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I threw back my head and laughed, her words easing some of the tension in my body, and I stood.
“Darling. What a way to put it.” I crossed to Sophie and heaved her out of the chair, surprising another squeak out of her, and pulled her against my body. Looking down, I placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Ever so gently, I lingered at her lips, kissing her softly. “Tonight was about you. And satisfying the need I’ve had to taste you since the moment you broke into our castle.”
“I didn’t break in,” Sophie said automatically, fire lighting her eyes. “I had keys, you know.”
“You’ve already done me a great service tonight.” I nibbled Sophie’s bottom lip, much like I’d seen her do many times. “The accounts have been a huge time suck and a burden for me. Having you take care of them is…a gift.”
“Is this how you pay all your accountants?” Sophie pulled back and narrowed her eyes at me. I couldn’t help myself, laughing once more before kissing her indignant nose.
“Of course,” I said lightly and stepped back while she pummeled my chest with her fists. “Ow!”
“Oh, shut up. You’re much too strong for that to hurt.” Sophie pouted.
“Truly, Sophie. You’ve made my day in more ways than one.” I traced a finger over her lips before tilting her head up for a kiss once more. “Let tonight be about just you. A gift.”
“I…okay, well, then. Thank you.” Sophie stepped back and tripped on her leggings, and we both bent, smacking our heads against each other and staggering as I tried to help her. Laughter consumed me for the second time that day, and I shook with it as she swore and untangled her pants before pulling them up her legs. “Just once, I’d like to do something with a modicum of grace.”
“Och, grace is overrated. Plus, can we stop to admire the beauty of this desk? I mean…I’m not sure I even knew what was under here,” I said, admiring the gleam of wood that I could now clearly see under the neat stacks of paper.
“I did good, didn’t I? While you’re here…can I just give you my recommendations?”
“Only you would enjoy an orgasm and immediately return to your spreadsheets.” I shook my head in awe.
“It’s a toss-up which is more orgasmic for me,” Sophie said, a wicked light in her eyes, and then she convulsed in laughter when I bent and whispered a very naughty suggestion in her ear. “Fine, fine, you win. Your orgasms are a smidge better than working with spreadsheets.”
Bending over the computer, I pointed at the piles of paper. “I’ll take the win, lass. Now, go on, then. I’ll try not to pass out from boredom.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Sophie
The shrieks awoke me in the muted gray light of dawn, and I pulled myself from the warm cocoon of blankets to scramble to the window. There, I found Lachlan standing on the battlement in dark jeans and a thick coat, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared out to Loch Mirren.
Was I supposed to join him? Was this a job for me now? Unsure of how to proceed, I crossed my bedroom and flipped on the lamp. Reaching for my dirk that I’d placed on the bedside table, I paused.
A glimmer at the base of the sword, near where it met the hilt, caught my eye. Picking the sword up, I bent closer to examine it in the soft glow from the lamp.
Sure enough, a singular sapphire had appeared in the blade, no larger than a carat, and appeared to be strongly welded into the metal. I brushed my thumb over the stone, wondering if it would fall loose, but the gem was firmly rooted in the metal. At my touch, the blade lit, and a cool balm washed through me. The feeling reminded me of the time Lottie had treated me to a fancy spa where, when you left the sauna, you walked through a room with a cold eucalyptus-scented water misting down from the ceiling. The stark contrast from the heat to the refreshing mist had felt much like this power did when it ran through my body.
If this was magick, I could get on board with this feeling.
Returning to the window, I saw that Lachlan no longer stood on the battlement, as the sun now peeked out from foreboding gray clouds that hugged the tops of the mountains behind Loch Mirren. I made a mental note to ask if the Kelpies only arrived in the night, for I’d yet to hear any of the otherworldly shrieks during the daytime.
Not that I would have heard anything last night while Lachlan had done wicked things to me with his mouth. The reminder of his touch sent a flash of heat through me that no cooling eucalyptus mist could tame. My need for him threatened to overwhelm me, and I wasn’t sure if this heady rush of longing was exhilarating or terrifying. I’d never considered myself one to have fits of high emotions. Instead, I tended to remain steadfast as I waited to react to what the world threw at me.
And maybe that was what Uncle Arthur had sent me here to change about myself. Something to consider as I traced my finger over the sapphire in the blade once more. Thoughts of his laughter, his shrewd mind, and his thirst for knowledge filled me—both with sadness and comfort—as I looked out to Loch Mirren. He’d loved Scotland, in all her unruly glory and, knowing Arthur, he’d sent me here with more than one reason in mind. I couldn’t help but think that becoming a knight was secondary to a greater goal that Arthur had wanted me to achieve. Even now, when he was gone, his presence lingered closely.
Arthur had loved greatly. He’d not only loved theideaof love, evidenced by the numerous times he’d married, but he’d also loved without reservation. Being loved by Arthur was like being consumed by wildfire, Lottie had once told me after a few too many glasses of wine. At first, I’d been grossed out before I realized she hadn’t meant in the bedroom. Arthur loved wholeheartedly, embracing the highs and lows of love like a sailor holding fast as the sea tossed his sailboat around in a storm. To be loved like that, Lottie had said, was life-changing and truly a gift.
Now, I wondered if I held the same capacity to love as Arthur had. The thought scared me, sending my heart skittering back behind its protective walls, and I defaulted to putting Lachlan just where I needed him. He was nothing more than a fun vacation fling, someone I could enjoy while in Scotland, but not for the long term. No, Lachlan was a friend, and it appeared he came with some benefits, and that would be all I’d take from him. Making the decision soothed me, tamping the fire that built inside me when I thought of his mouth on mine, and I was happy to have some rules to govern how I treated him.
Friends with benefits. A flirtation. A holiday romance. It all sounded so chic and worldly. I was having a proper European affair, I decided. The kind my friends would talk about when they studied abroad for the summer. That was all this was. It would be silly to attach any sort of expectation to it.
Plus, I had bigger issues to worry about, I reminded myself, as I looked once more at the gemstone in the blade. If I was correct, the appearance of the stone meant that I’d passed a challenge of sorts. The problem was—I couldn’t possibly know what that challenge was.
“So the sapphire just appeared?” Matthew asked at the breakfast table later that morning. I hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, so instead had spent time in the library going over the books that Agnes had left for me. Hilda and Archie were nowhere to be seen, but a note on the table had informed me to help myself to any food for breakfast. Keeping it easy, I toasted some bread and slathered some jam across the top, and now Matthew and I studied my dirk as we sipped coffee.
“Yup. It wasn’t there last night, and now it is here today.”
