Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (34 page)

“
You certainly did, sir,”
she replied sweetly. “But surely, you understand my family, more
specifically, my mum, would die of shock if I were to share a room
with you when we’re not yet even wedded.”

Alec frowned darkly at that.
Bloody hell
, he
temporarily forgot about it. “Well,” he began hesitantly, “they’re
not here yet.”

“
What are you implying?”
she asked, her eyebrows raised curiously.

Alec knew she wanted him to say it out loud.
Damn her
. He knew she knew he wanted her tonight—all to
himself.

He cleared his throat.
“What I’m implying, my dear lady, is that you’ll be bloody cold and
scared tonight. There’s a storm coming—”

She cut him off. “I’m sure
I will be fine, Alec. I have Westies with me.”

“
That blasted
dog?”

Ruby turned to him.
“Alec!”

“
Ruby, sweetheart,” Alec
began, trying to find a way to reason with her. God, he wanted her
with him tonight. He knew when everyone arrived for the engagement
party, he wouldn’t have any time with her at all, not until
everyone left, and that was another week away. It was far too long
for him to handle.

“
Yes, Alec?” she asked,
moving toward him.

He pulled her into his
arms, his face very close to hers. “If you won’t come with me to
the master bedroom, then I’ll stay here with you, to keep you
company, of course.”

Ruby grinned. “You don’t
have to do that.”

“
I’ve already made up my
mind,” he muttered.

Ruby moved back, knowing
he was going to kiss her. She needed to clear her head. If he
kissed her, she wouldn’t be able to think, or let him go
tonight.

She moved over to the table, which held two wine glasses
and a bottle of champagne.

“
I’m naughty,” she
admitted cheekily. “I stole a bottle of your finest wine from the
cellar.”

Alec chuckled. “Are you
sure you want to drink that? As I remember, the last time you got
quite a headache.”

Ruby poured the clear,
bubbling liquid into the two glasses. “Everything in moderation, my
good sir.” She handed one to him.

“
Of course,” he said,
“everything in moderation. And for you,” he gently touched her chin
with his finger and thumb, “a half glass is moderation enough.”
Then he kissed her on the lips. Ruby closed her eyes, and when she
was about to open her mouth for him, he moved back, winking at her.
She watched him down the whole glass of libation, and took the
glass from him once he was done.

“
I think one glass for you
is moderately enough, too,” she said.

Alec chuckled and pulled
her into his arms again. He gave her another kiss, and Ruby
obliged, saying, “It is only this one time though.” She opened her
mouth for him and he eagerly slid his tongue in, kissing her
passionately and wildly. By the time Alec pulled back, she was
breathless.

“
Make yourself
comfortable. I need a shower first,” she whispered into his
ear.

Alec nodded and watched
her go into the bathroom.

Hands in the pockets of
his jeans, he ambled to the queen-sized bed and lay down, closing
his eyes.

Ruby closed the door. As
she proceeded to shower, she smiled—a mischievous, secret
smile.

Once she was dressed in
sexy lingerie, she came back out; and as expected, her bed partner
had already fallen into a deep slumber. She came over to sit beside
him, grinning.

“
Alec?” she softly called.
“Alec?” She gently touched the side of his strong face, wanting so
badly to laugh. When she was sure he was dead to the world, she
said, “Serves you right for locking me in. Now, my lord, it’s my
turn to be your captor.” She kissed him on the lips once and
strolled to the door, humming to herself. Taking one long look at
her sleeping captive, she chuckled lightly, and closed the door,
locking it with a key.

Captain Snow chose that
moment to appear and happily trotted over to her. She picked him
and headed to the master bedroom.

Alec woke up with a
start. He groaned and wondered where the hell he was. Sitting up,
he raked his fingers through his hair. That was when he realized
what room he was in.

“
Ruby,” he said under his
breath, while leaping out of bed and heading to the door. With his
hand wrapped around the knob, he pulled, then frowned. He tried
again. It was locked.

“
Shit!” he muttered under
his breath. “So, she wants to play games, does she?” He went to the
window, pulled the drapes back, and easily undid the lock. Thank
God he decided to put in a window that could be opened after Ruby
broke it to escape.

