Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (7 page)

“
Are ya sure ya dunna want
me ta help wif anythin’?” Lizzie repeated.

“
I don’t understand you.
Look, why don’t you just go?” Ruby suggested, pointing toward the
door.

“
Ya want me ta leave? But
Master Alec says ta help ya.”

“
Look, just go,” Ruby said
in frustration because she didn’t want to argue. Her eyes were
getting irritated and so damn sore, she could no longer ignore
them.

Lizzie shook her
head.

Ruby sighed. “Fine then,
just turn around at least, would you?” She touched Lizzie’s
shoulders and turned the woman around. “Stay there!”

Once she was sure Lizzie
was not looking, Ruby went to the mirror and took her contact lens
out. Then she undressed and quickly got into the
bathtub.

Lizzie heard the splashing
of water and turned around.

“
I don’t need help, you
know,” Ruby murmured as Lizzie started stroking the long strands of
her hair. She was supposed to be kidnapped, for God’s sake, not
having a spa treatment! However, she had to admit the gentle
massaging did make her relax, and she was temporarily able to
forget about the handsome, arrogant brute outside.

Once the maid was done, her hair felt like silk, and
smelled like the Garden of Eden.

“
Thank you,” she said,
smiling at Lizzie.

“
Pleasure,” Lizzie replied
as she got up.

That word Ruby could
understand. Once Lizzie left, Ruby actually enjoyed her time in the
bath, and when the water turned cold, she got out. She put on the
robe Lizzie left for her and went into the bedroom—hoping the
Scottish brute would be gone.

No such luck. He was still
there, sitting on the bed and watching her with his steel grey
eyes. She noticed the room was now clean.

“
You’re still here,” she
commented, tugging her robe more securely so that no skin was
showing.

He stood up. “Here,” he
said, handing her what appeared to be her pyjamas.

“
Thank you,” she said,
holding the garment up to have a look.

It wasn’t pyjamas at all. It was a man’s shirt.
His
shirt!

“
This isn’t my pyjamas.”
She threw it abruptly on the bed. “Where’s my clothing?”

He picked it up. “It’ll
have to do.”

“
Don’t want it.” She
folded her arms across her chest, staring up at him through her
thick, dark lashes.

Alec was stunned by how
pretty she was. She looked like a water nymph with her long, wet
hair framing her unique oval face. She smelled like heaven, too. He
wanted to go nearer, perhaps graze his nose over her hair, just to
smell her properly, and maybe wrap his arm around her.

His body sparked with
pleasure.

He cleared his throat, knowing he needed to say something
about his damn shirt, which she kept refusing to wear. He feared
he’d probably end up obeying what his prime male instinct kept
nagging him to do right there and then—
throw her onto the bed and kiss her silly.

“
Your choice,” he said,
watching her, “if you don’t wear this, you’ll wear
nothing.”

Ruby felt uncomfortable. His eyes were too intense. She
felt like she was a stripper, and he was waiting for her to do just
that—
strip
—right in front of him.

She had never been with a
man in such close proximity before, and certainly, had never been
so naked in front of a man before either. The situation was
entirely new to her, and she didn’t know how to deal with it. She
knew she couldn’t possibly go to bed wearing this blasted
robe.

She sighed and said,
“Okay,” before grabbing the shirt from him, shoving her chin a
notch higher, turning on her heels, and marching into the bathroom
with her back straight.

Alec thought she walked
like a queen, and seemed to be in a better mood after her bath. He
made a note to remember that a warm bath mellowed her rather
effectively.

Alec had to be honest: he
had never met anyone quite like her. Externally, she looked
fragile, but he saw none of that in her so far. Sure, she fainted,
but that was probably because she hadn’t eaten and was very
dehydrated, and yes, perhaps a bit panicky after waking up and
finding herself locked inside a room in God knows where.

