Ian (3 page)

A bottle whizzed through the air a
nd hit the wall just next to Kyla’s head. Shards of glass flew in all directions and Kyla raised her hand to protect herself. The women in the pub picked up their children and hurried out of the way of danger. Kyla looked back to see a pile of men on the floor and the wolfhound now chasing the squirrel through the crowd. If Callum hadn’t banned Onyx from bringing his wildcat into the pub, she was sure it would be a part of this mess right now as well.

“I’ll be in the stables,” she said, turning and walking out the door. “And they think I’m the childish one? Hmph!” she said to herself, knowing that everything she knew
, she’d learned from them. So that didn’t make those three any better.

Chapter 3

Kyla fell asleep in the hayloft of the stable, dreaming about Ian all night long. Since there were so many people at the Horn and Hoof, the upstairs rooms of the pub were given to the families and the women with children. Everyone else was supposed to sleep either in the pub on the benches, outside, or in the stables.

Sun was creeping in
through the slits in the walls and hitting her directly in the eye. She’d been dreaming of Ian’s hands on her body and his lips against hers. With her eyes still closed, it was so real that she swore she could still hear his voice in her ear.

“I like ye a lot lassie. I’d like te kiss ye if ye dinna mind.”

She moaned slightly in her sleep, but what she heard next assured her this was not her dream after all.

“Ooooo, take me, ye big warrior.
I’ve waited all night fer this. Me body is wet and ready fer yer hard -”

The woman’s words were cut off by t
he obvious sound of kissing. Kyla’s eyes sprang open and she looked around, trying to understand what was going on. Then she heard Ian’s voice again from down in the stable.

“Och, lassie, ye ken I am so hot and hard fer ye that I am ready te burst.”

“What?” Kyla squeaked out, scurrying to her knees and peering over the edge of the loft to see that hussy from last night bent backwards over a pile of hay with her legs spread and her bodice pulled down exposing her breasts and hardened nipples. Ian was hiking up his plaid and she could see his bare doup as he leaned over the girl, and was about to couple with her.

Kyla’s heart beat so loudly that it deafened her ears.
She looked away with wide eyes realizing she was about to witness them in the act, and not wanting to be anywhere near them when it happened. She didn’t know if she should call out to make her presence known or just make a mad dash for the door. Either way, she was sure Ian would think it was naught more than an attempt to stop him. And though she would love to do just that, she knew that what Effie had said was true. She couldn’t do anything else that would make her seem childish.

Not wanting to witness this act, she quickly pulled on her shoes and headed down the ladder, planning on just running out of there before anyone saw her. But her foot slipped on
the rung and her body crashed to the ground, and she landed in a heap on the floor.

“What was thet?” asked Grizela
.

Kyla got to he
r knees, but when she looked up she saw Ian turning around to face her. His manhood was fully erect and exposed for a second before he dropped his plaid and it fell back part way over his hips.

Her mouth opened at the size of what she’d just seen, and she found herself moment
arily unable to move. She’d glimpsed her brother and his friends swimming naked in the loch once or twice through the years, but they hadn’t looked . . . like this. And though she was a virgin – because her brother kept every man away from her – she found herself curious and slightly aroused but what she’d just seen.

“What in the clootie’s name are ye doin’?” Ian ground out.

“I . . . I . . . nothin’,” she said, feeling the heat rushing to her face. She looked downward, not wanting him to see her red face or he’d know what she’d just witnessed.

“Ian, what is thet
girl doin’ here?” snapped Grizela, pulling her bodice back into place. “I thought ye said we’d be alone out here.”

“And so I thought,” he ground
out. “But I shoulda kent the wee pest would be on me tail once again.”

“I
’m no’ goin’ te do this with someone watchin’,” said Grizela, pushing her skirt back into place and hurrying out of the stable.

“Nay!
Lassie, wait,” he called after her, but the girl didn’t turn back around.

Kyla had never seen such a fierce darkness in Ian’s eyes than she did at that moment when he tu
rned around and glared at her. His chest was bare and glistening with drops of sweat, most likely brought on by the excitement of almost coupling with the randy wench. His plaid fell back to his knees as he took a step forward, but she noticed the bulge of an incomplete satisfaction beneath it as he stormed toward her.

She tried to get to her feet, but stopped when his body blocke
d the sun streaming in the door as he towered over her.

“Ye jest couldna mind yer
own business could ye?” he spat.

“Nay, it’s no’ like thet,” she said, shaking her head. She wanted to say so much more, for starters that she was sorry, but the words just wouldn’t come. He stood above her with his hands on his hip
s. His chest was study and firm, and his dark, flat nipples were erect in the center, indicating to her that he was still aroused. He reached down a strong arm, and in one motion pulled her upward. From the force her body went crashing into his, and her hands went out to steady herself, landing on his chest. She gasped at the feel of his nakedness under her fingers.

She felt the hot, corded sinew beneath his skin,
and she swore a muscle quivered beneath her hands. She slowly looked upward, drinking in his chiseled cheekbones and the dark stubble upon his face. His black hair was tousled and hung down nearly to his shoulders, and his eyebrows were just as dark and bushy. His eyes were the color of hazelnuts, his gaze straightforward and steady. And then she found herself staring at his mouth - his lush, lower lip, and she wondered how it would feel to be kissed by him. To be touched, or teased the way he’d been doing to Grizela.

“Mayhap since ye interrupted yet another o’ me
affairs, ye’ll have te replace her now. After all, I’ll no’ be left waitin’ and wanton yet one more time becooz o’ ye, Kyla.”

“What?” she asked, not sure what he was saying.
Her heart raced in anticipation. “What do ye mean by thet?”

