Guiding Lights

by Jessica Florence

  “Ah don’t know what yer talking about.” I just rolled my eyes and powered up my shiny, beautiful Kindle.

  “Picked a book yet?” he asked while starting on his guitar again.

  “I think so. Want me to read it to you?” I looked at him, expecting him to say no so he could play, but he surprised me.

  “Aye. Get comfortable and let me hear yer sexy voice.” I scoffed at that. He thought I had the sexy voice? That was totally backward; he was the one with the voice that made me want to crawl inside him when he sang in the pub.

  “What were ye just thinking?”

  Crap! It had been written all over my face. My face turned bright red while I bit my lip, trying to fight the urge to spill.

  “Nera?” He gave me a more curious look. “Please.” That voice, begging me, was one hell of a weapon.

  “Your voice is so hot!” My hands flew up to my face, trying to cover the embarrassment. Was I really going to tell him how he’d musically fucked me?

  “That’s not all. Put me out of mah misery,” he pleaded. What did they call it? Puppy eyes? Well, this hot bearded man was giving me puppy eyes, and it was fucking working. Whatever. I pulled on my big girl panties and confessed the truth; maybe it would shock him.

  “I was thinking about that night you sang Show Me How To Live. It was like sex. I felt you all over me; you made me think of dirty sex, and I think you knew it because you stared me down and did your dick thrusts. I had to get away because you scared me.

  “In my head, I call it your musical fuck. That’s what it felt like. Your voice fucked me.” There, I stared him in the eyes while I said it. His face was completely blank. There was nothing there, but his eyes burning into mine. Did he think I was a freak? I did. Until I was suddenly lying on the blanket with his body covering mine.

  “Yer so mah fucking woman. Perfect for me. Ah remember and it felt like that for me. God, Ah fucking wanted ye.” He leaned down and kissed me hard, but held his body above mine, not touching me with anything other than his mouth.

  “Still do,” he whispered against my lips. I smiled at his words; I knew he did. It was evident even though he held himself off me.

  “Ah will wait as long as ye need me tae. Ah will make ye mine in every way. No getting away now,” he stated. I just nodded, not saying anything. Afraid of what I would say.

  “Now, read tae me woman!” He kissed my nose and rolled over onto his back.

  “Aren’t you gonna play?” I inquired. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  “No. It’s not comfortable tae sit in mah jeans right now. Need to relax a little.” It took me a few seconds to understand his meaning, and when it finally hit me, I couldn’t help the laughter that burst out of me. He simply ignored me while I laughed at his hard on. I felt bad; I was going to give him the worst case of blue balls ever. Maybe while he was gone, I could work up the courage to help him out when he got back. I was nervous about doing something like that, but I wanted to try. I grabbed the Kindle that had fallen out of my hands when he’d covered me.

  I picked a book about an FBI agent and a pastry chef. It looked promising, so I started reading aloud to Wolfe. Not long after, Wolfe sat up and went back to his guitar, taking break every so often to write on his mystery notepad.

  I was lost in the words of the book when Wolfe finally spoke. I looked around and noticed the sun was starting it’s decent. I needed to get ready for work, and Wolfe had to leave soon.

  “Ah need tae get ready tae leave,” he said solemnly. I sat up and agreed.

  “Yeah, I need to get ready for work. Here, I’ll grab the blanket and we can head back in.” I stood up slowly and reached for the blanket after Wolfe stood up with his stuff.

  “So you’ll be back Saturday?”

  “Aye, worried yer gonna miss me?” he teased. I shook my head no while rolling my eyes.

  “Nope, just wondering how long I have with my other man. Don’t want you two running into each other.” I could tease too. I looked over and saw he was giving me a look that said I’d better be kidding. He looked like he might actually kill someone. Caveman.

  “Just kidding. Don’t go on a rampage,” I joked. He didn’t laugh as we entered the house. I dropped the blanket in a basket in the laundry room and tried not to think about what we’d done in there. He was waiting for me when I walked out of the room. He gently took my hand and led me toward my door.

