Trust (31 page)
Her voice broke his line of thought. “No- Yes- I don’t know,” she stammered in a husky answer.
“Well, which?” He smiled gently. “Yes or no?”
“Yes, you did.” She breathed deep, trying to steady her heart. “Too soon, too much.” Her breaths coming quickly. She bet he could hear her heart beating.
After a moment of complete silence, Alistair broke the tension. “Sophia, I didn’t mean to.”
“Um-hmm.”
Why isn’t he panting?
He looked at her, “Are you okay?”
“Yes, it’s just… I’m not used to things going this fast. We only started going out a few days ago…”
“You’re right. We have been
dating
for a few days.”
Here we go. A relationship. For now
.
“Dating?” she squealed.
His smile broadened. “Dating,” he repeated. “However, we’ve been attracted, even before the day I took you out to dinner.”
“Before?” Her breaths were calmer now, but the desire still raged in her body. If she could, she’d jump him right then and there.
“Come on, Sophia. Don’t tell me I was the only one affected.”
If I want to fuck her, I have to accept her terms
. And he smiled, remembering her words at the bank meeting. “That day you entered the meeting room at the bank, January nineteenth, my world turned upside down and it still hasn’t righted itself,” he chuckled. “I doubt it will any time soon.”
She sat there looking at him.
Oh! But the man knows just what to say. He remembered the exact date we first met
. “Well, I’m lying if I were to say I wasn’t affected, as well. Still, Alistair, I don’t usually make out with a man I barely know.” She smiled to soften the statement.
“So, I’m a stranger?” He smiled back. “I will have to amend this. Promptly.” He stood and picked her up grabbing her upper arms, lifting her as if she were a feather. “Let’s go. Your lessons start now.”
“My lessons? With you?” She looked as if she wanted to run away.
He smiled, shaking his head, “Worse. With Leonard.” He started to walk back to the house. “After an hour with him, you won’t think me a stranger anymore.”
She eyed him confused.
He laughed. “That SOB can destroy anyone’s reputation in five minutes with that angelic smile of his. I will be grateful if you don’t run away after he finishes.”
“So you have dark secrets?” She blinked. “And you want me to know them all?”
What a strange wish. Careful, Sophia
.
“Aye,” he grinned at her and laced their fingers. “That way you won’t be able to use that excuse to stop me again by saying I’m ‘a man you barely know.’”
Alistair stole a peek at her. Although accustomed to towering over women, with Sophia he believed he would be just her ideal height. Whether standing, sitting, on his knees, on the bed -everywhere - doing everything, no problem whatsoever.
They were laughing when they entered the library.
Alice breathed relieved and looked at her husband.
Leonard nodded, smiling, and whispered, “I knew Alistair would be able to soothe her. The sparks of attraction are in their eyes. Hmm… I just hope she doesn’t waver from her path. It’s Alistair’s chance to be saved.”
“Still, I have to set things straight with her. I’ll apologize later,” she whispered back.
“Do it if you want to, but I don’t think she’s upset anymore. It was a good thing that Ashford messed things up with her, Alice. Not that I don’t like him. But I like this brother of yours more.” He sighed softly, “Alistair deserves some happiness. Sophia is the right woman for him.”
“Leo, I have a mission for you,” Alistair said as he neared. He pushed Sophia lightly in Leonard’s direction.
“Hey, your accent is showing. See what I told you, Sophia? In a few minutes, you won’t be able to understand a word of what he says.”
“Pay attention, Leonard,” Alistair ordered.
“Very well,” he acquiesced. “What’s the mission?”
“Sophia thinks I’m a stranger, a man she barely knows.”
“I didn’t mean it that way-”
“Your words, lass,” he tossed back, his accent increasing. “So, Leo, tell her
aw
you ken
aboot
me.”
“God!” Sophia said drolly. “Does Alice speak like that too?”
“She does,” Leonard laughed.
“I do not.”
He grinned, not bothering to answer. “It’s a heathen mixture of Scots words, English, and Scottish Gaelic drawl in a very strong accent.” Leonard rubbed his hands, grinning angelically. “You’re sure, Alistair?”
“
Ach! Aye, verra
sure.” He joked and winked at Sophia. “Next time she won’t use this excuse.”
“Next time? Excuse for what?” Alice asked.
Sophia flushed. A deep laugh bubbled from Alistair’s chest and he looked at Sophia with a wolfish smile. “It’s a secret, Alice. Don’t be nosy.”
