“Hmm. I can see that.” Meagan laughed. “When did you get back anyhow?”
“Earlier today.” Cat occupied herself by taking a sip of water.
The waitress arrived and took orders for another round of drinks. Jetlag made itself known and Cat covered her mouth for a less than ladylike yawn. Unable to help herself, she rested her head against Braden’s shoulder. She briefly wondered if the two men were also suffering the effects of travel.The bar was growing crowded and pretty soon it would be too loud to carry on a proper conversation. Couples paired up and took to the dance floor.
Braden leaned down. “What are they doing, lass?”
Cat smiled. “They’re dancing.”
“This is strange music. How can they find the beat?” Braden frowned as he watched various couples move to the sexy music.
“It’s easy once you hear the rhythm. This is called jazz and it’s very popular here.”
They sat in silence for a heartbeat. Braden continued to concentrate on the moving couples and Cat divided her attention between him and Alec, who seemed to be getting along without any problems. She worried that he might say something that could be difficult to explain. This might be New Orleans where ghosts and legends lived happily with the occupants of the town, but not everyone actually cottoned to the idea of time travel or haunted portraits.
Braden tugged on Cat’s curls, pulling her attention back to him.
“Would you care to dance, lass?”
“Are you sure you want to try?”
Braden gave her a disgruntled look. “It doesn’t look terribly difficult, lass. We just rock back and forth, no?”
“I didn’t mean to insult you, Braden.” She squeezed his hand. “I’d love to dance, I just didn’t want to pressure you.”
She stood and pushed in her chair, taking Braden’s proffered hand.
Finding a spot on the fringes of the dance floor, he stopped and pulled Cat into his arms. Neither of them said a word as they wrapped their arms around each other and swayed to the sexy beat of the music. She was surprised that he moved so confidently to the rhythm of the tune.
Cat relaxed in Braden’s arms and, resting her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes. She could smell the musky, spicy scent that was Braden. She was totally at ease in his arms, as if she had always been there. If the stories were true, she had always had a place in his heart.
Braden slowly ran one hand up and down Cat’s spine. Occasionally his thigh would plunge between her legs and a rush of sensations would flood through her center and radiate out over her limbs. His hand came to rest at the base of Cat’s spine, while his other hand tipped her face so he could look into her eyes.
His hardened length made her crazy. His chest rubbed against her breasts, causing her lacy bra to tickle her nipples, hardening them. She wanted the barrier of clothing between them gone. The need to feel his skin against hers was overwhelming. Her mind went into overtime and she started playing out their lovemaking that would definitely take place later that evening.
She longed to feel his tongue and lips on her. She shivered. The smoldering look in his eyes held so much promise. Cat moved closer and Braden lowered his mouth and kissed her.
The kiss was long, and slow. Before things could get too out of hand, he pulled back.
“God, what you do to me . . . I forget I’m in a public place,” he admitted with a husky tone.
Cat looked at him and simply whispered, “I know. I feel the same way.”
The song ended and they headed back to their table. While they had been away dancing, a friend of Gen’s had arrived with his date, and had taken their seats. Braden dragged another chair over and pulled Cat onto his lap, holding her there with his arm around her waist.
Cat’s body craved this man in a way she had never experienced before. She ached in her female center and needed to feel Braden deep inside her. The pain was maddening. She didn’t want to be sitting in the bar with her friends when she could be alone with Braden.
Cat leaned over Meagan. “Come with me, I need to talk to you.” She turned to Braden. “I’ll be right back.”
The two women excused themselves and walked to the back where the ladies’ room was located.
Cat was pleasantly surprised to see the place was empty.
“What’s up?” Meagan studied Cat carefully.
“I have a problem,” Cat blurted.
Meagan laughed. “Yeah, I saw that problem. I want one just like you have.”
“Seriously, Meags, I have issues and I’m not sure what to do.” Cat crossed her arms over her chest. “I know it didn’t escape your notice that Braden looks like the portrait.”
Meagan smiled. “No, I noticed all right. In fact, I think he looks better than he did in the picture.”
“And you don’t find it odd that he’s here, in New Orleans, with me?”
Meagan rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ll grant you it’s not every day a girl gets her dream man.”
Cat realized her friend didn’t fully understand the situation. “Meags, he is the guy from the portrait; a man who lived centuries earlier. And his cousin, Alec, was trapped with him. Now they’re both here and I’m not sure for how long.”
“Ah.” Meagan nodded. “You’re worried they’ll both be yanked away, right?”
“Well, yeah, but I’m also worried about how they’re going to fit in here in New Orleans.”
Meagan adjusted her make-up and washed her hands. “I’ll assist you in helping them acclimatize to our time and ways. As for your fear that he’ll leave, all you can do is enjoy the time you have together.”
Her friend’s words made sense and she felt better knowing that Meagan would help her. “Okay, so it will be up to you to help smooth over anything the guys might say that would be considered too strange.” Cat nibbled on her lower lip. “And maybe help keep Alec occupied?”
Meagan laughed. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Spending time with him won’t be a hardship.”