  “Ah need my goodbye kiss.” He smiled and the broody Scot was gone. I shook my head, but gave in and leaned forward to give him a short, sweet kiss.

  “Be safe,” I told him.

  “Always.” He pulled me deeper into his embrace, holding me against his warm, safe body.

  “See ya soon.” I kissed his chest and pulled back. He had to leave, and I needed to get dressed for work. Like now.

  “See ye soon, mah Nera.” And just like that, he was gone, and I knew I was falling hard.

  Chapter Seventeen

  My days without Wolfe went by normally. I did what I’d done before I’d met him. I slept, worked, read, and ran. My days seemed faintly boring without Wolfe—there was no one there to prod me into activities or tempt me with his amazing face. He called the B&B’s phone and we chatted for fifteen minutes before he had to go. I had zoomed through three books in three days and was working on another. I was still amazed that I could do that.

  At night, I was doing a little better. It seemed when I was content, and dare I say it, happy, the nightmares didn’t surface. The strong emotions—the panic, the fear—drove them out of their locked box and into my mind. I felt myself thinking about him, what we were doing, and where it might go. Boyfriend almost seemed too small a word to use for him, but lover wasn’t a good one either. I hadn’t known him that long; could you really be in love and find your soul mate in just a month? I wasn’t sure what to think.

  By Saturday evening, I hadn’t heard anything from Wolfe. He’d said he would be back today. While I was working and helping everyone with drinks, I peeked at the line up for tonight’s open mic list, hoping to see his name on there.

  I found it three names down the list: Wolfe L.

  L? I’d have to ask him what his last name was. Little butterflies had taken up space in my stomach as I looked around, wanting to see him. I decided I should take my break before it was his turn to go on; I didn’t want to miss the show. I let Emma know and headed outside the back door for some fresh air.

  My mind started to wander; I really wanted to give us a try, but I was still afraid he wouldn’t like my broken puzzle pieces. And if I had to leave, what would I tell him? There was a reason I didn’t stay too long in one place. I sighed to myself as the sad thoughts traveled through my mind. What was I going to do?

  “Got a light?” My head turned toward the person who’d spoken aloud.

  A man held out a cigarette toward me. Needing a lighter. I shook my head.

  “Sorry, I don’t smoke.” He smiled, but my inner creep radar was humming.

  “That’s ok, nice night, huh?” He put the cigarette in his coat pocket and looked up at the night sky. Ok, time for me to get away from this awkward situation.

  “Yep. Well, have a good night.” I started to turn, but a hand shot out of nowhere and held the door shut. I turned and saw another man, a big smile on his face, blocking the door.

  “You are a pretty little thing. We both thought so, didn’t we, Jack?” The cigarette man spoke to the other man. Jack.

  “That we did.” Jack leaned in and sniffed my hair. Fucking hair sniffers. My mind went to a dark place, a scary place that held fears from the past that I tried to keep hidden. Before I knew it, I was pinned against the wall with my face squished up against the wood of the bar. Both men were behind me. One held me, while the other put his hands on my back.

  “Get the fuck off me!” I growled and started to thrash around. I hadn’t escaped one touchy asshole just to get caught up with others. One of them pulled his hand back and smacked me ha
rd on the ass.

  “That’s right, sweetheart, move for us.” His hands roamed over me, and bile rose in my throat. Not again. I threw my body back, hitting one of them in the head. Then I saw that Jack was pissed and he threw me to the ground. At least, I wasn’t pinned any longer.

  “Enough foreplay.” Cigarette man touched his now bleeding lip and started walking toward me. I dug my foot into the ground, ready to take off running. But the bright light of the suddenly open door startled me.

  Wolfe was standing there with wide eyes. His stunned face quickly turned savage. Without a word, he tackled cigarette man, taking him down to the ground with a heavy thump. Before the man could react, Wolfe was pummeling him. Over and over. Jack tried to pull Wolfe off but he turned on Jack and started punching the shit out of him. Wolfe was truly showing the animal inside. Blood from the men’s shirts splattered the front of his shirt. I had to stop this.

