A great deal of grunting ensued. Car debris rattled and screeched as it was shoved about. And then silence. Katie risked opening her eyes and found herself nose to nose, still upside down, but nose to nose with the sexiest looking rescuer she’d ever seen—even in the eerie yellow-green lighting. Relief flooded through her and she couldn’t help but smile.
Papa always said there’s a bright side to everything. She reached out and cradled the man’s face between her hands. “I’m Katie and you have no idea how glad I am to see you.”
The man’s dark brows arched to his hairline. He gave her an incredulous look then slowly returned her smile. “Aye? Well then…’tis my pleasure t’meet ye as well. But tell me—are ye hurt then, Mistress Katie?”
Mistress Katie? That’s different but I kind of like it.“No…no, I’m not hurt.” Katie took a deep breath in then let it out, feeling her cheeks getting hotter by the minute. She was accustomed to the feeling of reddened cheeks. She found herself in situations like this all the time. Common sense was not her strongest trait and she’d learned to live with that failing long ago. Thank goodness the lighting was funky, so this fine-looking gentleman wouldn’t be able to tell that her face was, judging by the current heat level, flaming red due to this latest predicament.
“I am stuck though,” she quietly added with as much dignity as she could find. Even by the light of the glow sticks and hanging upside down, she could tell this guy was trying his best not to laugh. “And this is not funny, by the way.”
“Aye, lass. But it is, truly.” Her knight in shining armor finally gave in to a sexy as hell grin—dimpled cheek included. A low rumbling chuckle escaped him as he reached up and gently pushed at the roof of the car around her and thumped on the glass panel wedging her in place. Admirably regaining his composure, he politely asked, “How d’ye open this thing usually, mistress?”
“There’s a button but I think it’s dead. My car battery must be shot because the interior lights have faded, and my headlights are out now too.” Katie folded her arms on top of the driver’s seat headrest and propped her forehead on top of them. “I think we’ll need a big ass crowbar or a sledgehammer to break out the panel because I don’t think you can kick your way through it with me stuck in here this way.”
“I’ve the next best thing, m’lady. Ne’er ye worry.” He worked his broad shoulders back and forth, emitting a very manly grunt as he shimmied himself around and squinted up at the car’s ceiling. He’d wedged himself in through the back hatch of the car that he’d oh-so gallantly kicked out, but the interior of the compact car was clearly about two sizes too small for the man’s extremely impressive, even by the light of glow sticks, chest and shoulders. He scowled at the moonroof a moment longer then moved to back out of the car the same way he’d entered.
“Hey, wait a minute.” She had to know. After all, she’d been hanging here for this long, what could a few more minutes matter? “You don’t exactly talk like the average North Carolinian. Where are you from?”
The handsome smile with the perfect teeth, shining and bright even by the phosphorescent glow from the floorboard, faded from the stranger’s face and even in the poor lighting Katie could tell that his eyes had gone all narrow and alert as though waiting for attack.
“Highland Life and Legends. Scottish theme park down the road a ways.” He gave her a polite albeit strained smile then shifted to back out of the car a bit more.
Katie waved him to a stop again. “Wait!” She gave him her friendliest smile. “I love your accent.” She babbled when she was nervous, and this particular situation, especially with the added bonus of a rescuer who would fuel her fantasies for months, had set her mouth into overdrive. But she hadn’t meant to insult him or whatever she’d done to make his air ofI’m a friendly kind of guygo away. She had to make him understand that she really appreciated his help. “You sound so…soothing. You know?”
Dropping his chin to his chest for the barest moment, her patient champion blew out a slow exasperated breath, then lifted his head and met her gaze. This time his smile was genuine. “I thank ye, lass. Now be still and try yer best t’relax. I’ll have ye out in a wee moment, aye?” He didn’t wait for her response, just backed out the same way he’d entered.
Katie crossed her ankles, then her knees, then thought more about his advice.How the hell do you relax with your ass and both legs in the air? Especially when your khaki shorts are bunched up in your crotch?She propped her elbows on the headrest and fisted her hands against her face. She heard more rustling leaves, then thuds hit the roof of the car and the battered vehicle shuddered and shook.
Hugging the headrest in front of her, Katie eyed the roof of the car. Was it closing in around her? “What are you doing?” She did her best to keep her voice from sounding like a nervous squeak but failed. “Um…the whole car is moving, you know? The roof especially. Kind of like caving in on me?”Oh shit. I’m about to be a sheet metal sandwich.“Can you hear me?”
