Page 10 of Sadie’s Highlander (Highland Protector #1)

CHAPTER 9

A rumbling gurgle vibrated up between them. Sadie forced her eyes open and barely lifted up, propping her cheek on Alec’s bare shoulder. She looked around the peaceful clearing. Another deep gut rumble vibrated against her. It sounded like she wasn’t the only one starving. Wonder how long they had been asleep? Before she could move or wake Alec, her stomach growled in response.

Alec didn’t open his eyes, but his lopsided smile grew exponentially as he shook with silent laughter. “Our bodies are speaking to one another. They’re well pleased to finally be together.”

“I think they’re trying to tell us it’s time to refuel.” Sadie patted his arm, then rolled away, scooping up his crumpled plaid from the edge of the pallet to pull it across her chest and hurriedly wrap it around her body. She couldn’t explain the sudden need to cover herself—especially after the epic romp they’d just enjoyed—but something had drastically changed, become lost or messed up while they slept. She just wasn’t comfortable sitting in the clearing wearing nothing but sunshine. Brazen, lusty Sadie was gone. Insecure, she wasn’t going to be Delia’s rented-out whore Sadie had arrived to overdose her with a nauseating hit of guilt and second-guessing and shove a wad of why did you do that down her throat.

Sadie clamped the plaid around her body with her arms while she massaged her suddenly throbbing temples. What the devil was wrong with her? She had wanted to sleep with him. Wanted the sex. She was not the victim here . And yet somehow . . . for some reason . . . she felt like she’d just been played. The stupid fat girl had just taken the bait and fallen for the joke. Hook, line, and sinker. Delia was probably hidden somewhere up the hillside with a set of binoculars, laughing her ass off. Now she really was being stupid. Delia would never set foot in the woods. She’d send a flunky with a camera.

Alec rolled toward her, hooked a finger in a fold of the material gathered at her chest, and yanked it away. “What did I tell ye about hiding yer beauty from me?” His blue eyes flashed dark and stormy as the sea, filled with that libido-stoking fire that had earlier signaled the beginning of round two—or had it been round three—before they’d both passed out in a post-orgasmic coma? What difference did it make now? She’d have to count the condoms to be certain, but then who really gave a rat’s ass how many times she’d been too high on humping to shield her self-respect?

She jerked the plaid back out of Alec’s grasp and cloaked it around her shoulders. “Stop it!” The request came out sharper than she’d intended. She pulled in a deep breath, held it, then slowly blew it out. She needed to calm down and play this cool—not sound like a wounded animal.

Alec frowned, then drew back and folded his hands across his stomach, looking at her as though he was trying to figure out what he’d done wrong.

“And you can stop looking at me like that too.” Well, that was not playing it cool. She yanked the plaid tighter around her body and gritted her teeth. She needed food and space so she could think this through. How could she have just spent the last few hours rutting in mindless abandon? How could she not see this as one of Delia’s traps? Now, what should she do? Chew her arm off to get away? Tell him, Oops. Sorry. Didn’t mean to do that ?

“I can be such a stupid bitch sometimes,” she whispered in a defeated hiss. “I should know better by now.”

“Sadie?”

Alec sounded wary, extremely concerned, definitely confused, and maybe a little hurt. Wasn’t it amazing how many emotions one could read in a tone of voice? The part of his tone that bothered her the most was that he sounded like he actually cared.

She closed her eyes. He had seemed so—there wasn’t a word in any language she knew that could describe how he had made her feel. And it wasn’t just the physically satisfying part of the sex. He’d made her feel like there was . . . more.

Damn him . Sadie opened her eyes and swallowed hard. Damn Delia straight to the devil too . Avoiding Alec’s gaze, Sadie tightened the tartan around her body and fumbled her way to her feet. The wool cloth itched and set her skin on fire, but she’d be damned if she gave the plaid back to him now. The word of the day was definitely damn.