“Come on, Sophia.” Leonard rubbed his hands and pulled her toward the sofa; she went along, sitting beside him. She thought it comical the way Leonard enjoyed this.
“Hey, he’s my brother,” Alice said. “Take care what you’re going to gossip about or you’ll sleep in the stables.”
“Alice, I’m more afraid of what Sophia can do to me if I don’t enlighten her about this jerk of a brother-in-law than of your threats.”
“Can I help destroy your reputation too?” Andrew asked Alistair.
Alistair smiled and answered, “Nae!
Aw is tuilled ‘s a’ chòir
.”
Sophia looked at Andrew, “What did he say?”
“Sophia,” Andrew chuckled, “I haven’t the faintest idea.”
“He said that one is more than enough,” Alice explained. “Our nanny was a fierce Highlander and she only spoke Gaelic with us.”
“How are you able to understand them?” Sophia asked, astonished.
“Practice,” Leonard replied and shrugged. “And sometimes I don’t. When this happens, I just say to Alice, ‘Yes, my love’ or ‘Of course, my flower’ and she calms down.”
“Ah! You…” Alice hurled a cushion at Leonard. He caught the cushion in his hands, throwing his head back in a happy laugh.
“Alice,” Alistair dragged Alice with him to another sofa, “while Leo discloses to Sophia all of my dark secrets,” he stared at Sophia, his eyes blistered with the desire that consumed his insides and he threatened, “you can tell me all the gossip your husband told you about the bonnie lass.”
Now it was time for Sophia to laugh. “No dark secrets in my past,” she retorted.
Then her eyes darkened and a strange look transformed her face, a completely different woman appeared in front of them. A dark avenging angel. “At least, none that he knows.”
Salisbury Plain, Stonehenge.
Saturday, February 27
th
, 2010.
07.45 a.m.
“Wait, Sophia,” Alistair gripped her hand. “Wait for Munro to let you out. The propeller is quite dangerous.”
Sophia smiled at his protectiveness, “I’m used to it, Alistair.” She opened the door and jumped graciously out of his EC145 Mercedes-Benz helicopter. Somehow Alistair managed to buy it before its May unveiling at the Geneva Business Aviation Convention and Exposition.
“Your mother is quite stubborn, isn’t she, Fairy?” He shook his head, aggravated, and unbuckled Gabriela’s harness.
“No, she is not,” Gabriela answered immediately. “She’s courageous and wise. Not stubborn.”
Alistair smiled at the child’s prompt defense of her mother and picked the little girl up in his arms. “Ready for some mystery, Fairy?”
“Yes,” she smiled at him. “I love legends and mysteries.”
Garrick drove them to Stonehenge. Inside the circle, a uniformed guide escorted them on a private tour inside the circle.
“Do you know who King Arthur was, Gabriela?” Alistair watched her little face and she nodded. “So, according to legend, a long, long time ago, there was a very ugly war here between the British and the Saxons. The Saxons killed lots of English soldiers and buried them in Salisbury Plain.”
“Poor guys.” Gabriela listened with rapt attention. “And?” she asked eagerly.
“King Aurelius Ambrosius, Arthur’s uncle, wanted to build a monument to the slain soldiers. A big one, to represent their bravery. So he enlisted the help of Merlin, the wizard, who told him about an existing stone circle in Ireland. King Aurelius sent his brother, Uther Pendragon, and Merlin to the Giants’ Dance which is on Mount Killaraus in Ireland.”
“What is the Giants’ Dance?”
“These stones,” he motioned his hand to the enormous monument, “they were giants who were turned into stone for celebrating the Sabbath.”
“Why?” The little girl frowned at him, confused, “the Shabbat is sacred.”
Alistair smiled at her and put a curl of blonde hair, which the cold wind blew out of her ponytail, behind her ear. “It’s the Sabbath, not the Shabbat. They were celebrating a pagan god.”
“Oh.”
“So Merlin magically transported them on smooth winds and reset the stones here. There. Magic, you see.” Alistair struggled to restore order to his strands falling over his eyes because of the wind.
“I told you,” Gabriela thrust her little fingers in his hair, keeping it away from his eyes, “you have to cut your hair.”
The sun rose above the horizon painting the monument and the ground with yellow, orange, and pink hues.
