Page 70 of Love Bomb

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Rona felt Bain slip into bed behind her. Like her, he was still fully dressed. He curled himself around her body and slid a hand over her waist. Judging from how quietly he moved, he still thought she was asleep. And she had been sound asleep, until she’d woken a short time earlier to find she was no longer on the sofa, and that Bain was gone.

“I don’t remember agreeing to sleep in the same bed with you,” she said.

His arm clenched around her in surprise before he replied. “You wouldn’t send me off to another bed on a cold night like this, would you? In this weather, the only sensible thing to do is share body heat. Anyway, I figured you weren’t too fussy about bedmates, seeing as you sleep with that flea bag.”

The light from the old digital alarm clock on the bedside table made it easy to see Tom Cat. He was stretched out over half the bed, snoring.

“Fine,” Rona said, snuggling back into him. “You can stay, but only if you keep me warm.”

“Very gracious of you considering this is my bed,” he drawled.

They lay in silence as Bain’s heat enveloped Rona. The man was a furnace, and it was all too easy to sink into the cocooning warmth created by the duvets and blankets. In the dark stillness of night, it felt like they were hidden from the world. It felt intimate.

“Where did you go?” Rona spoke quietly, in reverence for the darkness.

He took a second to reply and she wondered if he’d already fallen asleep. “I went to threaten your mum and dad,” he said at last.

Rona stilled as his words sank in. “About anything in particular?”

“I took issue with their treatment of you and made it clear I expect it to stop.”

“And you did this by threatening them?” Rona wasn’t sure threats of any kind would work on her parents. “No violence at all?”

Bain nuzzled into her neck. “There was no need for it. A good threat, properly delivered, will produce far more fear, and worry than any quick blow. And it will last a damn sight longer.”

Rona wasn’t sure how she felt about Bain’s confession, although there was no knee jerk outrage at his behavior. No urge to defend her parents or take issue with his actions. It was very strange.

“Are you mad at me?” he asked.

“Weirdly, no,” she said. “I feel quite touched that you’d do something like that for me.”

“Rona,” he chided. “Don’t you know by now that I’d do just about anything for you?” She felt his smile against her cheek. “I might do it under protest, but I’d do it.”

“Like blowing up the folly?”

“I’ll admit I was a bit reluctant at first, but I’d like you to know that I’m doing the job with pleasure now.” He wriggled in closer, and she felt a hand slide under her jumper to splay across her bare stomach.

She sucked in a breath. “Are you taking liberties, Bain MacGregor?” she asked through a smile.

“I would never,” he said, heavy on the fake sincerity. “I’m just doing what you asked and keeping you warm.” He traced a finger around her belly button. “Really, this is about survival.”

Rona’s smile widened. “Survival?”

“Oh, aye.” She felt the button on her jeans pop open. “You remember when Ma made me and my brothers join the Boy Scouts? One of the first lessons we had was all about how to survive in Scotland’s harsh winter conditions.”

She felt the zip on her jeans lower. Oh my, her temperature did seem to be rising.

“I don’t remember you being a Boy Scout,” she said. It sounded strained.

He ran his lips up the curve of her throat before nipping her ear. Rona gasped and arched back into him. She heard his breath hitch, loud and echoing against her ear. The sound sent shivers throughout her body.

“That’s because I didn’t last very long.” His voice was a low rumble of seduction. “But I did learn some very important lessons while I was there.”

“Like?”

His knee nudged between her legs, widening them for him, while his hand teased slowly south, into her open jeans. The man was the devil. Tempting her further away from her good sense with each whispered word and teasing touch. And Rona found that, against her better judgment, she was more than willing to follow him, wherever it may lead.