Little did Coll know she intended to ask him for a private demonstration that night. He intended to show her around the club, and Finn thought her head set would be more attuned to such things there.
Maybe.
But for now she had a day at work to get through.
“What’s up?” She poured a second cup of coffee and waved the pot in Coll’s direction. “Want a top up?”
Coll shook his head. “No thanks, I’m fine. How on earth you don’t get caffeine shakes is beyond me.”
“Practice. Now stop changing the subject, Sir.” She tagged on the title deliberately. They’d decided she’d use it in the club that night, to, as she put it, get used to it just in case. She’d found as the days went on and they unconsciously assumed the Dom and sub personas she used it more and more. “What’s wrong?”
Coll put his mug down, hauled her to her feet and kept his hands on her shoulders whilst he studied her face. “Lachy rang up whilst you were in the shower. Do you remember last year when you found that barbed wire near the old quarry? And you and Lachy made it unusable?”
She nodded as her stomach went hollow and then became invaded by butterflies. “Yeah, when poults were being poisoned and going missing.”
“Well, it had vanished yesterday when Lachy was over there. He’s just found it.”
She didn’t want to ask, but had to. “Where?”
“Around your car tires, primarily.”
“The bastards, why?”
“He thinks that’s because your house still looks lived in with flowers on the window ledge and people in and out throughout the day. After all one of us”—by us he meant the select few in on their plans—“are around and inside most of the time. He reckons and I agree with him that it was a vindictive warning.”
Finn saw red. “Okay, enough is enough. What are we going to bloody do?”
“Donny is going to be called in for a meeting with Jeff, Jess and Lachy this afternoon. Jeff decided they’ve got enough on this without involving you, and it would be best if you carried on as normal. Make it appear as if we’re doing nothing. Lachy has deliberately looked at the work plans and noted where Donny wasn’t. Which is most places. He’ll be given his options, and just in case it’s best you don’t know them. Then all of us, except of course Donny, meet here at seven and decide on plans. You and I are then going on a tour. After that?” He spread his hands. “Who knows?”
“And until then I’d best go and do some work.” Finn’s body tightened at the thought of their tour. She leaned into Coll and let him hug her close before she melted into his kiss. Deeper than before her body tightened as their tongues meshed and her knickers grew damp. Damned work.
“Looking forward to the tour, Sir.”
“Hmm.” Coll broke the kiss and rested his chin on the top of her head. “And me. For now, I’d rather just carry on what we were doing, but I guess we better do as planned. Lachy said to tell you you’ll be watched in case anything is going on we don’t know about. He said to do your famous yodel if you’re worried. Yodel?”
“Ah, yeah. I do a great Frank Ifield. My dad taught me.” She opened her mouth and did a beautiful yodel-eh-ee-ohhh. “Evidently it echoes round here.”
Coll shook his head and pressed his ears. “Well, it echoes around my head anyway. Give a Sir some notice, kitten. I like my eardrums as they are.”
“Ooops, sorry, Sir.” She knew fine well she wouldn’t look sorry. After all, she had the devil in her and was enjoying it. “If you hear that, it’s my whistle for help. My SOS if you like. I intend not to use it. Right, gotta dash. See you around five. Oh, and Depp is on the bed.” The cat, although resigned to sleeping in his basket, snuck into the bedroom at any opportunity. He’d been too quick for Finn as she’d exited earlier and as Coll remarked wryly, she was too soft hearted to move him.
“Take care, love.” Coll did his usual kiss on her head and nose and then ran his thumb over her jaw. She loved it, it was their own personal, well, if not quite, ‘love you’, ‘think a lot of you gesture’. She did her usual return, a caress of his cheek and a finger over his lips. She’d heard of protocol, was this theirs?
Who knew, and she really didn’t have time to think about it then. She was almost late and there were things to do. It might be well on into the season, but as ever a few late arrivals had appeared several weeks after the rest of the flock had lambed. And of course some were orphans and needed a helping hand. Or a baby’s bottle.
Finn left the house at a run, scrambled onto a new—not the one appropriated by Donny—quad bike and headed across the estate.
