Questions for a Highlander

by Angeline Fortin

  With that moment and so many others, her love for him grew as strong as their friendship. The more time he spent with Hannah, the more Kitty realized she wanted Jack to be a father to her daughter and any other children she might have as well. Never had she met a man more patient or able to interact with children. He could be a father very much like hers had been, if he only allowed himself to care.

  The more time he spent with her, the more Kitty understood what a perfect match for her Jack was as well. Haddington was a lively conversationalist, well read and most opinionated but able to argue and defend his beliefs, much to Kitty’s delight. They spent several evenings debating philosophy, politics – here their views were vastly different, given the diverse cultures they had been raised in – and even argued whether Edison was more brilliant than Tesla.

  Jack discussed his investments with J.P. Morgan to merge Edison Electric with the Houston-Thomas Electric Company into one corporation, to be named General Electric. It had been coming along well, with speedy returns looking promising. Haddington was pleased that he would be able to pay her back quickly, probably within a year or so. Though he had returned most of the funds she had forwarded to him after paying off the debt of the previous earls, Kitty urged him to invest for his future more diversely and insisted he also retain enough monies to repair his family’s ancestral home. Jack had been hesitant, and in a way she understood, but in the end she prevailed after a long, drawn-out quarrel, repeating her admonishment of his terrific pride while throwing his own argument from the Cliff Walk back at him.

  She did argue with him, and secretly loved every minute of it. More that she could rather than she was itching for a fight. Jack might refute her arguments, disagree heartily, but he never grew angry. The ability to fight for her beliefs was a wonderful new concept for Kitty, at least doing so without fear of retribution. She was safe with Jack and that made her adore him even more.

  And she showed him that love openly, even if she dared not speak of it. Each night he would sneak into her rooms – a feat that had grown more difficult when they had moved back to her mother’s Fifth Avenue home for the duration of the trial. Their affair went beyond anything she might have ever imagined. He was passionate, playful and eternally inventive during those nights. Jack’s ardor had not waned, nor had hers. Indeed, she looked forward to each evening with anticipation and gloried in the intimacy that continued to grow and flourish.

  It was getting more and more difficult to refrain from confessing her love in response to the tender words Jack murmured during their lovemaking. Kitty longed to tell him but dared not risk what she had with him. She was still certain he would flee the moment the words left her mouth.

  Though the family was still officially in deep mourning, Maggie Preston decided a small celebratory dinner was in order following the ruling on Hayes’ trial. Some of Lelan Preston’s closest friends and associates attended, bringing their wives, many whom were friends of the widow’s as well. The dinner was filled with joyful conversation but, as the evening progressed, it began to grate on Haddington’s nerves the Society ladies’ ill-treatment of Kitty. It began simply enough, he supposed, with a curt greeting or stilted conversation, but throughout dinner where they were so far down the table from Francis or Eve, he found himself her sole companion. Normally their dinners were filled with interplay between the five of them. The family was in public mourning after all, and Kitty hadn’t been out in Society since their return but this night, with others seated beside and across them, the scandal of her situation suddenly came home.

  She was a divorcée now, in the eyes of the Knickerbocker society, where once she had been one of their most pursued debutantes. She was a woman who had used adultery as grounds for that divorce. And now she was also the former wife of a man convicted of murder. These things must be a catching disease, so studiously did their guests ignore her, talking around her or overlooking her attempts to join in the conversation. It infuriated Haddington to watch the realization of her predicament come to Kitty. The dawning of comprehension in not only her eyes but also those of her sister and finally her mother, whose brow furrowed ever more deeply as the night dragged on. Her disquieted gaze lingered more and more upon her daughter.

  Kitty was a real sport, naturally. She kept her expression pleasantly neutral and did not let on that their rebuff had disturbed her in the least. Determined to aid her as much as he could, Jack paid her marked attention, flirting and showing as much interest as he dared, though he longed to kick the lot of them out by the seat of their pants. Let them all think an earl was courting her, he thought. Let them see that her scandal and tragedy were nothing in the face of her warmth and friendly appeal. Regardless of her past, Kitty didn’t deserve such vile treatment.

