CursedLaird (14 page)

Chapter Eight

He hated the fact he could not touch her. He’d wanted to
kiss her and continue to ravish her mouth with the passion the dive created in
his soul. Time played against them. Silently he prayed he’d placed enough
distance between them that she had not turned to stone as well. Though he
couldn’t be sure, he took no chance that contact led to participation in the
curse. Caledonia imprisoned in stone because of his overzealousness would not
do. Not in his book. She deserved to suffer no part of this hideous daily transformation.

Damn this curse. Anger ravaged his soul with the desperate
desire to rip Hume MacGillivray apart. If not for him, Struan would be free to
pursue Caledonia and the phenomenal world of diving. If not for him… Struan’s
train of thought halted.

If not for the curse, he never would have been given the
opportunity he had now. To dive and explore the loch at greater depths than his
lungs would have carried him. By some twisted definition he should be thanking
MacGillivray. Though no sound left his lips, the sensation of laughter filtered
through his entombed soul. His eyes may have been closed and his body frozen,
but his mind was wide awake with vivid images of his time spent beneath the
water’s surface with Caledonia.

She’d given him a present unlike any other. The world she
opened for him brought sheer joy and wonderment to his entire being. Not to
mention, dressed in the thing she called a diving suit did nothing to hide her
curves. He liked the way the soft, black material molded to her breasts and
cupped them in a gentle caress. And her arse.
Och
, thinking about it was
painful, especially frozen with no way to react to the beautiful vision
swimming behind his eyes.

When she took the lead during their dive, he had been
dumbstruck. Those solid round globes teased him with each motion of her legs
propelling her through the water. Up, down. Up, down. It implanted images of
him being buried deep within her, riding her—up and down. His shaft had
reacted. It hardened and became painful in the tight fit of the suit he had
worn. Each time they made contact, be it intentional or by accident, it didn’t
help alleviate his condition in the slightest. Instead it intensified the ache
in his balls.

Reliving his first diving experience made him hunger for
Caledonia again. Though his body did not maintain the capability to react at
that moment, he knew if he were in man form and not statue, his cock would be
at full attention and Caledonia would still be in his arms. At least, that was
how he imagined it would be. The memory of her hand on his cock brought joy to
his soul. It caught him off guard when she touched him.

A bold move on her part that he found exciting and made him
want her even more. He wished they had been naked while exploring each other.
The diving suit hid nothing, but it prevented actually skin-to-skin contact,
which he craved.

A thought sparked through his head. Did his body remain in
its excited state while frozen?
Och.
Frozen with his shaft upright and
wanton. Since there was no way to tell his cock’s condition, he internally
shrugged it off. It didn’t matter. All that did matter was Caledonia.

With nothing else to do, he let his imagination guide him
into a world of relaxed bliss. Diving with Caledonia, spending hours exploring
the waters only to surface and spend the rest of the night tasting and
discovering each other.
Och
, what a fine mess he was in. Caught between
a rock and a hard place—literally.

* * * * *

The O’Reillys took the news better than she ever could have
imagined. They didn’t tease or call her daft when she explained about the
statue. In reality, she’d had no choice. They’d returned while she slept and
found the statue in a totally different state than when they left. It helped
when Poppa and Momma both backed her word as truth. Not that it was necessary.
Abel and Percy had no reason not to trust Caledonia.

As Percy put it, they knew she was a bit off-kilter in her
thinking from time to time, but she’d never steered them down a path that
didn’t lead to an exciting adventure. And this was just another one of those
Caledonia
adventures
as far as they were concerned.

And according to Abel, if you didn’t believe in supernatural
things, then you shouldn’t hang with Caledonia. Remember that banshee when we
were kids? Knew then life with you’d never be boring.

A smile tickled her lips as she stood in the shower
rethinking their earlier conversation. She couldn’t have been blessed with a
better pair of brothers even if her parents had spawned them. They both
promised to help with Struan’s dive training. And with them present, maybe it’d
help curb that blasted sexual desire that ignited every time Struan even looked
her way. Caledonia leaned into the water’s hot stream, letting it soak her
face. Never had it been this difficult for her to concentrate on something
other than sex, especially while diving.

