A quiet clearing of a throat sounded from the direction of the partially closed parlor door to her right. Mairi paused from crawling around on all fours.She rolled back on her heels, balancing the tote of retrieved dog food bits on her knee. Curiosity tweaked her senses as she watched for any indication that the door might open wider. Had Eliza actually taken one of herbenefactorsinto the parlor instead of having them go directly to her private quarters on the fourth floor?
While Eliza was probably as old as Granny, some undefined age between eighty and ninety, the flamboyant matron still excelled at finding rich gentlemen to keep her in the comfortable manner she preferred.
Mairi had never actually met any of Eliza’sbenefactors,as the older woman preferred to call them, but Eliza had let enough information slipabout her method of supporting herself that Mairi couldn’t help but admire her elderly guardian. Very selective and always discreet, Eliza somehow kept her chosen gentlemen so enraptured that they happily kept her well-funded and housed. Mairi didn’t judge Eliza for her means of getting by. She just silently wished she knew some of the old woman’s secrets when it came to handling men.
Casual dating was easy enough—as long as she didn’t bring them home and submit them to Eliza’s scrutiny—but actually forging a close relationship scared the living daylights out of Mairi. To get close, you had to share secrets—truths. The Sinclair family secrets tended to be a little difficult for the average guy to accept. She had made that mistake once. She shuddered at the memory. Never would she forget the look ofoh my God, she is a freakin’ loonon Jason’s face when she had hinted at her heritage. She blinked away the uncomfortable memory as she retrieved a dented can that had rolled into a corner. After dropping the tin of dog food into the tote, she rose from the floor.
“Mairi? Could ye come in here, love? I have someone I’d like ye to meet.”
Scooping up the remaining bags, Mairi hooked them over her arm. The visitor must not be a benefactor.“I’ll be right there.” After she fed her new friend. The longing in the poor stray’s eyes had melted her heart. The poor thing must be starving. Eliza’s guest could wait. Her hungry new dog could not.
She pushed through the swinging kitchen door and plopped her bags down on the table. A niggling of concern filled her as the clunk of the dog food cans echoed through the empty room. Her furry friend wasn’t in the kitchen. He must’ve decided to go exploring—probably searching for food. The poor thing.
She peered up the open stairwell at the back of the kitchen. “Come here, puppy.” She made kissing noises, then strained to listen for the slightest hint the dog was anywhere near. Nothing. Nary a shuffle nor click of a single toenail. She gave a low whistle, then called out again. “Where are you, buddy? Come on. I have some supper for you.” She scooped up the tote containing the loose kibble and rattled it toward the stair. “Come on, big guy. It’s beef flavored. Num-nummy.” All she heard was a gust of wind rattling against the kitchen window.
The longer she stood holding the bag of dog food, the lower her spirits sank. A kernel of suspicion took hold and quietly germinated at the back of her mind. The house was empty. If the dog had been in any of the rooms, she felt sure her calls would’ve elicited some sort of response. If the dog wasn’t in the house, how had he gotten out? She turned and glared down the hallway at the parlor door.
Eliza preferred cats to dogs, but surely she wouldn’t have turned him out while Mairi was gone. Granted, the stray was a large dog, but from everything Mairi had seen, he was as gentle as a lamb.
She yanked open the door leading out to the tiny patio and fenced-in yard, squinting through the heavy sheets of sleet-filled rain. The backyard was empty too. Mairi slammed the door shut and whirled back around. “Surely, she didn’t. Eliza wouldn’t do that.”
A volatile mixture of frustration, disappointment, and lack of sleep from the night before took over. In the short time she had been around the dog, she’d become strangely attached to the creature. She felt like she’d finally found someone to love and confide in—someone who would neither judge her nor run screaming for the hills when they found out who . . . and what . . . she really was. The culmination of the dangerous mix of emotions stung her eyes with the threat of tears. Dammit to hell.When her anger spiked out of control, she cried and crying irritated her even more. She dropped the sack of kibble to the floor and watched the brown chunks scatter and bounce across the tiles.
She charged down the hall, threw open the parlor door, and barreled into the room. Eliza had some explaining to do.