“I mean, thet ye’ll have te do, as I feel a need fer release.”

Ian only toyed with the little chit, but he had to do something to scare her from following him around and ruining any chance he ever had of getting a proper bedding anymore. He felt frustrate
d and anxious, and very angry with her for the way she’d been acting lately.

There was only one thing he could think of that would send her running
, and after he was through with her, she’d never bother him again. He reached out and grabbed her hand in his, and was surprised when he felt her trembling. She was a small girl, and he had no doubt if he squeezed her hand too hard he’d break a bone. Still, she was as tough as any of the laddies of the clan.

“Ye see how frustrated I am
becooz o’ ye?” he asked, guiding her hand toward his groin and pressing her fingers against the plaid covering his bulge. He expected her to pull away and roll her eyes or do any one of those childish things she usually did. Or mayhap crinkle her nose in disgust and wipe off her hand and then punch him as hard as she could. But she did nothing. Instead, her eyes were fastened on his hand atop hers and he could feel the heat of her palm right through the wool to his manhood, and . . . he liked it.

He quickly
pushed her hand away. He was very aroused by this and realized it must be because he still hadn’t recovered yet from fondling Grizela. He needed to get Kyla away from him already, and he could only think of one more thing to try that might work. It was the same thing he’d always done to her while she was growing up that made her so disgusted that she’d leave him alone for weeks afterwards. He’d just have to playfully kiss her on the lips. He knew how much she hated that, as she’d told him many times that she’d rather die than touch her mouth to his.

Of course he hadn’t done it in years now, but he could only hope it would still work as well as it used to.

He took her head in his hands and leaned forward and planted the biggest kiss on her lips that he’d ever given her. But she didn’t pull away in fright or disgust and dart out the door of the stable like he’d expected. Nay, she actually did something that surprised him so much that he didn’t know how to react.

When he tried to move
away, she reached out and pulled his head back to her, and kissed him so passionately on the lips that he wondered for a moment if he had the wrong girl. Where the hell had she learned how to kiss like that?

Her lips were soft and sensuous. And he felt the tip of her tongue dart out
briefly, and when it did, it about drove him from his mind. She smelled like wildflowers and fresh hay, and when he reached out to take her face in his hands again, he felt the softest skin he’d ever felt on a woman. And when she pressed up close to him he felt breasts under her clothes. Firm, rounded, and fully mature, right down to the little bumps darting out and touching his chest from her hardened nipples. This was something he never expected. And certainly not what he wanted to notice on his best friend’s sister when he was standing there still aroused and ready to burst.

His body cried out for her, and his straightened manhood pressed up against her belly through the cloth, an
d he could feel himself growing again, and getting even harder. His actions went into his normal mode with women, and before he knew it, his hands were on her shoulders and he was pulling her closer, sliding them down her back, and resting them atop her firm, rounded doup. Then he couldn’t stop himself, he took hold of her perfectly rounded cheeks and squeezed them between his fingers.

God’s eyes, when
did Aidan’s little sister get such delicious curves to her body? And when the hell did she turn into a woman? He wanted to lift his plaid and plunge his length into her, making her scream out in heated passion.

He stopped the embrace
quickly, knowing he needed to break this connection. He dragged a hand through his hair in frustration, trying to think. This was something he hadn’t expected, and it scared him. A lot. He’d grown up thinking of her as his own wee sister since he’d never known his own parents, nor had any siblings. Yet here he was, having thoughts of bedding her at this moment. What the hell was the matter with him?

“What’s the matter?” she asked,
almost as if she could read his thoughts. She looked up to him with those wide, innocent eyes the color of acorns in the autumn sun. She pushed a strand of hair from her mouth, and her long tresses of rich, golden brown hung down to her waist. A piece of straw was stuck in her hair and he found himself reaching out and removing it for her. When he did, he felt the softness of her hair, and he let his fingers linger.

“Kyla, I think ye’d better leave now.”

“But . . . ye jest kissed me. Now ye want me te leave?”

“Dammit, Kyla, I only did it te scare ye away
, the way I always used te whene’er ye bothered me too much.”

“Ye
. . . did?” she asked, and Ian could see the glassiness of her eyes, as well as the disappointment within them.

“Aye.” He turned away from her before he was tempted to take her back in his arms and kiss her again. His body cried out for her, but his mind warned him that he was play
ing with fire. A little spitfire anyway. He’d always considered her to be naught more than one of the boys, as she was the furthest thing from a lady. How the hell did she get to be a woman without him noticing? And what the hell just happened between them?

“So . . . ye did
na mean anythin’ by it?” she asked.

Och, Aidan was going to have his head if he found out about this. There was no way he could ever admit what he’d just felt between them.

“Nay, o’ course no’. Now get on outta here already and stop pesterin’ me. And dinna e’er bother me again when I am with a randy wench, do ye understand?”

She stared at him for a moment without answering, and it unnerved him. He didn’t know exactly what she was feeling right now
nor if she had felt the connection between them as well. And then she bit her bottom lip and with her eyes never leaving him, she nodded her head.

“I understa
nd, ye son o’ a bitch,” she spat out in a sibilant whisper, and then reached out and slapped him across the face. “Ye disgust me, thinkin’ ye can control e’ery lassie includin’ meself with yer guid looks and bright smile.”

“Guid l
ooks?” he repeated aloud. He’d really made a mess out of things now. She’d always told him he was uglier than a buzzard, but now she sounded as if she really liked him. And not in a sisterly way.

“Well, ye canna contro
l me the way ye do e’ery woman in yer life, Ian MacKeefe. I dinna care if ye are the last man on the earth, I willna e’er let ye touch me or kiss me again, do ye understand?”