Heart Tamer (5 page)

Open-mouthed, Kate stared at him. The silence between them grew and tension mounted as seconds ticked by.

The corners of Alec’s mouth lifted into a sardonic smile. His glittering eyes locked on hers, forcing her to hold his gaze. “And you’ll have to ask for it nicely…
verra nicely
.” He patted her bottom. “I’m in charge now.”

Talk about infuriating! Kate couldn’t believe Alec was toying with her when she had just bared her soul to him. She felt like smacking him.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not here to inflate your already enormous ego. I’m not going to beg either, no matter how much I want your baby.” Begging a man to stay didn’t work. She was only eight when she saw her very pregnant mother on her knees shaking, crying and begging for Kate’s dad not to leave them, yet he’d callously walked out. That sickening image haunted Kate to this day.

He slid her off his lap onto the space beside him and brushed his hands together as if saying good riddance. “Did you think I’d agree to have a baby because you asked for it? I was just testing you to see how far you would go to get your way.”

“Testing me? How dare you.” Hot fury made her temples pound. “Forget I even asked. I don’t want you to be the father any more. I’ll go to a sperm bank!”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Alec muttered edgily.

“I’ll do
exactly
what I want. Nobody tells me what to do. Contrary to what you think, Mr. Big Ego, you are not in charge! By next year I’ll be pregnant,” Kate vowed, dearly hoping she was right. She shoved her feet in her shoes and bolted up from the sofa. With her head held high and a rigid backbone, she stalked away.

“Where are you going?” he demanded, following closely behind.

“I’m going to dance and have a good time. There were lots of good-looking guys out there and I’m planning on enjoying the party.  Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky tonight and meet someone—”

“Over my dead body.” Alec glared at her through narrowed dark gold eyes as he took hold of her wrist.

“Start planning your funeral then,” she said, shaking off his grip. “Before I go, I’ll have that drink you offered.” She walked to the bar, poured two inches of scotch and knocked down the liquor, choking and wheezing as it scalded her poor esophagus.

Alec’s caustic chuckle followed her coughing fit. “Still a lightweight, eh Katie?”

His smug observation was the last straw. It was a miracle steam didn’t blow out of her ears. Her hand trembled on the bottleneck as she poured another two inches of scotch. Holding his gaze, she downed the contents and this time made sure not to utter a peep, even though her insides were blazing with reproach. Kate opened her mouth to say something, but the raw feeling in her throat made her snap it shut. The last thing she wanted was to croak like a frog.

“Slow down. Scotch shouldn’t be wasted on those who can’t handle it.”

Was he trying to make her see red?
Kate’s temper was already teetering on a fine line between control and explosion.

He took the bottle from her hands. “Give me that. I don’t want to have to carry you to your room.”

“You wish! You won’t be touching one inch of me tonight. Get out of my way,” Kate shouted, hopping mad.

Alec blocked the door, his eyes stony and mouth set. “Lower your voice. You haven’t changed a bit. Still bossy and damned stubborn.”

“Stop flapping your mouth and move out of my way. If you think I’m going to stand here one more second and—” The rest of her words were muffled as Alec pulled her to him and kissed her hard, his arms anchored around her back. 

“Shut up.” His mouth ground against hers as his hands slid down and cupped her bottom, lifting her upward. Her shoes fell to the floor as she dangled in the air. Bracing her hands on his rock hard biceps she tried to protest, to insist that he stop kissing her, but her body’s instant, wild response betrayed her. She opened her lips and allowed his tongue to glide inside. The moment he began to ravenously taste her, all resistance melted and gave way to fierce desire.

Alec’s kisses were carnal and deep and his erection thick, leaving no doubt where they were headed. He carried her toward the bedroom, kicked the door open and tumbled onto the bed with her. He hiked her gown up to her waist and braced himself on his elbows above her, holding his weight from crushing her. 

Lowering her strapless bustier to free her breasts, he lifted them in his large hands. She inhaled sharply when his dark head bent and his mouth nuzzled her nipples. They tightened pleasurably beneath the whoosh of his warm breath and the velvety softness of his lips. The pad of his tongue lightly flicked the taut tips before sucking deeply, causing a yearning so intense Kate gasped. “So beautiful,” he murmured gutturally.