Eliza was ensconced in her favorite armchair like royalty holding court. Her ring-laden fingers fluttered with a slow bored rhythm atop the plump arms of the red sateen chair. She wrinkled her well-powdered nose as she slowly removed her rhinestone-encrusted reading glasses, folded them closed, and set them in their crystal dish on the mahogany table beside her. She didn’t speak—just folded her hands atop her rounded middle and studied Mairi with an imperious expression that shifted Mairi’s irritation into a higher gear.
“What the hell did you do with my dog?”
Eliza didn’t respond. Her lips pressed into a more pronounced line of disapproval. Without batting an overly long false eyelash, she arched a brow and inclined her head toward the other side of the room.
“What?” An annoyed huff escaped Mairi. “Eliza, I have had just about all the bullshit I can take for one . . .” The rant she was about to unleash disappeared, evaporating like a mist hit full on with the heat of the rising sun. Her mouth slightly ajar, Mairi caught her breath and swallowed the rest of her tirade as her attention locked on the target of Eliza’s focus.
The silent man dominated the far corner of the parlor, miniaturizing all else in the room. Standing with booted legs widespread and hands clasped to the small of his back, he appeared as focused as a predator—a powerful mesmerizing hunter exuding an air of strength and primal sexuality.
Although his close-cropped hair was so blond it appeared almost white, his attire as well as his stance projected an air of darkness and mystery. Layers of muscle rippled beneath the sheen of his black shirt that was stretched taut across the endless expanse of his chest.
And those legs . . . nicely accentuated by an impressive bulge below his low-slung belt—Mairi swallowed hard and rubbed her suddenly clammy palms against her denim-clad thighs. Dammit. Where has Edinburgh been hiding him?
Eliza softly coughed. “Please forgive my dear sweet Mairi. Her manners are usually much better than the slack-jawed mute ye see standing before ye.”
A warm flush ofoh shitswept across her. Mairi had forgotten Eliza had a guest and here she was staring at the man as though she were about to trip him and beat him to the ground. “Uhm. Sorry to interrupt. Please forgive me.” Was this how Eliza selected her benefactors? If it was, she’d like to sign up for this one.
The man barely smiled. His chin dipped in a polite nod. “It is my utmost pleasure to meet ye. I am Chieftain Ronan Sutherland.”
He extended an open hand to her, moving across the room with such strength and grace that she lost the ability to connect with the world around her. Damn. Damn. Damn.The words echoed the man’s every step and the seductive play of his muscles that made her hands itch to touch him.
With a loud impatient huff, Eliza floundered free from the depths of her overstuffed chair and hurried to Mairi’s side. She pinched the tender skin under Mairi’s arm and whispered, “Get on with it, gal. Do ye wish the man to think ye impaired?”
The sting of the pinch effectively snapped Mairi free of her trance. “Sorry.” She scrubbed the stinging flesh of her arm as she smiled and reached for Ronan’s hand. “I’m Mairi Sinclair. Sorry if I seem a bit off. It has been a very stressful day.”
As soon as her fingers connected with his calloused palm, a delicious surge of erotically charged energy greeted her. The powerful sensation raced through every nerve ending, imploring her to never let him go. All her senses shifted to high alert. Every instinct urged her closer. Her soul sighed in relief. Finally. Claim this one. Now.
Time slowed. She grew more entranced as every sense sharpened. Ronan lifted her hand to his mouth and paused one long, breathtaking moment with his warm lips pressed to her skin. If she didn’t know better, she would swear she felt the hot moist tip of the man’s tongue flick against her hand as though he tasted her. He left her with the distinct impression of even bettertastingsto come.
And those eyes. Heart pounding, she struggled to breathe. His eyes shimmered like bottomless pools of mercury. Unabashed hunger andI will have youshone in the depths of his liquid silver gaze. She blinked hard and pulled back her hand, pressing it tight against her middle.
After shaking herself free of the heated spell, she edged a step back. Thank goodness Eliza was in the room. If she had met the man without Eliza looking on . . . Mairi blinked hard against the sudden image of them sprawled in an erotic knot across the pillows of the loveseat. What the devil was wrong with her?Had Eliza accidently slipped one of her benefactors’ aphrodisiacs into the wrong box of tea? Mairi made a mental note to interrogate Eliza about that possibility later. She had been getting pretty absentminded of late.
