Dark Heat

by Donna Grant

  Cassie blew out a breath, causing a lock of hair to lift against her face. She had the phone number he’d given her, but call her old-fashioned, she didn’t want to do the chasing.

  “With a man like Hal, it’s worth considering,” she said as she glanced at Duke.

  The Great Dane shifted his ears toward her, but didn’t move from his position on the floor. Not that she blamed him. He’d found a blanket and claimed it as his, dragging it in his mouth wherever he went.

  Except when he got in bed with her at night.

  That first night had been an experience. She learned early to claim her side of the bed before he had a chance to.

  She hadn’t wanted to watch the dog, and had really been pissed at Dan for assuming she wouldn’t mind. But the more she was around Duke, the more she thought of the dog as hers. She didn’t even want to think about when Dan came to collect him.

  Cassie bit her lip and finished painting around the taped-off stained trim of the door before she wiped the back of her hand across her forehead.

  One of the conditions of her being able to stay in the cottage was repainting it. The only good thing was that the rooms were fairly small. So far in her three days, she’d managed the ceiling and walls of the guest room and now the hallway.

  It wasn’t that her brother didn’t have the money to have the house painted himself. No, the idea had been hers. She didn’t want to be a charity case. She would work for being able to stay at the house.

  She glanced at the pantry on her way outside to wash the paintbrushes and realized her stock of groceries was running dangerously low. Whether she wanted to or not, she was going to have to brave a drive into town in the morning.

  Cassie passed the door where Hal had kissed her and once more found her thoughts turned to the ruggedly handsome Scot whom she couldn’t stop thinking about.

  She was going to give him one more night, and then call him. If she could hold off that long.

  The water from the outside faucet was colder than anything she’d ever experienced. It was difficult to finish cleaning the brushes before she brought them back inside. There were several sets of other brushes drying in the kitchen since it was too cold outside for them to dry.

  At almost four, the sun had already sunk behind the mountains, casting everything in dark shadows. Cassie rushed back into the warm house and stuck her hands in front of the roaring flames of the fire.

  Duke suddenly jumped up and trotted to the kitchen. Cassie looked over her shoulder and spotted Hal through the glass door. She swallowed, her stomach lurching at seeing him.

  How could he have gotten more handsome since the last time she saw him? Unable to find an answer, Cassie crossed the living room and kitchen to unlock the door and let him inside.

  Duke demanded her visitor’s attention, and Cassie was content to let them have a moment so she could look Hal over at her leisure. His black hair looked like it had been trimmed. This time, however, those inky strands weren’t pulled away from his face.

  For a moment Cassie could picture Hal as an ancient Highlander wielding a sword with his long hair hanging around his sculpted face.

  Hal straightened from Duke and smiled at her. “Hello.”

  “Hello,” she said, and put the kitchen island between them. How she had missed his amazing accent. “What brings you here?”

  “Do you really need to ask?”

  She shrugged and glanced down at the counter. “I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

  “Aye,” he murmured as his wide, thin lips crooked up in a half smile. “There were things I needed to take care of.”

  “And the man we found?”

  “He’s with us and adjusting. His memory hasn’t returned. We’re calling him Tristan for now.”

  “Tristan is a good name.”

  His smile faded as he stared at her with his intense moonlight blue eyes. “I wanted to come sooner.”

  “You’re here now.”

  His brow furrowed as he looked away from her. “I’m no’ sure what it is about you, but I can no’ stop thinking of you.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?” she asked with a grin.

  Hal’s pale blue eyes met hers. “Nay. Just … curious.”

  “You make it sound as if you haven’t felt anything for a woman before.”

  “I have no’. No’ in … years.”

  She wanted to laugh off his words, but the truth of them was shining in his beautiful eyes. It was difficult to believe, impossible to comprehend.

  “There are things about me I can no’ tell you, Cassie, no matter how much I want to. Can you accept that?”

  “Are you married?”

  He shook his head.

  “Are you some kind of criminal?”

  This time he gave a slight smile as he shook his head.

  She was crazy even to listen to him, foolish to consider allowing him into her life more than he already was. But to refuse him would be like throwing herself into the giant black hole of misery she had nearly fallen in while in Arizona after losing her job and running out of money.

  His gaze never wavered as they stared at each other. The attraction, primal and wild, was there, but the glance also held more. If only Cassie dared to reach out and take it.

  If only she dared to open herself to Hal.

  “Then I can accept it,” she whispered.

  His smile was slow, but soon spread across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I know I ask a lot, but I can no’ walk away from what is between us. You feel it, do you no’?”

  “Yes.” Why was her voice so breathy and her breathing so ragged? Hal was across the kitchen, yet it was like invisible strings had wound around them, tying them together.

  He came around the island gradually, as if he expected her to bolt at any moment. The way her heart hammered in her chest and her body heated as he neared, there was no way she could move.

  A part of her brain advised her to run away, because she instinctively knew that whatever secrets Hal had could be dangerous.

  But she couldn’t deny the attraction, couldn’t deny him. It was as if all her life she had been waiting to find him. And there he was.

