Kiwi Bride Series: Highland Kiss (14 page)

She wanted to stay in the
shower longer, just to annoy that handsome captor of hers and
increase his water bill. Standing with one foot sticking out in the
air as she showered, however, was rather uncomfortable so she
didn’t linger there. When she returned to the bedroom, he was
already there, sitting on the bed rather too comfortably and
watching her.

Ruby licked her dry lips and said, “I felt stuffy so I had
a shower.” That was, of course, a
perfect
excuse for
why he found her in the bathroom earlier.

Alec nodded. He liked
watching her and especially now that she just had a shower. She
smelled fresh and wonderful. She hadn’t brushed her long, dark hair
yet, which made her look wild. His manly blood started to ignite
knowingly.

Ruby glanced at the
bedside table and saw her glasses case. She couldn’t resist saying,
“Thank you.”

He still hadn’t stopped
staring at her. His gaze was unabashedly roaming up and down her
person.

Ruby started to feel very
uncomfortable. Even though she really couldn’t see him clearly, she
knew he was scrutinizing her.

“
You can stop looking at
me now.”

Another command.
He
wondered if she knew how often she did that.

“
Can I now?” he jested,
smiling.

“
People usually don’t
stare at me the way you do,” she commented, folding her arms across
her chest.

“
Don’t they?” he asked.
She was very pretty, and he wondered why she thought nobody ever
stared at her so. “Your bandage is wet.”

“
I know. It’ll dry. You
may leave now. I want to start reading my books.”

There. Another command.
Of course, he was not going to obey. However, if she
ordered him to kiss her, he would obey immediately and without
arguments or questions.

He sat up straighter and
said, “Come here. I’ll redo them for you.”

“
Do what?” Oh, you mean
the bandages? Er, thanks.” She limped toward the bed.

As he undid her bandages, cleaned her wound, and rewrapped
new bandages for her, she thought about how she didn’t want the
moment to end. She loved the way he gently touched her, as though
he were afraid of hurting her.
Is every captor so considerate to his captive?

Once he was finished, she
thanked him again. As he began cleaning up the mess on the bed, she
helped him. When he went into the bathroom to put everything away,
she thought about her glasses and the books. Now she’d be able to
read properly, and not have to open her eyes so wide, and
concentrate so hard just to identify the letters.

She leaned back and
reached for her glasses case. Alec got to it before her. He opened
the case and took the glasses out. Sitting in front of her, he held
the glasses in his large hand, inspecting them.

“
Nice color,” he said,
seeing the swirl of floral design on the arms of the
frame.

“
Thanks,” she replied,
smiling at him as she held out her hand to receive the
item.

He opened the arms of the
frame, but instead of giving them to her, he put them on her face.
Once he thought they looked comfortable, he drew back and observed
her properly.

She looked very different.
The glasses adorned her face nicely, enhancing her cheekbones and
straight nose. She was very pretty behind them.

As for Ruby, she finally got to see him clearly for the
first time. She couldn’t help but stare in disbelief. The
word
gorgeous
didn’t even come close to describing
him. He was like a Greek god with brown hair and smoky grey eyes.
His nose was high and straight, his lips firm, and his jaw smoothly
square and strong. She couldn’t breathe normally just looking at
him.

Alec raised his eyebrows at her as she sat there gazing up
at him, her eyes as large as a kitten’s. She was simply
adorable.

“’
Allo,” he greeted her, but before Ruby knew what was going
on, both his hands landed on the nape of her neck, gently drawing
her face closer to his. A flash of a second later, his firm lips
embraced her soft ones.

Ruby nearly fainted as his
tongue stroked across her bottom lip. She quivered at the
unexpected, yet gentle attack. Then his tongue plunged forcibly
between her lips and started exploring her innocent
mouth.

His kiss became deep and
passionate. Ruby was lost in his uninhibited embrace as her fingers
dug deeper into his hair and his tongue moved wildly in her mouth,
stroking and lashing out at hers.

Just when she thought she
was about to go crazy, he stopped kissing and drew back.

Ruby’s sense of being was
still floating high in the air as she stared up at him blankly, her
eyes half questioning why he stopped.

He gave her a devilish
grin, his eyes twinkling.

“
That, Ruby,
is
a kiss,” he said as got up and left
the room.

Ruby sat there, staring at
the closed door, her heart pounding like she just finished running
a marathon. She was stunned.

That, Ruby, is a kiss.
The words kept echoing in her head.
And my little peck wasn’t a kiss?
She touched her sore lips, still
staring at the closed door, utterly dazed.

After Alec left, Ruby’s intention to read totally vanished. She
just lay there thinking about the kiss while touching her lips. She
didn’t know how to describe her feeling when Alec’s lips met hers,
and when his tongue—

Her whole body
shivered.

Stop it!
she snapped
at herself silently.
Stop it
this instant, Ruby!

She sighed and closed her
eyes.

In her mind’s eye, she saw
Alec’s face. She could imagine him sitting right there next to her,
his face very close to hers, with his nose touching her cheek. She
remembered his warm breath on her skin.

Are you innocent, Ruby?
Are you so innocent that you don’t know what I’m going to do to
you?

Ah!
She grunted
loudly and sat up. She touched her lips again, her heart pumping
loudly in her chest. Now she remembered about last night when he
kissed her.

Oh no!
And there she
was, trading a kiss for her glasses. He must have thought her very
stupid.

