Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (20 page)

“
But you
are
my fiancée,” he said as he inserted
a diamond ring on her third finger.

Ruby gasped. She stared in
bewilderment at the big diamond sparkling in the afternoon sunlight
on her finger.

No!
This could not be
happening. He was using her all along.
How cruel!
The
passionate kisses, the gentle touches, they were all
lies.

“
You bastard!” she
screamed, shoving him away on the chest. “I hate you!” Then she
made a motion to pull the ring from her finger.

Alec seized her left arm
in time and pulled her toward him. “You’re not taking off that
ring.”

“
It’s on
my
finger. I can take it off if I want
to,” she snapped as she tried to extract her wrist from his
tenacious grasp.

Alec wouldn’t let her. He
tightened his grip on her small wrist and his other hand came to
the back of her neck. His head drew closer to hers and he kissed
her on the lips, hard.

Ruby struggled inside his
embrace. The more she fought, however, the harder he kissed her and
the tighter his grip became.

Her whole body trembled,
and her knees buckled.

Alec, still kissing her,
bent down and lifted her up. He stopped kissing her only
momentarily and drew his head back. Carrying her to bed, he put her
down and came on top of her.

“
Please, Alec, enough is enough! Do you love your sister so
much that you would do even
that
to help
her?”

He stared at her in
silence. His eyes were on her lips. Before he knew what was
happening, he kissed her again; his tongue pushing against her
sealed lips. When she weakly surrendered to his insistently
demanding urges, his tongue slid inside her mouth and he kissed her
passionately.

He moved his head back,
and Ruby touched his face with her shaking hands. “Please, Alec,
I’m so confused,” she said softly.

Alec couldn’t go on.
My God, how it hurt.
He never felt so much pain before from hearing a woman beg
him.

He gritted his teeth and
swiftly moved away.

Ruby bit her lip and
rolled over, giving him her back.

Alec couldn’t stand seeing
her suffer because of him. He stalked out the room, down the
stairs, and left the manor. He ran through the garden to the lake,
tears misting in his eyes.

What the hell was I
doing?

Ruby usually felt much better after a long, warm shower, no matter
what might have been troubling her. She tried to forget, and
honestly, really tried not to think about what Alec was doing and
why, but it didn’t seem to work. As she stood there under the
steamy, warm spray of water, she closed her eyes and tried to
meditate. It usually worked, but not this time.

Alec, what the hell are you doing?
she screamed silently. Why would he do this to
her?
Why her?
Did he love his sister so much that
he had to go to such extremes to help her?

Ruby gritted her teeth as she emerged from the shower. She
was so pissed at the whole situation that she dressed herself too
hastily and totally forgot to put on a bra.
Oh bother! Who would notice if she wore one or
not?

When she came out of the
bathroom, Alec was there, sitting on the bed, waiting for her, and
watching her every move. He looked as though he hadn’t done
anything wrong; in a word, carefree. She resisted the impulse to
slap him in the face just to knock some sense into him.

Her preferred method was to give him the silent treatment.
Thus, she simply glared at him without saying anything because
there was nothing to say. Usually, when Ruby was very upset, she
failed to find the right words to scream at the person responsible.
That was because her brain got into such a chaotic state that all
the words got jumbled up together. They all wanted to burst out of
her mouth at the same time; and in the end, often none were
heard.

Alec advanced toward
her.

“
Ruby, I’m sorry for what
I did,” he began, looking at her from his great height.

Ruby waited for him to
give her a good apology, not to mention, a satisfying
explanation.

“
I had no right.” He
sighed. “I know it’s a bit late, but—”

“
Alec,” she interrupted.
“I want to go home tomorrow. Please, spare me; I don’t want any
part in your game.”

“
Ruby,” he said, his hands
gently touching her shoulders. “Susan loves Brian. If—”

“
If Brian loves another
woman?” she supplied sarcastically. She really couldn’t help
herself. It seemed that Susan, this blond bombshell, whom she once
met back in London, managed to get anything she wanted, and Alec
made sure of that. She couldn’t help the bitterness she felt
growing inside her toward these two loving siblings.

Alec watched her,
frowning. “Ruby, I’m asking for your help.”

Ruby shook her head. “No,
Alec, I won’t help you. Enough is enough. I want to go home. In
fact, I intend to ask Brian to take me home.”

“
Ruby, I’m asking you
nicely now. Please, help me. Susan needs Brian.”

She stared at him straight in the eyes. “Really?” she asked
sarcastically. Alec obviously loved and cared for Susan very much,
so Ruby couldn’t help feeling jealous of the woman. Ruby finally
acknowledged her feelings for this brute of a man who cared not one
whit for her. She wanted to cry out in anger and frustration. All
this man had ever done was use her for his sister’s sake.
How could I fall in love with a man
like that? Am I mad?

Ruby held her head high and said tightly, “But I need Brian
too.” Then she repeated those words again to his face so that he
understood the meaning she wanted to convey.
“I need Brian. I want Brian.”

Ruby knew in her heart
that she was saying an absolute and utter lie. She knew her
feelings for Brian were nothing more than a fleeting
infatuation.

Alec’s eyes narrowed as Ruby took a step
back
. I need Brian! I want
Brian!
The words kept echoing
in his head. He gritted his teeth and fisted his hands.

Ruby saw the anger rising
inside him. Oh God, he looked dangerous, like a mighty Scottish
warrior, ready to slay his enemy.

She took another step
back.

He watched her, his grey
eyes blazing with silver smoke.

Ruby’s heart did a great
somersault as he took another step toward her.

