by Donna Grant
It felt natural to be in a kilt again, even if it was only half a kilt as he thought of it.
“You look almost as good as me,” said a voice beside Arran.
He turned to find Camdyn dressed just as he was and wearing a cocky smile. “What are you doing here?”
“We thought you could use a friend or two,” Saffron said as she stood between them. She rose up on her toes and kissed Arran’s cheek. “Besides, I haven’t seen Ronnie in a while, and I wanted to visit.”
“That’s shite,” Arran said, not hiding his grin. “You wanted to check up on me.”
Camdyn shrugged. “That as well.”
Arran ordered a French martini for Saffron and a whisky for Camdyn. “It’s damned crowded.”
Saffron sipped her martini as she looked around. “These things always are when the person is someone like Ronnie. Everyone knows if they invest their money with her, the payback is worth it. She always finds what she sets out for.”
“Of course she does,” Camdyn said with a wink.
“Speaking of these fund-raisers,” Arran said as he turned toward them, leaning his forearm on the bar. “She hates these things. She is missing out on the dig because she has to be here. I’m going to be giving her some of my funds.”
“And you think Saffron should give more, aye?” Camdyn asked, his brow raised.
Arran lifted one shoulder. “Is Ronnie no’ more valuable in the field than at these parties?” He noticed how Saffron was looking at him with a small smile and a knowing look on her face. “What?” Arran asked.
“Nothing,” Saffron said, and turned away.
They moved off to a corner near one of the opened glass doors that led to a balcony. Most of the men were in similar dress to Arran and Camdyn, but there were a few who opted for a “regular tux,” as Saffron put it.
The women were dressed in an array of colors, though Saffron had chosen a midnight blue gown that Camdyn couldn’t stop staring at.
Arran grinned as he watched them. It was obvious they were completely devoted to each other, but then, that was the way it was with all the couples at MacLeod Castle.
He’d never envied them. Arran thought his friends daft for adding more worry atop their lives by finding a woman. He hadn’t understood it before, but he did now.
All too well.
As it was, he kept looking around the room for some sign of Ronnie. It was well past the time she was supposed to arrive. No one seemed worried though.
Food was being walked around on silver trays, and the liquor flowed freely. Music had filled the large room since Arran arrived, and many guests were already on the dance floor.
“Don’t worry,” Saffron said. “She’ll be here. And Pete is with her.”
“Nay, Pete went back to the dig to help Andy with their new finds.”
“Still. She’ll be all right, Arran.”
At that moment, Arran felt something shift in the air, a fissure of magic that caressed him, enveloped him. Covered him. It caused his blood to sing and his cock to harden.
Ronnie.
He gripped his glass so tightly, he heard it crack. When he was able, he dragged in a rough breath. He knew exactly where she was by the wash of her magic. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the feel of it until just then.
Slowly, his gaze moved to the stairs that descended into the ballroom. And the world fell away.
Ronnie dazzled in a dress of deep gold that hugged her body from her shoulders to her hips before it flowed freely and sensuously about her legs. It wasn’t until she took her first step down the stairs that he noticed the slit in the gown that stopped high up on her thigh and kept giving him views of her toned left leg.
He grinned as he saw her hair was down and draped sophisticatedly over one shoulder. It had taken long enough, but he finally got to see all that amazing hair. It was longer than he’d expected, stopping just past her breast, brushing against the swell with each step until he was even harder, aching for her.
The man next to her was talking, but her eyes were scanning the ballroom. Until their gazes collided.
She smiled, her hazel eyes lighting up, and Arran forgot all about Saffron and Camdyn. He pushed between them and walked toward the stairs as Ronnie continued toward him.
He stopped, one foot on the bottom step while he held out his hand to her. She reached for him, her smile warm and welcoming, the desire palpable and profound. The gold of the dress made her hazel eyes appear brighter, and the black eyeliner and dark eye shadow gave her eyes a teasing, seductive spin that made his blood burn.
“My God, you’re beautiful,” he said. His fingers itched to drag the dress from her body, but he held himself in check.
There was a slight flush to her cheeks as she glanced down. “And I’ve never seen a more handsome man. You were made for a kilt, Arran MacCarrick. I always knew you were that ancient Highlander I pictured. You’ve proved it tonight.”
He looked at the sheer, sparkling gold material that covered her shoulders and arms before it dipped between her breasts to show substantial cleavage. The gossamer material gave way to a sparkling concoction of silk that seemed to have been made specifically for Ronnie.
As tempting as the gown was, he found it near impossible not to touch her hair. It was long and thick, the color made more gold by her gown.
“I doona think I’m keen to share you with everyone,” Arran whispered as he drew her down the last step.
“Don’t tempt me to leave.”
“Would it take much?”
“No,” she admitted with a breathless laugh.
He loved how her hazel eyes crinkled in the corners when she laughed, but more than that, he loved the feel of her hand in his.
“Saffron and Camdyn are here.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Where?”