She seemed never to stop moving at a rate of knots all day. By the time five o’clock came, she had that nasty ‘something is up’ itch between her shoulder blades, and had only managed a cup of Lachy’s wife’s homemade soup followed by a dash to the loo. Now she was filthy and starving. At least once she got back to Diomhair, she could shower and eat something. Not a lot, she decided as she started the bike and zoomed across the ruts and furrows that criss-crossed the rugged pasture land. If all the books were right, you shouldn’t play on a full tummy, and in some way she wanted to play. Even if… Her imagination failed her. If what, she had no idea what but the only way to find out if she could do anything was to try.
Finn made her way downward and headed for the gate that opened onto the track, which led toward the castle. She slowed, navigated the bike through the gateway and shut the gate behind her. Then she got back on to the vehicle and opened the throttle. The track sloped steeply away from the field, which was near the top of the estate and where fields met moor, and twisted its way downward. As the bike bumped and jerked over a very deep rut, Finn turned the handle to navigate the last bad bend, and pulled on the brakes.
The bike went straight on. Missed two trees, a thorn bush and a clump of nettles, bumped over the bank of a stream and stopped dead in the water, hissing gently. As she bounced up out of the seat and down again, her mobile phone flew out of her pocket and landed in the stream.
Sod it and fuck. She’d not fastened the zip right across.
Finn shook, turned the ignition off and swore again. This was getting to be a joke. No, not a joke, a sick game and she was fed up of playing it. Her body had turned to jelly, her mind to mush, and some arsehole had tried to kill her. Well, fuck them. Was peppering them with shot considered to be good self-defense? Tough, if it wasn’t. She took her gun out of its carrying case and made it ready.
Now what?
Finn pocketed the bike keys—it might not be rideable now, but she wasn’t handing it to any old Tom, Dick or Harry to make off with and fix. She’d worked hard and waited a long while for it. She thought for a second. As the crow flew, it was less than half a mile to Lachy’s house and not much more in a different direction to the barn Coll worked in.
With a grin, and a swift prayer her prowess was as good as she boasted, Finn pursed her lips.
And yodeled.
Then she sat down to wait on a convenient rock.
The cavalry in the shape of Lachy on a quad with Coll not far behind, on of all things, a horse, arrived in less than fifteen minutes.
She blinked at the horse and broke down the gun.
“A friend’s, he was visiting, I did my Lone Ranger act.” Coll slid to the ground and tied the horse’s reins to a thick branch. “Are you okay?” He ran his hand over her arms and hugged her. For one brief second, Finn hugged him back, reveling in his closeness, and then took hold of his hand and turned to Lachy whose expression was one of confusion.
“Lassie, what’s wrong? What’s thon bike doing there, ye know full well this is no shortie.”
When he was agitated Lachy’s accent got stronger and less understandable by the word. Finn guessed he meant a short cut back home.
“I’m fine, the bike isn’t,” Finn said rapidly. “It seems to have lost the ability to be steered or stopped. No steering or brakes. And it was all fine ‘til I went up to look at the boundary with the mo
ors. I was out of sight of it for no more than ten, fifteen minutes, and that was only because I went over the other side of the fence to check out the stream for water.”
“That’s time enough to cut wires,” Lachy said shortly. He stared at the bike and muttered something unintelligible. “But I cannae believe our Donny would hae done a thing like that. He’s thrawn and lazy but no’ violent.”
Finn could have kicked herself. She should have sensed it wasn’t an accident. After all, there were no large stones around where she’d found the one blocking the stream. But at the time all she’d thought was shit, I want to go home early, not late.
“Someone did, though,” Coll said. “If not Donny, and I tend to believe you, then someone who knew Finn was up here and what she’d do. What made you check on the stream, Finn?”
“It was only a trickle, and there’s usually a good amount of fresh, clean water in it. Shit, it was blocked by a stone—rock even—and some debris. On purpose, I suppose.” Finn gulped, bile rose in her throat and she dashed toward a bush to lose her lunch. The idea that someone wanted to do her harm didn’t sit well with her.
