Lion of Caledonia: International Billionaires VII: The Scots

by Caro LaFever

“I’ll do a fire later.” He reached for her. “Right now, it’s your turn.”

  Even in the shadows, he saw the blush rising to her cheeks. The moon, freed from the storm, lit the cozy room with a blurred glow and gave him all he needed to see her beauty.

  “Come on, my mouse,” he coaxed her closer, tugging on her jumper. “I want to see ye, too.”

  With a swift move, she lifted the wool thing over her head, brushing her blonde hair into a tumble he found adorable.

  She wore a simple, white bra. No lacy affectation or brilliant colors shouting an invitation to a man’s fingers.

  His fingers twitched.

  A wary look covered her face. “I know that I’m not—”

  “Jenny, Jenny, Jenny.” He pulled her close, taking in the feel of her soft, pure skin. “You’re everything.”

  Sticking her nose into the crease of his neck and shoulder, she snuffled a muffled giggle. “Don’t be silly.”

  “Calling me names, eh?” He let his hands run down her spine, relishing the feel of her—the solid presence of her in his arms, the silk of her skin, the gentle curve of her waist and hips. For the first time in his life, he wanted to take this slow. Slow and intense, so he could capture every second in his memory.

  “You can take off my bra, if you want.” Her muffled words tickled.

  “I’m enjoying myself.” He kept running his fingers along her spine, fascinated at the delicate string of bones. “Don’t rush me.”

  She chuckled again. “This is surprising.”

  “What?” He focused on the small patch of skin at the bottom of her spine. So tender and plush and womanly, he could barely imagine its existence.

  “You.” Her hands, squashed between their bodies, twisted. “Going slow.”

  He leaned back to stare at her, amusement and something like appalled offense lighting him inside. “Is that an insult?”

  “No.” Her expression glimmered with answering humor. “Not in the slightest.”

  “Kiss me.” Ducking in, he took what he asked for before she could respond. The kiss blurred his last brain cell into a warm puddle.

  Gasping, he reared back and asked for more. “Touch me.”

  Her hands, so average and so profoundly unique, took his suggestion and swept across his burning skin, setting a string of molten fires in their wake. She kissed him again as she touched his shoulders, then his flexing back, then his heaving chest. Her fingers slid through the rough hair at the center of his chest and then one teasing finger took a path down, following the line of hair to the edge of his jeans.

  “Hmm,” he murmured into the shell of her ear, taking in her scent, the simple mixture of soap and Jenny.

  “I want this off.” She stepped back and whipped her bra off in one quick flick.

  Now it was his turn to stare. Her breasts were just breasts. He’d seen quite a few. He’d touched and sucked on several. He’d even believed he’d seen the best a time or two.

  Yet nothing compared to his Jenny’s breasts. Because they were hers.

  “Och.” He slipped his fingers under the roundness of her flesh, sliding across her puckering nipples. “You make it hard for me to take this slow.”

  She sucked in a breath at his soft touch and then moved closer. “I want to feel your skin on mine.”

  “That sounds like a good idea.” His hands went around her and tugged her to him. The feel of her on his chest, her skin completely different from his roughness, made every muscle in his body tighten. “I’m thinking we should get in the bed.”

  “We’re not done undressing.” Her hand skated down his torso to the edge of his jeans. “You first.”

  “I went first last time,” he teased. “And we’re in no hurry. I still have to investigate the rest of the top of ye.”

  She glanced into his eyes, a twinkle of boldness lighting her own. “I’m in a hurry.”

  “Are ye?”

  “To see all of you.” Her fingers latched onto the front of his jeans and the first button came undone.

  His stomach clenched.

  “You’re so hard and hot.” Her hand wedged between the denim and his skin. “I can’t wait to feel every part of you.”

  “Okay.” His lust pushed past his determination to take her in one slow step at a time. “I’ll be first.”

  Kicking off his shoes, he chucked his jeans and briefs at the same time. He straightened, keeping his hands to himself, giving her what she wanted.

  Himself. Naked.