She mentally shook herself by what was left of her self-respect and straightened her shoulders. Time to fix this. “Sorry, Alec. I didn’t mean to sound so bitchy. Low blood sugar, I guess. We need to eat. Then I’ll be easier to get along with—promise.” Sort of.

Alec slowly rose to sit with his muscular arms wrapped loosely around his bent knees. He remained silent, studying her with a narrow-eyed look and an entirely too thoughtful stare.

Sadie turned away, snatching the folds of the plaid tighter around her body while at the same time running one hand up underneath the cloth to scratch her shoulders and the back of her neck. Damn, she hated wool . “Where did my shirt get to? How can you stand wearing this? It’s eating me alive.”

Slowly rising from the pallet, Alec scooped up his linen tunic and held it out to her. “Here. If ye insist on covering yerself, ye can wear my léine. ” He took the plaid from her, wrapping and snugging it low around his hips. All playfulness and amusement had left his tone. His jaw was set, his expression stern and unsmiling He took a step toward her and pointed a finger at the center of her chest. “But there will be no donning of yer own clothes.” He spared a glance at her scattered clothing around the clearing, then turned back to her with a dark, smoldering look that shot a thrilling surge of both dread and excitement through her. “Ye will tell me what has set ye so ill at ease. If ye need to eat first, then have ye a bit of bread. I can wait. But we are not done here, ye ken? ’Tis barely past noon and I fully intend for us to enjoy all this day has to offer, so ye best get on with the telling of what it is troubling ye so we can return to much more enjoyable ways of passing the time here on the mountain.”

She backed up a step, pulled the linen tunic over her head, then shook it down in place. The soft cream-colored garment hit her just below her knees and the full sleeves hung well past her fingertips. She rolled the sleeves up to her elbows and fluffed out the folds around her body.

The shirt smelled of Alec—all masculine spice and an I need to be under him again kind of smell. Bullshit. There would be no more of that until she got this figured out . Sadie cleared her throat and shook out the folds of the soft shirt again. “What did you call this? Your léine ?” Maybe if she avoided the real issue and kept the conversation on the light side for a while, she could figure out how to handle this mess.

“Aye.” Alec retrieved the bulging picnic basket from its shady spot beneath the trees and placed it in the center of the freshly straightened pallet of blankets. “’Tis the old word for tunic . . . or perhaps shirt.”

“ Léine ,” Sadie repeated as she knelt on the other side of the plaid cooler, which had a woven frame to look like a traditional picnic basket. “Good word. Sounds . . . romance-novelish.”

“I suppose,” Alec said with a dismissive shrug. “I wouldna ken, but I’m sure Esme or Mistress Lydia would. They read such books all the time.”

Alec’s dark, determined scowl effectively staunched all other small talk. He unzipped the insulated top of the vinyl cooler, which was decorated with the same tartan pattern and colors Sadie had seen all over the theme park and inside the family’s private quarters. “Time for food and explanations.” He handed her a clear plastic container holding a pair of sliced hard rolls generously stuffed with what looked like yesterday’s leftover brisket. “Ye will now explain what I have done to stir yer ill will against me?”

Sadie ignored the question. Instead, she leaned forward and pulled out a stack of folded cloth napkins that matched the pattern on the vinyl cooler. She placed them on the pallet, shook one out, and daintily spread it across her lap. “Is this the MacDara plaid?”

Alec seemed to sit a bit taller and lift his chin as he reverently smoothed a hand over the blue, red, and black bands of the plaid draped across his lap and then lightly touched the matching pattern on the cooler. “Aye. Ye will find we Scots take great pride in our colors—and can be quite stubborn about them, as well as other things. Now. Tell me, Sadie. What troubles ye?”

How could she explain it to him without sounding pathetic? And if he was in on the joke, what would she do if he laughed in her face? She stared at him, looking deep into his eyes and searching for a hint of the shallow meanness and bullying she’d battled all her life.