“Dinna move, lass.” A muscular arm encircled both her legs at thigh level and snugged her up against an even more muscular length of what felt like roughly woven cloth. “Close yer eyes, mistress. I’ll have ye free in but a moment and I’ve got ye held good and tight so ye dinna fall.”
Boy, I wish I was right side up against all those muscles.Katie closed her eyes and covered them with her hands for good measure. “I’m ready for…whatever.” She decided that of all the accents she’d heard while traveling, first with her father on his archeological digs and then later as an archeologist in her own right, the Scottish brogue was now her favorite—especially when that accent came attached to such a nice-feeling expanse of hard body.
Her savior hugged her legs even tighter, then roared out a guttural growl, shouting a stream of some sort of language that definitely wasn’t English—most likely Scot’s Gaelic, but she’d have to check her resources just to be sure. It had been a long while since she’d come across Gaelic with Papa and her research. Something hit the moonroof panel right in front of her belly button, shattered the glass into pieces, and sent the shards raining down into the car.
“Shit! Don’t drop me!” Katie uncovered her eyes and braced herself against the debris-covered tops of the car seats, locking her elbows and gritting her teeth.
“I’ve got ye, lass. Ne’er ye fret.”
Eyes squinted shut, Katie felt herself being hoisted out of the car, shifted right side up, then draped over what had to be the largest shoulder she’d ever had the pleasure of being draped across—not that she’d ever been thrown over a shoulder before, but a girl had fantasies. She finally opened her eyes when she felt herself being gently rolled backward to rest upon the subtle rise of the leafy woodland floor atop the embankment.
She blinked hard at her rescuer, then rubbed the inside corners of her eyes.Damn. All that blood rushing to my head must’ve made me hallucinate.Not wanting the vision to end but knowing that reality was inevitable, Katie rubbed her eyes again, blinked even harder, then carefully re-opened them.Nope. Not a hallucination. Wow.
Her dark knight stood over her with what looked like some sort of medieval spear clenched in one large hand. The long lethal head of the weapon glimmered a glowing silver white in the moonlight and the end of the even longer black staff was propped against the side of his worn boot. Her canvas bag—the irresistible bait that had lured her back into the wicked moonroof trap—rested on the ground near his other foot.
Katie breathed in a deep appreciative breath and slowly eased it out. The man’s muscular legs disappeared up into what looked like an authentic Highland kilt draped and belted around an oh-so nicely shaped body. His hair was a dark blond. Shaved close on the sides with just enough left on top to lace your fingers through to get a good grip in case the lovely man needed guidance. His face was framed with a close-cut beard that contoured and shadowed his strong jawline. Katie smiled. That neatly trimmed beard had tickled the palms of her hands earlier. Wonder if he ever tickled anything else with it? The thought made her swallow hard.
Pulling in a deep breath, she caught the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth. Those shoulders. Unbelievably broad. Covered in a white shirt that appeared to be linen, untied and gaping open to reveal laddered abs and a wide chest that looked as though this delectable mortal had been chiseled out of marble and breathed to life by the gods. Tight hips—easily discernible even in the kilt. Maybe she really was unconscious, and this was all a dream. She hitched in a hiccupping breath as he bent and held out his hand. No. He wasn’t a trauma-induced vision.
Hot damn, he’s real.
“Come, Mistress Katie. Dubh and I will get ye seen to and make certain yer none the worse for yer wee mishap.”
“Um…Dubh?” With an appreciative fluttering of her heart that made her swallow hard again, Katie accepted his hand, rose to her feet, then fell forward against his chest, getting even weaker in the knees when he wrapped one arm around her and caught her hard up against him.
“Wow.” She patted his chest. “Sorry. Guess the blood’s not all back where it belongs yet. I was hanging there for quite a while trying to get my bag.” She licked her lips, struggling to stop babbling while she smiled up at him, then patted him again, slower this time, on the wonderfully rock-hard chest that thumped so nicely against her palm. “By the way, thank you for dragging my bag out too. Now…who’s Dubh?”
With his slightly amused gaze focused on her upturned face, her knight tossed his words back into the woods. “Dubh, be a good lad and introduce yerself to the lady.”
