in the air. “It’s best to experience something before ye make a judgment.”

“No, Da, I—”

His father kissed him. Right on his lips, and then he spread a flurry of kisses across his boy’s hair, his cheeks, before landing a big smacking kiss on his ear.

Robbie giggled and giggled some more.

Something had broken free in Cameron Steward. Something had changed in the last few hours, something that allowed him to give to his boy what he couldn’t before. Perhaps she’d been a part of this change. The thought sunk into her with a solid joy.

The image would be pasted into her memory for the rest of her life. Jen knew it with a spiking pang. The boy swinging in his father’s strong, bare arms, the light of laughter and love covering both of their faces. Whatever happened after she left, she had to believe there was enough between these two now that would guide them closer and closer to each other.