Her heart lightened the tiniest bit and the center of her chest hurt. She scrubbed her knuckles hard against her breastbone, wishing she hadn’t seen so many emotions in Alec’s eyes. No. Alec MacDara was no self-serving bully. She’d bet Delia’s favorite Prada bag on it. Poor guy. Apparently, he was just one of Delia’s pawns too.

Alec pointed at the box of sandwiches he’d handed her. “I’m waiting, Sadie. Eat and explain. Ye will find I am not a patient man when it comes to finding out what’s troubling those I care about.”

He would say something like that. Sadie rubbed her knuckles up and down her breastbone again, trying to make her heart stop thumping so hard. How could she tell him that she was ready to kick her own ass because she’d gone belly up and become Delia’s obedient little sex pawn when she hadn’t even been his so-called assistant for a freaking week?

She opened the container of sandwiches, took one, and held it out to Alec. “Here. Your stomach was growling too.”

He took it from her, wrapped it in the napkin she handed him, and sat it on the lid of the cooler. “I shall eat after we’ve talked.”

He wanted to talk. Okay. She would talk . Sadie folded her arms across her chest and settled her ass more squarely on her heels. Kneeling while naked under the shirt of the man you’d just had amazing sex with wasn’t exactly an ego-boosting position for what she was about to say, but then again, what position would be? She blew out a heavy sigh and sadly shook her head. “I’m angry with myself because I played right into Delia’s little plan—and maybe yours too.” She raked a stray curl behind one ear and looked him in the eye. “That remains to be seen, depending on how this little chat goes.”

Alec frowned, eyes narrowing as he slowly tilted his head. “What little plan?”

And he was already angry . One thing about Alec’s tone and that Scottish brogue—it was like a window into his heart and soul.

“Sex.” Sadie waited. She could already tell that this conversation was going to go straight to hell in a handbasket.

“Sex?” His voice was deeper now, filled with suspicion and just a pinch of I’m about to kick somebody’s ass.

“Delia said that the only reason you wanted me to assist you for the six weeks of filming was because you had a fetish for fat girls. She told me to put out. Sex is a transaction were her exact words. I told her I wasn’t like that, didn’t believe in that, and wasn’t about to play that game. You know that. You saw the email I sent to Dwyn.” Sadie threw both hands up in the air and shuddered. “And by golly, look at me now. Delia’s cheap little whore on the mountain.”

Alec’s eyes flared wide and his face flashed red. His hands knotted into fists and he slowly leaned forward. “ That is what ye think this was? That is what you think of me?”

Wow. Even when he lowered his voice to a whisper it sounded deadly when he was angry . Sadie dropped her arms and slid from her knees to a cross-legged position on the blanket, tucking the long tail of Alec’s shirt down around her and well into her lap. Delia’s slut or not, she wasn’t about to sit with her kitty smiling at Alec.

She shrugged and flicked a hand in the air as though she didn’t care anymore—even though that was the farthest thing from the truth. If it were possible, her give-a-damn had shifted into overdrive. “I don’t know what to think, Alec. I had promised myself I wasn’t going to play Delia’s game, but then . . .” A sense of defeat crept into her voice. Oh hell no. Stop it. Get control. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I had sworn this gig was going to be all business—real business. But then I couldn’t . . . didn’t want to resist you. And now I feel like I’ve been played by Delia . . . and maybe by you too.” There. She’d said it. Let the games begin.

She could see the muscles rippling in his jaw as he ground his teeth, and she could swear she heard what resembled a growl so low and deep it sounded like thunder. It wasn’t possible for his face to get any redder, but Sadie was concerned that the vein running up the side of his muscular throat was in danger of exploding. “Alec?”

He picked up the picnic basket and moved it to the edge of the blanket at their feet. Sadie could tell by his slow, purposeful movements that it was taking every ounce of his control to not throw the basket down the side of the mountain. Then he turned back to her, dark emotions flashing in his eyes, and edged so close to her that she could feel the heat of his rage radiating off his body. Sadie swallowed hard and wondered how far she’d get running down the mountain barefooted. “Alec?”

