Obsessed (Wild Mountain Scots, #1)

The message landed on my phone with a rude buzz, and my heart sank. I’d been dreading work interrupting my day, although it was almost inevitable. But as I went to read the screen, the bairn on my shoulder let out a warbling wail.

I pocketed the device and stroked the wee lass’s back, bouncing her gently. The scent of her soft hair drove my hormones crazy.

I was coming to the peak of the most fertile part of my cycle, so I was a goner for baby fever.

“There, there. What’s all this fuss about? Ye miss your ma? She’s right over there, sweetheart.”

Dainty, dark-haired Persephone, daughter of Rose and Sebastian, continued her wail, far louder than seemed possible.

Across Casey’s kitchen, Rose lifted her head from where she was chatting with Casey. “I’ll take her, my little air raid siren. She’s due a feed.”

I nodded, and the woman collected her daughter, popping her shirt up to get the bairn to her lunch.

We’d gathered at Casey’s this morning ostensibly for tea and chat but also to swap baby cuddles. Isobel had brought Archie—huge compared to his younger cousins—and Rose was staying with them for a couple of days on a visit. Casey bounced her newborn daughter, Callie, in a springy chair and, on a sofa, heavily pregnant Viola yawned.

Though I hadn’t yet fallen pregnant, I was in seventh heaven. Babies everywhere.

Casey joined me. “How’s things at work?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Awkward. Every time I have to see or talk to Rupert, he’s snarky and rude.”

“That man should’ve been jailed for not reporting his nephew.”

I sighed agreement. “I just had a message come in to my phone. It’ll be him. He should’ve sent me back some papers yesterday, and he knew I had today off for a long weekend. I think I’ll have to go home and log on to catch up.”

“Can’t he finish up the task by himself?”

“He could, but he won’t.”

“Why don’t you quit?”

That…was a great idea. Where before I’d been indifferent to my job, now I truly disliked it. Rupert was a pain, Jill, his PA, was actively hostile—she had a thing for him, I was certain—but it paid the bills. Or would do if Lochie let me spend any of my money on our household. We were lucky that his cottage was paid for as part of his job, and I didn’t need to pay rent anymore as I’d given up the place next door.

Maybe now was the time for a career change.

“Incoming male. Need coffee for me and Brodie. Eyes hidden,” Blayne announced then stepped into the room, an arm held out to guide him and his other hand concealing his eyes.

“You’re safe,” Rose quipped. “No boobs out right now. Petal decided against her lunch.”

“Grand.” He uncovered his face and moved in on Casey, kissing her before kneeling to his daughter in the chair.

Casey put on a pot of coffee, and I used the distraction to check Rupert’s message. It was infuriating that I’d have to give up my mum-and-baby morning for him, but duty called.

Except, the message wasn’t from him.

Lochie: Pack up. I’m taking ye away for a few days.

I stared, then hit the Call button.

He answered straight away. “Hello, lass.”

My blood warmed. “What do ye mean we’re going away? Where?”

“Your da is picking up Isla from school. Ye and I have business to attend to.”

“What business?”

He clucked his tongue. “Pack light. Ye willnae need much. It’ll be just us and a hidden cabin. Meet ye at home around two.” Then he hung up.

I blinked, my mind racing over the mystery.

Just us and a cabin? A flush of heat rippled over me. A dirty weekend. That’s what it sounded like. With Isla in the house, we had to choose our alone time carefully, my parents providing the occasional sleepover for her.

I wouldn’t turn down a few days of just me and my mountain man.

“Not your boss, I take it from your blushing?” Casey raised an eyebrow.

“Nope. Lochie has something planned.”

At Casey’s side, Blayne smirked, glancing away.

I poked my cousin in the chest. “Ye know something, I can tell. Spill it.”

“Never.” He ducked to whisper in Casey’s ear.

My friend grinned big. “Same place? No way. That’s so cool.”

I opened my mouth, glancing between the pair. “What place? Why is it cool?”

But I only got a pair of infuriating smiles in return.

“You’ll see,” said Blayne.

At 2PM on the dot, Lochie’s car rolled up outside our cottage. He leapt out and opened the passenger-side door, ready for me.

I leaned on wall outside our home. “I’ve been going out of my mind wondering what you’ve got planned.”

My huge fiancé bore down on me then pulled me into his arms. His warm, insistent lips met mine, and his hand held my head, his other landing on my back to clamp me to his body.

For a long moment, I forgot even my own name.

In all ways, Lochie owned me. My heart, my sexuality.

God, how I loved this man.

“In the car, Caitriona,” he muttered, his tone dark and delicious.

My breath caught, and I hurried around the Land Rover.

But as I buckled myself in, my phone rang again.

Rupert Gaskill, the screen read. I grumbled at it.

Lochie climbed in his side and glanced at the screen. “What does that jackass want?”

“Me to do some work for him. Despite the fact he’s caused the delay.”

“Can I answer?”

Amusement chased my now entirely horny state. “If ye like.”

Lochie took the still buzzing phone and answered. “Aye? What do ye want?”

