by Vines, Jolie
I giggled. “What are ye doing?”
“We might not be married yet, but ever since I’ve known ye, I’ve had the urge to throw ye over my shoulder and steal ye away to my cave. This is me living out a fantasy.”
He stomped across the pine-needle-strewn ground and climbed the steps. At the top, a pretty cabin sat concealed high in the trees.
My jaw dropped. “I know this place. Casey told me about it.”
Lochie entered a passcode into a panel, and the door swished open.
Wood gleamed. Appliances sparkled. Subtle luxury had been built into every corner.
Inside, Lochie deposited me on the wide sofa. Our bags were still in the car, but we could fetch them later.
He crouched in front of me, and his cheeks pinkened. “I talked to Blayne about how Callie was conceived.”
“She wasn’t planned.” I traced a fingertip over the apple of his cheek. Then my brain caught up. “Wait, ye asked how they got pregnant?”
“Aye. I needed information, and searching online brought me mixed results. Blayne explained that they’d come to this place so it was a natural next step.” His gaze turned keen, intensity at the fore. “Ye want a bairn. I do, too. So we’re going to do everything to make that happen. Every month, at about this time, I’m going to take ye away somewhere to focus on the task. I have cover for the rescue service, and your parents will take care of Isla.”
A laugh burst out of me. We’d originally decided to let the baby-making happen when it was ready, but last month, I’d been hormonal and disproportionally disappointed when I’d gotten my period.
Lochie had noticed and taken steps to right the issue. Of course he had.
“Ye don’t do things by half, do ye?”
“When it comes to ye, never.”
“Does the whole estate know what we’re up to?”
“Not in so many words. Blayne undoubtably guessed.”
I didn’t mind. Hell, I’d intended to have fertility treatment, and it wouldn’t have been secret.
I reached for his collar and drew my fiancé close. “Then we’d better get started.”
True to his word, Lochie didn’t hold back. He wanted to get me pregnant, and if I could conceive by the sheer energy rolling off the man, I would’ve. He tore his cable-knit jumper over his head, his t-shirt following. The rest of his clothes vanished in seconds. I was slower to move, happily ogling the revealed delights of muscles and dark chest hair.
Lochie growled and took over with lifting my blouse. My hands were still tangled in the sleeves, and he ducked and bit lightly on my satin bra, right over my nipple.
I freed my hands and dug them into his hair, urging him on as he licked and sucked me. Then suddenly I was in his arms and over his shoulder. He slapped my arse and strode gloriously naked from the lounge into a darkened bedroom.
Upside down, I spied the bed before he reached it.
Dusky rose petals decorated the quilt.
“Did ye do this?”
“Aye, I popped by earlier. We have food for a couple of days and nothing to interrupt us.”
He knelt on the mattress and carefully set me down. In quick moves, I rid myself of my remaining clothes, then Lochie’s mouth was once more on mine.
I wrapped my legs around his big, hard body and received one heck of a branding kiss. Wet and ready, I ground against him, all too eager to start the weekend he had planned and satisfy the aching need inside me.
But Lochie stalled. “Remember how we started, how we tried sex in different ways to see what ye liked? Tell me your favourite.”
He’d been my sexual awakening. I’d never wanted anyone else, and I was his for eternity.
“Slow and deep,” I whispered.
Lochie lined up his cock and slid home. Thick and hard, he stretched me, lighting me up. I gave an indecent moan, earning a soft kiss.
Then he pushed up on his strong arms and got to work. With his hips moving and his incredible cock filling me, he kissed me like he couldn’t bear not to, his mouth devouring mine.
I matched him, needing to show him how much I loved him and everything we did together.
Especially this.
Together, we made love, writing our love into our movements. Lochie ramped up the pressure, still slower than usual, but devastating. He worked me in the way only he could. In minutes, I was arching up, my body one tight coil of heat.
He reached for my clit, his firm press exactly what I needed to tip me over the edge.
I cried out and splintered, coming, spasms wrecking me. Never had I known such happiness as he could enact on my body. Orgasms had never been easy before this man. Nothing had been.
With his mouth open, he gazed at me in wonder, stress plain in his shaking muscles.
“I love ye,” I said on a breath.
Lochie’s eyes rolled, and he jacked his hips. “How much?”
“Endlessly. It’s only ever been ye.”
He thrust again, then one last time and stilled, his climax hitting hard as he filled me up.
He dropped onto me, and I clamped my limbs around him.
It took a while for Lochie to speak again. “I love ye, too. I want to marry ye next month. I want ye to be the mother of my bairns and my partner in life and in all things.”
We hadn’t set a wedding date—work had been busy, so it kept getting pushed back. We’d been happy to get used to living together as a family, but maybe Lochie hadn’t liked the delay. “I’ll arrange it. I’ve just been so behind at work.”
He bucked his hips, his cock still half hard.
“I might quit altogether.”
This stalled him, and he furrowed his eyebrows, his expression puzzled. “Quit?”
“I hate it there. I want to leave. There’s a mountain of work coming up, and I can’t get excited about it. I don’t care anymore.”