  When he looked at her, caught her wide gaze, he knew he was more naked now then he’d ever been before. Naked not only bodily, but emotionally as well.

  Another shiver ran down his spine at the realization.

  Jen couldn’t say Cameron Steward was the best-looking man she’d ever seen.

  He had a crook in his nose, and his eyes were odd. He did have big, wide shoulders, that was true. But his chest wasn’t manscaped, and it didn’t taper into lean hips as most women preferred. Instead, his waist and hips were a solid, strong continuation of his shoulders’ strength. Sturdy thighs eased down into rugged calves. His body was a warrior’s body. Not an ounce of fat, not an ounce of give.

  All of him, every inch of skin and muscle, made her throat clutch in pure pleasure and her body melt into a fiery mush.

  “You’re not saying much.” Those odd eyes narrowed. “Do ye like anything ye see?”

  His cock followed the pattern of the rest of his body. Big and bold, it bobbed in front of her, fully erect and ready for action.

  “Like would not be the word I’d choose.” She stepped to him and took. Took in the feel of his heated skin with her palms and fingers. Took in the scent of him, the crisp, clear smell of him, muted now by the musk of his desire. Took in his gaze as he stared at her, lust and need and want welling in the amber and gold. “I’d say the word would be love.”

  Her heart stopped as the word slipped out, and her hands stilled on his body. Cam’s mouth tightened, a sure sign she’d said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

  He sighed. “I’m not sure—”

  “Don’t.” She could see it, that same extraordinary reluctance to take what she was offering. She saw it in those eyes, saw it in the pained expression on his face, noticed how the furnace of his body seemed to chill. “Don’t say anything else.”

  Wrapping her hands around his neck, she yanked his mouth to hers. She used her tongue and lips and teeth to swallow his lingering objections until finally, slowly, his own tongue and lips and teeth followed her lead.

  And then, took it from her.

  “Take this off.” He tugged on the top of her skirt, trying to find the opening. “I need to see ye.”

  With her old boyfriend, the only other man she’d had sex with, she’d never wanted to stand naked before him. She’d sped to the bed and once they’d finished, she’d sped to her own flat. But with this man, she wanted to show him everything and anything he wanted.

  The skirt fell to the floor right by his jeans.

  He brushed his fingers across the plain cotton of her panties. “Take this off too.”

  She did. Along with her shoes and his socks.

  Naked. Both of them.

  He leaned back and looked down. “I’ll want ye to step away here, so I can see all of ye.”

  A test.

  Jen knew it was a test by the teasing glint in his eye. For the first time in her life perhaps and certainly for the first time with this man, she was ready.

  She stepped back.

  A long, slow silence fell, the only sound being the quiet ripple of the wind outside.

  “Could ye maybe stand there for the rest of my life, so I can take in your beauty?”

  His husky voice and lusty gaze made her blush with happiness and excitement. And his words, the words she yearned for, like the rest of my life, splattered on her heart, burning it like a torch. Because she couldn’t have that with this man. Neither of them could give that to each other.

  Somethin
g about her expression must have alerted him to her bittersweet thoughts. Cam’s mouth tightened and his expression went dark.

  “Come to bed.” She grabbed his hand before he could get wary again and pulled. “Now.”

  “A demanding lass.” The words were hesitant, but he came with her, sliding under the warm, woolen duvet and cool, cotton sheets.

  Jen rolled on top of him, pinning him down, kissing him silent.

  For long minutes, he lay quiet underneath her, sharing the kiss, moving his rough hands over the skin of her waist, but not taking her offering like she wanted him to.

  “Cameron.” She lurched back and peered at his shadowed face.

  “Jenny.” He smiled, not his jaunty grin nor his teasing smirk. This smile she’d never seen. A tender, wistful, pensive gift.

  “You do want this, don’t you?” Perhaps she’d pushed too hard. She’d never pushed before in her life and perhaps she’d done it all wrong. “You want me?”

  His gaze snapped to hers, confusion muddying the brown center of his eyes. “Yes, I want ye. Can’t ye tell?”

