Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Lachlan
I hadn’t meant to growl at her. Or accuse her of being a… What did I say? A fool? Fuck. I behaved like a jerk. I’m not normally so ruffled, but she’d thrown me for a loop.
I’d been checking the baby goat was uninjured—the only animal that had escaped its crate—when her soft voice had wafted up from the truck’s tailgate.
The open worry in her eyes for the animals punched me in the heart. The open lust that replaced it when our stares collided had grabbed me completely by the balls and flooded my cock with raw, elemental want.
And so you behaved like a fucking wanker and took off?
Wincing, I flick a glance at my rearview mirror.
There’s no sign of her. She must have stayed with the old bloke and his animals.
“Probably for the better,” I mutter, fixing my focus back on the road in front of me. I don’t have time to pull over and apologize.
Don’t have time to fall in lust, either.
Fuck, she was gorgeous, though, with lush curves, expressive eyes, plump lips, smooth skin and thick, wavy honey-blond hair…
Gritting my teeth, I mash my throbbing cock back into some semblance of control with the palm of my hand.
In about ten minutes—give or take a corner or two—I should be arriving at Cloudkiss Resort, and the last thing I need when I meet the old couple selling it is to be sporting a boner for a strange woman.
Shame you didn’t have time to linger. Get to know her. Or at least get her number.
Nope. A relationship is not part of the plan. Hell, even a one-night stand isn’t part of the plan.
An image of the woman fills my head, of her glaring at me as I tell the truck driver not to drive and eat next time. The scent of her perfume still haunts me like a whisper of roses.
My cock throbs again.
Maybe if I get to Cloudkiss with a few minutes to spare, I can check in to my room and deal with the unexpected hard—
A blue Mini Cooper speeds past me. For a split second, I catch a glimpse of the goddess flipping me the bird from behind the wheel, and then it’s just dirt and dust billowing in its wake.
“Son of a…” I chuckle, shaking my head. I have to admire her moxie. I bet she’d be a wildcat in bed.
Fresh lust turns my cock into a rigid pole, and I groan, scowling at the strained tent in my jeans. Yeah, I’ll definitely need to deal with that somehow. If the GPS navigation is correct, I’ve got at least a couple of more bends to go. Maybe I should pull over and—
Welcome To Cloudkiss.
“Or not,” I growl as a large white and blue sign nestled on the side of the curve between two massive eucalyptus trees comes into view.
A sweeping turn and a heartbeat later, the dense forest and dirt road give way to a packed car park, lush gardens, and above it all, like a king overseeing his court, Cloudkiss Retreat, the two-hundred-year-old, convict-built, heritage-listed homestead I’m one meeting and a signature away from buying.
A pounding pressure wraps my chest, and a doofus grin stretches my lips.
Holy shit, this is actually happening. After all these years of sacrificing…
Navigating up the road—no longer dirt, I realize—I search for an empty parking spot. Wonder what event has brought so many people here? I know the current owners market it to weddings and engagements, as well as corporate events and—
I hit the brakes.
The last empty spot big enough for my truck sits to my left, thanks to the small blue Mini parked in the spot next to it.
My throat turns to a vise. My semi-deflated cock springs back to life like a hungry dog getting a whiff of roast chicken.
Gripping the steering wheel, I toss a look around the area. No sight of the woman who is going to feature in every sexual fantasy I ever have for the rest of my life. Maybe it’s not her car?
Let it be her car. After your meeting with the owners, go find her. Claim her. Make her yours.
Teeth gritted against the enticing caveman thought, I pull in beside the Mini. The contract signing is in five minutes. I don’t have time to get lost in fantasies of carnal sex with… Damn, I wish I knew her name.
I’m heading for the homestead, the memory of her playing havoc with my body, when a delicate whiff of perfume slips into my nose.
Roses.
I spin around just as she draws level with me. “You’re a real piece of work,” she mutters without slowing down, like she’s sharing an angry secret with me. “You know that, right?”
The jibe punches at my heart, even as base want lashes through me.
Bristling, I temper my strides, keeping at her side.
She’s shorter than I remember. The top of her head barely reaches my solar plexus, and I have the strange urge to check the difference with my hand, just to be sure.
I’m aware of my height in a way I’ve never been before.
Aware of the breadth of my shoulders, the span of my arms. The way I could fold her into me and hide her from view.
From any other man who might look at her, admire her…
“I’m surprised you made it here,” I shoot back. Her arm brushes mine, and I fight to keep my stare straight ahead. How did we get so close? Did I do it? Or did she? “Did you have to push your car?”
“Ha ha.” She snorts, and this time it’s our fingers that scrape. “You’re hilarious. I could spend the rest of my life laughing at your jokes.”
I could spend the rest of my life worshipping your body.
“Fine by me,” I snip back. Why is my heart thumping so hard? I’m barely moving. “Shall we start tonight?”
Or will I wake you tomorrow morning?
She spins to a halt in front of me, blocking my path. So close her body’s heat seeps into mine. So close I can see the chips of sapphire in her eyes. “Who do you think you are?” she asks. “Some kind of antihero?” Her voice is low and husky. I have to bring my head down to hers to hear her.
No, you don’t.
Bending a little closer, I let my lips crook into a lopsided smile. “Why?” I murmur. “You got an itch to be saved, princess?”
Her breath turns ragged. Shallow. She sways toward me. A little. Or am I imagining it? Wanting it to be so? Wanting her.
Fuck, I want her. In every possible filthy way.
I want to strip her naked, spread her out and—
“Mr. McKenzie?”
I snap upright at the call of my name.
An elderly couple stroll toward us—him with a cane, her with her hand looped around his elbow. The setting sun stretches their shadows across the lawn but doesn’t hide their beaming smiles.
“We were worried.” Angus Stafford, proprietor of Cloudkiss Resort, waves his cane in my direction. “Thought you might have changed your mind.”
“Hush, Angus. He’s here now.” Beryl, his wife, pats his arm as she slides her smile from me to the exasperating vixen driving me crazy with lust. “And he’s not alone.
” Her smile widens as she turns back to me.
“I’m so glad. We’ve turned down so many single men who’ve wanted to buy our little part of heaven here in the mountains.
We really didn’t want to do it with you. ”
An icy itch slithers over my scalp.
Turned down so many single men.
“Oh?” I ask, fixing a relaxed smile on my face. “Why’s that?”
Beryl pats her husband’s arm again. “Angus here bought it for me as a wedding present. The thought of it being run by someone who doesn’t understand what love means…” She shudders, face pinched like she’s sucked on a lemon.
My chest tightens. Fuck.
With a sniff and a soft giggle, she directs her smile to the vixen at my side. “Nice to meet you, dear. You are…”
“My fiancée,” I burst out, almost shouting. “This is my fiancée. She’s my fiancée. I love her. We love each other.” I smooth my hand over the small of the vixen’s back and lock my stare with hers. “Don’t we, princess?”