Claire gets sucked into 1672, naked and scared. Duncan rescues her only to realize she’s the key to finding his brother who was kidnapped by the Fae. Can they work together and both get what they want? Will sudden passion for each other change their goals?
Excerpt
“I’m going
with you.”
A week had
past and neither of them was closer to what they wanted.
Home
for Claire and Alex for Duncan.
She still
couldn’t remember anything before ‘waking up’ on the beach of Skye. Or how
she’d got to his time. Even though he was convinced she’d travelled through the
Faery Stones.
And Duncan was
supposed to leave in the morning to continue his quest for them.
He laughed
long and hard. “A lass on a pirate ship. Sorry, but it’s not a pleasure cruise.
I’ve told ye what I seek. We’ll figure out another way ye can help.”
“Right.”
Claire took a deep breath. “Your purpose is my
purpose. You want to find your brother, and I want to get home.”
But did she?
Claire was
already fond of this huge Highlander.
More
than fond?
Her heart
stuttered, but she ignored it. Duncan had been nothing but kind and honorable
with her, even if his whole clan—his whole family—assumed she was sleeping with
him.
Sleeping
yes—as in his bed.
Every night.
Sex?
Not so much.
God, I wish.
Duncan said
nothing, but he stared at her like he always did.
Claire took a
step toward him, closing the distance between them in his office—ledger
room—he’d called it. “We’ve talked about this. You need my help, and I want to help. Besides, maybe I can sense
something, or something will jog my memory. And I can figure out how I got to
that beach. It’s worth a shot.”
His massive
chest rose and fell as he let out an audible breath.
Claire was
holding hers.
Duncan was her
familiar in this very foreign land of
the past since she’d been here. She couldn’t imagine being left in the castle
while he was gone for possibly months.
She adored his
sister, liked his father all right, and of course little Angus, but… the
thought of Duncan leaving her churned her stomach.
Historical
romance novels hadn’t covered just how difficult life in this time was. Hard work, and boring with no TV,
movies, not even her damn MP3 player. What was worse, she couldn’t read or
speak Gaelic or Latin, so the books here were out, too.
No automation.
Everything was manual labor, even
cooking and laundry. Being a guest, she wasn’t expected to help Janet and the
female staff with the castle day-to-day, but she didn’t want to sit around and
be useless.
So Claire had
been scrubbing floors on all fours, using a washboard to clean clothing and bed
linens. Even smacking the dust out of tapestries.
She was a decent
cook, so the previous night she’d helped in the kitchens, preparing a stew the
men had seemed to enjoy, but she’d drawn the line at killing, even if she’d
cooked and eaten the meat.
The archaic
defined roles of the sexes were irritating but not a surprise.
On the other
hand, the simplicity of life here appealed. And smiles meant the same. Love was
the same.
Duncan’s
people were kind and had welcomed her. Not even questioned her presence at
Dunvegan, or in his rooms…in his bed.
“I see yer
wisdom there.” He crossed his arms. “I don’ like it. My men…are ruffians.”
His thick
brogue, leaving off the t whenever he
said ‘don’t’ still made her heart
beat harder. The man was pure sex.
Claire took
two more steps. She could feel the heat coming off his body. “You’ll protect
me.” She wanted to inch even closer. If he reached for her, she could be in his
arms in seconds. A tremor shot down her spine.
“Will I now?”
One corner of his mouth shot up. Amusement wrapped Duncan’s words and Claire’s
heartbeat kicked up another notch.
“Aye.” She
winked as she said his word.
Duncan smiled,
and her stomach fluttered. “How’s that?” He bent his head low.
She gasped.
His lips
hovered over hers.
Please, God.
Let it happen finally.
Please kiss me.
“Because
you’re going to tell them I’m yours.”
Duncan
growled—honest to God growled. Then his mouth crashed down on hers.
Claire moaned
and moved into his chest as well as into his kiss.
He forced his
tongue into her mouth, but she had no intention of fighting him. She slanted
her lips under his and kissed him back as Duncan wrapped his arms around her.
She’d not
bothered with a chemise that morning, and the stupid wool of her skirt made her
thighs itch as it brushed her skin.
His massive
hands cupping her ass and lifting her scattered Claire’s thoughts and she
whimpered into Duncan’s mouth.
He slammed his
pelvis into hers and she melted, pushing right back.
God,
she wanted him.
Burned for
him.
Sleeping in
his bed, but not in his arms just left her with blue balls, especially the two
nights he’d held her instead of avoiding contact.
Was it finally
going to happen?
The
Highlanders in her damn books never had as much control as Duncan MacLeod.
Unless he
didn’t want her—scratch that. An erection was pressing into her stomach.
Claire rocked
into him, kissing him harder and squeezing her arms around his neck.
“Jesu, lass.”
Duncan yanked away from her mouth, resting his forehead against hers. His hard
chest pushed into her breasts as he panted. His high cheekbones were flushed
with color.
“Duncan, I
want you.”
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Learn more about CA
Bestselling, award winning
author of romantic suspense and epic fantasy romance, C.A. loves to dabble in
different genres. If it's a good story, she'll write it, no matter where it
seems to fit!
She's a hopeless romantic and always will be. Risking it all for Happily Ever
After is what she lives by!
She's originally from Ohio, but got to Texas as soon as she could. She's
happily married and has a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.
She works with kids when she's not writing.
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