Secret Garden (29 page)

O-kay. He wrapped the towel around his waist. Water dripped from his hair and trickled down his chest.

He didn’t know what to think.

The doorknob turned.

Colin sucked in his breath. Without thinking, he unlocked and opened the door.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Colin! I didn’t know you were here.” Rhiannon stood with both hands up as if she was coming in to wash them from her painting session.

Colin stepped back so that she could enter. He realized he was still holding the condoms, so he dropped them back in their cubbyhole quickly. “Uh. I was looking for a comb.”

But Rhiannon noticed that he’d found her condoms and blushed furiously. Her skin went completely pink.

Yeah, he was embarrassed, too. The water kept dripping down his chest. Down his legs.

Rhiannon backed up against the doorjamb. Her gaze traveled from his face and then down the rest of his body.

He could barely breathe. He’d subjected himself to a frigid shower, but he felt anything but cold now.

“I can’t believe this,” she murmured, blinking fast. And then her lips started to quiver.

“I was just leaving,” he said.

“Don’t!” Her eyes rose to meet his. “It’s not you. I’m just...sad.”

“About what?” he asked softly.

She took the condoms from the cubbyhole and held them out to him. “I didn’t tell you, but Kristin gave me these the day of the gathering.”

He’d hoped they’d been for him, but he wasn’t going to assume anything. He waited for her explanation.

“Colin, since you can’t take walks with me in the morning anymore, I walked today by myself. As an experiment, I tried to cross the boundary line.” She gazed at her feet, looking so forlorn. “And I still can’t do it.”

“Is that what you’ve been worried about? That you won’t be able to leave the estate after all?”

She nodded.

“Aw, Rhiannon.” He reached out and cupped her cheek. “I thought we were going to do it together.”

She looked hesitantly up at him. “Do you think I’m a freak?”

“No. And I never will. No matter what.”

* * *

W
ITH HIS REASSURANCES
, Rhiannon felt some of her misery lift. She’d been wrestling with her failure ever since morning. She’d woken up wondering how she could fulfill what she’d promised him yesterday—to try again to leave the estate. Her bravado had left her, and she was left with an achy feeling inside, and full of doubt. But while she doubted herself, she also longed for Colin.

Now, with his big, calloused hand cupping her cheek and his warm blue eyes smiling down at her, she felt as if together, they could handle anything.

She rubbed her fingers against the towel that was slung low around his hips. She touched his flat stomach, the skin so smooth, rippling with muscles underneath. The skin here was paler, not as tanned from the sun as his arms were. A Texan golfer’s tan, was what she supposed he had. Oh, how she ached to bring him into her studio.

She ached to do so much more than that to him.

Drawing in her breath, she decided to just come out with it. “Colin, could we please...?”

“Yes, Rhiannon?”

She licked her lips, her mouth feeling so dry.

With one hand he scooped her hair, moved it to her back. His lips brushed against her neck, close to her ear. She shivered.

“Come here,” he murmured. “Let me do something for you.”

It sounded enticing. And fun. “Wh-what?” she asked, breathless.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” he joked. “Here, stand in front of the sink. I’m going to wash your hands for you. Isn’t that what you came in here for?”

It had been. Chuckling at her, he motioned her over to the sink. Turning the water on, he stood behind her, arms around her, and slowly, sensually soaped up her hands. She had blotches of paint all over them, and they smelled of thinner, too. Not so very romantic or sensual of her.

But the way Colin lathered her fingers with soap and rubbed his hands over hers was extremely romantic and sensual. She’d never realized there were so many nerve endings in the hands. She sighed and leaned back against him.

He felt so nice. She just needed to remind herself that of all the people in the world, Colin Walker was the person she most wanted to be with. He had never hurt her and he never would. Over and over, he’d proved that she could trust him.

When her hands were sparkling clean, he turned off the tap. But he wasn’t finished with his ministrations yet. He opened a jar of hand cream—part of Malcolm’s Born in Vermont brand that her sister-in-law sent her from overseas—and rubbed a generous amount into the tops of her hands, her wrists, between each finger. Colin was thorough. Gentle.

