Book Read Free

Replay Book 6: Highland Fling

Page 1

by Nia Farrell




  Table of Contents

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Replay Series Cast of Characters

  Author Biography and Links

  Previous Releases

  Coming Attractions

  REPLAY BOOK 6: HIGHLAND FLING

  by

  Nia Farrell

  REPLAY BOOK 6: HIGHLAND FLING by Nia Farrell

  Copyright 2017 by Nia Farrell

  Edited by Anita Quick

  Cover Design by Crystal Visions

  Stock Photography from bigstockphoto.com

  Interior Layout by Anita Quick

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used without the written consent of the author, except for brief quotes in reviews. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or any other means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book. Such action is in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law.

  Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  First Edition May 1, 2017

  Length 20,081 words / 108 pages

  ASIN: B06Y6BB1TM

  Long Branch Books

  Shattuc, Illinois

  Disclaimers

  This book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The use of any real company, organization, and/or product names is for literary effect only. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

  Titles

  by Nia Farrell

  SOMETHING ELSE

  (The Three Graces Book One)

  SOMETHING DIFFERENT

  (The Three Graces Book Two)

  SOMETHING MORE

  (The Three Graces Book Three)

  Finalist, Best BDSM Book of the Year, Ménage Category,

  2016 Golden Flogger Awards

  THE THREE GRACES TRILOGY

  SOMETHING SPECIAL

  (The Three Graces Book Six—sequel to SOMETHING ELSE)

  Nominated for Best Erotica and Best Romance

  2016 Summer Indie Book Awards

  DARK MOONS RISING

  REPLAY BOOK 1: VIKING RAID

  Nominated for Best Erotica,

  2016 Summer Indie Book Awards

  AS WICKED AS YOU WANT

  (FOREVER OURS BOOK 1)

  Voted #1 Erotica and #10 overall,

  The 50 Best Indie Books of 2016

  Nominated for Best Historical, Best Erotica, and Best Romance,

  2016 Summer Indie Book Awards

  REPLAY BOOK 2: TRIPLE PLAY

  REPLAY BOOK 3: HONOUR BOUND

  REPLAY BOOK 4: HOOKED

  Winner, Favorite Leading Lady,

  2017 Our Book Stars Awards

  REPLAY BOOK 5: NIGHT MUSIC

  Titles

  by Nia Farrell and Jane Austen

  PRIDE AND PUNISHMENT

  An Erotic Retelling of Jane Austen’s Beloved Classic

  Nominated for

  Best Historical, Best Erotica, and Best Romance,

  2016 Summer Indie Book Awards

  and by Nia Farrell writing as Erinn Ellender Quinn

  RIDE THE WIND

  TOUCH THE WIND

  REAP THE WIND

  DARE THE WIND

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Replay Series Cast of Characters

  Author Biography and Links

  Previous Releases

  Coming Attractions

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever been bullied, shamed, or made to feel inferior because they don’t fit someone’s idea of perfection. True beauty lies within.

  ~ Nia

  Introduction

  Welcome to Replay, the ocean-side BDSM theme resort where patrons play in the past. The settings are museum-quality, the handcrafted garments look like originals brought forward in time, and the staff members are selected for their unique talents and abilities. Each scene that they bring to life is drawn from a page in history, but no one has to suffer through it—

  Unless that’s what they want.

  Chapter One

  They were up to something.

  Jannet MacDonald eyed her brother Micheil and his wife Rowena, trying to interpret the subliminal messages being passed between the two of them. Her niece Alexis was too busy eating her favorite dessert to even notice that her father and stepmother were acting a bit odd.

  Jannet’s overactive imagination conjured every worst-case scenario she could think of. She’d spent months caring for and home-schooling her niece, severely injured in the accident that killed her mother. Now, they didn’t need her any more. Micheil had remarried. Alexis had a new mommy. Jannet could pack her bags and leave the house that they’d built this Spring and invited her to share.

  Four months later, she still hadn’t decorated her apartment. Maybe there was a reason….

  Her stomach pinched, a painful reminder of the anxiety that she’d struggled with her whole life. Part of it came from being the middle child, struggling to find something that she could excel at, when her brothers Micheil and Xander were both geniuses. Part of it was body image. The chubby little girl she’d been was still there, bearing wounds that had never fully healed.

  She put down her spoon, unable to eat more.

