Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1)

by LAURA HARNER

  Step away, this is definitely a dangerous situation, and after last night…

  Elena’s body ignored her brain, shutting it down before she could complete that thought. She arched her back and leaned into his chest. He was hot and hard, and everything about him spoke of desire. Her breasts felt swollen, her nipples tight little buds that burned for his touch. Elena instinctively molded her body closer to his and felt the press of his shaft, hard against her stomach. Faolan loosened her hair from its tie, and black curls spilled down her back as she turned her face up for the earth-shattering kiss she knew was coming.

  Faolan groaned quietly, laid his cheek against the top of Elena’s head, and pulled his hips back slightly, putting an inch or two of space between their bodies. His ragged breath matched her own and her hormones screamed in protest at the separation. She wanted his kisses, she wanted his body next to hers, she wanted him to take her and make her his. No more thinking. For once, I just want to feel.

  Faolan stepped away. He took a deep shuddering breath, turned to lean his forearms against the fireplace mantle, presenting her with a broad expanse of back. In a tight voice, he growled out, “Nay, lass.”

  “Wh-what do you m-mean, nay?” Elena stammered, feeling chilled, bereft of his heat.

  Faolan turned and looked at her then, and she was shocked to see something akin to real emotion in his eyes. He shook his head and said, “I am not the man for you, lass.”

  Not the man for me? I thought he wanted me. Did I miss something? Oh God…

  The thought hit her like a thunderbolt. “You’re married,” she practically shouted.

  He laughed. A genuine, throw your head back and roar kind of laugh that made his eyes sparkle with amusement. “If I was, would you care? No, ‘tis not married I am. There has never been a woman to claim this heart,” he said, thumping his fist against his chest.

  Then in another quicksilver change of mood, Faolan looked at Elena, his face serious, and said, “Come here, lass.”

  In a show of maturity mixed with stubbornness, Elena stood her ground; she was not going to throw herself at this man. Nor would she come running like his little pet just because he called. “Say whatever you have to say. I can hear you just fine from here.”

  He walked over and swept her up as though she weighed nothing, instantly reminding Elena how vulnerable she would be if he really wanted to hurt her. She kept her arms crossed tightly across her chest. He carried her over to the chair near the fireplace. She saw the kittens still curled in a fuzzy little ball inside their basket, right where he’d put them.

  The man was a walking contradiction, leaving Elena reeling, never knowing how she felt about him from one minute to the next. In a little over a week, he’d saved her life-twice, tucked her into bed, played nursemaid to kittens. He’d kissed her until she no longer knew who she was, then turned and walked away from her, just when she could have been convinced to go farther than she’d ever gone before. He pushed her away, only to draw her back in, and she didn’t like being so off-balance.

  “Och, Elena, I scarcely know where to start,” he said when he got her settled on his lap. She knew he must find her desirable, since he was still hard inside his jeans, but he shifted her carefully so his erection didn’t press against her bottom.

  When he didn’t immediately continue, Elena spoke up, “I don’t understand you, Faolan. Are you trying to hurt me? If so, you’re doing a terrific job of it. I came to Scotland for a chance to start over. Instead, bad things are happening, and you seem to turn up at the strangest times, but you won’t explain anything to me.

  “Sometimes, I’m grateful to you for saving my life, and other times, I’m half-convinced that you set this whole thing up. Please tell me what’s happening. Despite the fact that I’m sitting in your lap at the moment, I’m not some fragile little girl who needs to be sheltered. If there’s trouble, I can handle it,” Elena finished, hoping direct approach might work with him.

  Faolan gave her a long look before finally speaking. “I am sorry, lass. I canna tell you everything you want to know. I am telling you the truth that someone was following you, and he cut me with a knife. I have been out here watching over you because I was worried. There are things about me you canna ever know but know this, Elena MacFarland, I will not let anything bad happen to you.” He caressed her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

  Elena sensed he was telling the truth, but it didn’t make her feel much better. She knew next to nothing of the man, and it was time to start getting answers to her questions. “Where do you come from, Faolan? And why haven’t I seen you, if you’ve been out here?”

