KILTED DESIRE - Sands of Betrayal (3 page)

Katie recently returned to teaching full-time after her
break up with Michael. Before then, she had been a substitute teacher and worked
occasionally, since her main job was being a mom. She enjoyed teaching, but Michael
wouldn’t let her work full time, not even when they struggled for money. It was
another way of controlling her. She needed the money now to pay the bills. He
hardly paid any child support and there seemed very little she could do about
it, even though it was court ordered in their separation and pre-divorce
documents. The way Michael perceived it, Scott was Katie’s boyfriend now, so why
should he be forced to pay if someone else was reaping all the benefits. He was
selfish and angry and would do anything to hurt her, even if it meant doing
things that would ultimately hurt his own children. Katie lived in their
marital home. Michael took a second mortgage on the house without her knowledge
and then refused to pay any mortgage payments since before they split up and
the house was now in foreclosure. She discovered it after she kicked him out. Michael
was an auto mechanic and yet no bills were paid. Katie suspected it was a drug
problem or he was supporting a mistress. Either could have been true, or both.
The fact was her house, where her children were growing up was going to be
foreclosed on and they would have to find another place to live.

At lunchtime, Katie checked her phone and there were no
messages yet from Scott.  She sat down, took out her sandwich, a bottle of
water and placed her phone on the arm of the chair, not wanting to miss the
call. This would probably be the last time she would speak to him before he
left for the Middle East. She trusted him and his expertise, but could not help
but worry that something might happen to him. She promised herself that she
would never let any man get this close to her, but within a few weeks of
meeting Scott she knew she was starting to fall for him. She had known him for
a little less than a year, but could not imagine her life without him. He was
just supposed to be a transition guy to help get over her break up, but things
had not quite gone to plan. She knew without a doubt that he was the one she
was to spend the rest of her life with. Raise her girls with as well as have more
children with. She was in love, the kind of love she never experienced and it
was fantastic. The only problem was that he just left for Baghdad for six
months. Katie continued to stare at her phone as the minutes went by, willing
it to ring, hoping it would, but nothing. Time was up. She put the phone in her
purse and headed back to class.

Later that afternoon when she finished work, Katie reached
for her purse to check her phone. She wanted to check it all afternoon and
tried really hard to focus on her class. There was one missed call. He called
about ten minutes after her lunch break. She excitedly dialed her voicemail and
waited to hear his message.

“Hey baby, I’m sorry I missed yer, I really wanted tae
talk tae yer afore I left tae explain a few things tae yer aboot what’s going
tae happen, but I was on a tight schedule and have tae catch a flight in tae
Kuwait at 7:00 p.m.”

There was a pause. She was not sure if that was the end of
the message, but then she heard him continue.

“I’m at Heathrow now and at the gate fer my flight, so I
have a couple of minutes tae explain things. Reet… I’m flying in tae Kuwait
tonight and will meet a contact there tae give me papers tae get into Iraq. He
will also arrange fer a private plane tae take me in tae Baghdad tomorrow. Apparently
there are nae many major airlines that use Baghdad International anymore so
it’s best tae use small private planes tae get in and oot of there. The guy who
runs the operation over there will meet me at the airport and take me tae their
office tae give me a rundoon on the city and everything I need tae do. They
told me I would be guarding someone who works fer a Japanese business. I think
they said it was a large electronics company. Anyway, he will be arriving on
Monday and I will have tae collect him from the airport and take him tae the
hotel. Then, I stay at the hotel with him tae make sure he’s safe. I’ll tell
yer more when I get there. They told me I will get a laptop computer and be
supplied with a cell phone that will definitely be able tae call the U.S. so I
should be able tae call yer every day. Have tae go now baby, will talk tae yer
as soon as I can. Dinnae worry aboot me I promise I will come haem tae yer
safely. I love yer and I miss yer. Say hi tae the girls fer me. Bye babe.”