  He bumped his hips up into hers, his cock wet on the tip with his need.

  “Then why aren’t we…?”

  His hand smoothed across her rump and squeezed as he closed his eyes and grimaced. “Why am I being a dobber and just lying here, right?”

  “I don’t mind taking it slow, but this is…perhaps—”

  “I’m thinking too much, aren’t I?” His eyes popped open and a grin crossed his face. But his usual carefree expression was forced. “Can’t have that, eh?”

  His flippant manner only made this worse. She didn’t want the wistful Cam and she didn’t want this one either.

  What did she want?

  She wanted him. The real him. The one she’d glimpsed now and then. The one she wanted to connect to with his body, as well as his heart.

  But that wasn’t on offer.

  From her or him.

  Every muscle in her body tightened with frustration. “I don’t want to force you—”

  “Force.” He snorted and his eyes went wide. In the shadows, she could see they’d filled to their usual devilish glow. Yet that seemed forced too. “Don’t be a dobber, yourself.”

  “I want you to be happy—”

  “How can a man not be happy when he’s got the most beautiful girl in the world, naked and in bed with him?”

  Smoothing her hand along the ridge of his shoulder, she let her gaze follow the movement. His eyes might still have that impish glimmer in them, letting her know he was telling her another of his tall tales. She didn’t meet his gaze because she couldn’t bear to see what was there. “I’m not the most beautiful girl in the world, so you must be talking about someone else.”

  His fingers tightened on her hip. “Look at me.”

  She shook her head, a sudden surge of tears burning in her throat. Why had this become so hard? She’d thought this would be so easy with this man, this man who jumped from adventure to adventure, who never seemed to sweat the small or large things of life. She thought she’d take this one piece of joy and tuck it into her heart when she left. A memory she could pull out every day and remember.

  Remember Cam and his body and his heart.

  “You’re not going to hide from me.” A long finger poked at her chin, lifting her gaze to his. “Not now, mouse. Not here.”

  His gaze held only serious intent. Which only, dammit, made her tears come closer. “I only want to be sure you’re sure,” she sputtered.

  “No one’s ever sure.” His mouth twisted in a wry grimace. “Not sure about anything, really.”

  Her heart hurt for him. For the despair and pain she saw underneath his words. “I’m sure,” she whispered. “Of you.”

  “Jenny.” His eyes flashed to hers, an intensity glowing strong and sure inside them. “Then let’s be sure together. For tonight.”

  With a quick flip, done with his familiar feline grace, he hovered above her. “It’s time I took some initiative, eh?”

  She’d found him. The real Cam.

  His teasing gaze, his buoyant grin mixed with the fierce soul shining from his eyes.

  Her heart went from pain to elation in one second. “That would be a nice change,” she challenged him.

  Cameron Steward never backed down from a challenge.

  He was everywhere. His mouth moved along her neck and shoulders, leaving a humid trail of pleasure in its wake. His hands touched her waist, her hips, her legs, moving her where he willed. Jen went with him, took a hold of him and went on his ride.

  His hand drifted into her curls and found her, wet and willing and wanting.

  “Hmm,” he purred near one nipple before using his tongue to draw her into oblivion.

  The orgasm came over her in a flash, surprising her with its intense fury and heat. She moaned softly, deep in her throat, as the pleasure subsided.

  He let his lips and finger slowly suck the last of the lingering bliss from of her body. “Well,” he murmured. “That was a delicious first course.”

  A chuckle erupted from her chest. “You sound like you plan on eating me.”

  “Now there’s a thought to warm a man’s heart.” Cam met her gaze, his own filled with heated imagination. “And inspire him to great feats.”

  “I inspire you, huh?” She gave him a tentative grin, a bubbling pride filling her.

  “Ye certainly do.” He glanced around, eyeing the darkness that had taken over the shadows with a frown. “I’m thinking we need to do something else.”

  “Something else?” She didn’t want to do anything else but be with this man and continue what they were doing.