She turned the water colder and forced herself to stand in
its direct flow. Full stream with a cold-as-ice temperature didn’t diminish the
heat within her soul for more than just a sample of Struan’s passion. Unable to
absorb any more without catching a cold, she shut the water off and stepped out
of the shower. With the towel in her hand, Caledoina dried herself. Images of
Struan danced behind her eyes, toying with her overactive imagination.

With her eyes closed, she imagined it was him drying her
body, not her. The brush of the cotton across her nipples nearly made her moan
but she bit it back, not wanting her folks to hear and knock on the door
thinking something was wrong. Caledonia snapped out of her horny stupor,
quickly finished drying off and dressed. Something had to give before she burst
with need. She shook herself over the adolescent sensations warping her ability
to think straight. An adult woman maintained more control over her libido. She
lifted her gaze to the mirror and mentally asked,
Didn’t she?

Caledonia left the bathroom and headed downstairs. It was
almost time for Struan to be released. Her insides tumbled. How would he react
to the O’Reillys? Would they get along? God, she hoped they’d at least tolerate
each other. She stopped in the kitchen long enough to grab a fresh-baked scone
and cup of hot tea. With them in hand, she held the door for her new best
friend, the kitten Streak, who followed her to the shed. It surprised her earlier
to find him asleep beside her on her pillow. He must have clawed his way up the
comforter to get onto the bed. That feat alone amazed her.

Percy, Abel and Poppa were aboard the boat, making ready for
another night of diving when she reached the dock. She waved.

“Hey, Caledonia,” Percy called out as he jumped down on the
dock. Streak didn’t like it and hissed at him from behind Caledonia’s ankles.

“I see one o’ the litter has taken a liking to you,” Poppa
stated with a nod.

“Aye,” Caledonia replied. With the scone eaten, she knelt
and scooped him up, cuddling him close to her chest in one hand while holding
her tea in the other. “I’ve named him Streak. Thought it was about time we had
a mascot for the boat. What do you think?”

Poppa harrumphed good-naturedly. He took the kitten she
handed him. After a moment of sizing him up, Poppa put him down on the boat and
stated, “He’ll do.” He cocked an eyebrow at Caledonia and added in a stern yet
teasing tone, “The moment he lays a tooth in one o’ my hard-earned catches,
he’s bait.”

Caledonia nearly snorted her tea, knowing her poppa wasn’t
capable of hurting an innocent being, especially a kitten.

“You wouldn’t dare,” the voice of her momma came from behind
her, making her look over her shoulder. Aileen Kavanagh stood with her arms
crossed over her chest and a steady glare, which contained a hint of humor,
leveled on her poppa. On the ground beside her sat a large picnic basket and a
cooler.

Caledonia swallowed her smile. The kitten was safe even if
he was never in any real danger to begin with. Poppa harrumphed, waving his
hands in defeat in the air then returned to rigging his gear for a night of
fishing while they dove. She left the matter in good hands as she walked to the
shed.

Sunlight clung by its last threads in the sky and she didn’t
want to miss Struan’s moment of wakening. She opened the door, stepped inside.
Because of the strange feeling of being watched from the woods the day before,
she closed the door behind her. What happened in this shed, stayed in this
shed.

She knew the moment his eyes would open. Heat coated her
flesh. The air sizzled with energy setting the hairs on her arms and the back
of her neck on end. It was a sign she associated with Struan’s impending
release. She couldn’t help but smile when the flash of light appeared followed
by his gorgeous face.

“Welcome back, bright eyes,” Caledonia said with a smile.

“Caledonia,” he gasped on a thicker-than-normal brogue as he
stepped toward her and swept her into his arms.

He kissed her. She instantly responded. Caledonia parted her
lips and granted him access. She hungered for Struan’s kiss. Not like the first
one they’d shared where he’d simply attacked her mouth or the sexually charged
others from last night. This kiss was different. This kiss curled her toes.
This kiss relayed his passion with each second it lasted. And when they
separated, she was breathless. Damn, the man knew how to kiss.