“Yer sister.” Alec stopped, bowed his head for a moment, then fisted a handful of his dark hair out of his eyes and lifted his head, and locked eyes with Sadie. “Yer sister is a heartless bitch that kens nothing about me or my family. As a matter of fact, I doubt that woman would ken what honor and decency were if they bit her on both cheeks of her bony arse.”

Sadie caught her lip between her teeth and clamped her mouth shut. Sounded like he had Delia pegged, but he could still be playing the game. After all, they were at the beginning of their six-week stint.

Alec reached out and barely grazed his knuckles under her chin. “I wanted to know ye better. After reading all those emails, after seeing ye the first time at the practice ring . . .” He paused, studying her, looking at her with such an intensity that she felt he was laying open her soul and trying to find the words to mend all the broken pieces back together. “I would never hurt ye, Sadie,” he finally whispered.

“And after the six weeks?” There. She’d said it. Even though she’d sworn she wouldn’t. After all, who wanted a woman who begged for some sort of guarantee or commitment after sex the first time? She sounded pathetic. “I go back to LA and you go back to Scotlandizing North Carolina?”

He cupped her chin in his palm and sadly shook his head. “I canna tell ye what the future holds.” His voice had dropped to an even deeper rasping whisper that Sadie would replay in her dreams. “Only the gods know that, Sadie. But I will swear to ye that I’ll never hurt ye. Not ever. And I always defend those I love.”

“I’m not asking you to swear your love for me—or fight for me.” What an odd thing for him to say . She eased away from his hand, unable to think when he was touching her. “I just need to know that you’re not a part of Delia’s joke. I need to know that you two haven’t gotten . . .” She waved a hand to encompass the whole of the clearing. “I need to know that the two of you haven’t worked out some kind of deal for stuff like this.”

“I assure ye,” Alec said as he took hold of her by the shoulders and pulled her into his arms. “The only deal I’ve worked out with that”—he paused again, obviously struggling to tone down the adjectives he’d like to use to describe Delia—“that sister of yours is the contract for her company to film at the park.” He pulled Sadie so close his nose nearly touched hers. “And I asked that ye be my assistant because it was the only way I could think of to guarantee that yer days would be spent with me so that I might get to know ye better.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then leaned back, lifted her chin, and looked her in the eye. “Today was a precious gift I’d hoped for . . . but I didna ken if ye would wish it. And if ye did not wish it, this day would not have happened. But when ye did . . .” Alec squeezed her shoulders and pressed his mouth to her temple. “When ye did, my heart fair soared,” he whispered against her skin.

An embarrassingly loud stomach growl broke the spell of the moment. Sadie eased away and stretched to pull the picnic cooler back between them. Those words. The meaning she’d felt in his deep, honey-toned Scottish burr. Was he really saying what she thought he was saying or had she just boarded the wishful-thinking roller-coaster ride straight to hell?

She retrieved his sandwich and handed it to him without making eye contact. “Here. Eat. We’re good now.” And they were. Her heart felt better after their talk and if Delia happened to find out what had happened, she’d handle that later.

The weight of his hand rested gently on her shoulder. “I’m glad of it. Truly, I am.”

A warm sense of peacefulness she’d rarely felt made her smile. Whether this lasted six weeks or sixty years, she’d take it. Alec MacDara was a rare find. Thank goodness, this day was going to have a happy ending after all.

She leaned forward and pulled out one of the squat, dented thermos jugs tucked in one corner of the basket. “There’s two of these. I hope Miss Lydia filled one with chicken and dumplings.”

Alec chuckled. “Check and see. If she did, I’m sure she packed bowls and spoons as well. The woman could manage the needs of a large clan with a snap of her fingers.”

As soon as she removed the cap, the warm, rich aroma of chicken and dumplings wafted up from the jug. “Score!” Sadie set the thermos aside and pulled the basket closer to find bowls and spoons.