Ruby threw her head on the pillow and groaned.
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Lizzie came into the room
at that moment. The woman took one look at her and asked if she
needed anything. Ruby shook her head, and the maid went about
cleaning the room.

Ruby picked up the book
and started reading.

Just as Lizzie was about
to leave, she asked, “Lizzie, is this Alec’s room?”

“
Aye. Sure ya donna want
anythin’?”

Ruby nodded. Once the maid
was gone, Ruby groaned again and threw her head on the pillow. Her
feeling of mortification had just climbed up another
notch.

That’s it!
She had to
stop this stupid nonsense. She was, after all, feeling very tired
from yesterday’s ordeal. She had to stop thinking about Alec and
his kiss!

She snatched the book,
opened the first page and started reading. At first, it was very
difficult, but after a few paragraphs, she was hooked and
completely forgot about Alec. About two hours later, when her tired
eyes couldn’t handle the concentration any longer, she fell
asleep.

Alec came into the room
and saw her sleeping, still wearing her glasses with the book held
in her hand. He shook his head.

He took the book from her
and laid it on the bedside table. Then he took her glasses off,
gently so that he wouldn’t wake her, and put those on the bedside
table as well. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand to
make sure the fever had not recurred. It was warm. But not hot like
last night. Relieved that there was no sign of a fever, he left the
room again.

Ruby woke up just before
dinner, feeling a lot less tired. Again, Alec refused to let her
out of the bedroom. She cursed him loudly in Khmer so he couldn’t
understand.

Once she finished her
dinner, Alec took the tray. Before he left the room, he said,
“Don’t try to run away again, will you?”

Ruby looked up at him innocently, her eyes large and
questioning. “What makes you think I’d run away again? I told you
that I wouldn’t. If I were to leave this place, Master Alec, I’d be
leaving with Brian exclusively.”

That’s right, once she had
her hands on her cell phone, she’d ring Brian and tell him
everything. She’d tell him this brute of a man kidnapped her—for
whatever stupid reason, she still didn’t know. She’d insist that
Brian report the criminal to the police.

That’s right, she’d bring
him to justice. She smiled secretly with that cozy
thought.

Alec frowned darkly.
Brian, damn it, all she ever thought about was
Brian.
He said coldly, “I’ll
be in the library.”

Ruby knew she was getting
under his skin. She smiled sweetly and said, “Good night,” before
he closed the door. She listened carefully to make sure she didn’t
hear the clicking sound of the door locking. There was
none.

She picked up the book
again and continued reading for fifteen minutes. When she guessed
it was safe, she rushed off the bed and limped to the door. There,
she opened it and poked her head out. Searching left and right, she
saw no one, so she slipped out and limped toward the second floor.
Climbing up the stairs was, once again, rather difficult with her
injured foot, but she managed in the end.

On the landing, she saw
there was another flight of stairs. She sighed and encouraged
herself not to give up. Determinedly, she limped up the narrow
stairs and, finally, reached the attic.

The place was very dark.
She wondered if there was a light switch somewhere. Moving to her
right, she tried the wall, and found the switch, which she flipped
on.

The light didn’t help
much, barely illuminating the huge place. She narrowed her eyes to
see her surroundings properly. To her left was total darkness, but
to her right, she could see dimly. Then her heart soared with
happiness when she spotted her suitcase sitting among other unused
items. She limped over to it and carefully came down on her knees
so that her foot didn’t hurt as much.

She unzipped the suitcase
and raided through her things. Good, all her clothes were still
intact. Then she searched for her bag, which contained her more
important items. She couldn’t find it anywhere. After more vigorous
searching, she frowned when she still couldn’t find it.

“’
Allo?” came a male
voice.

She jerked up and fell on
her backside, swearing under her breath as she groped about in the
darkness, wondering where that voice came from.

She shot up and swirled
around, forgetting about her injured foot, and winced as the pain
fired through her leg.

Peering into the darkness,
a second later, Alec appeared.

Ruby gasped. Her face
reddened as she stared at him studying her.

“
Looking for
something?”

Ruby bit her lip. She
wondered if he had just arrived and found her snooping around, or
was there all along, patiently waiting for her.

“
I didn’t wait long at
all, if you want to know.”

Ruby wanted to die.
Oh God almighty! He knows!
He knew she followed him this morning. He knew she’d be
coming up here tonight looking for her things.

Well, there was no point in hiding now, was there?
She squared her shoulders and said,
“Yes, I am looking for my belongings.”

He came toward her. “Ruby,
I haven’t been honest with you since the beginning.”

Ruby narrowed her eyes as
she studied him. This was new, all right. She agreed by nodding her
head.

“
I know you want your
things back.”

“
Yes?” Ruby replied. She
found it very odd that a captive and her captor would be standing
in the dimness of the attic talking like they had been friends
forever.

“
And I will give you your
belongings back.”

Ruby couldn’t believe
that. “You really mean it?” she asked doubtfully.

“
Aye, lassie,” Alec said.
“I mean it.”

Ruby blinked at his honest
answer. Suddenly, she felt bad indeed for planning to report him to
the police.

He came to stand right in
front of her, looking down at her from his great height. Ruby
tilted her head to look up at him, her eyes questioning his
intention.

“
Let’s make a deal, shall
we?” he started.

“
A deal?” she asked
curiously.

“
Yes, a deal,” Alec said,
looking deeply into her eyes. “I will give you your belongings
back, and I will let you go in time to catch your flight back to
New Zealand. What I mean is, you will stay here with me until it is
time for you to return home in three weeks.”