“I love you too,” she said. It finally began to sink in that
she was not going to see him for a while. She knew it was a just a voice
message, but she needed to say what she did. She thought to herself that London
was five hours ahead. He had mentioned that to her before. That meant it was
just after 8:30 p.m. there and he said his flight was leaving at seven, so his
flight had departed, he was in the air and on his way to the Middle East. She
played his message again, partly to check the time that he was supposed to be
leaving and to hear his voice again. She got into her car to head home. The girls’
bus dropped them off at 4:00 p.m. so she wanted to make sure she was back in
time.

As she drove home, she realized she needed to tell them that
Scott would not be around for a while. She knew they would be disappointed and
would not really understand the reasons behind his leaving. She did not say
anything the previous day, just in case he decided not to go, although she knew
it was highly unlikely he would change his mind. Maybe she would take them out
to eat at their favorite restaurant or maybe to her parent’s house and tell
everyone together. She arrived home before the girls’ bus and sat down on the
couch with a cup of coffee waiting for them to get home. She decided to turn on
her laptop and try to find some information about what Baghdad was like now.
However, after just a couple of minutes, she wished differently. She could not
find much in the way of positive information so she quickly abandoned her
search and checked her email just in case he managed an email before he left. No
message, but she knew it was a busy day and he was probably jet lagged too. On a
positive note, he left a message on her phone just as promised. In addition, he
said he would have a cell phone that was capable of making calls to her when he
got there so she knew he would call when he could.

The evening went well. Katie took the girls out to eat at a
local Japanese restaurant. She and Sophia loved Sushi. Madison was not as keen,
but there were plenty of other choices. After the meal, they stopped at her
parent’s house so she could talk to them all together. Her parent’s lived about
ten minutes away, in the house where she grew up and she enjoyed visiting them.
They met Scott a number of times and they all got along very well. Her father
was a little cold towards him at first, but she thought that was from being
concerned that he may be like Michael. He soon learned that Scott was a true
gentleman and welcomed him anytime he came with her to visit. Everyone was
surprised at the news and was sad that Scott was not going to be around for a
while, but overall she thought they took it well. If she was honest, probably
better than she did.

Later that night as she lay alone in bed thinking of Scott, she
was wishing his strong arms were wrapped around her. She longed to feel his
hands on her body, his breath on her neck, and his kiss. Damn! This was going
to be a long six months. She pictured him standing in front of her wearing just
his kilt. He was proud of his heritage and wore it quite often. This would
mortify the girls as people would stare and point. They may have been
embarrassed, but Scott found it funny to see people’s reactions. His family’s
tartan was mainly blue and green with an occasional red and yellow stripe. She
loved to see him in his kilt. It was even better when he took his shirt off and
just wore it and nothing else. She envisioned his strong arms and shoulders,
toned chest and amazing abs. She imagined digging her long nails into his
flesh, enough to leave a mark down the front of him. She knew he loved this and
so did she. She pictured herself grabbing his butt with both hands as she
licked his stomach. Thinking of his muscular body aroused her. She slowly slid
her hand down in between her legs, started to pleasure herself and thought to herself
that she wouldn’t be getting the real thing for a while, although he said there
was a chance he may be able to come home for short visits occasionally. She
hoped so. She knew there was no way she could last six months without feeling
him deep inside her. It sent a warm flush through her, just thinking of him.

The next morning Sophia woke her mom by deciding to cuddle
in bed with her. It was after 10:00 a.m. and it was unusual for any of them to
sleep this late. She reached for her phone. She’d slept with it on her pillow
and surprisingly, there was a missed call from an unavailable number and a
message. It rang at 9:06 a.m., but she did not wake up. She was mad she missed
talking to Scott, but eagerly dialed voicemail anticipating his voice.

