Highland Stone (12 page)

The girl eyed her and smiled. Eleyne was too perceptive. Kara never knew where Eleyne would turn up or what she'd seen. She moved with stealth for such a young girl and had skills and knowledge that would take her far.

"I think I'll go back to my room and freshen up," Kara told Leelah. When she maneuvered past Eleyne, Kara scrunched her nose and grinned. The recent raids had been happening far enough away that castle life seemed to be fairly relaxed, except for the extra guards. That was one reason Alaxandar had agreed to another ride. She stopped by Maeve. "May I take a basket and some food? I am going on a ride this afternoon and I would like to stop for a picnic."

"A what?" Maeve asked.

"Oh, right. I mean—uh—I'd like to take something along for my midday meal."

Maeve nodded her understanding and pointed to a small basket. Kara filled the basket with food and tucked a tiny jug of spiced wine on top. Now to get ready for her date. She'd had a bath the day Cuilén and Ilysse got married but she really needed to clean her clothes. She met Katherine as she hurried through the hall. "Would you happen to have another set of clothes I could borrow until I get these washed?"

"Aye, I will bring some to your chambers. You'll want to freshen up before your ride with Alaxandar."

"How—"

Katherine smiled.

"Thanks." How the hell did she know that?

Kara welcomed the feel of the cool water on her sweaty skin. She looked thinner. Well, stress was a definite appetite suppressant. She was wasting away. Someone knocked at the door.

"Kara, 'tis Katherine."

"Come in."

"I brought you these clothes and some slippers. If you'd like, I'll take the others and put them in the wash basket."

"That's okay. I can wash them myself. I do this stuff at home all the time."
Of course not by hand.

"I'll be leaving them with you then."

"Thank you."

Katherine nodded and left the room.

Kara finished dressing, assessed her image in the mirror, and prayed she knew what the hell she was doing.

* * * *

Alaxandar had washed up in the creek then sent word for her to meet him in the stables. She went gladly carrying the basket full of food. "I thought we could stop and eat somewhere along the way. I know a special place."

"As me lady wishes," he whispered. His hands settled on her waist and he hoisted her up on the horse.

The day was magnificent. Sunlight fell over the landscape, its warmth finding its way into each glen, wrapping around every hill and shimmering off the surface of the loch. Alaxandar kept a watchful eye on the surroundings in case of trouble. They moved through the copse of trees and hidden entryway Leelah had showed her earlier. Sunlight gilded the grassy banks, and the breeze was heavenly. He helped her dismount and secured the horses while she lay out the blanket and the contents of the basket.

"Are ye hungry, my lord?" she'd asked in a lame Scottish brogue, as he moved toward her in a slow, predatory stride.

He smiled. "Aye, lass."

That look—that passionate look—made her shiver all the way to her toes. Kara filled his goblet with wine and then her own. Their fingers brushed as she handed him the chalice. Fire and heat exploded up her arm, starting at the point of contact. If that inferno wasn't enough, add to it the sun and the wine, and she had a hot-to-trot, wanton woman feeling going on.

"We should wash up," she murmured. She stood and headed toward the small waterfall, sashaying her hips in a blatant invitation. The heat of his hungry eyes followed her. She pulled the leine free from the skirt as she stopped at the water's edge.

Flirting had never been her forte, not that she'd tried very often. Her geekiness and nerd status didn't give her much opportunity over the years. Work had become a big, time wraith, and before she knew it, years had passed. She'd had a couple of quick relationships, a few quote-un-quote sleepovers, but they never matured beyond that. She felt a deeper connection with Alaxandar. In the short time she'd been here, despite the fact, that she believed—well—assumed that she'd not be staying, something about him had just drawn her in.

Today, she felt empowered. As seductively as she could, Kara glanced at him from under her lashes. The corner of her mouth lifted as she removed her skirt, carefully to make sure she did not lose the stone, and let it drop to the ground. Alaxandar's nostrils flared and he hissed a breath. Lifting the leine off her body, she dropped it on top of her skirt, pausing long enough for him to get an eyeful. She stepped onto the ledge and walked to stand beneath the waterfall, clad only in a thin cotton chemise. The refreshing water sheeted her body.