Then he remembered her tantrum.
My God
, he had
never seen such hot outrage from a woman before. She was very
potent, shouting at him, throwing things and screaming obscenities
like an erupting volcano. Only, he didn’t remember his little Ruby
being like that back at the camp. She was always so sweet and
gentle.

When she returned, he saw
that his shirt was too large for her small frame. The sleeves were
so long, they covered her hands, and the hem of the shirt went past
her knees.

“
I’m not going to run away
tonight,” she announced, straightening herself to her full,
unimpressive height of five feet and three inches. She squared her
shoulders as she faced him, to evince her lack of fear, and
perhaps, she thought, intimidate him just a little.

“
Besides, I’m too tired,”
she continued, “I’m also very hungry, and I don’t have my things
with me. You may go now.”

Alec raised his shapely eyebrows, the corner of his mouth
fighting mighty hard not to smile. She was his captive, and yet,
she managed to command him as though she were the Lady of the
House, and he, no more than her submissive servant.

She had to tilt her head in order to see him
properly.
God, he was so
tall.
Perhaps she should have
called him Mr. Cook, after Mount Cook, which is the highest
mountain in New Zealand. She hid a giggle and looked down so he
wouldn’t see the mirth dancing in her eyes.

He swiftly shifted toward
her, his eyes casting downward to look at the silver elephant
pendant resting on her chest. His throat tightened.

She noticed him gazing at
her oddly and shivered. Her heart leapt, and she took a step back,
preparing to run. He grabbed her wrist, but she jumped and tried to
get away.

“
I won’t hurt you,” he
said, breaking his gaze from the pendant to her face. He inhaled
sharply, feeling a turmoil of emotions erupting through him. He
started rolling one sleeve up her forearm to distract
himself.

She didn’t relax; but
stood as still as a rock.

When he was satisfied with
that side, he grabbed her other wrist and rolled that sleeve up
too. Once finished, he touched her chin so she could look up at
him. He moved his face closer to hers and said, “Aye, ma’am, I am
goin’ now. Don’t do anything silly.” He smiled, showing his white
teeth before releasing her, and locking the door behind
him.

Ruby hated that clicking
sound.

Stay calm, Ruby, you’ll
get out soon.

She strolled to the table
and ate her dinner of roast lamb and vegetables. It was very
delicious. After she finished, she got into bed and tried to
sleep.

Sleep, however, was hard
to come by. She was restless. The time difference between New
Zealand and Britain was twelve hours or so, and she still hadn’t
gotten used to the jet lag.

She wanted to do
something, like, get out of this room. She also wanted to murder
that imperious, gorgeous Mr. Cook, the Scottish driver, or whoever
he was. What about Brian? Did he know she was missing? She hoped
so. But especially hoped he was looking for her. Most importantly,
she hoped he hadn’t told her mum and sisters because they would be
very worried, which was something she preferred to
avoid.

She could just imagine it right now. Yes, Amethyst, at two
years younger than Ruby, being twenty-four years of age, would
surely prove to be the strong one. She would organize everything
and take charge. Alexandrite and Rhonalite, non-identical twins,
and as opposite as day and night, born three minutes apart, were
now at the age of nineteen. They would have to comfort their gentle
soul of a mother who would, undoubtedly, cry for days on end.
Emerald, the youngest of them all, at only seventeen years of age,
would cry along with their mother, being such a tender soul, and
baby sister that she was. Her dead father, a kind Kiwi man who
first met her mother in Khao-I-Dang camp when he volunteered as a
nurse at the hospital there, named all his daughters according to
the gemstone of their birth month. He would have been outraged to
hear of her kidnapping, like Rhona; but, like Amee, would have, no
doubt, taken charge and arranged everything, bless his good soul.
He would still have been alive, of course, if not for that damn
cancer.