  “Wolfe! Wolfe enough!” His hand froze mid-punch, hearing my voice.

  I crawled over to him and put my hands on his face, turning his face to mine.

  “Wolfe, it’s ok.” I repeated in hushed tones. The red haze faded from his eyes and he looked at me with a look I couldn’t understand.

  “Nera,” he whispered. I nodded.

  “Yeah, baby,” I replied without thought. His head dropped down in pain, and I wanted to cry for him. I gripped him and pulled his head against me for comfort.

  One of the men groaned and I remembered why I wanted to get the hell away from them.

  “I want to leave. Wolfe?” His head came up and he looked at me.

  “Please, take me away,” I pleaded. I wasn’t running away on my own this time; I was asking Wolfe to run with me. He nodded and stood up, taking me with him. We walked back into the pub and found Evan watching the current band on the stage. Evan took one look at us and opened his mouth to say something, but Wolfe leaned in and whispered in his ear. When he pulled back, Evan gave me a quick hug and then walked back toward the goons.

  “Let’s go,” Wolfe voice was low as he led us back to the B&B.

  Alost everyone was at the pub or somewhere else when we walked in, so there was no one to pay us any mind. That was a blessing, because Wolfe had blood all over him. Once we headed up the stairs, I took the lead and dragged him to my room. He hadn’t said anything the whole way back to the house; I was a little worried about him.

  He just stood there while I opened the door then grabbed a wet washcloth. I ran back over to him; he was still standing in the doorway. I grabbed his left hand and started cleaning off the blood. I looked up into his eyes; I knew this had to sting, but he hadn’t flinched. He was just staring off at nothing. I needed to reach him. The washcloth was doing nothing to really clean him up, so I made a quick decision.

  Something had happened tonight, and I was not going to let that take me back down a dark road. I wasn’t going to let those men scare me away from facing the light I’d found in Wolfe. Right now, I needed to take this night off Wolfe’s mind.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Rising up onto my tiptoes, I lightly brushed my lips across his. When I pulled back, his eyes were glued to mine. I laced my fingers in his and led him toward the bathroom. Once we were inside the small room, I turned the hot water on.

  Turning around, I grasped the bottom of his shirt and started to pull it off. His gaze burned as he watched me. Slowly, he raised his hands and helped me pull it off. I didn’t let his seriously hot torso distract me from my plan. My hands found his waistband, started undoing his belt, and undid the button and zipper. With haste, I pushed them down, lowering myself with them to help get his boots off.

  When I stood back up, he was watching me curiously. I grabbed him and pushed his body, with his boxers still on, into the shower. Once he was in, I stripped down to my bra and panties, and climbed in behind him. I grabbed the washcloth I’d had earlier and put more soap on it. I began moving up his forearms and kept going.

  “What are ye doing?” his husky voice inquired. I didn’t look up at him; I focused on what I was doing— making sure he no longer had blood splattered on him.

  “Washing the blood off you,” I mumbled.

  “Are ye ok, Nera?” His finger cupped my chin and lifted it so I had to look him in the eyes. His gaze was so tender and soft.

  “I am now that you’re with me,” I admitted. He made me want to be a brave, stronger woman.

  “Ah will always be there for ye,” he vowed. I gave him a half smile and went back to washing him. He turned, and I ran the cloth over his muscular back, finally getting to see his tattoo in detail. It was beautiful, the head of the wolf seeming to turn from fur to almost tree like. It was so detailed and so spectacular. I wanted to ask him about it, but knew that was a question for another time. I had a hunch that the little girl was for the baby girl he’d lost. He was in a dark mood right now and, I didn’t need to make it any darker.

  My hands glided over his skin with determination. I found myself wanting to explore him, and my body began to warm. Touching him stirred feelings of desire within me. My hand moved of its own accord and caressed his very hard, and dare I say large, cock that strained against his wet boxers. I wasn’t very experienced with dicks, but I knew enough to know that he was above average. I moved my hand higher but his hand shot up and gripped mine, preventing me from continuing. My eyes flew up to meet his, as I tried to figure out why he’d stopped me.