  “I come from right around these parts, lass. My family has been here for a thousand years. ‘Twas black hearted treachery that lost my family their land more than three hundred years ago, now. ‘Tis said the hills and rocks around this land hide the secrets known only to the generations of my clan.

  “Your Mr. Worthington and his family have been trying to find these secrets for centuries. I believe he offered you this farm as a diversion, and planned to kill you before you could get here to claim it. He never would agree to just give it away.”

  He thought for a moment before continuing, almost absently, “What I can’t figure out is why he is still trying to have you killed. Once his plan failed and you signed the papers, the land was yours. He’d lost his little gamble.”

  “Worthington made me agree to have the ownership revert to his family should something happen to me in the first six months,” Elena said quietly, horrified that Worthington would try to kill her.

  Not missing a beat, Faolan smiled, “Och, lass, I guess you are stuck with me here for a while then.”

  Elena blinked, the shock of someone trying to kill her temporarily leaving her brain while something in the pit of her stomach squirmed with pleasure at the thought of Faolan staying around her house for the next six months. She lost track of the conversation as her mind reviewed what it felt like mere moments before when he pressed up against her, and she was waiting for his kiss.

  Giving herself a mental shake, Elena tried to understand what was happening between them. There was a constant push-pull, a feeling of safety, then danger; steamy hot, then cold as stone. She felt as shaky as a newborn foal. Turning her gaze to the fire, Elena hesitantly asked, “Why did you walk away after kissing me in Inverness and why turn your back on me just now?”

  Faolan wound her hair between his thumb and forefinger, and smiled. “In Inverness,” he paused, before slowly continuing, as though considering whether he should tell her the truth, “I kissed you because I wanted to, just to see what it would be like. I didna’ know I would like it so verra much.” He looked down and then continued softly, “I walked away because I am no good for you, lass.”

  He looked back up, his tawny eyes locked with hers, and the butterflies in the pit of her stomach started up again, with a vengeance.

  “I could make you want me, lass. You wouldna refuse,” he whispered.

  After all her years of holding out for the right man to share that special first time with, here she was, sitting in his lap. Faolan was correct. Elena wouldn’t refuse him. She’d learned an important lesson yesterday; life was too short to wait any longer for some fairy-tale romance. If those punks had raped her last night, all those years of waiting for Mr. Right would have meant nothing.

  Elena was here with an incredibly sexy man, one who only had to look at her to make her feel more than any other man. This was the stuff of dreams, the curl-your-toes attraction every woman deserved to experience at least once in her life.

  She had decided against finding love, but Elena had also decided she would experience sex on her terms, when and where she was ready. She’d vowed to make a fresh start and it was time to make good on that promise.

  “You’re right,” she whispered back, “I wouldn’t refuse. I do want you.” His gaze smoldered as he digested what she’d said. Elena reached one hand up to his face and placed the other behind
his neck. “Please, Faolan, kiss me.”

  Faolan started to lower his face, pulled back, and said again, “I am no good for you, lass.”

  Then he brushed his lips gently over hers, and it was as if the ground shifted beneath them, like a small earthquake, and even stronger than the first time they’d kissed. Faolan stiffened, pulled back, and looked at Elena searchingly, then brushed his lips against hers again, as if confirming the primal connection between them.

  He ran his tongue over her lower lip, and pulled it gently with his teeth before covering her mouth with his. Elena’s lips parted, and he opened them further, his tongue claiming ownership, hot and demanding. Their tongues tangled in deep searching kisses. Elena couldn’t tell where he began and she ended. He thrust his tongue in and then slowly withdrew, over and over, a promise of what was to come. Elena wound her fingers into his beautiful hair, pulling it loose about his shoulders. Faolan lifted her slightly and repositioned her on his lap so she could feel the hard length of him beneath her. Someone moaned, but Elena didn’t know if the sound was his desire or hers. His thumb caressed her jaw line and continued slowly down her neck to the front of her shirt. He deftly worked the buttons to expose her lacy bra. His large hand cupped a breast, kneading gently, before his fingers traced feather light circles around each nipple. Elena’s breasts felt tight and swollen in his hands, and she rocked against his hard shaft in response. Without a word, Faolan swept Elena into his arms and never broke the kiss as he carried her down the hall to the bedroom.