After Cat and Meagan finished their conversation, they returned to the table. By this time the bar had gotten even busier and was almost standing room only. She was ready to leave and felt a bit better knowing Meagan would help her in the coming days.
Cat didn’t want Alec or Braden to say something that would concern her friends. She needed to sit down with both men and figure out exactly what they would admit to.
“Where’s Braden?” she shouted over the din.
“He went to get us a round,” Alec said. His arm slipped easily around Meagan’s waist and, judging from her friend’s flushed face, she wasn’t complaining.
Braden knew what a round was? Cat stood on her tiptoes and looked around the crowded bar. Eventually she caught sight of him carrying several glasses. She walked over to him and took a couple. “Are you ready to go?”
A frown marred his handsome face, but he didn’t say anything.
She leaned into him. “This must be really overwhelming for you. It’s okay, we can leave. I’m feeling a little crushed and I’m used to this.”
Braden met her gaze and she noted the fatigue that danced in his beautiful eyes. “’Tis rather loud here, and I confess I could use some breathing room.”
Cat smiled and twined her free hand with his. She questioned her own stupidity in bringing both men out before they’d talked and before she could actually warn them what New Orleans was going to be like.
Putting the drinks down on the table, Cat addressed her friends. “I’m tired, so Braden and I are headed home. Alec, are you coming?”
Alec disengaged himself from Meagan. “I’m not ready yet, lass. Would you be offended if I stayed with your friends?”
“No, not at all.” Cat smiled. She marveled at how well he seemed to adapt to this new place. However she prayed he’d keep his mouth shut and not say anything that would make people question his sanity.
“We’ll make sure he gets home safe and sound.” Summer winked at her.
“I’m
sure you will. Okay, well have a good time. Call me tomorrow, Summer.”
As Cat and Braden stepped onto the sidewalk, tourists and partygoers were out in full force. Braden remained close to her side and she watched as he took in his surroundings. She tried to see it through his eyes and wondered what he thought of it all.
Cat marveled at the beauty of the various buildings decorated for the holidays. It would be Thanksgiving the following week and then they’d be facing the Christmas season. Would this Yule season see her with Braden, or would he be gone back to his own time period by then? She didn’t like the direction of her thoughts and vowed right there not to worry about it now. She’d deal with any problems once they became an issue.
“This is an amazing place. It’s so different at night.” Braden looked around and Cat’s heart swelled with emotion for this wonderful man. A scantily clad woman walked past and winked at him. “Are all women so forward in their behavior?”
“New Orleans is a totally different place once the sun goes down. People come from all around to party. You should see this place during Mardi Gras. It’s insane. But at the same time it’s more fun than you can imagine. And, yes, you’ll find that people seem to leave their inhibitions either at home or behind in their hotel rooms.”
People stood outside bars and restaurants trying to lure people in off the streets to experience their service. Even clerks from the souvenir shops tried to get customers off the street to buy their kitschy goods.
A horse-drawn carriage went past. Cat had always loved the romantic idea of a carriage ride. This particular one belonged to a haunted tour. She figured one day she’d take Braden and Alec. She loved the history of her city. The legends and stories were a combination of horror and romance. One day she would share it with Braden.
But right now all she wanted to do was take him home and spend a quiet night with him in bed.
“I had no idea how different this place would be from my Highlands.”
Braden’s gaze was focused on the New Orleans attractions. Fear that he wouldn’t be happy here ate at her. She couldn’t imagine how difficult this was for him, the sensory overload not to mention fatigue from traveling. She hoped he wouldn’t ask her to take him back to Scotland quite yet. Hopefully they’d have the chance to make this work.
“Come on, I don’t want to share you with anyone tonight.” Cat pulled on his hand.
Braden squeezed her fingers. “And I don’t want to have to share you. Hopefully Alec will be busy with his new friends for a while. I don’t want him to hear you screaming with pleasure.”
“Neither do I.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “Let’s go home.”
Cat prayed that when they were alone and away from everything that was different to him, Braden would be able to rest. And when the day was new, she’d do what she could to help him adjust to his situation.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Braden stood on the front step for a second before forgetting his promise to behave. He stepped into the entry hall, shoved the front door shut with his foot, and gathered Catrìona in his arms and began devouring her mouth. This was the perfect way for him to forget how overwhelmed he’d been this past evening. Braden needed to be reminded of what was important and it wasn’t their location or even the time period. The emotions between them were tantamount and he needed to remember this.
Their kiss swept both of them into a sensual storm. He made love to her mouth like he planned on making love to her body. He knew what drove his lass crazy with lust and put every ounce of his knowledge to good use. Alternating sucking and nibbling kisses, he slowly ran his hands up her back in order to cradle her head.
Braden thought Catrìona tasted like sin and desire. His erection swelled and throbbed, and he wanted nothing more than to bury his aching flesh in her warm and welcoming body.
Braden pulled back from the kiss, taking deep ragged breaths, but continued to hold Catrìona tightly against him. He knew if he didn’t get himself under control, he would take her in the hallway. She deserved better than that, he wanted to take his time and savor her.