She leaned back in his arms, enjoying the closeness. The
look of lust in his eyes lit her soul on fire with unadulterated need. If
others weren’t waiting for them, she’d peel him out of that suit and show him
how badly she wanted him. A light knock reminded her that would have to wait.
She closed her eyes, unable to believe her family’s timing.

“Hey, Caledonia, is he awake? We want to meet him,” Abel
called through the door.

“Yeah, don’t keep him all to yourself. Share,” Percy added
and she couldn’t miss the implication in his tone. Geez, those guys never quit.

In a low tone, she asked as she held his ardent gaze, “Are
you ready to meet the O’Reillys? Remember, they may not be blood but we’re as
close as any sister and brother.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied, releasing her.

Caledonia turned, walked to the door and switched on the
light. She took a breath, knowing once she opened it private time with Struan
wouldn’t exist. Slowly she let them in then secured the door behind them.

“Struan, these two are my closest friends, Percy and Abel
O’Reilly.” She turned to find for the first time in her life, neither had a
voice. They stared wide-eyed at Struan. They circled him as if not sure they
believed what they saw and looked for a flaw to prove it was some sort of
trick.

“Gentlemen, I am Struan MacKinnon o’ Clan MacKinnon,” Struan
spoke, holding his hand out, waiting for either of them to take it. Neither
did.

They simply took a stance in front of him, arms crossed over
their chests, shoulders back, spines straight. Struan lowered his hand. She
noticed he appeared relaxed yet subtly readied his stance for a possible
assault. Great, the room suddenly shrank around her with an overabundance of
testosterone, thickening the air. Right before she jumped in to end it, Percy
broke the silence.

“So you want to learn to dive.”

“Aye. Caledonia took mi for mi first lesson last night.”

“And you liked it?” Abel asked without relaxing his stance.

“Aye.”

“What are your intentions toward our Caledonia?” Percy’s
question floored her. Her expression did nothing to hide her surprise,
especially with her mouth dangling wide open. Luckily for Percy, anger
controlled her words and strangled them in her throat. Before she found the
power to push them forth, Struan handled the situation with an expert’s degree
of delicacy.

“Mi intentions at the moment are to learn to dive. As for
the future…” He paused, gathered her hand in his and lifted it to brush a
delicate kiss across her knuckles then leveled a non-challenging gaze upon the
brothers. “We shall see what the fates decide.”

Combined with the tender brush of his lips to her flesh, the
words eased her anger at Percy for asking Struan’s intentions toward her. It
really wasn’t any of his business, but she should have expected he’d act like
an overprotective brother. Did Struan mean what he said? His tender clasp of
her hand twisted her insides, making it difficult to focus. Caledonia lifted
her gaze to the O’Reillys and hoped for the best.

The brothers looked at one another. In a show of unspoken
acceptance, they nodded then turned their attention back to Struan. Percy
extended his hand. “Welcome, Struan. Let’s get you on the boat and out to
deeper waters. Caledonia tells us you want to visit the spot where we found
you.”

Caledonia breathed a sigh of relief. They accepted Struan.
Now with that hurdle crossed, maybe they could get on with the night’s dive
plan. She released his hand and placed a gap between them. What she needed was
a little bit of distance between him and her if she were to gain any control
over the explicitly sexual thoughts gripping her brain.
Think dive. Think
dive.

Struan took his hand and then shook Abel’s as he said, “That
is mi goal before I return home to Castle MacKinnon.”

“Whenever you’re ready, we’ll cast off and head for deeper
waters,” Abel stated. He nodded toward Caledonia. “Your Momma made us a fine
basket of food and filled a cooler full of refreshments so we’re set for most
of the night.”

“If’n ye don’t mind, I would like to take a moment to
freshen up a wee bit before I spend another night in this suit,” he replied as
he tugged at the neckline.

“We understand that one. Being in a dive suit too long can
be restrictive,” Percy agreed.

“Take as long as you need. We’ll be down on the dock when
you’re ready,” Abel added as he nudged Percy and headed for the door.