  ****

  “Let me look at you, lass,” he said when he laid her on the bed. She knew her hair was tumbled mass around her head and her lips felt swollen from his kisses. Her shirt was completely opened, showing her creamy white bra cupping her full breasts. “Och, lass, you are so verra beautiful, you take my breath away.” He sat down next to her and leaned down, his kisses gentle again.

  His voice was whisky rich against her ears. “Lay back and relax. Let me make love to you.” He ran his tongue over her lips, before moving on to her neck. He climbed fully onto the bed and straddled her legs, then he was back at her mouth again, all heat and passion.

  Elena captured his thrusting tongue, holding onto it lightly with a gentle suction. She bit his full lower lip, pushed her tongue into his mouth and out again to taste his lips. She sat up and pushed his shirt up across his chest, and he helped by pulling it impatiently over his head.

  Faolan’s bare chest was spectacular. His muscles were ripped, the pectorals tight with small copper nipples, and dusted with fine reddish-brown hair. His skin was golden and velvety soft. Elena ran her palms over the ridges of muscles, and then traced the fine trail of hair that disappeared tantalizingly into the waistband of his jeans. She longed to follow that trail with her tongue, to explore every part of this magnificent man.

  He pulled her shirt off, leaving her bra on. His large hands cupped and massaged her breasts, rolled, and pinched her nipples, and she ached to feel his mouth on them. His hands were rough, the calluses heightening the sensations as he touched each breast. He laid her back again and ran his tongue along the lace of her bra, teasing with the promise of his mouth. He pulled the lace down with his teeth and pulled the hot, tight nipple into his mouth. Elena gasped with pleasure.

  Faolan pushed her legs apart and lay hard and heavy between her thighs, letting her feel his arousal as he continued to suckle her breasts. “Elena, lass, you have lovely breasts,” he said hoarsely, his breath fanning over her sensitive nipples. Then he pulled one nipple deep into his mouth, sucking hard, flicking the nipple with his tongue, before turning his attention to her other breast. He continued to kiss, lick, and bite her until she was in a frenzy.

  Oh God! She was hot and wet, ready to have him deep inside her. She was ready to become a woman, his woman, in every sense of the word. He was languidly rubbing his hard shaft against her, causing the seam of her jeans to rub against that sensitive spot, promising her pleasure with every stroke. Elena pushed back, meeting him thrust for thrust; she never knew she could feel like this. She tried to move her hands between them, to start taking off his pants, her pants. “Too many clothes,” she muttered.

  Faolan laughed and pushed her hands away. His mouth moved lower, kissing her stomach, running his tongue down to the top of her jeans. He opened the fly on her jeans, exposing her lacy panties, and Elena lifted her hips, expecting him to slip her jeans down, but he laughed again and pushed her back down. “Not yet, love. My pace.”

  Elena moaned as he ran his tongue across the lace, rubbing his shadow beard across her lower belly, igniting a fire deep within her like nothing she’d ever felt before. He showered the sensitive skin just above the top of her panties with kisses, gentle nips, and long strokes of his velvet tongue. Elena sucked in air in quick gasps. Is he going to kiss me there?

  She laced her fingers into his hair, insane with desire and raised her hips again, instinctively directing him to the center of her desire. He kept his face there, feeling her heat, nuzzling her, then took in a long slow breath, filling himself with her scent. He put both his hands under her hips and raised her to his mouth, biting gently through her jeans.