The smell of lavender essential oil filled the tiny bathroom, calming her nerves. Through it all, Colin gazed into her eyes, giving her looks filled with adoration.

“Thank you,” she murmured, rubbing her hands together and pressing them to her lips when he was finished. “That feels...really nice.”

He inclined his head to her.

Licking her lips again, she glanced at the condoms on the vanity. Then at the cramped room they stood in. She reached out her hand to him. He caught it and kissed her palm.

“Rhiannon, for our first time, I don’t want a quickie in the shower before the water goes cold.”

She liked how he said
our first time
rather than
your first time
.

“So I have a proposal,” he continued. “I’d like to make a nice dinner for us. A date, if you’d like to eat with me in your castle dining room?”

Her heart beat in an excited little staccato. He was going to make this evening beautiful for her. No pressure, no fear, just plenty of romance.

“I would love to, Colin,” she breathed.

* * *

H
OURS LATER, AS
the gloaming fell across the central Highlands and the night birds began their longing calls to their mates, Rhiannon patted a serviette across her lips, enjoying the dinner Colin had cooked for them.

A light dinner—buttered whitefish with spring asparagus, and big flutes of champagne.

She appreciated the champagne—it left her feeling as if she was glowing and calmed the tiny bit of nerves she felt. Colin was his usual self—charming and a joy to converse with. He seemed carefree, as if they weren’t about to take a big step that would change the heart of their relationship forever.

If she went back to his room with him, they never again could go back to being “just friends.”

They would be lovers.

She took a sip of champagne, the last of the flute. The last of the bottle.

Colin stood and lifted their dirty plates.

“What are you doing?” She winked at him. “We have Paul for that.”

“This is our date, Rhiannon.”

“He’s a butler. He takes pride in his job. If you do it, he’ll be angry with me tomorrow.”

“Ah.” Colin smiled and put the plates down. “The lifestyles of the rich and famous.”

She laughed.

He glanced at the clock, then at her. Making a formal bow, he said, “Thank you, my lady. I’ll be leaving you now. I trust you can get back safely to your room?”

She frowned at him. “I thought I was going back to your room?”

His lips twisted. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Finally, he sat again. “Maybe you’d like to wait for marriage...?”

She stared at him in confusion. He hadn’t offered to marry her. She knew this.

“Why?” she asked with a smile. “It’s fine, Colin. With you, I would definitely live in sin. At least for tonight.”

“You don’t have to do that for me.”

She wanted to, and not
for
him but for herself. She leaned closer to him. “I know you have a lot of things you’re committed to—your career, your life in Texas, your grandparents in Scotland. I won’t pretend I’m more important to you than any of that. I have my own...
things
, too.”

Her agoraphobia, for one.

Frowning to herself, she pushed away that thought. “Tonight, I want to stay with you. Just...one night.” To be a normal person. “Do you want to do that, Colin?”

For a split second he blinked at her, hesitating.

Don’t ask me if I’m sure. I am sure.

He picked up his crutches and motioned to the door. “My room,” he murmured.

“Naturally.” She’d preferred it that way. It made her feel as if she was actually being brave and daring. Goodness knew, she needed to be brave and daring about something.

She was quiet as they slowly walked the darkening path that led to her studio outbuilding. To the room he stayed in. The night air was cool, and she held back her hair with one hand in order to feel the breeze brush past her neck. She’d dressed lightly, in barely any clothing. A short, sleeveless dress of thin linen material that rubbed her skin as she moved. The whole thing was closed by a row of buttons that went top to bottom.

Colin’s had dressed up for her, too.

She glanced at him, so handsome in the moonlight. Her heart beat faster. Desire for him seemed to pool in her belly.

They’d stopped before the door to her outbuilding. He had a key now. She waited for him to unlock it.

“Ah, Rhiannon.” He turned to her and gave her a heartfelt sigh. “Nothing about you has been what I expected.”

Yes, she was complicated. Weren’t most women? “I’m not that pigtailed girl who ran after you through the woods.”

“No, you’re not.” He drew her close and gave her a kiss, full on the mouth. She moaned and leaned into him.

* * *

“
L
ET’S GET YOU INSIDE.”
With one hand he led her inside the building, down the hall on the first floor to the guest room farthest away.