“You know,” Coll said as he handed her the bottle of water she carried on her bike. “I wonder if this was meant for you or Donny.”
“Donny? Why?” She went closer, leaned on Coll’s sturdy and comforting body, put her arms around him and held on tight. He hugged her and dropped a kiss on her head.
Lachy looked up from the bike. “You could be right. It’d be expected he’d use one like this, not you Finn. Everyone is used to seeing you on the rusty old one you preferred.”
Preferred? Since when?
Coll raised his eyebrows and she shook her head. No need to add to Lachy’s worries.
“Could be,” she said in a noncommittal voice. “Anyway, I’m okay and still standing…just. You can put the fear of God into Donny with pleasure. The sheep are fine, the stream is unblocked and I’m ready for my tea.” Finn did her best to keep the wobble out of her voice but wasn’t sure she succeeded. “What’s the best way for me to get home? Who’s going to give me a backy?”
“Can you ride? Horses, not quad bikes.”
Finn rolled her eyes in one long, smooth, exaggerated movement. “Well, duh. I’ll have you know I was pony club champion at flag picking up races for three years running. And without a saddle most of the time.”
Coll bowed. “Then Delilah here will be a doddle. Can you ride her around a bit until we’re ready? Stay close. Then you can give me the backy. She’ll take us both for that short distance to my workshop. I’ll take a look around with Lachy and then we can go and reassure Ronnie that she’s well and I didn’t gallop her off into the sunset.”
Finn laughed and swung up into the saddle. She didn’t bother to shorten the stirrups, and simply took the reins, which Coll untied and handed to her. “C’mon, Delilah, let’s make them dizzy.”
Chapter Eight
Coll watched until she was a few yards away then turned to Lachy. “Well?”
Lachy shook his head. “Not at all. This is past petty rustling or whatever. Finn could have been killed and it’s not on.”
Coll could agree with that. “We’ll ring the police again when we get back.”
“Aye,” Lachy sighed. “I ken we were gan gae Donny rope tae hang himsel’ but enough. I’m off to see the shyster and drag him to the castle if I have to.” He spoke in his normal non-slangy voice as he climbed onto his quad bike. “Do you think I should stop here so no one tampers with it until the police come?”
Coll thought quickly. He was well out of his comfort zone. Woodcarvers didn’t turn investigators except in books. “Might be an idea.” He ran his hands through his hair and realized it needed cutting badly. Once it got longer than an inch it went into a mass of tight dark curls and he’d look like the savage woodcarver of the wild woods if he didn’t chop it soon. “Hell, Lachy, I’ve no idea and I can’t even get a mobile signal here.”
“Maybe not, but I’ve got a walkie-talkie and someone should be around to answer,” Lachy said as he took the instrument out of a pouch and proceeded to inform whoever answered what had happened.
Coll listened to the voice at the other end and inwardly laughed. Jess had answered and had come out with such a vocabulary of non-curse words which were obviously intended to replace the words one would normally use to swear that he guessed her Sir, David, had carried out his threat to wash her mouth out. Not as everyone thought, with soap but with a certain type of cola she detested. The threat was usually enough to temper her language, but all of a sudden, ‘shit’, ‘bugger’ and ‘fuck’ slipped in between ‘darnation’, ‘scooberoony’ and ‘Mesopotamia’ and he guessed that these shenanigans had finally made her ignore David’s threat. Now she’d be paying for it. But oh boy, how he admired her fluent stream of words.
“David has just gone to ring the police and says to say Aidan will be with you in five. Can you all wait ‘til then, please?”
“Ask her if I can bring Finn back when Aidan arrives,” Coll said. Lachy forwarded the request.
“Hel…p, I’ve no idea I’m not the copper. Can you wait until David… Hold on just a sec.” The walkie-talkie went silent. Coll beckoned Finn over and she rode Delilah nearby before she slid off and held on to the reins. The horse bent her head and cropped grass. It could be such a peaceful scene—except…
It wasn’t.
“Sir says the police will be with you soon, and can you all stay there.”
“Tell her to get a message to Ronnie then, he’ll be imagining all sorts of scenarios. Not worried about me but about Delilah.”