It didn’t take him long to
get down using the bed sheet. Barefoot, he ran to the back of the
house, found a hidden spare key, opened the door, and slipped in
without waking up anyone. He rushed up the stairs and into the
master bedroom. He found her asleep in his bed with Captain Snow by
her feet.

He grinned, his eyes
twinkling. As he passed the chest of drawers, he grabbed a black,
thin, silk fabric and sat on her side of the bed. He gently grabbed
her wrist, tying the fabric around it, and securing it to one bed
post.

Captain Snow woke up then,
and started barking loudly.

“
Hush, you blasted dog,”
Alec muttered.

Ruby fluttered her eyes
open, and blinked several times. “Westies, what’s
wrong?”

Captain Snow continued to
bark at Alec. That was when Ruby saw him. She gasped.

“
How did you get out?” she
asked.

Alec chuckled. “The same
way you did.”

Ruby bit her lip, and
moved to get up, but found herself tied to the bed post. A bolt of
fear passed through her momentarily.

“
Alec!” she said, her
voice quivering. “What are you doing?”

“
You tricked me, my
sweet,” Alec said.

“
So?” Ruby muttered,
trying to free her wrist.

Alec picked the dog up and
carried him to the door.

“
Where are you taking
him?”

“
Out.”

Ruby watched him disappear
from sight, and continued to try and free her wrist. The harder she
tried, the tighter it seemed to get. Her heart continued to pound
in her chest, and when Alec reappeared at the door, her stomach
flipped.

“
Alec! Free me this
instant; do you hear me?”

Alec ignored her
outrageous demand, a grin on his face. God, he was going to love
this. In fact, he would love every moment of their lives
together.

He sat beside her and
pulled the blanket back.

“
It appears your trick
didn’t work, my sweet,” he said.

“
What do you mean?” Ruby
asked breathlessly, looking into his eyes, which were dark with
desire.

“
It is you who fell into
my trap, little sweet, for you are now in my bed.”

Ruby bit her lip. “Stupid
lout,” she muttered. She just couldn’t believe he was so smart. She
thought she tricked him, but apparently, he expected it.

Alec wrapped his large
hands about her small waist and lifted her up so that she could sit
on his lap.

“
Now then, where were
we?”

“
What are you going to do
to me?”

“
Make love to you, my
sweet, whether you like it or not,” he replied.

“
I refuse to be made love
to,” she retorted.

“
Oh, that’s no problem at
all,” he said, slipping one hand to cup her breast. Ruby bit her
lip. He moved her even closer so that she straddled him. She could
feel his pride and joy growing hard and fully erect, against her.
She instantly become aroused and groaned.

“
Ah. There. See?” He
chuckled.

Ruby punched her small
fist on his wall of chest. “Stupid lout,” she said. “Stupid,
hot—”

Before Ruby could say the
word “lout,” Alec claimed her lips, slipping his tongue inside her
mouth and, at the same time, slipping his hand under her panties,
and caressing her.

Ruby groaned, losing the
battle, and allowed him to make love to her.

* * * * *

His Hired
Girlfriend

Kiwi Bride
Series

Family oriented Alexandra Stewart
is in desperate need of money for her dad’s heart surgery. She is
stoked when gorgeous, billionaire Jayden McCartney unexpectedly
barges into her life and offers to help. ON ONE CONDITION. She must
pretend to be his girlfriend. One look at Jay tells her to run in
the opposite direction. He is too good looking, too successful, and
too rich for her liking. When she is told Jay is gay and that his
family is matchmaking him with a woman he doesn’t love, however,
she feels sorry for him. Thinking that she’d kill two birds with
one stone, she agrees to the proposal. Now, the only problem is how
does she prevent herself from falling madly in love with Jay when
the way he looks at her makes her heart tremble and his touches set
her body on fire?

A Secret
Kiss

Falling For
Sakura Trilogy: Book 1

In Japan, Sakura is the beautiful
cherry blossom that blooms vibrantly in spring and symbolizes the
insightful Buddhist phrase mono no aware, which means the pathos of
things, a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life. FALLING FOR
SAKURA is the story of Caucasian-Japanese Sakura, her journey to
finding herself, and her torn love for two very different brothers,
Sebastian and Darcy Princeton.

Contemporary Romance