In the blink of an eye, Alaxandar was everywhere at once. His fingers twisted in her hair as he ravished her with kisses. Daringly, she sucked his tongue as it plunged into her mouth. The music of the waterfall played, and she floated, light-headed from the rush of sensations. A low growl emitted from deep within Alaxandar's chest, and she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her wet body against the full length of him, getting as close as humanly possible. Arms like steel bands wound around her trembling body, and his mouth probed, hungry with exploration. She pushed the shirt from his shoulders and planted small kisses on his chest. Her fingers ran through his thick hair. Her body sizzled with the slightest contact. Desire bashed her senses like waves in the ocean.

He leaned his head back and wet his hair then shook like a shaggy dog, sending water droplets in every direction. His eyes turned indigo. Long, strong fingers stroked her back. He trailed slow kisses along her neck and across her shoulders while he slipped the chemise down. His tongue flicked a bare, swollen nipple. She arched her back and he renewed the vigor of his fondling.

Sexual frustration tore at Alaxandar. Now that he'd tasted Kara, he couldn't get enough. All day his lack of concentration had prompted several remarks. One snide comment landed Iain in a mud pool.

The woman tempted him in all manner of ways. Every inch of her exposed skin glowed and sent an arousing message to his loins. He felt like a randy stallion, bursting with untamed passion. His cock already strained for release. Feverishly he kissed her, devouring more each time his mouth touched hers. Carnal pleasures demanded satisfaction, and he planned to make good on those demands.

He wanted to give her what the yearning in her eyes begged for, what they both craved. He'd had her close to the peak once already and planned to do it again, and again. Wrapping his arms around her, he grabbed onto her buttocks. "Put your legs around me waist."

When her thighs hugged his waist, he settled her buttocks in his hand so he supported her completely. He lifted his plaid and without hesitation plunged. With both hands now gripping her luscious moons, he lifted her up and down on his swollen shaft setting the rhythm he wanted, while the waterfall tumbled around them. Pleasure, like a tight spring, wound within him. His thrusts went deep and he fought the desire to fill her. He wanted her screaming first.

"I'm coming, Alaxandar. I'm coming."

"Aye, lass. I be wanting all of it." He continued pumping into her.

In the next instant, stars exploded and sparks flew behind his eyes as her hot flesh flexed around his cock.
Bloody hell.
The minx would be the death of him, or at the very least, bring him to his knees.

He continued to support her body and rocked against her for another minute before he followed her into the precipice. The convulsions emptied his essence, taking the sharp edge off but in no way, leaving him sated. Immediately, he moved from the spray and set her down on quivering legs.

"Nay, lass," he crooned when she tried to sit. "I be not done with ye." Already he geared up for the next round, maneuvering her back against the rock wall. With his hand splayed across her stomach, he knelt in front of her and proceeded to use his tongue on her sensitive flesh to make her come again. Her pelvis moved against him, anxious hands fisted in his hair. She screamed with pleasure.

Kara slid down limply against him. They both lay in a heap on the wet rock, breathing heavily. In the distance, thunder rumbled. Kara's hands lazily caressed his heated flesh igniting sensual fires with every touch, each time going lower until they touched that part of him eager to be inside her once more. Black clouds rolled in fast, obstructing the sun then thunder sounded again. Kara straddled him. When she rose up, he guided his cock to her slick opening. She paused for only a moment then lowered herself until they were pelvis to pelvis, and fully joined.

Lightning streaked a sky as dark as the desire in Kara's eyes. His body bucked upward and she rode him hard. She looked beautiful. He felt her inner muscles convulse. His seed spewed, filling those luscious walls.

Lightning struck nearby and the horses whinnied in alarm. He stilled her motion. "We must go."

"Yes," she agreed. "Or we'll get all wet."

The sarcastic tone wasn't lost on him. "Dress," he ordered with a pretense of sternness.

She wrung the water out of her chemise and put her shirt on over it. One soaked the other and stuck to her skin clearly showing the outline of her breasts and pointy nipples. The thought that others would see them as well displeased him, but they had to get back to the keep. Storms in the Highlands at times could be tame as a lamb or as fierce as a wild boar protecting its territory. He threw his clothes on, not bothering to tie his shirt and ran to get the horses.