Two plastic ziplock bags that had been tucked behind the pair of thermoses tumbled forward as Sadie pawed aside other items. Were those . . .? He had said he didn’t bring any. Sadie pulled the bags out and dangled them in front of Alec. “Did you forget you’d packed these?”

Alec’s eyes flared wide and his jaw dropped open. “I didna pack those.”

“Miss Lydia packed these?”

“That meddling old woman.”

“Oh my.” A snorting giggle bubbled free. Sadie pressed the back of her hand across her mouth. “Sorry . . . but it is kind of funny.” She piled the two, same brand as Delia had selected, super-sized with extra ridges guaranteed to please, baggies of condoms on the blanket beside the food basket. “At least now we know we’ve got plenty—for later.”

“I will speak to her,” Alec promised with an apologetic bow of his head. “I dinna wish her to offend ye.”

“I’m not offended.” Thankfully, her stomach chose that exact moment to chime in with another rumbling gurgle. “I’m hungry, and look—” She held up a tightly covered plastic bowl of whole strawberries in one hand and a gigantic economy-sized can of whipped cream in the other. “We’ve got berries and whipped cream for dessert!”

Alec pushed the basket aside and moved closer. He took the berries and spray topping out of her hands, set them on the blanket, then yanked his kilt out from around his body. “I’d rather later be now, ye ken?”

His impressive erection bobbed in her direction with an I’m so happy to see you again nod. Folding his plaid into a neatly squared bundle, he placed it on the blankets behind her, then gently took her by the shoulders and lowered her to it into a delightfully promising reclined position. He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “And I shall feed ye first—to recompense for Mistress Lydia’s boldness.”

The hungry rumbling of Sadie’s empty stomach shifted to a fluttering herd of excited butterflies. She nestled more comfortably atop the bundled pillow. “Miss Lydia didn’t insult me.” She hitched in a deep breath, her body aflame as Alec hovered over her with the strawberries and whipped cream. “But I do love strawberries and squirty cream.”

“Squirty cream,” Alec repeated. “I’ve never heard it called that.” He popped the cap off the can and sprayed out a small amount on the tip of his finger. “Here’s a wee taste, my sweetling.”

Sadie sucked the whipped topping off the end of Alec’s finger, not missing how he tensed and closed his eyes as she treated his appendage to a long, slow lick that would also be deeply appreciated were she to decide to use it elsewhere. “Strawberry, please,” she whispered.

Alec opened the container, drew out an enormous red berry, and placed it between his teeth. Leaning over her, he put the fruit in her mouth, pressing his lips against hers in a juicy, sweet kiss.

“I need more squirty cream with the berry,” Sadie whispered as Alec lifted his mouth from hers. I need more you, she silently added as she took the can and spewed a mound of white frothiness atop the head of his cock. “Now feed me,” she whispered, lying back atop the folded blankets.

He straddled her body and leaned forward, his smoldering expression shifting to one of sizzling bliss as Sadie sucked the creamy sweetness off his cock, then took another strawberry, bit off the end, and rubbed the juiciness of the fruit up and down the length of him, then followed the juicy strawberry trail with her tongue.

“I never thought I would appreciate berries and cream so much,” Alec groaned as Sadie covered his cock with more cream, then swallowed him again while massaging his balls with a handful of the cool, crushed berries. He stopped her as she lifted the can again. “Nay, lass. ’Tis my turn now. I hunger as much as you.” He popped a smaller berry into her mouth and sealed it with a kiss.

She had died and gone to heaven. Sadie sat up and stripped off Alec’s tunic. “I’d better put this aside then. Wouldn’t want strawberry stains all over it.”

“Lie back,” Alec ordered with a gently nudging kiss. “I mean to feast upon ye,” he whispered with such a seductive tone that Sadie nearly came without him even touching her.

Slowly, never taking his gaze away from hers, he carefully selected several of the largest berries, bit off their broad ends, then lined them along the middle of her torso after sliding each deliciously slick fruit in a teasing trail across her skin.

