Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) (3 page)

They’d finally compromised on having flags hidden here and there on the property, and whoever collected the most flags would win a fantastic prize, like a cruise or a priceless bottle of wine from her underground cellar. If anyone balked over not getting to murder a fox, then they’d have to go home empty handed.

“Piper, how do ye do this morning?” he called out to her when she approached the paddock and climbed onto the bottom rung of the fence to wave at him.

He patted the horse, a shining storybook black monstrosity and started to lead it over to her.

“Hello, Francois,” she said, trying to hide her nerves as she rubbed its nose.

The horse nuzzled her hand and she forced herself not to jerk away. Still, Pietro saw right through her.

“He’ll not bite you,” he said, shaking his head at her. “Ye must stop being so nervous ‘round them.”

“I know,” she sighed. “They’re so intimidating. Francois looks like he belongs to the headless horseman.”

Pietro laughed and turned Francois out into the paddock, leaning on the other side of the fence from Piper. His eyes glinted. “He looks wicked, aye, but he’s really as sweet as a newborn calf.”

“Oh, well, I’ll remember that,” she said, laughing as well.

She was getting used to the weather and the chill morning felt bracing, the air fresh and sparkling with goodness as she took a deep cleansing breath. She tipped her head back and sighed.

“It is a great day out today,” he agreed, glancing up at the nearly cloudless sky.

He waited patiently at the fence rail and she began to feel stupid for coming out. Pietro rarely went up to the house, and she could easily keep Lachlan out of his sight. She hadn’t needed to come down. But it was such a lovely day, and the night had been so stressful. She wanted to stay out here a little bit longer and watch Francois gambol about the yard.

“I do love the horses,” she said dreamily. “I’m so glad you talked me into getting them.”

He looked embarrassed and ran his hand through his wavy, dark blond hair. His skin was so tan from being outside all the time that he barely passed for a Scot. He could have easily been a Texan rancher.

He shrugged. “I’m glad ye didn’t chase me off with a pitchfork. I was awfully bossy.”

“Well, you were right. The place wouldn’t have been complete without the horses.” She smiled at him and looked out over the hills. “Or the sheep.” She knew he wasn’t thrilled about her latest addition to the property, but they were so cute. “Have you been able to hire all the help you need?” she asked.

He nodded. “Aye, ye’ve been very generous. People were lining up to apply.”

“Perfect. I would never want you to feel overloaded.”

She hopped off the fence and stood there feeling awkward as he continued to smile down at her. She glanced behind her at the house and started backing away.

“I’m expecting a delivery,” she said, and with a quick half wave, half salute, she took off back to the house.

She didn’t know why she should feel so uncomfortable all of a sudden. He was funny and handsome and told amazing stories about his adventures as a fighter pilot, but she’d never acted anything other than friendly.

Oh, she might have let him flirt with her once or twice, but she was sure he never meant anything by it. She hoped he hadn’t, anyway. She’d spent the last several months consumed with the heartbreak of losing Lachlan. Listening to Pietro’s war stories, learning how to ride, and maybe getting flirted with occasionally had helped her through it.

She really should have mentioned Lachlan. It was weird that she hadn’t, and it would just be all the more awkward to explain if Pietro did come across him on the grounds. She could have kept up the historical reenactor story to explain him. Not that she needed to explain him.

Except that she did, because the people in the village thrived on gossip, and if anyone found out a strange man was staying with her, it would be akin to finding a mermaid skeleton at the bottom of the duck pond.

As she wished Evelyn was there to help her figure things out, she remembered with another stab of guilt that she’d hung up on her pregnant best friend and had been ignoring her calls ever since.  

“This is all too much,” she said to herself when she swung open the kitchen door.

The caterer, who had been out to the estate so many times before, had just let herself in. She frowned down at the heated trays full of bacon and eggs and fresh toasted scones.

“Ah, do ye think so? It’s what I always bring,” she said.

Piper choked back a dismayed laugh and paid the caterer, thanking her profusely for being so quick about it. She put the cover back on the tray and with a determined sigh, started up the stairs.

Lachlan woke up and stretched luxuriously as she walked into the room bearing bacon and eggs. He beamed at her and she almost lost her balance he was so gorgeous. His blue eyes were bright and clear, completely free of their drugged haze, and the sheet had fallen down, revealing his chiseled chest and wide, rock hewn shoulders. Piper almost licked her lips he looked so good, but quickly caught herself and rushed to his bedside.

She got him situated with the breakfast and then checked his bandages. When she finally sat down on the edge of the bed to watch him eat, he dropped the slice of bacon he had in his hand and pushed the tray away from him.

With another kind of hunger in his eyes, he reached for her, pulling her close to his bare chest and running his hand along her back.

“I missed ye so,” he said, trailing hot kisses along the side of her throat, behind her ear, under her jaw.

He pulled her closer, and she was afraid he’d tear out his stitches, but she was also under the spell of his mouth as it was now working its way down her neck, into the open neckline of her blouse. His other hand slid down her side, stopping at the waistband of her jeans.

“These wicked things again. Do ye never wear a skirt, woman?” he asked in frustration.

She laughed and tried to get him to stop. “You’re going to hurt yourself,” she said, grabbing his hand and bringing it to her mouth to kiss his knuckles.

She looked into his eyes, and faltered in her resolve.

“I am already hurt, no?” he asked, pushing himself up to a sitting position and propping the pillows behind him.

He grabbed one of her legs and swung it over him so she was straddling his thighs, then placed his hand behind her head and pulled her down to him for a deep, earth shattering kiss.

She sighed happily into his mouth as his hands traveled down her backside. She edged closer to him, until she was lying almost completely on top of him, trying to keep slightly to the side so she wouldn’t disturb his stitches.