I could just about hear a spluttering Rupert replying.

“Naw. Get away with ye. She’s on holiday today. Do it yourself, man.”

Lochie hung up without pause and handed the phone back to me, grinning for getting to abuse my boss.

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I could’ve done that myself.”

“But ye love it when I defend ye.”

I really did.

He drove us away from the McRae estate and out into the national park. For half an hour, he evaded my questions on where we were going, but pretty quickly we pulled up outside a set of wooden steps leading up into the trees.

Thick forest surrounded us, no other house or person in sight.

We were completely alone.

Lochie jumped out then rounded the car to my side. He opened my door and lifted me into his arms.

I giggled. “What are ye doing?”

“We might not be married yet, but ever since I’ve known ye, I’ve had the urge to throw ye over my shoulder and steal ye away to my cave. This is me living out a fantasy.”

He stomped across the pine-needle-strewn ground and climbed the steps. At the top, a pretty cabin sat concealed high in the trees.

My jaw dropped. “I know this place. Casey told me about it.”

Lochie entered a passcode into a panel, and the door swished open.

Wood gleamed. Appliances sparkled. Subtle luxury had been built into every corner.

Inside, Lochie deposited me on the wide sofa. Our bags were still in the car, but we could fetch them later.

He crouched in front of me, and his cheeks pinkened. “I talked to Blayne about how Callie was conceived.”

“She wasn’t planned.” I traced a fingertip over the apple of his cheek. Then my brain caught up. “Wait, ye asked how they got pregnant?”

“Aye. I needed information, and searching online brought me mixed results. Blayne explained that they’d come to this place so it was a natural next step.” His gaze turned keen, intensity at the fore. “Ye want a bairn. I do, too. So we’re going to do everything to make that happen. Every month, at about this time, I’m going to take ye away somewhere to focus on the task. I have cover for the rescue service, and your parents will take care of Isla.”

A laugh burst out of me. We’d originally decided to let the baby-making happen when it was ready, but last month, I’d been hormonal and disproportionally disappointed when I’d gotten my period.

Lochie had noticed and taken steps to right the issue. Of course he had.

“Ye don’t do things by half, do ye?”

“When it comes to ye, never.”

“Does the whole estate know what we’re up to?”

“Not in so many words. Blayne undoubtably guessed.”

I didn’t mind. Hell, I’d intended to have fertility treatment, and it wouldn’t have been secret.

I reached for his collar and drew my fiancé close. “Then we’d better get started.”

True to his word, Lochie didn’t hold back. He wanted to get me pregnant, and if I could conceive by the sheer energy rolling off the man, I would’ve. He tore his cable-knit jumper over his head, his t-shirt following. The rest of his clothes vanished in seconds. I was slower to move, happily ogling the revealed delights of muscles and dark chest hair.

Lochie growled and took over with lifting my blouse. My hands were still tangled in the sleeves, and he ducked and bit lightly on my satin bra, right over my nipple.

I freed my hands and dug them into his hair, urging him on as he licked and sucked me. Then suddenly I was in his arms and over his shoulder. He slapped my arse and strode gloriously naked from the lounge into a darkened bedroom.

Upside down, I spied the bed before he reached it.

Dusky rose petals decorated the quilt.

“Did ye do this?”

“Aye, I popped by earlier. We have food for a couple of days and nothing to interrupt us.”

He knelt on the mattress and carefully set me down. In quick moves, I rid myself of my remaining clothes, then Lochie’s mouth was once more on mine.

I wrapped my legs around his big, hard body and received one heck of a branding kiss. Wet and ready, I ground against him, all too eager to start the weekend he had planned and satisfy the aching need inside me.

But Lochie stalled. “Remember how we started, how we tried sex in different ways to see what ye liked? Tell me your favourite.”

He’d been my sexual awakening. I’d never wanted anyone else, and I was his for eternity.

“Slow and deep,” I whispered.

Lochie lined up his cock and slid home. Thick and hard, he stretched me, lighting me up. I gave an indecent moan, earning a soft kiss.

Then he pushed up on his strong arms and got to work. With his hips moving and his incredible cock filling me, he kissed me like he couldn’t bear not to, his mouth devouring mine.

I matched him, needing to show him how much I loved him and everything we did together.

Especially this.

Together, we made love, writing our love into our movements. Lochie ramped up the pressure, still slower than usual, but devastating. He worked me in the way only he could. In minutes, I was arching up, my body one tight coil of heat. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

He reached for my clit, his firm press exactly what I needed to tip me over the edge.

I cried out and splintered, coming, spasms wrecking me. Never had I known such happiness as he could enact on my body. Orgasms had never been easy before this man. Nothing had been.

With his mouth open, he gazed at me in wonder, stress plain in his shaking muscles.

“I love ye,” I said on a breath.

Lochie’s eyes rolled, and he jacked his hips. “How much?”

“Endlessly. It’s only ever been ye.”

He thrust again, then one last time and stilled, his climax hitting hard as he filled me up.

He dropped onto me, and I clamped my limbs around him.