  By the time the last of the guests departed, Maggie was fraught with nerves and worry. “Katherine, my darling,” she said when the door finally closed. “I am so sorry I did not anticipate this! And in our own home!”

  Kitty wrapped her arms around her mother, comforting when inside she needed to be comforted. “Don’t worry, Mother. Eve and I talked about this and though it was a bit worse in reality, I was expecting it to a degree. I must admit I thought Da’s friends might be more understanding. Mr. Jensen was quite pleasant though.” Of course, he had been at the opposite end of the table.

  “I should have seen it coming though!” Maggie wailed. “But my own friends! How could they?”

  “I expect you will have words with them all, Mother,” Eve said sternly, brooking no argument. Both Jack and Francis heartily agreed, so offended were they on Kitty’s behalf. “If Kitty is to stay here in New York with you, she should not have to worry over a lack of loyal friends on top of everything else. We are still Prestons, after all, and she is the sister-in-law of the Earl of Glenrothes! She is above any petty slights. Make them understand that.”

  “You’re right, of course,” their mother agreed. “They shan’t treat my daughter so! I shall write everyone on the morrow, demanding they embrace Kitty back into Society. I suspect that if I can bring Julia Astor around, the rest shall fall in line, but perhaps Mrs. Oelrich as well…?” She trailed off, tapping a finger to her lips, her mind already on her task. “Yes, perhaps. I think I should start straight away. Good night, my darlings.”

  Embracing her mother after Eve said her goodnights, Kitty watched Maggie ascend the stairs before turning back to the remaining trio, only to find them all watching her with concern written all over their faces. “Oh, stop!” she cried. “I’m fine! I knew it was coming eventually!”

  “It was an outrage,” Jack replied even as Eve and Francis cast their own indignation upon the evening’s turnabout, while Kitty waved them off.

  A bit of a smile lifted the corner of Eve’s mouth though. “Merrill certainly disconcerted a few of those ladies. That was most well done of you, Haddington,” she offered reluctantly. “That old biddy, Mrs. Winterborne, was about to swallow her false teeth when you started paying such marked attention to Kitty. She has a daughter she’s been trying to marry off and I would wager she thought her place at your side was a Godsend. Then to see that an earl was still interested in Kitty despite everything! As I said, well done!”

  “Indeed, Merrill,” Francis agreed. “You quite saved the day. I imagine it might have gone worse than it did, certainly they backed down a tad when you gave them that aristocratic scowl.”

  Jack shifted uncomfortably under their praise, especially from Eve who rarely had a good thing to say about him. Though he had overplayed somewhat for effect, his gestures were not dissimilar from any others he had shown Kitty. He cared for her and hated to see her abused in any fashion. Surely, she deserved to maintain her standing in Society. The unexpected news that Kitty intended to stay in New York, however, now had him in knots. It never occurred to him that she might not return to Scotland with them.

  “Shall we play some cards before bed?” Kitty changed the subject. “The evening is still young.”

  �
��I saw Mother has that board game Race Around the World,” Eve said eagerly, embracing the new topic. “It’s supposed to be based on Nellie Bly’s trip around the world. Shall we have a go at it?”

  Everyone agreed, distracting Jack for the time being, but he knew he would have to face the issue soon.

  Chapter 38

  Looking back, I have this to regret,

  that too often when I loved, I did not say so.

  - David Grayson

  “I wonder if your mother will manage to get those old biddies to let you move on with your life,” Jack commented as he walked Kitty to her bedroom door later, still bitter over the earlier part of the evening.

  Kitty, on the other hand, was no longer upset. The rest of the night had been so pleasant as they played, laughed and talked for several hours, an ideal foursome – men who had grown up together and sisters who were the best of friends. With Francis and Eve wed, it merely made Kitty long more for the day when she and Jack might be a couple as well. They all fit so agreeably together, being able to spend countless hours enjoying each other.

  “You need to be able to live again,” he went on.