Sadie shuddered as Alec circled one of her nipples with the cool wetness of a berry, then widened the arc of his painting with the juices until both her breasts shimmered pink with berry stains. She shuddered, sending several of the berries rolling off her stomach.

“Lie still,” he ordered, replacing the escaped berries to their stations, then taking up the can of whipped cream. “I shall be verra cross if ye upset my meal.”

“I would never want to upset your meal.” Sadie fisted the blanket on either side of her, willing herself to remain still as Alec finished setting his table.

He topped each of her nipples with a peak of the whipped cream, then ran a swirling trail of the teasing coolness down to her stomach, zigging in and out around the berries he’d so carefully arranged on her body. He rolled back on his heels, admiring his handiwork as he held the nozzle of the can poised just above her mons.

Sadie caught her bottom lip between her teeth and swallowed hard as Alec pushed her legs farther apart. “I’m not going to be able to hold still if you do that,” she breathed out in short gasps.

“Aye, ye will hold,” Alec rumbled as he tickled his fingertips across her slit, teasing her opening until she thought she’d surely die. “I’m nearly done preparing m’feast. Ye’ll hold still until I begin to dine and then ye can move all ye wish.”

Sadie clenched the blanket tighter in her fists and jerked down her chin in a stiff nod. She was about to die, but damn, what a way to go.

Alec took the largest strawberry of them all and lodged it into her folds, just far enough so that she was more than acutely aware of the large berry’s nubby surface. The coolness of the fruit created a deliciously wicked sensation of fullness. He filled her slit with ever-widening rings of squirted whipped topping, arcing the lines of sputtering sweetness up around her clit, then down past her opening to squirt one last slippery stream between the cheeks of her ass, bringing her dangerously close to a berry-shooting orgasm. “Nay,” Alec warned as he tossed the can aside. “Lie still.”

“You’re killing me.” Sadie eased out a shuddering breath, doing her best to control the building orgasm.

Alec crouched above her, hands planted on either side of her shoulders as he came within a hair’s breadth of her mouth and whispered, “The French call it the little death . I call it the great fire .”

“Then burn me up,” Sadie begged, digging her fingers into his shoulders and pushing him lower while still taking care not to upset his dessert .

“As ye wish.” In long, slow licks and nibbles that risked crashing her headlong into orgasm central, Alec ate his way down to the pièce de résistance between her legs.

“Oh. My....” Sadie bent her knees, digging her heels into the blankets as Alec slowly licked and sucked the cream off her clit, then trailed his tongue through the melting sweetness dripping down between her ass cheeks.

“And now for the fruit nestled in pure sweet heaven.” Alec pulled her legs up over his shoulders. He slid one finger deep inside her, holding the berry tight in place within her folds while he ate it in slow, sucking bites.

Sadie bucked, arching her back as the body-slamming orgasm refused to be held back any longer. A scream escaped her as Alec shoved his fingers deeper and moved his mouth to her clit, sucking hard and fast to match the rhythm of his plunging fingers.

Wave after wave of nerve-shocking bliss rocked, her but she needed more. She needed Alec pounding hard inside her. “Take me now,” she begged. “Take me now.”

In one fluid motion, Alec ripped open a condom packet, smoothed it down his cock, and shoved balls deep inside her. “Now for true dessert,” he growled as he hammered hard and fast.

She met him thrust for thrust. The heated scent of strawberry and vanilla filled the air, the fruity stickiness of their bodies sliding together then pulling apart only increasing the strength of the volatile orgasm rebuilding to even greater heights than before.

And then she came again. Harder than she’d ever thought possible—exploding with body-melding bliss. She screamed from the intensity—a scream long and loud enough that the world around her seemed to shake with every gasping breath.

The entire population of Brady, North Carolina, must’ve surely stopped whatever they were doing, looked toward the mountain behind the theme park, and asked, “What the hell was that?”