  Tall, dark, and wickedly handsome.

  Everything her mother had warned her about. But everything most women fell for.

  Cassie swallowed as he closed the distance between them. She only had to lift her hand and she could lay it on the thick sinew of his chest.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “A man who will do anything for another kiss.”

  “Just a kiss?”

  “Nay. I want it all, but I’ll take whatever you give me.”

  The world faded away as his head bent to her. A dark lock of hair fell forward and tickled her cheek. Hal’s pale blue eyes ensnared her, trapped her. Captured her.

  And then his lips were on hers.

  He released a deep breath, then he pulled her against him, against his rock-hard body, and plundered her mouth.

  The kiss was fierce, untamed, and full of the same yearning that was in her heart.

  She opened herself to him, to all he was giving her. And Cassie had never felt anything so amazing in her life. With just a kiss.

  He touched her heart, her soul. Her very essence.

  And she never wanted it to end.

  Hal deepened the kiss as she threaded her fingers into his hair. She rose up on tiptoe so that she could be closer to him. Which only caused him to moan low in his throat.

  Cassie’s stomach fluttered. For the first time since arriving in Scotland, she was warm. Her skin felt on fire, her blood pounding in her ears.

  Somehow Hal had steered her out of the kitchen and into the living room before the fire. She was so caught up in the kiss that nothing else mattered.

  She moved her hands to his chest and shoved his thick leather coat over his shoulders. He released her to let it drop to the floor.

  Cassie was reaching for the hem of his sweater when his han
ds touched her bare stomach as he lifted her sweatshirt and the tee beneath it. With one tug, he had both over her head and cast aside.

  As if they couldn’t be kept apart, their mouths found each other again. The kiss was frantic and consuming, desperate and wild.

  It took her breath away the same time it filled her soul.

  Their limbs became tangled as they struggled to get closer together, and then the next thing Cassie knew, she was lying on the rug with Hal leaning over her.

  “Cassie,” he murmured before he kissed her again.

  He straddled her and straightened as he reached for his sweater. She bit her lip in awe at the specimen before her when his bare chest was revealed.

  The tattoo of the dragon was spectacular. It covered his entire chest with the head starting at Hal’s right shoulder and the dragon’s tail disappearing into the waist of his jeans.

  Cassie spread her hands wide and caressed up his abdomen from his waist to his shoulders. Her gaze lifted to find him watching her with passion darkening his eyes.

  He groaned deep in his throat as he cupped the back of her head and kissed her once more as he laid her back. She clung to him as he rolled them so he was on his back.

  She clutched his chest, loving the feel of his skin against hers. There was a slight tug, and then the straps of her bra fell off her shoulders.

  Never had Cassie been so desperate to get out of her clothes. Hands tangled while they continued to kiss and remove the rest of their clothes.

  And then finally they were skin to skin.

  Cassie inhaled and closed her eyes, letting her body feel every inch of Hal.

  Once more he rolled her onto her back with his weight braced on one arm as his other hand stroked down her body to her hip before leisurely caressing back up until he cupped her breast.

  He stroked his thumb over her nipple, causing her to cry out. She strained for more of his touch. And then he was touching her everywhere.

  His mouth, his hands, his body.

  Every caress, every lick sent her passion higher. She was breathless and shaking for more. She wanted to touch him, to run her hands over his magnificent body from his wide shoulders to his tapered hips where the dragon tail ended.

  But Hal had other ideas.

  Cassie was powerless to do anything other than lie there and feel the exquisite pleasure.

  When his hand slid between them to thread in the curls of her sex, she opened her legs wider. Needing him with a hunger she couldn’t deny or explain.

  His fingers slid inside her before finding her clitoris and swirling his thumb over the tiny bud. His mouth closed over her nipple and began to tease the tip with his tongue.

  It was too much for Cassie. Her skin felt too tight, her nerves taut and ready to break apart. It had been so long since she’d had release, and the passion and pleasure were too great for her to hold off the climax when it took her.

  She screamed Hal’s name as stars exploded behind her eyelids and she was swept away on a wave of bliss.

  Somehow Cassie knew, this night, this amazing, wonderful night was just the beginning.

  CHAPTER

  EIGHT

  Hal couldn’t stop touching Cassie. She was so responsive, so beautiful. So damned wonderful.

  He watched as she peaked, his name on her lips, and he wanted to see it time and time again. He’d been a fool to think he would be strong enough to have her once and keep his distance.

  That one kiss had stayed with him for days, waking him with dreams of her beneath him just as she was now. If he couldn’t shake her after one kiss, how did he expect to do it after making love to her?

  But he didn’t want to think that far ahead when he had such an alluring, fascinating woman in his arms.

  Hal watched her eyelids flutter open and her dark brown eyes meet his. His cock ached to bury inside her, yet he found himself wanting to prolong the exquisite torture.

  And then Cassie took his arousal in her hand.

  Hal squeezed his eyes closed and groaned, his hips automatically moving against her. He’d never experienced such need before, and he knew there was only one woman who could satisfy him.