Hot, wet desire pooled between her trembling thighs as his mouth traveled up her neck and kissed the soft spot behind her ear leaving a trail of gooseflesh everywhere his lips touched. Her pulse throbbed wildly as his bold fingers dipped into her panties and skillfully stroked her slick arousal. She moaned deep in her throat at the thrilling, intimate exploration.

Kate’s lower belly quivered with erotic spasms and her legs felt like jelly as she squirmed and gripped his forearms. Squeezing her eyes shut, she drew in shallow breaths and tried to hold on to the last shred of control. But she was close…alarmingly close to the mind-blowing
sweet surrender
he’d asked for earlier. Acute, pleasurable sensations formed a spiraling tornado that spread from the apex of her swollen sex to every tingling nerve ending of her body. 

Alec’s fingers stopped abruptly and pulled back to look at her. The gleaming ferocity in his eyes took her breath away.

“No. Don’t stop!” she said, practically hyperventilating.

“What do you want, Katie?” he gritted in a taut voice.

“I want
you,
Alec.”

He peeled her panties down and off.  “I want to see you shatter in my arms…to be the one who makes you lose control.”

“Yes,” she panted, her voice throaty as air barely escaped her throat.

“Who is in charge?” Alec’s blazing topaz eyes challenged her with a look so darkly erotic, she shivered.

“You are,” she purred, arching her pelvis upward.

“Aye.” Alec pushed aside the hem of his kilt and entered Kate slowly until she adjusted to his size. Her hands closed over his muscular buttocks and her legs locked around his waist as she arched upward, taking in each driving stroke with giddy eagerness. The starched cotton of his shirt chafed her sore nipples and his wool kilt abraded her thighs as he surged inside her.

Kate teetered on the brink of madness as Alec made love to her like a man possessed, with such raw, primal passion, she could scarcely breathe. So delirious was she for all of him, she would have
begged
him not to stop if he had. His face strained, Alec held her face between his hands, his eyes boring into hers, obliging her to meet them. Her pelvis bucked beneath him, wanting more,
more
. And suddenly her soaring crescendo peaked and she imploded, careening wildly out of control.

She clutched Alec’s tight buttocks until he reached a fierce climax and his deep voice rumbled out of his chest. “Kate, beautiful Kate, you’ve come back to me.”

With a hoarse shudder, he withdrew and collapsed on his back, pulling her on top of him. She could hear his hammering heart as she pressed her cheek against his heaving chest. Kate kissed the hollow of his throat and slid a hand inside his open shirt, resting it over his heart.

Kate had no idea what time it was when she awakened. The commotion outside only meant one thing—Hogmanay was in full swing.

“Wake up,” she said, patting Alec’s face when he didn’t open his eyes.

“What?” he said drowsily.

“It’s Hogmanay.”

“Happy New Year, beautiful,” he said, kissing her temple.

“Happy New Year, handsome.” Her fingers climbed his chest. “Aren’t you going to do your duty?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maisie and Don told me about the first footing tradition where a tall, dark and handsome stranger arrives with a gift of coal to bring good luck to the New Year.”

“And?” He pulled back and looked at her.

“It’s time to do your duty, dark-haired Highlander. I’m suddenly famished and not for coal. Is there anything to eat here?”

Alec quirked a thick eyebrow. “Back to issuing orders, eh? I gave you something far better than coal.”

“Aye, you did,” she said, imitating his Scottish accent. She looked down and began to chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“Look at us. My couture gown is bunched up around my waist and you’re lying here with your kilt askew.” She sat up and somehow managed to smooth her form-fitting skirt down past her knees. “There, that’s better.”

“It’s a crime to cover you,” Alec murmured huskily. “Let’s get you out of the dress.”

He turned Kate over and unzipped her evening gown, kissing her back and spine where the descending zipper revealed. He slid her dress off and Kate tried to turn over on her back, but he stopped her with a large hand splayed over her bottom.

“Not so fast, wee Katie.” He chuckled wickedly. “Though I wouldn’t exactly call you wee,” he said with a lusty slap on her bottom.

Kate flailed her arm back to hit him. “You beast. Let me up,” she huffed in mock outrage. She knew he was teasing; he’d always said he loved her curves.