“If ye dinna stop worrying about the stitches, I will rip them out myself and be done wi’ it,” he said menacingly, nipping at her lower lip and pressing her hips into his.

After teasing her with his tongue for a long, wonderful moment, he nudged her away from him so he could start undoing the buttons on her blouse.

With each button, he leaned forward and kissed the skin that was exposed, causing her heart to skip a beat. She ran her hand through his tangled hair, smoothing it away from his face.

His eyes were closed as he pressed his lips against the small swell of her newly exposed cleavage.

Feeling the gentle touch of his fingers made the dark cloud she’d been living under the last six months dissipate, blown away with his warm breath on her skin. He was her light, her angel.

Up until that moment, she hadn’t even realized how mechanically she’d been living.

She’d filled each day with activities that seemed fulfilling and important, restoring the castle, opening a museum, getting her ridiculous fortune under control. She’d made friends, hired people, bought livestock, signed things. She could see clearly now and he completely filled her vision. But still, she wanted more.

“You’re mine,” she whispered, not even realizing she’d said it aloud until she heard his low chuckle against her throat.

“Aye,” he agreed, opening another button.

Piper didn’t think she could hold anymore happiness, but it kept rushing into her, and she didn’t burst. Grateful tears welled in her eyes.

Lachlan reached up and pulled her face down to kiss her, then with a wolfish grin, returned to the gaping neckline of her blouse. When he got to her bra, he frowned at it and she laughed, reaching around and popping it open. Lachlan smiled at her, so sweetly and beautifully, she almost couldn’t breathe.

“I love you,” she said, the words bubbling up straight from her heart, then felt her face light on fire.

It was the first time she’d said it to him since he’d come back. Did he still feel the same? She wanted to wrench away and crawl out of the room, but his gaze locked her in place.

Sliding the blouse off her shoulders, he bit his lip and blinked as she shimmied the rest of the way out of it, then pulled the straps of her bra down the sides of her arms, freeing her breasts. With a sigh, she held her arms out in front of her and he slid it all the way off, tossing it away. He ran his hands up the sides of her body, gently cupping her breasts, sliding his thumbs over her nipples, never looking away from her face. Finally, she had to blink, and gasped out from the pleasure of his thumbs stroking her.

He leaned up again to take her mouth with his, and gripped her fiercely by the shoulders, parting her lips with an insistent stroke of his tongue.

The ember of desire he’d stoked with his caresses ignited a blaze throughout her body as his tongue plundered her mouth. She pressed against him, her limbs shaking with fiery need.

“I love ye,” he said when he broke free. His eyes were dark, midnight blue and sparking with desire. “I couldna stop thinking of ye, no matter what I tried. I may be damned to hell for it, but I had to find ye again.”

Before she could respond, she was distracted by his hands, roaming sinuously down her body, stopping at her jeans.

“I do hate them,” he said, undoing the button and tugging at the zipper.

With a laugh she undid the zipper and wriggled out of them, yanking down part of the sheet that was still covering him.

He was glorious. Big and strong and muscled. The new knife wound wouldn’t be his only scar, and with an indrawn breath, she traced a scar that ran from his hip bone and up his other side, one across the front of his left thigh, and another on the outside of his right bicep. He had a scary looking one that started under his collar bone and ran across his shoulder. What kind of life did he live?

They’d been outside in the dark the only other time they’d been undressed together and she hadn’t seen any of this. She hadn’t seen and now all she wanted to do was take him in.

She felt like she was splintering, that the center of her that had frozen over since he’d left all those months ago was thawing. All that time spent trying to make everyone believe she was fine, happy even, she’d been nothing. It had started to scare her, the lack of feeling, the cold desolation. Now, as she took him in, and felt his warm, strong hands on her, she felt alive once more.

This. This was what she had been lacking. Everything else was false. She would never give him up again. She pushed the sheet completely off him and leaned closer, giving in to everything.

***

“Hello Sam,” she said, leisurely rolling over and untangling her legs from Lachlan’s.

He gave her a disappointed look for answering the phone, but she knew it would never stop if she didn’t. She kissed his shoulder and tried to become a solid again, sure that she had melted completely at some point during their passionate reunion.

“Can you tell me why my girlfriend has just boarded a transatlantic flight, when she should be getting ready to defend her thesis?” Sam demanded from the other end of the phone.

She sat up straight, all languor gone. “No, oh no. That isn’t what I wanted,” she said, wondering if she should hang up immediately and try to call Evie. “She’s already on a plane?” she asked.

“Yes, and she was crying, and I think she’s sick to boot,” Sam huffed and Piper girded herself mentally to not slip up and accidentally mention the pregnancy. “She thinks you’ve finally gone off the deep end and is frantic with worry. Have you finally gone off, Piper? Did you tell Evelyn that Lachlan’s back and then hang up on her? What would make you do something like that?”

Piper shrank back, pulling the sheet up over her as if she could protect herself from this deserved tirade. Lachlan was looking at her inquisitively and she shook her head at him. There was nothing he could do about this, unfortunately.

“I can’t believe she got on a plane,” Piper moaned. “I was going to call her back, I swear.”

“Well, you didn’t clear up your little practical joke in time and now she’s on her way. She’s never going to finish that bloody—”

“It wasn’t a practical joke. I would never! Lachlan really is back.” The silence from Sam’s end lasted so long, she checked to see if the call had been dropped. “Sam?” She held the phone up to Lachlan and told him to say something into it.

“It is I, Lachlan Ferguson,” he said stiffly, looking at the phone with distrust.

“Jesus Christ!” Sam exploded. “When did this happen? How did it happen?”