“
Madame,” he said softly,
“there is no way in hell I’m going to let you go to
Brian.”

Ruby sucked in her
breath.

In a flash, he grabbed her
by the arm and pulled her next to him.

“
Let go, Alec! Let
go!”

Alec assaulted her lips
with his to shut her up. Ruby drummed her small, fisted hands on
his muscular chest, but he didn’t seem to take any notice of
it.

When he moved his head
back, Ruby’s lips were all red and sore from his brutal
kiss.

“
I gave you a choice,
Ruby. But since you refused, then so be it.”

Ruby panicked. “What do
you mean?”

Alec bent down and picked
her up.

“
Alec, put me down!
Now!”

He ignored her burst of
outrage and carried her to the door.

“
Where are you taking
me?”

“
To dinner,” he replied.
“And we are going to be a loving couple until further
notice.”

“
Alec, I insist you put me
down this instant! You can’t do this to me; do you understand?” she
shouted vehemently. “Alec!”

Ruby knew she couldn’t win
him over. His personality was too strong, and he was also very
stubborn.

They came into the dining
room, and after Alec dropped Ruby into the chair, Lizzie looked at
Ruby with real worry.

Alec saw the concerned
look on the maid’s face as he sat down. “Ruby’s fine, Lizzie; she’s
just very upset with me.”

Ruby glared at Alec.
The arrogant beast!
He said those words in such a light, friendly tone to the
maid, as though nothing significant had happened! However, in
truth, the world around her was crumbling down.
All because of him!

“
Damn right I’m upset with
you. How could you do this to me? How could you, Alec?!” She was so
angry that she punched him on his shoulder with her puny
fist.

Alec glanced up and saw
Brian and Susan at the door, observing the scene. He swiftly
grabbed Ruby’s wrist with one hand and put his other hand gently on
her nape. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said lightly with a smile,
his eyes twinkling as he looked at her. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.
I promise to be more gentle next time.”

Ruby blinked.
What is
he on about?
She struggled to
free her wrist, but Alec wouldn’t let her go, drawing her toward
him.

“
Alec!” Ruby said
breathlessly.

Alec moved his head toward
hers and kissed her tenderly, his tongue caressing her still sore
and sensitive lips. His fingers at her nape dug deeper into her
hair.

Ruby felt the softness of
his lips against hers and the warmth of his breath. She tried not
to succumb to his gentle assault, but she knew she was losing the
battle with temptation. He was such an expert in this art of
kissing that she was swiftly carried away by his embrace and soft
caresses.

For a moment, Ruby felt like he was
the
one
for her. She felt like she could spend the rest of her life with
this man. But the moment soon passed, and she knew, without a
doubt, this man was using her—
yet again.
Before she
could free herself, he released her.

“
See, sweetheart? I told
you I could be gentle,” Alec said.

“
Aw, so sweet,” Lizzie
commented, smiling. “Yer leg doin’ all right, Miss
Ruby?”

“
What’s wrong with Ruby’s
leg?” Brian asked at the door.

Ruby turned around to look
at Brian, and wanted to die.

Brian and Susan came in
and took the chairs opposite them.

Ruby couldn’t help admiring how beautiful Susan was. She
didn’t miss seeing the woman move closer to Brian and put her hand
on top of his.

Ruby glanced at Brian, who
was opposite her and noticed him looking at her intensely, his eyes
questioning her. She couldn’t bear his gaze tormenting her like
that, so she glanced away. It was rude of her, she knew, but what
else could she do?

“
How did you get here,
Ruby?” Brian asked suddenly.

Ruby bit her lip. She knew
Alec was watching her, waiting for her answer. “I—”

“
I brought her here,” Alec
interjected.

Brian frowned at his
friend; but Alec smiled, his eyes twinkling.

Brian said to Ruby, “You
only have two weeks left, don’t you?” At Ruby’s nod, he continued,
“Do you still want to come to Westwick Castle?”

Ruby knew that Alec was
about to say something, so she quickly said, “Yes.”

Susan stiffened at that.
“Maybe we should all go.”

“
Go?” Jane said from the
door. “Go where?”

Susan looked over at Jane
as the young woman walked into the room. “To Westwick
Castle.”

“
Why?” Jane asked, taking
a seat beside her brother.

“
Yes, why?” Alec repeated,
nodding his head.

“
Because Ruby hasn’t been
there before,” Brian replied.

“
Haven’t you?” Jane asked
Ruby.

Ruby shook her head. “I
would love to go to Westwick Castle. Maybe we could go
tomorrow.”

Alec didn’t like the sound
of that. He leaned forward and was about to say something when Jane
jumped in.

“
Oh, no, Ruby. Not
tomorrow. Brian promised me that we would stay here at least for a
few days. Remember you told me we can visit Mr. Moore?” Jane
reminded her brother. Then she turned back to Ruby. “Can you please
wait for a few more days? Please?”

Ruby reluctantly nodded,
and Alec smiled with inner glee.

Mrs. McKenzie and Lizzie brought in their dinner then. Jane
quickly helped herself to the roasted vegetables; but Ruby just sat
there, staring at nothing. Brian was watching her, his eyes still
scrutinizing her.

“
Would you like some
roasted potatoes, sweetheart?” Alec asked.

Ruby turned to glare at him. Alec’s expression was one of
challenge. She gritted her teeth. She knew she couldn’t win the
day, or beat him, so she nodded.

“
So where did you say
you’re from, Ruby?” Jane asked.

“
New Zealand,” Ruby
replied.

“
Is that where you met
Alec?”