Banished (5 page)

The thought of
what sat nestled against her core right at this moment, made her desire spike.
He continued to grind against her sex, tempting her, tormenting her.

Chloe kissed him
back with as much passion as she felt coming from him. He moaned and she realized
she was unclasping his jeans. It acted like a bucket of cold water. Pulling
away, she pushed him off her and jumped from the window seat.

What was she
doing? She was engaged to be married. Her fiancé was, now, right at this moment
at their holiday cottage waiting for her return. He may not be participating in
the vacation as she’d like but this didn’t give her the right to act like a
horny trollop.

“I’m so sorry, I
don’t know what just happened but I think I should go. It’s getting late and Eddy
will be waiting for me.”

At the mention
of Eddy all warmth seeped from his deliciously gray orbs that were just a
moment ago burning red hot with lust and need. “Are you sure?”

At his deep,
desire-filled tone, Chloe almost said no. “Yes.”

He nodded and
stepped further away. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

Chloe followed
him but this time made sure to walk down the stairs before him. Although the
prickling of his gaze between her shoulder blades was more uncomfortable than looking
at his delectable toosh on the way up.

She picked up
the old book of mythology and hugged it to her chest. Anything to keep her from
launching herself at a man who, with every breath and now touch, made it perfectly
clear he wanted her. “I’ll return the book I promise. And if it’s okay, I would
still like a tour of the rest of the castle. I hope even after what has
happened between us ... ”

“I’ll gladly
show you around the rest of me home, lass. Kissing or no kissing.”

Chloe smiled. “Again
I apologize for before.” She frowned. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“That would be me, lass.” He laughed. “Drive safely home and I
promise the next time I see you I’ll try to be more of a gentleman.”

Cian settled his
need and pushed it down to the pit of his stomach. He didn’t want to frighten
her, not that the old Chloe was ever frightened of his strength and powers of
persuasion. He inwardly laughed knowing the Chloe of old would never baulk at
what he was currently thinking of doing to her. If he knew this Chloe a little
longer he would have no qualms walking up behind her, pulling her against him
and unzipping her jeans.

He imagined
pulling them down over her thin thighs, his hand finding her sex hidden behind
delicious black underwear and stroking her before plunging deep into her heated
tight core. He wanted to bend her over and fuck her hard and fast, giving her
orgasm after orgasm just like in their old times.

His body
shuddered over an imagined thought he knew to be a memory. A memory in a
different time and place. Many different times and places. Still painfully hard
from their escapades upstairs, he shifted his stance and wrenched his mind back
to a more suitable line of thought.

Cian searched
her face lingering on lips he longed to taste again and greedily plunder. He promised
himself it would not be long before he did. “It’s a date then.”

Chloe smiled but
ignored his choice of words. She walked up to him and held out her hand. “Well,
I had better go. No doubt your home will soon be buzzing with people and I
don’t want to hold you up. Thank you for the tour. I’m sorry to have pulled you
away from whatever work it was you were doing.”

Cian placed a
kiss upon her hand. “You’re welcome here anytime, Chloe. Don’t doubt me on
that.” He stood and unable to let her go, placed her hand in the crook of his
arm while he walked her to the door. His body inwardly sighed at having her next
to him again, as if he were coming back to life after a hundred and fifty years
of being dead.

She gazed at him
before quickly looking away. Cian smiled, thinking it was probably for the best.
For the feral determination to have her again was no doubt visible in his eyes.
It would be enough to frighten anyone.

Even him on
occasion.

Chapter Four

Chloe shut the
door in the holiday cottage and leaned against it. Her ragged breaths not
solely due to the distance she had parked the car from the cottage. She had
needed the walking distance to cool off, not that she had.

She headed into
the kitchen and flicked on the kettle, could hear in the adjoining room another
soccer game playing on the TV and Eddy’s groans and shouts that sporadically
burst from his mouth.

There was
something dreadfully wrong with her. No woman, newly engaged, and on holidays
with said fiancé, flirted and kissed highlanders. She pulled out a mug and
searched for the sugar. What had she been thinking throwing herself at Cian like
a woman starved of sex?

To all but plead
with him through her actions for him to fuck her up against the window like
some hussy. Not that such a position wouldn’t be enjoyable ...

Chloe growled
and ripped open the pantry door while looking into the lounge. Eddy sat there,
feet on coffee table and dishes scattered all over the place. Annoyance tinged
with guilt stabbed at her. Eddy was a slob and quite annoying to go on holidays
with, but he was good and he deserved better than her kissing and having very
inappropriate thoughts with another man.

She sighed and
stared at the kettle.

“I’ll have a
coffee if you’re making one.”

“Sure.” Chloe
smiled and got out another cup. “Eddy?” She paused when his mobile rang.

She absently
listened to his conversation while she made their drinks and stopped to listen
when Eddy mentioned half a day to get there.

“What’s going on?
Who was that?” she asked when he hung up.

Eddy ran a hand
through his hair. “My boss. Seems there’s a problem with the contract we just
signed off on.” He paused. “I have to go back to London. Today. I can’t delay.”

Chloe put down
her cup and ignored the relief of hearing such news. Shouldn’t she be feeling
sadness, annoyance or anger that Eddy’s boss would pull her fiancé away from
his holiday to fix a problem he could do himself. But she didn’t and that in
itself explained her relationship with him.

“Well, I suppose
you better go pack.”

Eddy came around
the bench, hugged and then kissed her. “Oh, I’m glad you’re not mad. I was just
waiting for your ungodly temper to set off and flay me alive.” He walked to the
bedroom and spoke while pulling bags from the cupboards. “Shouldn’t take me
long to fix the glitch. We’ll go somewhere else next year.” Eddy stuck his head
out the bedroom door. “Come on, I need to get back to London by tonight.”