  Elena’s hips bucked wildly, and she exploded, as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her. Yes! She cried out with the intensity of the feeling, nothing in life had prepared her for this. “Faolan, ohhh” she cried, “It feels so good, I… I can’t, ahhh…”

  Faolan watched her face greedily, “Tis but a small taste of the pleasure I will give you today, Elena. I want to make love to every part of you, to make you forget any man but me.”

  Elena murmured, tried to say “No other man,” but his lips were on hers again. He pressed his hard shaft against her, rubbing it between her thighs, sending residual spasms shuddering through her. Even though they both still wore their jeans, she could feel how huge he was. She wanted him in her, she had never even been close to wanting a man the way she wanted Faolan. She was thrilled to have waited for him and she was completely ready to give herself to him now. This is how passion is supposed to be, mind numbing, thought robbing, breath-stealing.

  Elena turned her head away from his mouth, kissed along his jaw line, then whispered her secret in his ear, “There’s been no other man, Faolan.”

  He froze for the merest second, then leaned up, to look at her, his eyes smoldering. He kissed her again, his mouth light against her swollen lips. He tenderly cradled her face in his hands, “Am I to be your first, Elena? Are you still a maiden?”

  Surprised at his use of the word maiden, and embarrassed by her confession, Elena just nodded. His eyes filled with something unfathomable. He rolled off and sat next to her on the bed. “Why, lass? Why me?”

  That was the question, wasn’t it? Why had she selected him? There had been no shortage of available and willing men in her life, but she had always held out for more than sex. Even with Marty, when she believed they had a commitment, she’d been unwilling to take that next step.

  So why Faolan?

  From the moment she first caught his scent behind her at the airport, she was more than just attracted, she felt some primal connection that called to her soul. Some connection that ran deeper for her than any conscious decision she could make. Quite simply, she knew he was the one for her.

  Without knowing why, when, or how it happened, and despite every promise she had made to herself, Elena was losing herself to this man. She wanted him to feel the same about her, but she knew from experience, letting someone know how you felt gave them a weapon to use against you later. Instead of telling him all of her feelings, she gave him a partial truth.

  “Faolan, I waited this long so I could find someone truly special for my first time. Last night I almost lost my virginity to a bunch of street punks. You saved me. You’ve saved my life twice now, and I don’t know why you did, but that makes you pretty special to me. Life is short, and I don’t want to wait any longer to experience this part of it.”

  He laid h
er back on the bed and stroked her hair. He brushed it back from her face and kissed the bruise on her forehead. His lips moved along the column of her neck, planting open mouth kisses, sucking gently, biting the tendon that ran the length, and then dragged his tongue across her collarbone.

  Then Faolan pushed himself off the bed and stood looking at her, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Elena could see the tip of him, straining to be free of his jeans, and her mouth went dry at the size. She waited for him to take his pants off; she wanted to see his naked body, to have him now. He was talking again.

  “You honor me, lass, thinking to bestow such a gift to me. ‘Tis one I canna accept. I’ll not be takin’ your maidenhead.” His burr was thick, voice rough.

  “I’m not looking for promises, Faolan.”

  “Nay, lass, but you should be, and I am not the man to give them to you. You deserve to be cherished by one who will love you and who can promise to stay with you. You deserve to be romanced, not given out of gratitude.”

  He smiled his devastating smile. “Doona’ be worrying, lass. I will be here to take care of you. I willna let anything else bad happen, you will be safe.”

  “Faolan, wait,” but he had already turned and walked out of her room. She heard the shower start in the bathroom down the hall.

  Elena lay there a long time. Her legs felt like rubber after that earth-shattering orgasm. And she hadn’t even taken off her pants! What did it mean? Was she really and truly falling in love with this total stranger? Was she ready to give him what she had always withheld before, both physically and emotionally? She smiled ruefully. She was certainly physically ready.

  Was he right? Was sex with him just a form of misplaced gratitude? She didn’t think so. But Faolan seemed so sad when he spoke of promises. He’d told her that he wasn’t the man for her. Did he think he wasn’t good enough?