Kara fastened her skirt and gathered the blanket and food. Alaxandar helped her mount, leapt onto his stallion, and led the way. They hadn't ridden far before encountering a deluge of showers which inhibited their travel. At his insistence, they kept riding, reaching Dunvegan just ahead of the rain.

When they arrived at the stables, Cuilén and Iain waited just inside the door. Cuilén assisted them with their things.

"We got caught in a storm and it be coming this way," Alaxandar explained.

Iain tilted his head and grinned at Alaxandar. He did a double take when he glanced at Kara. Alaxandar glared at his little brother. Iain just laughed and moved away.

"Take care o' the horses," Alaxandar ordered, tossing his mount's reins to his brother. "I need to get her out o' those wet clothes."

"Me thinks it willna be the first time today that ye had her out o' those clothes," Iain taunted when out of range of Kara's hearing.

Cuilén snickered. Alaxandar sent a killing glare at both of them. Undaunted, they stood grinning like fools.

The fierce storm soon arrived bringing a damp, bone-chilling cold with it. Fires were lit in all the chambers and the great hall. Kara sat close to him for the body warmth. And what a warm body it was. What he thought would make him immune to her had stoked the desire.

This trip had turned into something more than the scouting expedition Kara had planned on. Acting like she was on a date was the worst thing she could have done. And a picnic? There hadn't even been time to ask about the surrounding lands and the other clans. She had gotten swept up in the whole idea of being alone with a hot, Highland warrior, unleashing her sex kitten, something she didn't know she had by the way, that the reason she wanted to go on the ride had gotten completely lost. She'd still not recovered from the afternoon's delightful tryst and shivers climbed up and down her spine.

She was worried.
I must be losing my mind. I think I'm falling in love with a dead man.

After her parents died, she had been packed and bundled, and shipped off to her grandparents' house, not given time enough to realize how her life was forever altered. Her grandparents were wonderful, and were always there for her. Still, she felt alone. The kind of alone that couldn't be supplanted by the number of friends she surrounded herself with.

Now, here she was, in a beautiful, foreign country with good people and a man who stirred deep emotions within her. Admittedly, she had been wondering what it would be like to live here all the time. She stopped at the work room door to watch the women mending clothes and weaving on the looms. Perhaps she liked being here because it reminded her of times she and Glynnis sat and talked while sewing or cooking. The loss of her grandmother played a definite part in her feelings for this place. She had never tired of hearing about Scotland and had hounded her grandmother endlessly with questions about the country.

Pull it together, Malone. You can't stay here.
It would be her luck that by staying she'd wipe out the planet or at the very least, her entire family.
"You've seen too many movies."

* * * *

The bright day gave good light for Alaxandar, Cuilén, Ramsey and the other men who came to repair and fortify the west wall.

"Come on, Cuilén, lift that stone. Where has all your strength gone, man?" Alaxandar threw the barb at his brother.

Cuilén blew out a breath. "Ye know where me strength has gone." His devil grin got them laughing.

"Ramsey? Ye canna seem to stay focused. Why ye be scanning the area?"

"Your sister shadows me since I have returned. I canna turn for fear of tripping on her," he spit out.

"Why dunna ye marrit the gel and be done with it?" Cuilén said.

Alaxandar watched the dark memory pass through Ramsey's eyes. He knew why Ramsey never planned to marry. He'd been a prisoner at some point in a place where unspeakable things were done to the captives.

Ramsey never spoke of it.

He bore the marks of the torture as well as battle scars. That was why he never went back to the MacLaren clan when he'd escaped captivity. Ramsey swore never again to be controlled by anyone. He'd as much admitted to Alaxandar one night when they'd been deep in their cups of ale. He went where he wanted for as long as he wanted then moved on. Alaxandar had met him on the battlefield. He was badly injured. Ramsey found him, patched him up, and nursed him back to health. They formed a bond of friendship, kinsman. They had gone to battle many times together since then, watching each other's backs. When the last war ended, Alaxandar offered him a place to rest until he felt the need to go.