She’d chosen it for him because she couldn’t remember anybody else staying here, ever. The rooms were used as overflow during family weddings and quarterly meetings regarding their trust funds, but this room wasn’t typically occupied because it was the only one without furniture. To make up for the lack of furnishings, she’d dragged one of the mattresses inside—the nicest one.

He unlocked and opened the guest-room door for her, too.

Inside, the soft glow from a small lamp flickered on a low table beside the bed. The room was bare and neat, devoid of anything else but the made-up bedding and two plump pillows.

“If I’d known you were coming, I would have strewn it with rose petals,” he said.

She pressed her hands to her lips. “That sounds romantic and lovely.”

“You’re romantic and lovely.”

“Really? I wish I’d known this about myself earlier.”

“I knew.” He laughed and put his hands around her waist. “I loved you as a boy. I’ll love you as a man. And as long as we’re true to each other, I’ll love you when I’m a worn-out geezer.”

She smiled, too, curling into his arms. “You always were a charmer.” Cupping his cheek, she pulled him down to kiss her.

Everything turned tender all at once, and the night felt like a dream. He was gentle with her. First, he drew her down with him as they lay across the bed, still dressed in everything but their shoes. With his hand bracing his head, he told her all about his home in Texas.

The lamplight shone across his face as he spoke of his life there. She’d never really asked him about this part of his world before. She wanted to hear about it. She wanted to know everything about him, everything she’d missed—not just what his body would feel like joined to hers, but his dreams, his home, his desires. She was glad he was taking this slow approach with her. She’d decided to let him lead the way—she would follow him wherever he took her.

“Did you ever have horses?” she asked him, lazily stretching her toes, intertwining her legs in his. “I always imagined you back in Texas with horses.”

“No, Rhiannon. I never lived on that ranch. Mom and I stayed in a...homey trailer...and got used to living as two people in the family.”

He smiled at her. As he spoke, he leisurely unbuttoned her dress. She took her time unbuttoning his shirt, too. She finished before he did, and she pressed a palm to his warm skin as he spoke.

“Now I live in a big house, and it’s a lot for just one guy. But I’d always promised myself that after living in a cramped tin can, as soon as I made any money I’d buy my own castle.”

She laughed. “
Is
it like a castle?”

He chuckled, too, and as he did, she felt the lifeblood of him moving beneath her palm. His laughter. His heartbeat.

“Yes, Rhiannon, I have a big stone fireplace, and I have a set of crossed swords over it, too.”

“Truly?”

“Um-hmm.” He’d succeeded in opening her dress, and now he was lightly running his hand over her belly, over her breasts. She sighed and stretched beneath his touch. She’d worn a skimpy white lace bra and panty set that she’d chosen because it reminded her of frilly wedding-night wear. Silly of her, maybe, but that was how she felt with Colin—silly and free.

The lacy bra opened from the front. Colin undid the plastic clasp. Laid aside the scratchy material. Coolness from the night air and the open window brushed over her skin, tightening her nipples.

His caresses—the small circles he drew while he spoke, the languid strokes of his seduction—heated her skin and filled her with unfamiliar, pleasurable sensations.

His hair fell over his eyes, covering them, so she smoothed his hair aside. It was soft and fine beneath her fingers. She adored watching his eyes as the slight glow from the lamp lit his face.

“What else is in your castle?” she asked.

“Hmm. One thing I have that you don’t is a pool. Not as cold as a loch in August, but... I’ll take you skinny-dipping there sometime by moonlight if you’d like.”

“We never did
that
when we were young.”

“No, but isn’t it high time we did?” His hand lightly stroked over the lace panties.

She groaned and raised her hips to meet his touch.

“Yes. Oh, yes, it is time,” she whispered.

He leaned over and kissed her, gently, deeply, thoroughly. His fingertips stroked her breasts, caressed her nipples. He was learning the landscape of her body by gentle exploration.

She had already thoroughly assessed his. The broad chest with the smattering of hair between his breastbone, and then the long line that dipped over his belly button and disappeared under his waistband. As he pressed and stroked against the flimsy white lace of her panties, an urgency, a hunger for him built within her.