Jess snorted over the line. “I heard that. And it’s true. David will ring him.”
“So now we wait.” Lachy switched the walkie-talkie off and sat on the seat of his bike. “I think I’ll go and check that stream out.”
“No.” Finn and Coll spoke together.
“It’s best to wait here like Jess said,” Coll told him. “Smell the good old country smells.”
Delilah farted and all three of them burst into laughter.
* * * *
No one was laughing four hours later. The police had arrived with Ronnie, who was at last allowed to take his horse home—did they think Delilah had information to share?—and eventually Coll and Finn had arrived back at Coll’s flat.
The message Coll had received from Jeff wasn’t helpful. Lachy had gone to get Donny to bring him to the castle and he’d been nowhere to be seen. Even his lady friend had no idea where he’d gone. All she could say was he’d had a phone call, gone white, dressed and left a few hours earlier. She’d heard nothing since.
It looked as if he’d been alerted and fled. Even though Jeff vowed to find him or else, Finn was sensible enough to know if he didn’t want to be found, it wouldn’t be easy.
Coll looked at the clock. “Hell, kitten, it’s past ten o’clock. I’ve lasagna in the freezer. How about you go and shower whilst I put it in the oven. Then I’ll shower and after we can eat? I think we’ll put the club off until we’re more with it.” He opened the freezer door and hunkered down to look at the contents. The position outlined the curves of his ass and the straight line of his spine. His hair with its sexy streaks of gray had a hint of a curl as it touched his collar, and Finn itched to run her fingers through it.
Shit, I have it bad. Now or never. Her skin was slick with perspiration, her hands clammy and her tummy churning.
Finn stared at him and blinked rapidly. She took a deep breath. This was it.
“With respect, Sir. No.”
Coll stood up without taking anything out of the freezer, shut the door and leaned on it.
“No, what?”
“We’ll not put it off. Well,” she temporized as she thought fast. “I don’t mind putting off the club, but I do mind not getting even a wee taste of what you could do to me and for us, Sir.” Her heart thumped. Would he understand what she meant?
“Elucidate, kitten.”
> “We’ve waited, Sir. We’ve talked and I know who you are. Now I need to discover who I am. What better way than now, when I need to get out of the mind-set I’m in? You explained how that can happen. I think I need to see for myself. I suggest it’s time you showed me how I’m to be yours.”
Would he?
If she hadn’t been studying him so closely, she wouldn’t’ve seen the rapid tic in his neck or the way he swallowed convulsively. Then he straightened up, put his hands into his pockets and smiled. For one brief moment she imagined she saw the signs of a predator in his expression before it immediately turned into one of dominance. It made the butterflies in her tummy dance about. She waited dry-mouthed as he took a long, leisurely perusal of her body.
“Assume the position, kitten.”
Those words made her knees tremble, her heart beat faster and her pussy muscles clench. Oh yes. She scrambled to do as he demanded, ignoring the usual aches and pains of the day. Food and a shower could wait but this couldn’t. As she knelt on the floor in front of her Sir and dipped her head, Finn heard his soft laugh.
“Such a beautiful sight, my kitten. But we do need to shower. Shall I tell you to crawl into it and wait for me?”
That was something she’d decided ages ago would be a great big red no. Now? Her juices gathered and under her dusty work trousers, her thighs were damp.
“I would, Sir,” she said honestly and caught the swift look of amazement and pleasure that crossed his face before it became impassive once more. “Except,” she went on, “I’m a bit sore after a day’s work and I’d like to shower and then crawl. I’m not sure my knees would cope at the moment. The hot water works wonders.”
I hope he understands.
He did.
“Good girl for being honest. Would you prefer a bath?”
The pleasure in his voice made those abused knees go weak. “No, Sir, it’d take too long.”
He laughed. “Then let’s go and shower together.” He lifted her into his arms and strode along the corridor to the big en-suite bathroom off his bedroom. Twice the size of the one she used and, she saw as he set her down, with a lot more attachments and fittings.
Secrets Dispelled Page 6