"You first. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
I start small. "What is the number one thing you want to accomplish in the next ten years?"
He doesn't even think before answering. "I want to have kids."
His words are a knife to my heart. Fuck, that hurts. I suck in a breath and blink rapidly to clear my vision. I turn my face away from him, not wanting to have to explain my reaction.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth," I whisper.
"Tell me about when you've been the happiest."
"Honestly?"
"Yes, Charlotte." His gaze is intense.
"Probably the last month or so." My laugh borders on hysteria. "How lame does that sound?"
"Not lame," he says, his voice gruff.
"Truth or dare?" I volley back, desperate to get the attention away from myself.
"Dare." There's a challenge in his eyes.
"I dare you to tell me how you feel about me." The words fall from my lips before I can think, my heart beating a loud staccato against my ribs.
He turns in his seat, holding my gaze. "I don't need a dare to tell you, Charlotte. From the second we met, my soul has been orbiting yours. I can't take a breath without wanting it to be filled with you. You're the first thing on my mind when I wake up in the morning and the thing on my mind when I go to sleep." He cups my face, running his thumb over my bottom lip. "I've lost count of the number of times I've fucked my hand, imagining it's your lips wrapped around my cock.
"How's that for lame?" he asks, flashing a crooked smile.
"Not lame," I croak, fanning myself.
"Oh, just wait, Sassenach," he warns as he puts the car in drive and follows the vehicle in front of us onto the ferry.
"So, where exactly are we going?" I ask as I unbuckle, my eyes glued to the way his pants are pulling over his ass as we wind our way through cars to the stairs. Jack turns suddenly, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me against the wall in the stairwell. My breath whooshes out of me as he palms my throat, forcing my chin up to meet his gaze. "What are you doing?" I rasp, resisting the urge to climb him like a tree.
"Replacing a horrible memory." His lips move against mine in a slow, sensual dance. I moan and open for him, sucking his bottom lip into my mouth. He groans against me, sliding his hand into my hair and grasping it tightly. I gasp into his mouth, and he growls in response, raining kisses over my jaw and down my neck. My eyelashes flutter open when I hear a giggle; a little boy with big brown eyes is staring at me over his mom's shoulder, waving at me with a sticky hand.
"Memory replaced," I whisper, gently extricating myself from his grasp. I link my fingers with his and pull him up the stairs. He prowls after me, his beast barely caged, each puff of breath against my neck sending tremors to my core.
I pick seats in a dark corner, sit against the wall, and turn to him. "You never told me where we're going."
He chuckles, "The Quirang. It's a hilly region in Skye. You're going to love it."
"I'll love anywhere if I get to go there with you," I say as I dig for my book in my backpack.
"Really?" He grins, his amber eyes sparkling as he tugs the book out of my hands.
I laugh. "Really."
He looks at the book's cover, then back up at me, his eyebrow raised. "What is this?"
I try to snatch the book from his hand, realizing too late that the cover has three barely clothed men on it, but he pulls it out of my reach. He opens it, flipping through pages, color slowly rising to his cheeks.
Mortification stains my face scarlet.