Ruby sighed and turned
over. Perhaps, fond thoughts of her family, and their happier times
would help her to sleep. Instead, however, the image of Mr. Cook
appeared in her mind’s eye. His brown, wavy hair that was in
obvious need of a cut, his mysterious grey eyes that seemed to pull
her into impending doom every time she looked into them, his Roman
nose, and sensuous lips that, against her better judgment, she
longed to touch with her fingers, his hard cheekbones, and his firm
jaw—all made her quiver inside just thinking about them.

When she finally slept,
she dreamt of him kissing her.

* * *

Alec rode his
thoroughbred, Storm, over the wide meadow that stretched far across
the Hasting Estate. He loved the way the cool Highland air whooshed
past his face as his stallion galloped across the verdant field. He
also loved the smell of the outdoors: the fresh grass, the wild
flowers, and the pine trees. They made him feel at home, and
offered a sense of peace. This place was so much a part of
him.

He remembered his captive
when they were back at the village. He was in the store, buying her
a bottle of water, and when he returned, he saw her closing her
eyes, spreading her arms out, and offering her fair face to the
sun. She looked as though she were at peace. The expression of
tranquility on her face tugged deeply in his heart, which he found
quite annoying.

Since two weeks ago in the airplane, when he first helped
that slip of a girl, his childhood friend who still couldn’t
recognize him. Unconscious from her dehydration and fever, after
being confined in the narrow lane of economy class, as soon as he
carried her to the first class seat beside him, he was affected by
her. He shouldn’t have been really, since he knew many women who
were far more beautiful and sophisticated, and had dated about a
dozen of them as well. But none, however, could affect him the way
she did. Not even his ex-wife, Amy, who oozed class and was
strikingly attractive with her pale blond hair and emerald green
eyes. He liked women, dated women, and slept with women. There was
nothing more to it than that. He never cared too much about any of
them, except for his sister, Susan. But this one, somehow, made him
feel responsible. She made him want her.
God damn it!
He
wanted to touch her.

In the photo, she looked
out of place—a place where he, Susan, and Brian belonged. And when
he first saw her, he was drawn to her like a magnet.

Darn it!
This wasn’t
supposed to happen. He never imagined that his life could turn
upside-down so unexpectedly. He realized also that he didn’t do the
stupid kidnapping thing just to help his sister either. It was in
the spur of the moment, and he never even planned it. He was always
the type to plan and do things a certain way—logically and
methodically. He had always commanded his own actions, knowing
exactly what he was doing, and where he was going. But not this
time—not where this young woman was concerned. He knew he was
doomed to wanting her since he first saw her on the plane. Then,
when Susan showed him her picture, he couldn’t help but feel a
sense of longing and desire rush through him.

His mind switched to
thoughts of his sister. He wondered how she was getting on now with
Brian, and sincerely hoped everything was going all
right.

“
Back from yer ride?”
McKenzie asked.

“
Hmm.” Alec dismounted
from the saddle and handed Bernard, the stableman, the reins.
Bernard led the horse away into the stables.

“
Has your wife given food
to her yet?”

“
Aye. Are ya goin’ ta see
‘er?”

“
Nay, the less I see of
her, the better,” Alec said as he strolled across the small
distance to the manor.

Alec went into the drawing
room, picked up his BlackBerry on the oak table, and started
dialing his sister’s number. The phone started ringing.

Mrs. McKenzie appeared at
the door and said, “Sir?”

Alec turned to look at
her, a questioning frown on his face.

“’
Tis yer girl. She’s been
wantin’ ta see ya.”

Alec nodded, and she left.
He turned his attention back to the phone when he heard his
sister’s voice.

“
Alec?”

“
Aye,” he responded. “How
are you, Sue?”

“
I’m good, and it’s going
well. Oh, Alec, this is marvelous. He’s in our apartment with me
now at the Kensington Garden. He’s a bit down though. He told me he
got a message from the motel manager in Edinburgh that the girl
left, and he shouldn’t wait for her, that she changed her mind. I
don’t know how I could’ve done this without you, Alec. Thank you so
much. Oh, he’s coming now. Brian, it’s Alec.”