Chloe took a
calming breath. “Eddy I’m not coming.”

“What?” he
yelled, walking into the bathroom.

“I’m not coming
with you,” she repeated, then waited for him to comprehend her words.

Eddy walked back
into the kitchen. “You’re staying here. Why?”

Chloe walked
into the lounge and sat. “Eddy, sit. We need to talk.”

Eddy came and
sat across from her. She met his gaze and recognized the unease that thrummed
along his stiffened shoulders.

“Eddy, I love
you. I do. But more as a friend than anything else.” Chloe paused. “It’s not
working out. We’re both so busy with our lives that we’ve forgotten to have one
together. Coming here, to Scotland, I had hoped to bring us back to where we
once were. Or at least where I thought we were heading. It isn’t happening and
I think you know it as much as I do.”

Eddy slumped onto
the sofa then nodded. “I know,” he whispered. “I love you too. You’re my best
friend. I hope we can keep that at least.”

Chloe’s eyes
pricked with tears. She stood and hugged him. “Always friends. I’m so sorry.”

Eddy kissed her.
“Me too. And when I leave, don’t go blaming yourself, Chloe. It’s been on my
mind quite a lot of late as well. I too had hoped the holiday would bring us
back together and I wish it had. But you’re right, we seem to be being pulled
in different directions.” He hugged her then stepped away. “I’ll have my stuff
out of your apartment by the time you return to London.”

Chloe nodded. “Okay. But it’s no rush, really. Whenever you can will
be fine.” She watched him walk off to pack. She walked over to the liquor
cabinet and looked at the crystal glasses and amber liquid. She needed
something harder than tea.

***

Silk softer than
any she had ever felt glided over her body. She writhed in the bed that seemed
to float on wispy white clouds and sighed in the utter decadence of luxury on
which she slept. She rolled over and opened her eyes. Viewed a city outside her
window made of polished marble and glass. She squinted at the brightness of it
before a noise told her she was not alone.

Chloe looked
about the room. Women in roman tunics poured water into a golden bath. Some
kind of pink flower with an aroma unlike any she had ever smelled wafted to
her. A woman ethereal in her beauty walked over and pulled her from her bed.
Stripped her of her gown and beckoned her to the bath.

“It’s time, Chloe,”
the woman whispered against her ear, the caress sparking the fine hairs on the
back of her neck to rise.

Chloe bolted upright
in bed, the quilt and woolen throw rug clasped tight against her chest. She ran
a hand through her hair and swallowed the fear such a dream rose within her.

The nightmare
still vivid in her mind ran unease along every pore and every fiber of her
body. She threw back the quilts and walked to the window and looked up at the
sky. Wondered, not for the first time in her life if someone was looking out
for her. Watching her.

Waiting ...

A cold shiver prickled down her spine and Chloe walked to the
bathroom, determined a hot shower would pull her out of such ridiculous
musings.

The next day she
stood in the local store staring at what chocolates were available. Not many by
the looks of it. She bent over and inspected the assortment of bars.

“You’re a sweet
tooth?”

Chloe jumped and
turned to look up at the local laird. He towered above her like an oversize
roman statue. She chuckled to hide her unease of seeing him again, and this
time as a single woman.

“Ah, yes I am.
Terrible habit but I love my sweets.” She pulled the first chocolate she could
find from the shelf. “It’s not the only thing I’m going to buy, I have a list.”
Cian smiled and Chloe bit her bottom lip lest she sigh in delight. She turned
and walked up the aisle and made a point of looking at the cereal packets.

“How’s the book
going?” Cian asked following her.

Chloe looked
over her shoulder and noted the little shopping basket in his hand looked
awfully tiny against his body. “Book?” Chloe paused before she realized what he
referred to. “Ah, the book. I haven’t looked at it yet. Thought I would later
today. I’m also going to walk the local historical trail tomorrow.” She shut
her mouth with a snap the instant she realized she was babbling.

“I like that
one,” Cian said.

Chloe stilled. “What
do you like?” The image of him hard against her, grounding his heat against her
own assailed her mind. She had liked it as well ...

He pointed at a
cereal box on the shelf. “That cereal, it’s good.”

She sighed with
relief and placed a box of cornflakes in her basket. “I’ll return the book in a
day or two. I won’t leave with it, I promise.”

“I’m not
worried.” He leaned against the shelving and looked down at her. The intensity of
his gaze making the blood in her body pump about a million times too fast. She
pasted a look of enquiry on her face and refused to look like a deer in
headlights.

“Would you like
some company?”

Oh, yes please
in my bed. Right now!
Her eyes seemed to be glued
to his chest and the muscled, bulging arms that hung at ease at his sides.
Aware she was publically ogling the man, she looked into her basket. What was
she doing? One thing she should do was get the hell away from this man so she
could think straight.

“Where?” she
asked, having lost all train of thought.

He laughed and
her mouth went dry. “On your walk tomorrow. Would you like some company?” he
asked.

“I’m sure you
have other things to do,” she said, heat scorching her cheeks.

Cian’s gaze slid
over her in a visceral caress. “I’d love nothing more than to show you the
pleasures of my home, Chloe,” he replied, with the merest hint of Scottish
lilt.

Oh jeepers that
sounded good. Chloe swallowed and watched a passing woman shopper give the
laird a once over. A primitive anger simmered in her blood at the woman’s
gumption. Aware she was glaring, Chloe smoothed her features before noticing
the lairds laughing gaze.

“I’m leaving at
eleven tomorrow morning. If you still want to come I’ll meet you at my driveway
gate.” She turned and walked off. Inwardly shook her head at her absurd jealousy
over a man who she knew nothing about.