Arran put his hand on her lower back to guide her and nearly swallowed his tongue when he touched warm, bare skin. He let her get a little ahead of him so he could look at the back of her gown.
It was clasped behind her neck in that same sheer material, but the rest of her back was completely bare until the material began again at her very shapely behind.
“Well?” she asked as she looked at him over her shoulder.
He hadn’t noticed she stopped, since he’d been taking all of her in. He cleared his throat, trying to tamp down his out-of-control yearning. “The gown is beautiful, as you well know. But you make it a success.”
She didn’t have time to respond as Saffron and Camdyn joined them. Arran stood beside her as she chatted with Saffron. His gaze never left Ronnie’s face.
“Careful. You just might find yourself a woman,” Camdyn warned.
Arran grunted. He didn’t bother to tell Camdyn he already had. “There’s nothing wrong with admiring beauty.”
“Nay. But the looks you give other men when they try to approach makes me think you’ve something else in mind.”
“She doesna like being pawed. That’s why she brought me.”
It was Camdyn’s turn to grunt. “That was an excuse. She wants you here as much as you want to be here. Denying what is developing is futile. Trust me. I know.”
Arran heard the strings of a new song, and saw how Ronnie’s eyes briefly closed in pleasure. For once, he was glad the women at MacLeod Castle had insisted he learn how to dance.
“Shall we?” he asked Ronnie as he held out his hand once more.
“Yes, please.”
He walked her out onto the dance floor and took her in his arms. Arran looked down into her stunning face, flabbergasted that such a woman existed. And was with him.
He was used to seeing her without makeup, but what she wore now only added to her beauty instead of distracting from it. There were no jewels other than gold earrings that hung down from her ears with a single diamond on the end.
They moved easily with the music. He could see others looking at them out of the corners of his eyes, but he didn’t care. For tonight, Ronnie
was his.
He remembered all too well the feel of her against him, the taste of her kisses. And he wanted more of her. All of her.
The pulse at her throat was erratic, and her eyes had darkened as if she knew what he was thinking. The stayed on the floor as one song flowed into another.
“I could stay here all night,” she murmured.
He moved her a fraction closer with a slight pull of his hand on her back. “Here?”
“With you.”
“How long do you have to stay?”
She glanced away, regret lining her face. “I have to mingle with these people if I’m to get their money.”
“And what if I told you you wouldna have to do this anymore? What if I told you the funds would always be there?”
Her gaze jerked back to him, surprise and concern in her depths. “From Saffron?”
“Some of it.”
“You?” she asked softly. “Why, Arran?”
“Why no’? You doona want to be here. You want to be in the field.”
“For the first time, I want to be here.”
It took everything he had not to lift her in his arms and stride from the room. “Ronnie,” he whispered.
Her lips parted. How easy it would be to bend down and take them. How desperately he wanted to do just that. But this was a party, and he wouldn’t embarrass Ronnie in such a manner.
Even if it put him in pain too.
“I meant for us to spend yesterday and today together,” she said.
“We have tonight.”
He whirled her around the floor until she was laughing, her smile wide. Arran didn’t care that men were looking at Ronnie with desire.
For tonight she was his, and he was hers.
Arran didn’t want to think of the morrow or the days after. The night was about her, about making her smile and laugh. Of melding their bodies until he didn’t know where he ended and she began.
After the dance, Arran escorted her back to Saffron and Camdyn, but she was soon bombarded with people coming up to her, wanting her to talk about her project and what she would do next.
He knew she needed to walk around the room, but she stayed beside him and let the people come to her. Most offered money to help fund her projects in the hopes their names might be attached to her next big find. Ronnie simply smiled and thanked them.
Occasionally he would take her back onto the floor so they could have some privacy. When a man tried to cut in on the dance, it only took one glare from Arran to send him away.
That seemed to make it clear to everyone else that she was off-limits.
Even as Arran fought against taking Ronnie from the party, he saw what a good time she was having. Her champagne glass was never empty, and when she wasn’t talking to prospective funders, she was laughing with Saffron or smiling at him as they danced.
He wanted her to remember this night forever. But it wasn’t just for her. It was for him as well. He hadn’t admitted it to anyone, but Arran had hated this modern world he found himself in.
There were conveniences like hot running water and the indoor bathrooms, but it wasn’t the same. He missed his time. He missed how simple and easy things had been. Now people didn’t even look at each other on the street as they passed because they were busy on their mobiles.
But tonight he was more than happy he knew the music to which they danced and, more important how to hold Ronnie and spin her around the floor.
What else was he missing out on by trying to stay in the past?
The last dance ended, and for long moments Arran and Ronnie stayed just as they were. Their gazes were locked, the desire tangible, becoming a living, breathing thing between them.
Each time he held her, he wanted her more. His hunger was growing with every minute that passed. And he knew, deep in his soul, that once he was inside her, he would never have enough.
Ronnie was an extraordinary woman. She was unique, distinctive. Irreplaceable.
She was made for him. He knew it in the very depth of his being. He might not have wanted to find her, but here she was. And now that she was in his arms, he never wanted to let her go.