It took a while for Lochie to speak again. “I love ye, too. I want to marry ye next month. I want ye to be the mother of my bairns and my partner in life and in all things.”

We hadn’t set a wedding date—work had been busy, so it kept getting pushed back. We’d been happy to get used to living together as a family, but maybe Lochie hadn’t liked the delay. “I’ll arrange it. I’ve just been so behind at work.”

He bucked his hips, his cock still half hard.

“I might quit altogether.”

This stalled him, and he furrowed his eyebrows, his expression puzzled. “Quit?”

“I hate it there. I want to leave. There’s a mountain of work coming up, and I can’t get excited about it. I don’t care anymore.”

“Who does it if ye go?”

“Rupert.”

“Christ woman, leave. Tell him on Monday and take a picture of that fucker’s face. Put your notice in and find something else if ye want to. Or not. Spend time with your family, and with Isla. I’ll support us. I’ll do whatever I can to make our life as happy as it can be.” His hand drifted to my belly, and he stroked my skin. “When we have a bairn on the way, ye might not want to work at all.”

“You’d be happy with that?”

“Ecstatic.” He uttered a sound of need, withdrew, and spun me around.

From behind, he thrust back inside me, ready to go again.

Lochie wound my hair around his fist and turned my head for a kiss, fucking me like he meant business.

Which he did.

The whole weekend would see us exhausting ourselves on each other’s bodies. Baby-making was my favourite activity, and I loved Lochie all the more for carving out this space for us to be alone.

However long it took, we were doing it the fun way.

On Monday morning, at the university where I worked, I strode past a sour-faced Jill and entered Rupert’s office without knocking, light infusing my heart and a skip in my step.

Rupert blinked at me, his lips a flat line, but I didn’t let him speak.

Instead, I held up a piece of paper.

“My resignation,” I announced. “Consider yourself informed.”

“Your what?”

“I quit.”

“But, but you can’t! We have the yearly reports to construct. For every department. Plus there’s a huge backlog with the professors. There’s too much work to do for you to just leave.”

I held in my laugh and placed the letter on his desk, then turned my back.

“Watch me, ye jerk,” I uttered.

Then I walked away.

Four weeks on, and it was the evening before my wedding. We had a quiet ceremony planned tomorrow with a party after at Castle McRae. Tonight, Lochie was meant to be staying with Cameron and the other men of my family. A few days ago, they’d taken him out on the estate and gotten up to all kinds of mischief, so I suspected they’d only have a few drinks this evening.

But I had a surprise for Lochie first.

Well, not much of a surprise. Since our weekend away at the cabin, he’d hovered over me, more so as the weeks went on.

That time for my period had come and gone, with no event to mark it.

We both knew, but I’d held off on taking a test.

Until now.

Isla, Lochie’s seven-year-old daughter, was as much a part of my life as her da, and I’d worked hard to bond with her. So it was only right that she was involved in this, too. She was staying with me, my mother, and a couple of other women at my cottage, but right now, it was just the two of us.

I poked my head into her bedroom, my heart thumping. “Isla, can ye help me with something?”

She leapt up and danced over, eyes bright.

“I think I might be pregnant and I need ye to hold my hand while we wait for the test result.”

In fact, I’d taken the test half an hour ago. No need to disappoint her if I was just very late. I’d only allowed myself a tiny peek at the result, and forced back my surge of happiness, staying the emotion for a short while.

Excitement fizzed in my veins.

Isla’s mouth formed a perfect O. We hadn’t specifically talked about having more children around her, but she had her own ideas. “I’ll help. What do I need to do?”

“Sit here with me while we wait for the test to finish.”

She joined me in the hall, the test sitting on the bathroom counter. I set a timer on my phone and settled against the wall, my arm around Isla’s shoulders and our fingers linked.

“Ye know, I have never been happier than when ye and your da came into my life. If we make our family bigger, that only means more love to go around.”

“Can ye have a girl?”

I chuckled. “I don’t think we get to decide.”

The front door opened, and Lochie entered. He spotted us in the hall, and I beckoned for him to join us. Right on time.

“We’re waiting on a test result.” I tipped my head at the bathroom then at Isla, putting meaning into my look.

Lochie took a sharp breath but remained silent, taking up a post opposite us.

The little lass chewed her lip, her golden curls half hiding her face. “If the baby gets to call you Ma, can I do, too?”

My emotions, already so close to the surface, spilled over. “Sweetheart, of course ye can. I’d love that.”

Lochie stared at me, so much love in his eyes it almost hurt.

The short timer beeped, and I pointed at the test kit. Isla grabbed it and turned it over. She squinted at the words then jerked back. “It says pregnant.”

“It does?”

“Yes!”

Lochie broke from his position and grabbed me into his hold. At the same point, Isla threw her arms around me.

As a family, we hugged it out.

No matter that I’d already known, I finally acknowledged my feelings. For years, this was all I’d wanted. As a teenager, becoming a mother had been my greatest ambition. Never had I pictured doing it with a husband and daughter in my life.

I truly was the luckiest woman alive. And with my new life, I was utterly obsessed.