  Whipping back the covers, he peered down at her body. “A fire would give me more to look at.”

  “I’m already too hot.”

  “Ye are hot, that’s for sure.” A confident paw palmed one of her breasts and then another. “We need to put ourselves in front of a toasty fire, though, to make this all exactly right.”

  “On the floor?”

  “We seem to do pretty well on the floor before a fire, don’t we?” He slid her a sultry smile. “Come on. I’ve had these imaginings of what would have happened if a wee lad hadn’t intervened.”

  “Cam—”

  “I want to see if my imagination is as good as reality.”

  He’d decided, the twinkle in his eyes and the tilt of his head told her. “You have to start the fire.”

  Looping off the bed with his natural animalistic grace, he bounded to the fireplace. “The bonny Mrs. Rivers has left us with a fire ready to go.”

  Within a few minutes, the flames were merrily dancing and the light from the fire showered the rug lying in wait.

  “We’ll want all these covers.” Cam swooped them off her making her shriek in surprise. “Come on, now. Come here with me.”

  Jen slid off the bed and examined the mound he’d created. “I suppose I’ll have to be on the bottom.”

  “I’m happy to be the bed ye sleep on, fair lady.” Kneeling, he began to settle into the bedding. “Ye can be my cover.”

  She stared down at him, drinking in his body. He sprawled naked on the floor, and the firelight flickered across the length of him, highlighting the bulge of his muscles, the ridged cut of his stomach and hips.

  “There ye are,” he husked. “Standing before me again, giving me your beauty.”

  A smile came over her, lighting her deep inside. “You do think I’m beautiful.”

  His eyes glittered with keen intelligence, although the lust never left his gaze. “And ye never thought ye were before, is that right, fair lady?”

  “Yes,” she admitted, her heart too soft and full to protect her pride and past. “I never did.”

  “Come here.” He lifted one hand to her. “I’ll show ye how beautiful ye really are.”

  Chapter 16

  Long ago, when he’d been a small child, Cam had dreamed. Not the dreams he used in his profession. Not the dream
s he sold to the masses. No, these dreams had been different. In his childhood dreams, he’d been the hero.

  His father had been determined to stamp that fantasy out.

  And he’d done a damn fine job of it.

  Jenny smiled, a gentle, tender smile before kneeling beside him. “You make me feel beautiful.”

  A wretched grief swelled inside him. Because she believed in him. Believed in his ability to keep doing this correctly. Believed he wouldn’t hurt her at some point in the future.

  Believed he’d be her hero.

  “Kiss me now,” she whispered. The firelight flickered on her pretty skin, like a bright burn of a kiss, and he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t do what he should do and draw away.

  Instead, he took. He tugged her on top of him and took her mouth with his. Her kiss flamed inside and his lust flared. She lay on top of him, a graceful, cool covering of a lady.

  So delicate her bones, so exquisite the feel of her.

  “Mmm,” she murmured into his mouth, letting him know he was doing this right, being what she wanted.

  For now.

  Her hands moved across his arms and shoulders, lighting in him a glow that would eventually die because of something he’d do wrong.

  He inevitably always did something wrong.

  “I want you inside me,” his Jenny said, with a determination he’d come to expect. He might call her a mouse, yet in reality, she had more strength and courage than he had in one of his ugly fingers. If he had the strength and courage she possessed, he’d have been able to be a true hero and stay far from Jennet Douglas.

  But he wasn’t a hero. Not in any way.

  “Let me put on the condom.” Her pretty fingers flew to the foil package he’d pulled from his jeans moments ago.

  Who did he try and kid? Himself? Did he think he’d convince anyone, much less his foul soul, that he hadn’t schemed for just this moment? He’d known his filthy plan from the moment he’d stuck the condom in his pocket this morning. Hell. He’d been walking around with a condom since the day Jenny had walked into his life.

  He’d known. He’d planned.

  All his wary moves tonight and the other night were a sham.

  “You’re beautiful yourself, you know.” She smiled once more, catching his gaze as she touched his stomach and then his cock.