  “I am living, Jack, and enjoying each day, though it would be quite impossible not to. As Samuel Butler said, ‘To live is like to love – all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it’,” she quoted, though she cringed at having the word ‘love’ escape her lips in his presence. He didn’t seem to notice, though, for he countered her with a smile.

  “It is nice to hear you giving the Brits their fair shake in your endless recitations,” he returned, recognizing the name, if not the words, of the novelist. “I must keep up on my reading if I am to ever stand a chance of matching your novel ability to call to mind the most obscure passages.”

  “Samuel Butler is not obscure!” she protested with a laugh. “He wrote Erewhon!”

  “And what else?” he taunted. “Hmm?” He watched with some amusement as her mouth opened and closed several times before she laughed softly. “You see?”

  “I’ll think of another, you just wait!”

  “Shall I come inside and wait?” he asked, his voice huskily seductive now. “It might take you all night to come up with another.”

  Kitty’s lips tilted in a soft smile as she reached up to toy with his tie. “Will you keep me occupied until I do?”

  “As long as it takes,” he whispered, bending to kiss the side of her neck. “Even if it takes all night long.”

  “Shush and come inside, before Mother hears you!” she giggled, pulling him in and shutting the door behind them with a snick of the lock.

  “Your mother’s room is all the way across the house,” he countered, pulling her into his arms. “Besides, I would wager she already knows what we do all night.”

  “No!” Kitty stiffened in his arms. “Never! She would never allow it if she knew.” Or she might, Kitty thought, if she thought it might land her daughter an earl one day. It was something to think about, but if her mother did know, Kitty wasn’t sure how she might face her without dying of embarrassment. Then another horrifying thought entered her mind. “You don’t think anyone can hear us, do you?”

  “Though this house is not as large as Kilberry, I’m sure the sound doesn’t carry far outside this room. Not more than a couple of rooms, anyway,” he grinned, as Kitty punched him soundly in the chest. Waggling his brows, he bent her over his arm and dipped her low, taking her lips in a passionate kiss. “Shall we test it though? I shall see how loudly I can make you scream and we’ll see if anyone comes running.”

  Kitty clung to his shoulders, already weakened by his kiss. “You don’t dare,” she whispered, as he lifted her and carried her to the bed.

  “Never challenge me, my love.” He grinned roguishly down at her before setting her down and turning her to attack the buttons down the back of her dress. It fell to the floor and Kitty turned to take her turn, loosening Jack’s tie and ridding him of his jacket, waistcoat and shirt.

  Running her hands up his bare chest, she curled her fingers into the springy hair there and tugged playfully before rotating her hands and sweeping her palms down the rigid, rippled plains of his abdomen, nudging her fingers into the waistband of his trousers. She tilted her head back triumphantly, glorying in the hardened expression on his face, his jaw clenched already with wanting. She loved what she made him feel and pressed her hips against the solid length of his arousal for good measure as she licked and kissed the underside of his chin.

  “You think to distract me from my purpose?” he growled. “Your maid is already aware, you know. You rarely ring for her to undress you anymore. Likely the entire staff knows.”

  It was a shocking realization and Kitty was surprised she hadn’t considered it before. Of course, Jack would have, she thought. He knew all the ramifications of a love affair. He was nearly a professional! Determined not to let negative thoughts ruin her time with him, Kitty returned her attention to the task at hand, unbuttoning the placket of his trousers and sliding them down until they hung low on his hips. He was busily unlacing her corset even while he feasted greedily on the side of her neck. When that garment dropped heavily to the floor, Kitty aided him in quickly slipping out of her chemise and drawers before pressing her breasts against his bare chest and drawing his head down for her kiss.

  She drank hungrily from him, licking and nipping at his lips before he crushed her to him with arms of banded steel. His mouth now ravaged hers, his tongue plunging deeply to duel with hers. Knitting her fingers in his hair, Kitty pulled him closer though they were already nearly one. She could never have enough of him! Never get close enough!