“Hey, it’s a compliment. You know I have a weakness for more than a handful, and you are gorgeous,” he said, kissing the object of his affection.

“That’s more like it,” she said, pushing herself up on the elbows.

“Don’t even think of moving a muscle. I’m not finished feasting on you.”

And feast he did—to his heart’s content—on the sensitive back of her nape, the indentations of her waist, the back of her knees, the curves of her buttocks, thighs and calves… He didn’t stop until he’d lavished all of her with attention and she was blushing fiercely, biting the pillow.

“Sweetheart, you’re more delectable than I remembered, if that’s even possible,” he said, giving her buttock a final nip before rising from the bed.

Kate turned on her back and fluffed a pillow under her head as she watched him strip off the white shirt revealing the corded muscles in his back. She loved the strong supple curve of his neck where it met his broad shoulders. Her pulse tripped up remembering how powerful his body had felt while he’d made love to her.

Alec walked to the bathroom and returned moments later, wearing a white hotel robe and carrying another for her. “Here, put this on. You don’t want to miss the fireworks. Unless you’d rather stay in bed…” He grinned. “There were plenty of those here.”

“I love your fireworks,” Kate said, returning his grin.

She tucked into the plush bathrobe Alec handed her and joined him at the large window. He stood behind her, his arms wrapped snugly around her as they watched streaks of bright, electrical lights bursting into thistles and saltires that commemorated St. Andrew’s cross. At a distance, Edinburgh castle glowed amidst the stunning pyrotechnic display. The midnight sky lit up everywhere as throngs of people sang
Auld Lang Syne
accompanied by the Scottish rock groups playing at a distance.

“What an awesome sight,” Kate said.

“Aye, it’s fantastic.”

“How many people do you think are out there?”

“Last I heard they were expecting about 80,000. Too bad we missed the torch light procession through the city.”

Kate leaned her head back against Alec’s strong chest. “I’m not sorry we missed it. Coming together was far better,” she said with a dreamy sigh.

“Agreed.” Alec’s warm hands slid inside Kate’s robe and intimately caressed her breasts, his fingertips gently tugging the nipples. “You and I have some wee unfinished business, Katie.”

“What do you mean?”

He kissed the side of her neck and nipped her earlobe, causing gooseflesh to rise on her neck and arms. With his dark head bent toward her, he murmured, “We need to come to an agreement.”

Kate turned to face him. “About what?” she asked, her heart in her throat.
What he was feeling and thinking?
The force of his penetrating gaze unnerved her.

“Us…this.” He slid his hands under her robe and clasped her buttocks, lifting her to his waist level. Kate wrapped her thighs around him and locked her feet behind his buttocks as he braced his legs and slid inside her.

She threw her head back and moaned with pleasure.

“I’m not letting you go again,” he said, kissing the pulsing beat on her throat.

“Good,” she said, loving the feel of his lips on her skin.

“We could be making a bairn tonight.” His intense, glowing eyes held her prisoner as he began a slow and thorough plunder. “If we do, we’ll raise him…or her
together
.”

“Okay,” she said, dazed and elated that he was onboard with having a baby with her.

“No more talk about fertility clinics,” he said between measured, deliberate thrusts. His eyes held hers as he moved into her strongly. “The bairn will be mine.
Ours
.”

“Ours,” she agreed, gasping with pleasure.

He rocked his body against her, holding her captive and inexorably bound to him. Against the backdrop of the fireworks, Alec made love to her fiercely, passionately, until he wrung out a response so swift and startling she clung to him as if her life depended on it. His cry of release followed immediately afterward. Still embedded in her, he walked toward the bed supporting her weight with his palms as if she weighed nothing.

“Quick, make a wish,” he whispered against her ear, hugging her tightly.

“A second chance for us?” Kate’s heart constricted with longing as she dearly hoped he’d agree.

Alec kissed her tenderly, his lips like velvet against her mouth. “Aye, a second chance.”

“I’ll cherish this night forever,” she whispered.

“There will be more nights like these…and days,” Alec said huskily.

With all her heart, Kate wished she could believe him. She was terrified that emotionally she was where she’d vowed never to be again—vulnerable and worried about being abandoned. “Promise?” she asked softly, hating how needy she sounded.