“Hey baby, if I got the time reet it should be after 9:00
a.m. over there so I’m nae sure why yer nae answering, I cannae believe yer
still asleep. Anyway, it’s just after 5 p.m. here. We’re eight hoors ahead of
yer. If yer have nae already guessed, I got here safely, I’m at the Baghdad office
and will stay here fer the night. They have a wee apartment here so I’m guid. I
have tae go over some more details with the boss tomorrow and then I pick up
the client on Monday. There is something I have tae tell yer though, and trust
me, it came as a huge shock tae me and I really am nae happy aboot it. The
client is a woman, an American woman who works fer the company’s office in San
Diego. She’s been put in charge of getting the business started over here. I
have nae idea really why anyone would want tae come here, especially a woman,
and it will make things difficult. If any of these crazy insurgent groups find
oot there’s an American woman here, she’s going tae be a prime target tae be
kidnapped. They’ll think they will be able tae get a bigger ransom fer her so
I’m going tae have tae take extra precautions tae make sure she stays as much a
secret as possible. I do have tae stay at the hotel with her, but I have been
assured that her company has supplied a two-room suite at a top hotel. So like
I said, I’m nae happy aboot it, but I guess there’s nae much I can do now. I
will try and call yer again later if yer going tae wake up anytime today, but I
am a wee bit tired so will be having an early night. Love yer baby. Hope yer
and the girls are well. Bye.”

Katie was shocked. What did he mean he was guarding a woman
and would be staying in a suite with her? This was totally unexpected.

“What the f,” she stopped herself from swearing since Sophia
was lying next to her.

“What’s wrong, Mom?”

“Nothing honey, everything is fine,” she reassured her
inquisitive daughter.

However, it was not fine. She could not get the thought out
of her head that her man would be spending six months in a hotel with another
woman. Once again, she felt helpless. There was nothing she could do. He said
that this woman would be a prime target for kidnappers, so that made her
nervous too. She tried to rationalize things. She would most likely be an older
woman executive if she was in charge of running the business, so it would be
okay. It would be okay anyway because Scott was devoted to her and could handle
himself. As she and Sophia slowly climbed out of bed and headed towards the
kitchen, she knew she would learn to deal with the fact that he was working in
a dangerous place and doing it for their future. She knew if she was scared,
worried or depressed she could not let him know it when they spoke, because if
he was worried about her, he would not fully be concentrating on his job. If he
was distracted, it could make things more dangerous for him. Everything would
be fine, she thought, as she sipped her cup of coffee. It had to be. He
promised to come home safely and he always kept his promises.

10
MONTHS EARLIER

It was Saturday, a gorgeous, summer morning in Ashville,
Ohio, a small picturesque village about twenty miles south of Columbus. Scott
was sitting in his grandparent’s back yard typing on his laptop. It was a
beautifully landscaped yard; with an abundance of mature trees and flowering
shrubs. The smell of freshly cut grass was in the air. He arrived in the area a
few days earlier to spend some time with them, not having seen them for a
number of years. His Grandmother was American, born in Rochester, New York, and
met his Grandfather in England while World War II raged on. She worked in the U.S.
Army Nurse Corps. They married after the war ended and lived in upstate New
York until just after their first child, Scott’s mother, was born. Then, before
she was even a year old, they moved back to his Grandfather’s hometown in the
Scottish Highlands and lived there happily for years after the transatlantic
move. Because his Mother was born in the United States, it meant Scott had dual
nationality, giving him the option to live in either country without the hassle
of applying for visas, which was quite convenient.

Scott was still recovering from his accident and trying to decide
what he wanted to do next in his life. He was looking into the field of Physical
Therapy and felt his background and all he had been through would suit him well
if he pursued the idea. He was extremely grateful to the therapists who helped
him learn to walk again when it seemed like it was not likely to happen. So he
felt it was something he wanted to do.

Scott knew there were a few good schools in the area so he
decided to take a vacation and spend some time with his grandparent’s while looking
into going back to school. While browsing schools on the internet, he decided
to place an ad on a local personal’s website. It was not planned, just a spur of
the moment thing when he saw the website. He put in a few details about himself,
mid-thirties, 6’3”, he used to be in the military and he was Scottish. It took
him a few minutes to complete the posting then returned to checking out schools
and enjoying the beautiful summer weather. He had never done anything like this
and did not give it much thought but decided he would check his email later
that evening in case there were any women around his own age that might have responded.
His grandparents were usually in bed fairly early and he didn’t know anyone in
the area, so the last few nights were a little too quiet.