Chapter 26
Dave had mostly travelled abroad during the month of December, so he could escape the all too often grey and dismal progression of the Highlands’ final month of autumn into winter. But spending the time with Lea at Brathellae had turned the normally cold and bleak time into something else entirely. The shorter days and longer nights were no longer an inconvenience but an excellent excuse to relax over a drink in front of a roaring fire. Or to spend long hours in bed, making love, then snuggling up in a cocoon of cosy warmth. And with winter and plenty of snowbound days heading their way, instead of feeling trapped and contained, he felt…free.
More open, more relaxed. More human and less of an emotionless workhorse machine.
The days at Brathellae belonged to Lea and him, no one else. Well, apart from Flossie but the old dog spent most of the time snoozing by the fire, only stirring for meals and comfort breaks. Aunt Elsie had extended her holiday and, apart from the occasional ground staff going about their business on the estate, Dave and Lea were entirely, blissfully alone.
They each juggled their work commitments but he was increasingly worried about monopolising her time. Her generous and giving nature often had her putting her needs aside for others’. Hadn’t her closing her Edinburgh office when his grandfather had gone into his final decline been proof of that? He knew he should be encouraging her to find another office off site but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was enjoying their time together too much. He had even put another delay on his visit to Tuscany to check the progress on his project. It was out of character for him but he had competent people working for him and knew they would call him instantly if there was anything that only he could fix.
Dave left Lea sleeping while he rose early to let Flossie out downstairs. He slipped on tracksuit bottoms and slip-on shoes in case the old dog went further into the garden and got disoriented in the darkness. It had happened before and it had taken him half an hour to find her—not ideal in only boxers or less and bare feet.
The sun wasn’t up yet and the frost was as thick as a carpet on the ground, the air so cold it burned his face. An owl hooted from a nearby tree and then Dave heard the swish of its wings as the bird flew off into the misty darkness. The distinctive call of a vixen looking for a mate would once have made Flossie’s ears prick and her tail rise, but the old dog barely seemed to notice. She squatted on a frosty patch of ground and sighed with relief and then came plodding back to where Dave was standing, her feathery tail wagging back and forth.
‘Good girl.’ He bent down and ruffled her ears. ‘Back to bed for you, hey?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Lea’s voice sounded from behind him. ‘Gosh, it’s freezing, isn’t it?’
Dave turned, saw her framed in the doorway and something in his chest slipped. Funny, but he didn’t feel cold at all. He felt warm. Hot. Hotter than hot—for her. She was dressed in his bathrobe, which was far too big for her. It swamped her petite frame and made her look like a child who had been playing with a dress-up box.
‘I was about to wake you up with a cup of tea,’ he said with a smile.
She rubbed her crossed-over hands up and down her arms and shivered but a smile played about her mouth. And her eyes contained a light that made his lower body sit up and take notice. ‘Stop spoiling me. I’ll be hell to live with if you keep treating me like a princess.’
‘I’ll take the risk.’ He came over to her and leaned down to drop a kiss to the end of her upturned nose and then led her back inside to the warmth of the castle kitchen.
Thing was, she wasn’t hell to live with. She was heaven. He had only lived with one other lover—his late fiancée—and it had definitely not been anything like this. His time with Lea worked so seamlessly, so easily, so naturally. He didn’t have to second-guess or play games or have games played on him. Lea was a complex person but not a difficult one. He could relax around her, be more open and share things he hadn’t shared with anyone before.
There was a growing part of him that didn’t want their ‘married fling’ to end, which was a deeply troubling thought. The locked no long-term-commitment vault inside his mind had somehow allowed a sliver of light in under the door. A beam of light he wasn’t sure he wanted illuminating the darkly shadowed corners of his mind.
One month had already passed since their one-year marriage. It was ticking away like a clock set on fast forward. Christmas would be here soon, and then before he knew it, the year would be up.
Their marriage would come to its inevitable end. The end he had insisted on. That he still insisted on—didn’t he?
So why did that seem far more of a problem than it had before?
They were in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle to boil on the stove, and Lea put her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. ‘What do you have planned for today?’
He tipped up her face with his hand so she was looking up at him. ‘You mean apart from going back to bed and making mad passionate love to you and then serving you breakfast in bed, and after that showering together?’ His eyes were glinting and his lower body already stirring against her.
Lea lifted her hand to his stubbly jaw, tracing the line of his smiling mouth with her fingertip, her insides twisting and coiling with desire. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time in bed before, not even when I’ve been sick.’
‘Neither have I.’ His voice had a husky quality that made her feel weak at the knees.
He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his in a kiss that made the ache inside her body go to fever pitch. His hands went to the small of her back, drawing her closer to his body—closer to the potency of his erection. His tongue played with hers in an erotic dance that made something swoop and dive in her belly. His mouth moved from her lips to the side of her neck, his tongue leaving a hot trail along her sensitive flesh. He used his teeth to gently nip her earlobe and a shiver shot down her spine at rocket speed.
He pulled apart the dark blue bathrobe she was wearing and uncovered her naked breasts. He caressed each breast with his lips and tongue until her inner core was melting and flowing like scorching-hot lava. His teeth grazed her nipple, his tongue rolling over its tight point, and desire drummed a primitive beat between her legs.
‘Why didn’t I think to leave a supply of condoms in every room?’ he said, with a rueful grin.
Lea rummaged in the pocket of the bathrobe, which was hanging around her hips with just the waist tie keeping it in place. She took out a tiny foil packet and handed it to him.
He took the condom from her, his eyes darkening to a glittering blue-black. ‘I just love your organisational and planning skills. You really do think of everything.’
‘Glad to be of service.’
A shadow flickered across his face and he drew in a breath and pulled the edges of the bathrobe back around her shoulders, slipping the condom back in the pocket. ‘Lea.’ There was a guarded quality to his voice, his expression losing its earlier teasing playfulness and changing into a frown.
A cold ghost hand pressed against the back of her neck, sending a flow of ice over her scalp. ‘What’s wrong? What did I say to make you frown at me like that?’ It had been a flippant comment, sure, but why had it upset him so much?
Dave let out a long breath. ‘I don’t want you to feel like you’re just here to service my needs. It’s important to me that you feel equal in our relationship.’
Did she feel it was an equal relationship? In some ways, yes. In others, no. How could it be truly equal when he was the one who insisted their marriage end at a specific point? ‘It was just a throwaway line. I didn’t mean anything by it.’
‘This past month has been good, better than good, but it’s not always going to be like this,’ he said, still frowning in a brooding manner. ‘We can’t live in a bubble at Brathellae for ever. You have work commitments and so do I.’
Now it was Lea’s turn to frown, her mood soured by the sudden change in his. ‘Have I stopped you from doing your work? I haven’t exactly chained you to my side. You’re perfectly free to fly off to wherever you need to, whenever you need to.’ She spun away to lift the whistling kettle off the hob and place it on a heat protector, all but steaming herself. Why did he have to remind her this last month together wasn’t going to last? She didn’t need reminding. It was front and centre in her head every single day.
‘I don’t want to argue with—’ he began.
‘Then stop blaming me for you feeling guilty about taking time off,’ Lea shot back, turning to face him. ‘You’re a human being, Dave, not a flipping robot.’