Here Comes the Rainne Again (Invertary 6)

He knew exactly what she needed. He took her clit in between his lips and sucked hard. She arched up in one curve of beautiful tension as she gasped his name.

“That’s it, Rainbow,” he told her as he gave her one last kiss. “You are so bloody beautiful.”

He nabbed a condom from his bedside drawer and covered himself while he watched Rainne gasp for air. Her eyes were closed, her lips were parted and her pale skin shone with exertion. This was the way she should always look. Fresh from orgasm, sated and boneless.

With a satisfied smile, he worked his way between her legs and pressed into her. Her eyes shot open to look at him.

“Oh,” she said on a gasp.

“Aye,” he agreed.

Her hips rose to meet him; her legs curved around his thighs. Her hands clung to his biceps.

He leaned forward and kissed her as he eased into her. Had anything ever felt more perfect? He didn’t think so.

“I love you, Rainbow,” he said against her lips.

And then he moved his hips. His back tingled. His thighs clenched. Sweat ran down his spine. He stared down into the face of the woman he loved, her mouth open in ecstasy and her hair wild about her, and his control snapped. He groaned her name as he emptied himself into her and felt her clench around him.

“Alastair, Alastair, Alastair...” she chanted against his throat.

With great effort, he fell to her side, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him. Where she belonged. Where she would always stay.

Because he was never letting her go.

???

Inside the tiny bathroom, Rainne splashed icy cold water on her overheated cheeks. She shook at the thought of their kiss. He was lying if he thought it was a mistake. Big coward. It meant something and she wasn’t going to hide from it, even if he did.

She squared her shoulders, held her head high and stepped out of the bathroom to confront him. It was time to sort out a few things. To be honest with one another.

Or at least it would have been if she hadn’t found Alastair fast asleep beside the fire. With a sigh, she crossed the space between them and brushed his hair off his forehead. He didn’t have a fever. She felt his pulse and it seemed fine. It was probably just exhaustion from his injuries and dealing with the cold.

She debated whether to wake him.

“Alastair?” she whispered.

But he didn’t stir. He was well and truly out of it. She knew the sleep would help. She bit her lip as she studied him. What if it wasn’t sleep? What if he’d slipped into unconsciousness? Should she try harder to wake him? What if his injuries were worse than he’d led her to believe? She wanted to wail with the frustration of not knowing what to do.

With a disgruntled sigh, she let her eyes fall on the faint outline of an old light switch by the door and cocked her head. Could it be? Maybe. Heart quickening, she hurried over to the panel and let out a whoop of joy. It was an old-style intercom system, connecting the guardhouse with the castle. An old intercom system that ran on the same basis as landlines. The power needed to operate a system like this was really low and usually came straight from the phone company, rather than locally—another piece of random information she’d picked up in the communes over the years. She thought it came from a guy who loved to protest against British Telecom. She mentally kicked her own backside. Like it mattered where her knowledge came from. All that mattered was seeing if the thing still worked. For all she knew they’d ripped out the cables when they renovated the castle.

Please, please let it still work.

She flicked the switch labelled “all rooms” and sent out what she hoped was a message that could be heard throughout the castle.

“Is anybody there?” she said. “It’s Rainne here.”

She looked over at Alastair, but even the sound of her voice didn’t make him stir. Her stomach cramped with worry. She took a shaky breath and tried again.

“This is Rainne. We’re holed up in the guardhouse. Can anybody hear me?”

11

* Lake *

Even a power cut hadn’t managed to stop the bachelor party from hell. When the lights went out and the men cheered, Dougal had proudly announced he had a generator and told them not to worry—which made them boo. A minute later the lights had clicked back on and they got to watch as the Magic Mike wannabes started gyrating on Betty for the fourth time.

“Please, God, make it end!” Mitch shouted at the ceiling.