His hand moved from her back to her side. With the barest of touches, he ran his thumb beneath her breast. She sucked in a breath as her gaze darkened. Even that slight feel of her breast had his body raging out of control.
“Arran,” she murmured, and touched his cheek.
The world fell away until it was just the two of them. He pulled her closer until their bodies were touching from shoulder to hips. The pulse at her throat beat rapidly, as rapidly as his heart.
He shifted them until he had one arm wrapped around her and his other was between them. Her lips parted on a sigh when his hand slid beneath her breast and held the weight of it.
In all his years, he’d never encountered a woman like Ronnie. She was beautiful, genuine, driven, and pure of heart. She touched him in ways he hadn’t thought possible. With just a look, she had him enthralled, with just a smile, he was smitten.
The inconceivable hunger, the indescribable yearning he had for her couldn’t be explained. And he didn’t care. It was enough that she was in his arms.
The spell was shattered when someone said her name and touched her shoulder. Arran dropped his hand and moved to the side to allow her to say farewell to the guests.
“We’re staying at the hotel,” Saffron said as she walked up to him.
Camdyn clapped him on the shoulder. “Fallon filled us in on what you told him earlier. We’re just down the hall from you and Ronnie, in case something happens.”
“Nothing will happen,” Arran said. “If the selmyr were here, we’d have known of it. At any rate, it’s nice to have you near.”
Camdyn smiled and pulled Saffron against him. “All you need to do is give a shout if you need me. I’ll hear you.”
And he would with his Warrior senses. Arran didn’t think he’d have need of them. The night hadn’t been marred by anyone or anything that would disturb Ronnie.
No selmyr, no droughs, no attacks from Warriors.
Maybe he had imagined there was a new evil when there really wasn’t. Maybe the prophecy hadn’t been about Ronnie. That part of his life was over. He’d turn to locking the selmyr back up.
And Ronnie.
With her, he could almost enjoy the modern world. Because she made him happy.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
“Ready to leave?” Arran asked.
Ronnie smiled and nodded. “Very. I can’t feel my toes from standing in these shoes all evening. That’s what I get from going from boots to stilettos.”
Arran grinned, but when he saw her wince as she took a step, he wrapped an arm around her to support her. He was leading her to the stairs when he saw a man leaning against the wall. A man he was sure he recognized.
“What is it?” Ronnie asked when he pulled them to a stop.
A moment later, Camdyn and Saffron walked up.
“Arran?” Camdyn said, a small frown of worry marking his forehead.
Arran glanced at Ronnie. He wanted to take her up to the room and make slow, sweet love to her, but he couldn’t do that until he was sure there was no threat. He had to keep her safe.
Saffron smiled and looped her arm through Ronnie’s. “I don’t know about you, girl, but I’m exhausted. Since the boys obviously need a moment, why don’t we go up to our rooms?”
When Ronnie hesitated, Arran gave a nod. Once the women were up the stairs and in the lift, Camdyn stepped into his line of vision.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
Arran nodded to the people passing by as he whispered, “The man leaning against the wall behind you. I saw him today.”
Camdyn laughed and slapped him on the shoulder as if Arran had told him a joke. As a waiter passed by, Camdyn shifted positions and grabbed a glass of champagne.
He tilted the glass to his lips to act like he was taking a drink and asked, “The one with the shaved
head and goatee?”
“The verra one.”
“Where?” Camdyn asked.
“On the streets this afternoon. I ran into him.”
Camdyn lowered the glass and sighed. “What are the odds he’d be here?”
“With us, I doona believe in coincidence. People with money, and lots of money, were invited. By the jeans and shirt he had on earlier, he has some money, but no’ the kind that would get him invited here.”
“Want me to question him?”
Arran flexed his hand. “I say we both question him.”
“Oh, I like that idea.”
Since the ballroom hadn’t been cleared of everyone, they had to weave their way through people to reach the far wall. And by the time they got there, the man was gone.
“Damn,” Arran said.
“We could go look for him if you think he poses a threat.”
Arran thought of Ronnie waiting for him in their suite, of the need still coursing through his blood.
Of the desire he’d seen in her eyes.
He could spend all night searching Edinburgh for the man and still not find him.
“Or you could go up to Ronnie,” Camdyn said. “We’re used to having something to fight, and we do in the selmyr. But we also need to get used to the idea of there being no Deirdre or Declan with which to battle.”
Arran rubbed his hand over his chin. “You’re right. Go to your wife.”
“And you to Ronnie.”
“That was my plan,” he said with a smile.
“There’s something there. Doona deny it. Everyone saw it tonight.”
Arran climbed the steps beside Camdyn. “I know she’s nothing like other women I’ve met. She’s … different.”
“You’re besotted. It happens.”
“She’s been hurt, Camdyn, and she’s slow to trust. I doona want to spook her.”
They reached the elevator, and Camdyn pressed the up button. “By the way she was staring at you tonight, I doona think you have much to worry about, my friend.”
“I hope you’re right,” he said as they stepped on the lift.