Love in the Time of a Highland Laird (A Laird for All Time Book 3) by Angeline Fortin (whitelam books .TXT) 📗

ye told me aboot?” he asked, sloshing out of the firth. Water streamed over his muscular body, weighing down his drawers until they hung indecently low on his hips. Closer he came, shaking the water from his dark hair.

Her fingers itched to curl into the hair on his chest. Rub across his flat nipples. Count the hard ridges of his abdomen.

He reached for her and she held her breath but his long fingers only slipped under her bra strap just above the cup. Over her shoulder, his finger lifted the strap before letting it fall back into place.

“‘Tis scanty indeed. Intriguing.” Fire blazed in his blue eyes.

He traced the thin lace edge of the cup before the backs of his knuckles slid over the navy blue satin. Even molded and formed as they were, she could feel every stroke as if it were in direct contact with her skin.

“N-no,” she stuttered. “It’s n-not a bikini. It’s just underwear.”

His fingertips dipped into the band of her panties, tugging them just a fraction of an inch away from her skin before letting them go. Oh, God, she moaned under her breath then she realized he was captivated not by her but by the elastic band. Life could be so incredibly unfair.

Well, if all he had for her right now was more curiosity, it could wait! And she’d be damned if she would get completely naked and leave the friggin’ thing behind for him to play with either!

“Later,” she said firmly, pushing him away. Running into the water, she gasped in surprise but the breath caught. Gooseflesh broke out from head to toe.

Her gasp turned to a squeal when Keir lifted her in his arms, laughing down at her as he strode deeper into the water. “The firth ‘tis fed from the North Sea. Did ye think it wouldnae be cold?”

“N-not th-that cold,” she said, stammering for a whole different reason now. The lapping water kissed her bottom, making her squeak and squeal, but not squirm. She didn’t want him to drop her.

“Aye, ‘tis frigid but the only way tae brave it…” He lifted her high against his chest but she suspected what he planned and clung tightly to his broad shoulders.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Och, lassie, ‘tis the only way.”

And he threw her.

Engulfed by the freezing water, Al froze in shock as she sunk to the bottom. It wasn’t deep, but it took only an instant for the contrast between the temperature of her skin, heated by a long day in the sun, to acclimate to the water. The unbearable chill became a soothing caress, washing away the discomfort, the grime and sweat.

Buoyancy lifted her to the top and she resurfaced, taking only a second to hear his laughter and to draw a breath before she dove under once more, pushing off from his chest with her feet. Swimming under water as long as she could, she savored the rush of the water in her ears. The calm.

It had been years since she’d been swimming. Her grandmother had paid for her to take part in a swim league while Al was growing up. She’d been determined to extract Al from her books for at least a few weeks each summer to soak up a little of the vitamin D she was certain Al was deficient in. Those leagues had lasted until her sophomore year of high school when her grandma died and her mother hadn’t wanted to waste the money on it.

She’d forgotten how much she enjoyed it. Being at peace, when even the constant churn of her mind stopped to appreciate the sheer nothingness of it all.

Isolated from everything… and everyone.

She exhaled slowly, using every second she had to savor that moment before drifting to the surface. She broke through, inhaled, and rolled on to her back with a sigh of contentment…

That lasted all of two seconds before she was jerked to the side by one arm.

“Al! Lass! Are ye all right?” Keir shouted, gathering her into his arms with a little shake.

“Why are you yelling at me?”

She dropped her feet down but found nothing solid beneath them before he lifted her up once more. He dipped down in the process and she realized her swim had taken her out into water over her head and his.

If he didn’t let go of her, he might end up drowning them both. She pushed away but he held her tighter.

“Dinnae struggle, lass. I’ve got ye now.”

“Got me?” Al swept her now-straggly hair back from her face with both hands and peered up at him. “Are you trying to save me?”

“Aye. What were ye thinking going intae open water rather than back tae shore?” he asked, clearly upset, but she couldn’t completely swallow the giggle building up in her throat.

“I was thinking of going for a swim. I thought you knew that when you asked if I ‘fancied a swim,’” she said, imitating his brogue. Pushing out of his arms, she twirled around with a splash before treading a few feet away from him.

“Ye swim?”

“Aye, laddie, I swim. As well as ye or mayhap e’en better.”

She felt freer than she had in months. Years perhaps. As if the water had buoyed her spirits as well as her body. She dropped a few inches below the surface and came up with a mouthful of water, which she promptly spouted at him.

He sputtered, wiping his face, and when she laughed again it was as if the weight of her entire life had floated away. Ignoring his outrage, real or feigned, she swam toward him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

He was as beautiful as he’d ever been, his dark hair clinging to his head. His eyes as blue as the sky above.

“Thank you for trying to save me,” she said softly, ruffling his curls between her fingers.

“I’ll always save ye, lass. Though obviously, I dinnae—”

She kissed him. Just to shut him up, of course, but in a heartbeat his arms wrapped tightly around her and he was