Sophia breathed in the frigid morning air, the perfect interaction between Gabriela and Alistair scaring the hell out of her.
Is this for real?
10.26 a.m.
The early morning wind had waned into a soft breeze that still tousled Alistair’s long black hair, toying with it. Some bangs fell over his forehead and eyes. Sophia lifted her hand to touch the silky strands, brushing them to uncover his eyes.
“I have to cut it, as Gabriela keeps reminding me,” he smiled.
“You know, Gabriela may think your hair is too long, but I like it this way. Don’t ever cut it short,” she ordered lightly.
Alistair nodded. “I won’t,” and he wound his left fingers in her very long hair until he held a fistful at her nape, “as long you keep yours like this.”
“Done,” she grinned, a mischievous look entering her eyes. “Your hair, it is… savage, long. Rebellious. Apart from your eyes-your beautiful, wondrous eyes,” she sighed, enchanted, “it’s this cut that gives away the… barbarian inside you.”
He blinked, startled.
She entwined her fingers in it and pulled his head down. “It reminds me of the legend of Highlander warriors. No control over emotions… Fierce, courageous men, a battle cry on their lips.”
“Legend? We’re not a legend.” And his hand brushed her hair back, exposing her throat. “You like barbarians? Savages?” He raised his eyebrow as his fingers caressed the column of her neck.
Oh, Sophia, what I could do to you
.
“I like intense men,” she whispered.
She breathed and parted her lips, nervously wetting them with the tip of her tongue.
It was everything he needed. He took full advantage of her opened lips, touching her mouth with a feathery kiss, his tongue meeting hers.
Melting on his body, her elegant hands, light and delicate, tangled in his hair.
He stood there for a moment, simply enjoying her taste and smell. Her tentative touch on his nape undid him.
His hands went down to her waist, so slim. He jerked her to his body, pressing her to him and devouring her mouth. He thrust his tongue deep, mimicking what he wanted to do with his body. His pulse fiercely pounded in his ears, his erection grew painfully hard.
Sophia broke the kiss, panting, “Gabriela-” Her eyes were burning light yellow with a multitude of emotions: desire, worry, fear.
Alistair looked over his shoulder at the little girl bundled on his overcoat on the grass. “She’s sleeping.” And once more dropped his head to kiss her. Her taste was like a drug he wanted to be addicted to.
All thoughts flew away as their tongues danced and he felt her pliant body leaning heavily against his hard, chiseled form. Her scent branded him. A hand pulled her even closer, wandered her back, cupped her butt, while the other sought the skin under her sweater. They gasped in each other’s mouths when his hand touched her waist and his fingers skimmed up the line of her spine. She arched on his chest, panting.
“So soft, Sophia,” he breathed and his mouth glided over her jaw to her ear and he bit her earlobe, sucking it into his mouth.
A shot of pure, undeniable lust whipped through Sophia’s body and she flexed her stomach on his erection, completely lost in his caresses. His feathery touch climbed up her body to intimately cup her breast encased in a skimpy lace bra and he circled his thumb over her nipple, reveling the low moan that escaped her throat.
A fierce hunger is threatening to consume us and we are in the open, a few feet away from Gabriela
. Her hand stayed his and she scowled at him. “Too much. Too fast,” she managed to say, between heaves. “Besides, we’re in a public park.”
He looked at her, dark forest-green eyes glazed with need, “I’m sorry. You make me forget where I am.” His accent thickened and made his English nearly incomprehensible.
She rested her forehead on his chest, trying to control her breathing.
“Sophia,” he spoke her name assertively and his hand encircled her throat, a thumb lifting her chin. His eyes blistered with hot green flames. “You’re unraveling me. Are you doing it on purpose?”
“Unraveling you?” She looked up at his eyes, “I don’t know. I’m just being me.”
His hand stayed on her throat, not letting go.
I crave more, much more. I want all of her. I want her to be mine
. With the last thought, a fierce anger took control of him.
What is she doing to me?
Sophia glanced at his tightened face.
Is he… angry? At me? Please, don’t be
.
He looked down at her, scrutinizing her face for some telltale sign. Something that would make him angrier, but didn’t find any.
Steady, Alistair Connor. This is just lust
.
He waited for her acquiescence, teeming with desire. An intense emotion unfurled as his sun peeked out from behind the dark clouds of his sky. Immediately, he shoved it down deep into his dark heart. He didn’t want to acknowledge it.
She’s just another woman
.