“Who does it if ye go?”
“Rupert.”
“Christ woman, leave. Tell him on Monday and take a picture of that fucker’s face. Put your notice in and find something else if ye want to. Or not. Spend time with your family, and with Isla. I’ll support us. I’ll do whatever I can to make our life as happy as it can be.” His hand drifted to my belly, and he stroked my skin. “When we have a bairn on the way, ye might not want to work at all.”
“You’d be happy with that?”
“Ecstatic.” He uttered a sound of need, withdrew, and spun me around.
From behind, he thrust back inside me, ready to go again.
Lochie wound my hair around his fist and turned my head for a kiss, fucking me like he meant business.
Which he did.
The whole weekend would see us exhausting ourselves on each other’s bodies. Baby-making was my favourite activity, and I loved Lochie all the more for carving out this space for us to be alone.
However long it took, we were doing it the fun way.
* * *
On Monday morning, at the university where I worked, I strode past a sour-faced Jill and entered Rupert’s office without knocking, light infusing my heart and a skip in my step.
Rupert blinked at me, his lips a flat line, but I didn’t let him speak.
Instead, I held up a piece of paper.
“My resignation,” I announced. “Consider yourself informed.”
“Your what?”
“I quit.”
“But, but you can’t! We have the yearly reports to construct. For every department. Plus there’s a huge backlog with the professors. There’s too much work to do for you to just leave.”
I held in my laugh and placed the letter on his desk, then turned my back.
“Watch me, ye jerk,” I uttered.
Then I walked away.
* * *
Four weeks on, and it was the evening before my wedding. We had a quiet ceremony planned tomorrow with a party after at Castle McRae. Tonight, Lochie was meant to be staying with Cameron and the other men of my family. A few days ago, they’d taken him out o
n the estate and gotten up to all kinds of mischief, so I suspected they’d only have a few drinks this evening.
But I had a surprise for Lochie first.
Well, not much of a surprise. Since our weekend away at the cabin, he’d hovered over me, more so as the weeks went on.
That time for my period had come and gone, with no event to mark it.
We both knew, but I’d held off on taking a test.
Until now.
Isla, Lochie’s seven-year-old daughter, was as much a part of my life as her da, and I’d worked hard to bond with her. So it was only right that she was involved in this, too. She was staying with me, my mother, and a couple of other women at my cottage, but right now, it was just the two of us.
I poked my head into her bedroom, my heart thumping. “Isla, can ye help me with something?”
She leapt up and danced over, eyes bright.
“I think I might be pregnant and I need ye to hold my hand while we wait for the test result.”
In fact, I’d taken the test half an hour ago. No need to disappoint her if I was just very late. I’d only allowed myself a tiny peek at the result, and forced back my surge of happiness, staying the emotion for a short while.
Excitement fizzed in my veins.
Isla’s mouth formed a perfect O. We hadn’t specifically talked about having more children around her, but she had her own ideas. “I’ll help. What do I need to do?”
“Sit here with me while we wait for the test to finish.”
She joined me in the hall, the test sitting on the bathroom counter. I set a timer on my phone and settled against the wall, my arm around Isla’s shoulders and our fingers linked.
“Ye know, I have never been happier than when ye and your da came into my life. If we make our family bigger, that only means more love to go around.”
“Can ye have a girl?”
I chuckled. “I don’t think we get to decide.”
The front door opened, and Lochie entered. He spotted us in the hall, and I beckoned for him to join us. Right on time.
“We’re waiting on a test result.” I tipped my head at the bathroom then at Isla, putting meaning into my look.
Lochie took a sharp breath but remained silent, taking up a post opposite us.
The little lass chewed her lip, her golden curls half hiding her face. “If the baby gets to call you Ma, can I do, too?”
My emotions, already so close to the surface, spilled over. “Sweetheart, of course ye can. I’d love that.”
Lochie stared at me, so much love in his eyes it almost hurt.
The short timer beeped, and I pointed at the test kit. Isla grabbed it and turned it over. She squinted at the words then jerked back. “It says pregnant.”
“It does?”
“Yes!”
Lochie broke from his position and grabbed me into his hold. At the same point, Isla threw her arms around me.
As a family, we hugged it out.
No matter that I’d already known, I finally acknowledged my feelings. For years, this was all I’d wanted. As a teenager, becoming a mother had been my greatest ambition. Never had I pictured doing it with a husband and daughter in my life.
I truly was the luckiest woman alive. And with my new life, I was utterly obsessed.
***
Thank you for reading Cait and Lochie’s bonus epilogue.
The next book in the series, Hunted (Wild Mountain Scots, #2) is available to order now, or you can jump back to where it all started with the Marry the Scot series. Meet the daddies.
Boxed Set Volume I.
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Note: for the Wild Mountain Scots series, bonus epilogues will be included as in-book content to the preorder and launch day version of the books (which you’ve bought). After that, they will be available to newsletter members only.
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Acknowledgments
Dear reader,
I’m thrilled that you picked up Obsessed (Wild Mountain Scots, #1). If you’re a new-to-me reader, you’re in for a treat, as I have another two series of hot Scots for you to jump on into and read.
