and change their mind.
‘Somewhere.’
He backed her over to the large bed, raining kisses along her neck and collarbone until she fell onto the mattress in a puddle of ecstasy. With one hand he fished in his pocket for his wallet and produced a foil packet. Harriet was glad he didn’t have a drawer full of condoms by the bed stocked up for a weekend of bedroom antics with faceless women. A hook-up had come as much of a surprise to him as it had to her but now it was happening she was glad one of them had come prepared.
She helped him shed his jacket and set to work unbuttoning his shirt, longing for the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips. Finding that patch of hair on his chest reminded her how familiar his body was to her but, oh, how she wanted to get to know it intimately again. Her hands at his fly, she began to undo his trousers.
‘Harriet? I want to make this last,’ he gasped as she pulled him free from the constraints of his clothes.
‘I want you. Now,’ she demanded. This had to be on her terms, so she remained in control. The only way she could justify bedding her ex was to treat him as casually as he had her. She had needs and though she’d taken lovers since Charles, only he could give her what she truly wanted.
Charles didn’t protest. Instead, he slid his hand beneath her dress and tugged her underwear away. With their clothes half on, half off, and Harriet’s dress hitched up around her waist, she waited with bated breath for him to sheath himself. There was something daring and incredibly sexy about the spontaneity of it all. She was risking everything she had by bedding him one more time when he’d had the power in the past to topple her world around her.
‘I guess we do have all night to get to know each other again.’ Charles smiled at her in the darkness and Harriet arched to meet him at their most sensitive parts. She wanted their bodies to do all the talking tonight. That way there could be no confusion about what she expected from him. This was only about sex. An area she knew he excelled in.
They clung to one another, perspiration settling on their skins as they raced towards that moment of utter bliss they knew they could find with each other. Harriet was already on her way to hitting that peak as though she’d been waiting for twelve long years to do this with him again. Those years apart certainly hadn’t diminished their appetites for one another, not on her part at least. No other man had come close to satisfying her the way Charles had. Perhaps because she’d never allowed herself to get as emotionally involved with a man as she couldn’t bear the pain that came with it, or perhaps because he’d been the best lover she’d ever had.
He knew exactly where to touch her to drive her crazy and exactly where she needed him to be. Charles too seemed to be making up for lost time, lust setting the heady rhythm of his every stroke inside her. It was as out of control as she’d ever seen him, or indeed had ever felt herself.
When her orgasm came it hit fast and hard, and as Charles’s cries echoed hers she knew she never wanted this night to end. There was no more living in the past when the present was so much more enjoyable.
Two months later
EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE on this road trip had been telling Harriet to have a merry Christmas. From the radio presenters accompanying her on this journey, to the few strangers she’d encountered along the way, to the very weather, they’d been insisting she should be enjoying Christmas Day.
There was a fat chance of that happening, thanks to Charles, and now she was about to ruin his day too. She was happy to do this alone and more than capable. The only reason she was coming all this way was to give him the chance to step up to his obligations this time instead of walking away. He could tell her face to face if he didn’t want any part of this, then they wouldn’t have to see each other ever again.
The drive to Scotland had been long but uneventful thanks to the lull in traffic. Most people had chosen to stay at home celebrating with family and loved ones. How ironic when she had neither, but next year things would be different. Her whole life was about to change if she didn’t take steps to secure the one she already had.
The closer she got to the Ross-Wylde family estate, the harder and faster her heart pounded and her stomach churned. Both from the conversation she had to have with Charles, and the last one they’d had at Heatherglen. She’d never imagined returning to the very place where she’d left her heart.
Road signs directed her towards the clinic that had essentially stolen Charles from her. Where he’d committed to setting up a life as the director there and Laird of the estate, instead of as her husband.
The drive up through the hills to her destination was as familiar to her as the last time she’d seen it, albeit through tear-filled eyes back then. It was dark now, the winter night so all-consuming it had swallowed up the colourful patchwork of countryside she knew surrounded her. All that remained were the inky shadows of the trees towering on either side of the winding road leading to Charles’s ancestral home.
Buildings new and old appeared in view but her focus was entirely on the castle itself. With lights blazing in every window and the porch decorated with Christmas wreaths and garlands, it was a welcoming sight. An invitation to visitors that at least one of the residents might come to regret. She hadn’t called or texted ahead so she had the element of surprise and could gauge Charles’s true reaction to her news.
Harriet parked her car behind the others, which all had a dusting of snow like icing sugar on a sponge cake, and it was obvious no one had left the premises today. They’d been too busy having a good time, to judge by the sounds of music and laughter filtering through the crisp night air as she made her way to the entrance. There was a twinge of jealousy thinking of him celebrating the festive season here with family when she had no one. She rested her hand on her belly—flat for now. In another few months it would be a different story.
This wasn’t about forcing him back into her life. She’d managed quite well without him these past years and she wasn’t expecting anything from him now. Harriet wasn’t that naïve. A baby hadn’t been part of the deal, but she wanted to do the right thing by informing him of the pregnancy at least. With his track record she didn’t believe he’d want to be involved and so she would let him know she didn’t need anything from him. Her plan was simply to tell him and walk away, leaving them both with a clear conscience over the matter.
Before she could make her way up the stone steps, a door further along the castle burst open and all the warmth and excitement from inside spilled out.
‘Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise there was anyone out here. Are you here for the clinic?’ The petite, smiling blonde looked familiar.
‘Esme? Is that you?’ She’d only been a teenager when Harriet had last seen her, but there was no doubt that was who she was looking at. It was those dazzling blue eyes, so much like her brother’s, that gave away her identity.
‘Yes? Can I help you?’ There was no sign of recognition from the woman who’d almost been her sister-in-law but for all Harriet knew Charles could’ve had a procession of fiancées over the years. She couldn’t be certain Esme would even remember her if she introduced herself.
‘Esme, will you close the door, please? You’re letting the cold in.’ Charles’s irritated voice sounded from inside right before he marched out to see what the commotion was on the doorstep.
It was then