  “Not tonight. Mah head is not in a good place,” he warned softly, bringing my hand up to his lips and placing a kiss on it. His other hand reached out and took the washcloth and began to wash me. The spray of the water bounced off my body onto his, and I found myself watching the droplets travel down his body.

  At an almost torturous pace, Wolfe ran the cloth all over me. His hands moved across my skin and did nothing to calm the desire that had awoken inside me. He finished, and we rinsed everything off before stepping out and taking a moment to dry each other off.

  We’d been almost completely silent during our shower, and even after Wolfe returned from his room after changing into dry clothes, there was something heavy over us. Neither of us wanted to break the quiet. He stood there looking at me after he walked into my room. I had changed into something comfortable and thrown my hair up into a ponytail.

  He walked swiftly over to me, and I opened my arms for him. We both needed the same thing. He swept me up in his arms and moved us to the bed.

  “Ah didn’t even know what tae think when Ah saw ye on the ground with those men. Ah just know Ah wanted to kill them.” He eased back and watched my face for a reaction.

  “Ah can’t even think about something happening tae ye,” he confessed. I closed my eyes and pressed a kiss to his lips. My tongue caressed the seam of his lips and his mouth parted. He groaned and pulled back.

  “Do ye realize what ye mean tae me?” he whispered. I didn’t say anything because honestly, I wasn’t completely sure, but I knew I was falling for him. He was kind and funny. But he was also strong and wild.

  “You’re mah light,” he whispered solemnly. I gave him one last kiss and settled down onto his chest. It wasn’t long before the night finally caught up to me, and I fell asleep in Wolfe’s arms.

  I was surprised to wake up still in his arms after a dreamless night. I was almost sure I’d have nightmares after last night but they’d never come.

  “Mornin.” Wolfe’s rough voice caressed my hair. I smiled and looked up at him.

  “Morning, feeling better?” I asked. He gave me a smile, and I knew he was ok. No dark mood colored his face.

  “Aye.” He squeezed the arms that held me.

  “Good. Can’t have you being a pissy man all day, can we?” I teased. His smile grew wider, melting my heart.

  “It would be a pure waste of mah good looks,” he mocked. Happy Wolfe was back for sure. I rolled my eyes and tried to get up, but strong arms wouldn’t let me.

  “Unless you want me to piss the bed, you should let
go,” I warned. His hands flew up in surrender, and I went to the bathroom to take care of business. He was still there once I was finished. Once he saw me, he got up and went into the bathroom. We were getting quite a routine here, and I giggled at the thought. I quickly grabbed a bra from my dresser and put it on before he came out of the bathroom.

  He opened the door and strolled out with his usual swagger.

  “It really is unfair how good looking you are,” I whined. No matter what he wore, he always looked hot. In a kilt, pajamas, a sweater and jeans. I was also sure he had nicer hair than I did. Like I said. Unfair.

  “Yer not so bad yerself.” He winked and my eyes narrowed, such a gentleman that one.

  “Yeah well, this not so bad woman needs food. Are you coming?” I gestured toward the door.

  “Aye,” he took my hand as he headed for the door.

  At breakfast, you wouldn’t have known anything had happened last night. Only Evan would glance over occasionally, checking on us. The cute couple had departed this morning at daybreak, and Hannah had left with her tour bus this morning as well. Nelson sat there eating his pancakes and chatting with Aggie about old families of the Durness area.

  “So son, ye ready tae sing tonight?” Evan asked Wolfe, who responded without hesitation.

  “Of course, sir.” He almost looked giddy at the thought of singing tonight. I looked at him curiously, was he up to something? He just shrugged my look off and we spent the rest of the day walking along the shore, talking about nothing important, just getting to know each other, and enjoying each other. It was peaceful, and I enjoyed it immensely. It had started to sprinkle a bit so we headed back to the B&B and finally finished In Flight. As suspected, Wolfe was not happy about the ending.

  “What the hell? Where is the next book?” He sat up and looked around for the other two books I’d brought with me. He dashed up and looked at them on the dresser.

  “I don’t have it,” I confessed.