  Unable to wait another moment, he moved between her legs. He watched as she guided him to her entrance. Hal clenched his jaw when he felt how incredibly hot and wet she was.

  Her hands went around him while one of her feet rubbed back and forth over his calf. Hal shifted his hips forward and sank inside her.

  Nothing had ever felt so wonderful, so absolutely right. She was slick and gripped him like a glove. He pulled out only to thrust deeper. Her soft cry of pleasure urged him onward.

  With one more plunge, he seated himself fully.

  Hal wanted to give in to his passion and let the orgasm take him, but he was determined to bring Cassie with him. He moved in and out of her with short, slow strokes until her eyes rolled back in her head and her nails dug into his shoulders.

  Their harsh breaths filled the cottage as he set up a rhythm that sent them spiraling toward pleasure all too quickly.

  When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he leaned up on his hands so he could thrust deeper, harder inside her. Her cries of passion propelled him toward his climax no matter how much he tried to resist.

  And when her dark eyes locked with his as her sex clenched around him, he was powerless to hold back the tide.

  Hal gave one last thrust that buried him deep and let the orgasm take both him and Cassie. The ecstasy took them, wrapped them, swept them over an abyss of never ending pleasure.

  He pulled out of her and rolled to the side before he collapsed atop Cassie, and cradled her on his chest. A smile tugged at his lips as he found true contentment that had eluded him for centuries.

  Cassie was warm and more relaxed than she had been in months. As she slowly woke, she realized the reason she felt so good was because Hal was still holding her.

  She was surprised to find him asleep, his face turned toward the fire. She couldn’t stop herself from running her finger along his jawline.

  Cassie leaned up to kiss him when her attention was snagged by his tattoo once again. To say it was incredibly odd that the man she’d found naked on the mountain also had such an elaborate dragon tattoo was stating the obvious. Coincidence?

  Maybe, but she didn’t think so.

  It was probably one of the things Hal had said he couldn’t tell her. Cassie didn’t like secrets, but she hadn’t been able to resist Hal. Even now, if he gave her the same option, she’d take him over knowing his secrets.

  She took a closer look at the tattoo. Though she wasn’t an expert, she didn’t know that ink could be an intricate swirl of red and black. It was a startling contrast to Hal’s tanned skin and made the dragon appear almost be alive. Whoever had done his tat was an amazing artist.

  Cassie reached out to touch it when the dragon moved. She jerked her hand back, her heart pounding as she stared at the tattoo.

  What the hell?

  Had she just seen it move?

  When she looked to Hal’s face, it was to find him opening his eyes. He gave her a heart-stopping smile.

  “Who are you?” she asked in a whisper, the words almost too much to get past her lips.

  “The man who can no’ resist you. The man who doesna want to lose you.”

  She looked at the tattoo again, wondering if she should tell him it moved.

  “I doona want you worrying about pregnancy or disease. I doona have anything, nor can I get you with child.”

  Cassie blinked. Belatedly she realized she should have worried about that before they’d slept together, but the passion had taken her.

  “Um … that’s good about the pregnancy thing. And I … uh … it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been with anyone. I’m clean as well.”

  He put an arm behind his head and regarded her. “What’s wrong? You seem like something is bothering you.”

  “Besides the fact I have a gorgeous naked man in my living r
oom?” she asked with a teasing smile.

  He chuckled. “Aye. Besides that.”

  “Your tat. It’s similar to the one I saw on Tristan.”

  “It was dark. Are you sure you know what you saw?”

  She sat up and faced him, though she didn’t move away. The need to keep touching him was too strong. Yet there was no doubt she had heard an undercurrent in his voice. “Is this one of those things you can’t tell me? Just say so, and I’ll stop asking questions.”

  For long moments he simply stared at her. “What is it about my tattoo?”

  “It moved.”

  Hal’s brow furrowed deeply. “That’s the second time you’ve said that. First with Tristan’s, and now mine.”

  “I’m not crazy. I saw both of them move. There’s a connection between you and Tristan, isn’t there? For each of you to have such intricate dragon tats seems … well, odd.”

  He sighed and gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “They’re just tattoos. Tristan seems to appreciate dragons as much as I do.”

  Cassie let him lie. She’d known as soon as she asked the question that he might not be able to answer. But his lie told her one thing—the tats were important.

  She let the matter drop, however, as Hal jumped up and began to rummage through the kitchen. Still completely naked.

  Her gaze raked over his tall body and all the wonderful bulging muscle. He was a feast for her eyes, and she wasn’t about to waste a moment.

  He returned to the rug a few moments later with an array of food and some wine. She couldn’t stop grinning. A picnic in front of a fire. It was as if he had delved into her most sacred fantasies.

  She sat up as he handed her a glass of wine. There was no denying the desire in his eyes as he bent and gave her a quick, mind-blowing kiss before handing her a piece of cheese.

  They sat before the fire and sampled the food before them. With the flames casting the room in an orange glow and her body sated and warm, Cassie had never been happier.

  “My first winter picnic,” she said.

  “Winter picnic? I’ve never heard it called that, and lass, you’ve been missing out.”

  “Apparently. What else have I missed out on?”