  Lifting her, Jack laid her on the bed, but rather than press her down with his own massive body, moved to kneel between her legs. His big hands clasped her ankles then skimmed with a feather-light thrill up her calves and thighs. His thumbs grazed her dark triangle of curls just enough to send a shudder through her body before they floated down her legs once more. Again, he repeated the exercise, and again his thumbs brushed the hairs ever so slightly, making Kitty jerk against the sensation. On and on he went, barely touching, each contact a jolt to her equilibrium. Unwillingly, she whimpered, wanting more. Wanting his touch.

  As he hands came up again, Kitty arched her hips but he merely chuckled and danced his fingers across her hips and abdomen so lightly it was the barest tickle, yet it set Kitty aflutter as she tensed with anticipation. Jack ran his fingers back down, this time parting her and brushing her damp nub of desire with a fingertip. Kitty flinched at the contact, feeling so sensitized to the slightest touch by this point that she nearly exploded right then. A tiny squeal escaped her lips before she clamped them shut.

  “Almost,” Jack whispered in her ear, now leaning over her, braced on his hands and knees. Still he didn’t touch. He only toyed with feather-light kisses across her collarbone and breast, his tongue only barely teasing the hardened peaks. Across her ribs those lips traveled, his whiskered chin sending a quiver through her as his tongue dipped into her navel. His lips whispered at her hip, her inner thigh, and the back of her knee until Kitty was tense with arousal and expectation, wondering where she might feel them next.

  Then she felt his breath sigh against her core and Kitty groaned painfully. “Jack,” the word emerged in a long moan. “Please!”

  “Please what?”

  “Touch me!” it was a plea.

  Instead, he blew against her lightly and she shuddered, trying to close her legs, but his shoulders now blocked the way. He blew again, and an unwilling sob escaped her as Kitty tossed her head from side to side, her hands gripping the sheets. His finger slid into the damp curls once more and Kitty arched against the touch with a hoarse cry. “Jack!”

  The finger circled her vulnerable nub and Kitty’s body strained again, feeling the most incredible tension build. Where previously their lovemaking had been about gratification, mostly instant and wild, this denial of his touch aroused her beyond what a hundred car
esses might. The deprivation of relief only served to make her flesh hypersensitive to the slightest contact.

  She was trembling then, her entire body straining toward him, begging for reprieve, moisture weeping from her core. Jack slid his finger down farther, catching the wetness signaling her readiness to be taken. He circled her with it, preparing her for him, before he slid that digit with agonizing slothfulness into her. “Ahhh!” Kitty moaned as she felt his entrance, but it wasn’t enough. Her body arched unwillingly against his hand, wanting more, but he eased his finger out, once more drawing a sob from her before it glided ever so slowly back in. Her muscles clenched around him, thighs quivered, begging soundlessly for more.

  Sensing she was on the brink, Jack lowered his head, touching her gently with his tongue and earning a gasp and a cry when he did it once more. More firmly now, his tongue laved her, stroking against the throbbing center of her desire. She cried out wordlessly, twisting the sheets in her fists before she began panting heavily, bringing her knees up until her feet were pressed against his shoulders. Each exhale combined with a moan. “Oh…oh…oh, oh, oh, OH!” Kitty’s entire body arched off the bed as she throatily shouted out her release into the silence of the room. Her hands now clenched his head as he finished with her, slowing his motions as she returned to reality until he finally dropped a kiss on her thigh and pulled himself up over her.

  She might have suspected some gloating from him, but Jack’s gaze as he looked down at her was darkly pleased. “Yer magnificent, my love,” he whispered roughly as he flexed his hips, nudging at her entrance with his rigid member. Raising her legs, Kitty wrapped her thighs around him and welcomed him as he thrust deeply, seating his powerful manhood to the hilt and drawing a moan from them both. “My God, yer searing hot,” he murmured as he withdrew and thrust again, wrapping his arm under her waist to draw her up to him. As it tended to do when he was aroused, his brogue thickened with his wanting, making the words hard to understand. Yet she delighted in them, knowing he only spoke so when she drove him to the edge of desire. He plunged deeply, again and again, as he whispered in her ear. “So wonderfully wet. So tight. Bugger me, me bonny Kitty, I could fook ye for the rest o’ me life and die a happy mon.”