His breath was warm and moist against her face. He could feel her heart racing His hard cock pressed against her belly, and it took everything he had not to wrap her legs around his waist right then and there. She ran her fingers through his hair, loving the feel of the long, dark, coarse strands falling through her fingers.
He moaned low in his throat. “I love when you touch me.”
Slowly she began to kiss him, first on his chin, and then on the corner of his mouth. With deliberate care, she ran her tongue along the seam of his mouth, seeking entrance. Braden groaned again. Her tongue was gentle and seeking. She took her time tasting and exploring him.
His body shaking with need, he swept her into his arms and hurried up the stairs. After reaching the second floor, he pulled back only far enough to say in a husky voice, “God, mo chridh! Much more of that, darlin’, and this is going to be over before it gets started.”
Cat just smiled a sweet, sexy smile, and said, “What does it matter? Do you have someplace you have to be later?”
Braden gently laid her on the bed and kicked off his dress shoes. “No, darlin’, the only place I have to be is right here.” After taking off his socks, slacks, and dress shirt, he set about divesting Catrìona of her clothes with more speed than finesse.
He started with small nibbling kisses from her foot to her ankle while running his fingers up and down her silky legs. Catrìona moaned softly. Braden continued trailing kisses up her leg and behind her knee. He laved and sucked on her flesh, loving the taste and scent of her skin. Cat lifted her head and noted his erection, straining the confines of his brief, ached with desire. Finally he made it to her skirt. Slowly he slipped the material down her hips, then down her thighs and finally off her legs.
“I just discovered my favorite thing.”
“What’s that, Braden?”
“You in nothing but scarlet red lace.” His husky voice sent gooseflesh over her body.
She watched with anticipation as he lowered his head and gave her a gentle kiss through the scrape of fabric.
“I love your feminine scent,” he said in a whisper.
After placing another gentle kiss on her feminine mound, Braden replaced his lips with the palm of his hand. Slowly he rotated his hand roughly against her center, while at the same time bending to dip his tongue in her navel.
Her feminine folds were damp and swollen. Each grind of Braden’s palm against her center seemed to send shockwaves through her body. She arched into his touch, wanting, needing the contact of his skin against hers.
Braden worked his way to her chest. He eased the lacy cup of her bra aside and his tongue tantalized the rosy buds, which had swollen to their fullest. He laved and caressed each sensitive peak. She reached out to run her hands up and down his strong back, wanting more, needing to feel more of him.
Braden lavished each delicate mound before raising himself over her. His rock hard erection poked out of the band of his briefs; his control was at its end. He could no longer wait to make her his again. He marveled that each time they made love was like the first time.
Lifting his hips away from her body, Cat helped to lower his briefs. Not to be left out of the fun, she lightly pushed him against the mattress, and then cupped the full sack below his throbbing erection. Braden groaned as she explored him, tasted him, devour him.
His erection strained up toward his belly, the head of his penis almost brushing his navel. Cat gently laved the liquid drop that had formed at the crown of his erection before lowering her mouth and taking him as deep as she could.
Braden could think of nothing sexier than the vision before him, but he had been holding himself back for so long that he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Darlin’, you need to stop.”
Catrìona lifted her head and smiled. Before she could resume her ministrations, Braden sat up and dragged her along his aroused body befo
re rolling her onto her back.
He lowered his body over hers, making love to her mouth. He had never realized how sexy a kiss could be until he kissed Catrìona. Braden pulled back to whisper his desire for her into her ear.
“I need to be inside you now, love.”
Catrìona grabbed his throbbing erection and led him to her drenched and swollen entrance. Slowly he sank into her warmth. They moaned in mutual satisfaction.
Once he was deeply seated, Braden paused and took her mouth again. He put all of his feelings and desires into that touch. With his kiss, he tried to tell her she was more than a quick tumble, and she meant more to him than even he understood. She was so tight he felt as if he was in his very own paradise. Her silken sheath clasped him in a warm embrace. When he withdrew slightly, her body grasped him and caused sensations to run up and down his spine.
He tried to set a slow pace, but she was not interested.
Braden brought her leg up and rested it high on his thigh, allowing for deeper penetration. Palming her backside, he pulled her closer to him and ground his pelvis against hers, causing shockwaves to shimmer up his cock and tighten his balls.
Cat ran her hands down his back and finally grabbed his buttocks, pulling him closer and deeper. Something snapped and he plunged in and out of her honeyed warmth. He continued to kiss her, his tongue mimicking his hips, in and out, in and out. Catrìona met him move for move, thrust for thrust, and the sensation was more than he could stand.
His arousal brushed against the heart of her femininity, and his scrotum lightly hit her backside with each thrust. It was delicious and wicked. Braden ground the root of his erection against her, sending her over the edge.
“Catrìona . . . uh, God . . . you feel so damn good.” Braden could feel her body as she experienced her orgasm. Catrìona called out his name as he continued thrusting. Soon, he was following her into sensual bliss.
Braden raised his hands to her head and held her still as he placed a gentle, whisper-soft kiss to her wet and swollen lips. “You are so beautiful.”
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