To those of you who have been long term fans, I trust you’ll have enjoyed Cait’s story, and her journey to a different life than the one she’d envisaged. She believed herself asexual for so long, but the correct term would be demisexual - only experiencing attraction where strong feelings exist.
I’d like to make it clear that Georgia’s views – that Cait was in some way deficient because she didn’t want a relationship – are horribly outdated. Cait would’ve been fine on her own, and an excellent mother. All forms of family, when centred around love and respect, are equal. But this wasn’t her fate - Lochie was made just for her.
The set up I’ve used for the Scottish mountain rescue service is fictionalised, though it’s true that the RAF has retired its SAR function, and elements of the role have been taken up by civilian contractors. I have endless respect for the men and women who volunteer to go out and save souls in all kinds of conditions. It’s rarely glamorous helicopter rescues. Their hard work deserves recognition.
You’ll be happy to hear there are at least three more books planned, for Cameron, Maddock, and Max. Onwards with the series!
Thanks go as always to my writing besties, Zoe Ashwood and Elle Thorpe, who handle my crazy rants, proofreading, and graphic design. You guys are never allowed to go anywhere (said in a spooky voice).
Liz, my PA, has taken on the unenviable task of trying to keep me organised. She does an amazing job, and I am in awe of her skills. Thank you, Liz!
The gorgeous cover was designed by Elle at Images for Authors.
Line editing by the wonderful Emmy Ellis at StudioENP.
Perfect cover photography by Regina Wamba reginawamba.com.
Fabulous cover model: Steven Christensen.
Beta readers Shellie, Sara, and Elle, you rock! Your hilarious guesswork was fun to read during the editing process.
A huge thank you goes to my ARC and Street Team members. Your reviews and posts make me so very happy. I treasure them (and often print them for my pin board).
Love and hugs to all those invested in the happiness of the McRaes and their extended family (which now includes ye).
Are you in my Fall Hard Facebook reader group? I’m often over there chatting.
You can add yourself to my newsletter too.
Jolie x
Also by Jolie Vines
Marry the Scot series
1)Storm the Castle
2)Love Most, Say Least
3)Hero
4)Picture This
5)Oh Baby
Wild Scots series
1)Hard Nox
2)Perfect Storm
3)Lion Heart
4)Fallen Snow
5)Stubborn Spark
Wild Mountain Scots series
1)Obsessed
2)Hunted
Standalones
Cocky Kilt: a Cocky Hero Club Novel
Race You: An Office-Based Enemies-to-Lovers Romance
Fight For Us: a Second-Chance Military Romantic Suspense
Visit and follow my Amazon page for all new releases amazon.com/author/jolievines
Add yourself to my insider list to make sure you don’t miss my publishing news https://www.jolievines.com/newsletter
About the Author
JOLIE VINES is a romance novelist who lives in the UK with her husband and son.
Jolie loves her heroes to be one-woman guys. Whether they are a huge Highlander, a touch starved earl, or a brooding pilot, they will adore their heroine until the end of time.
Her favourite pastime is wrecking emotions, then making up for it by giving her imaginary friends deep and meaningful happily ever afters.
Have you found all of Jolie’s Scots? Find her page on Amazon and join her ever active Fall Hard Facebook group.
Sneak Peek - Storm the Castle (Marry the Sco
t, #1)
Chapter One – A Wall of Man
Mathilda
As a little girl, I’d dreamt of hearing the words ‘Marry me’. Soft music playing in the background and a ring offered from my lover’s eager hands. This, of course, was before my closest example of marriage became a warning rather than an inspiration.
My childish, rose-tinted vision had never involved me standing in the corner of a glittering conference, freaking out over the proposal I’d just received.
Dominic Hanswick, my father’s business partner, had watched Dad leave then taken me to one side. He’d been polite and concise as he’d laid out his terms. “Marry me, Mathilda. Save my reputation. Save your sister in the process. Think about it. I’m sure you’ll find it a reasonable idea.” He’d offered it so easily then he’d smiled and moved away through the tables, murmuring pleasantries to colleagues.
A business deal, he’d called it.
Who said things like that?
My head already ached like I’d been in a hit-and-run, the dreadful lunch I’d had at my parents’ home still forefront in my mind. Scarlet’s behaviour was the only reason I wasn’t laughing this off.
Shocked, I’d barely asked Dominic any questions, but now dozens came to mind. God, he wouldn’t expect me to sleep with him, would he?
I needed answers, and standing around in my flat sandals wasn’t getting me anywhere. My job for the evening was done—I was only at the event as a favour to Dad, meaning I could leave and return to my hotel, but this had thrown me for a loop. With a calming breath, I left the safety of my alcove and crossed the hall.
“Mr Hanswick?” I tapped the shoulder of his smart suit, and the man turned. My would-be fiancé was a businessman, a senior partner with Storm Enterprises, the conglomerate my father ran. He was smart, had the stout figure of a man used to finer things, and at forty-two, seventeen years my senior.
Overall, Dominic was not what I had in mind when I’d envisaged my groom.