  Micheil’s brow scrunched with concern. She pasted on a smile for Alexis’s sake. “Dinnae fash,” she told him, knowing what he was thinking, remembering her at her worst. “I’ve had quite enough. But it’s been a long day, and there’s a book I left half-finished. I’d like to get back to it. If you’ll excuse me….”

  Jannet folded her napkin, placed it by her barely-touched strawberries, and left the table, winding her way to the west wing, where her suite of rooms was located. Instead of picking up her e-reader, she opened the door of her walk-in closet and dug out the box with the proof that she’d once had worth.

  She took it to the coffee table. Fetching a knife from her kitchenette, she cut through the packing tape, opened the four corrugated cardboard flaps, and started taking things out. The toe shoes she’d worn for her first solo at Juilliard. Another pair from her debut as a paid professional. Programs. Posters. Ribbons. Trophies. A dried rose from a bouquet that she’d been given nearly three years ago.

  She had danced the lead role after the troupe’s principal dancer was hospitalized with appendicitis. It was the last time that she’d performed on stage.

  Once ballet had given her life meaning. She’d finally realized her
dream, only to have Fate snatch it away.

  She’d had no choice, she reminded herself. She’d had it all and walked away, sacrificing her career for family. But still, it hurt. It hurt, and there was no going back. Her dreams were ashes, consumed in the crash that had claimed her sister-in-law and left little Alexis struggling to survive.

  A distinctive knock on the door pulled her from her pity party. Micheil. She could ignore him, but it would only prolong the inevitable.

  “Coming,” she called, and went to open the door.

  He was alone.

  Which meant Rowena was with Alexis. Her new mommy.

  They didn’t need her any more.

  Micheil missed nothing. “Stop,” he ordered. “Ye ken nocht of what I hae tae say.”

  Of the three of them, Micheil’s Scots burr was by far the strongest. She’d managed to tame hers to the point, she could nearly make it disappear.

  Her submissive nature responded to her Dominant brother’s command.

  “Tell me, please,” she whispered. She couldn’t’ deal with it until she knew what it was.

  “Come, lass. Sit wie me. There’s news tae share that ye’ll wish tae hear.”

  Jannet felt some of her tension ease and inhaled deeply. At least she was able to breathe again.

  Micheil took his favorite chair. Jannet sat on the sofa.

  He eyed her open box. A wave of regret washed over his face. “I ken ye miss it,” he said roughly, clearly remembering the dark days that they’d shared, taking turns so that Alexis was never alone in the hospital, seeing her through rehab, rounds of doctors, a number of surgeries, celebrating each hard-won victory on her road to recovery. “There’s no way that I can ever thank ye, but I want ye tae take this, and use it.” He pulled an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to her.

  Inside was a voucher to Replay, the local BDSM theme resort where her older brother had met Rowena’s alter ego, erotic blogger Regina Wright.

  “It’s a music weekend,” he told her. “Ye’ll hae a chance tae hear Aubrey Wolfe perform again. I was talking tae her Dominant, Sir Josef, about getting ye vetted and she recognized yer name, from when the two of ye were at Juilliard. Aubrey is playing Mozart in the Versailles Room on Saturday. And Sunday...”

  Micheil leaned forward, smiling like the deviant he could be.

  “Sunday is a cèilidh,” he said. “There’s certain tae be pipes and drums, and music that speaks tae yer Celtic soul.”

  Music. A weekend of music. At a BDSM resort that she’d been dying to see. Online research was one thing. Reading her sister-in-law’s blog A Naughty Girl’s Guide for New Submissives had only whetted her appetite for more.

  “Ye’ll need all the clearances, of course, and an appointment fer yer dresses.”

  “But Alexis—”

  “Will be fine,” her brother assured her. “Ye’ve done well. And continue tae do so. It will be a challenge, but somehow we shall find a way tae manage wie out ye for a few days. This is something ye need, lass. Hae needed for a long time. A blind man should hae seen it. I am verra sorry that it took until now.”

  Tears smacked her eyes, and she blinked them away, refusing to cry. Micheil wasn’t kicking her out. She was needed still, but he was finally recognizing that she had needs, too. Needs that weren’t met by homeschooling Alexis, by taking her to appointments, or joining her in her equine therapy and enjoying the mounts in her brother’s stable. He was generous in the salary that he paid her—and living here meant that she’d saved nearly everything that she’d earned—but even that wasn’t enough to pay for a weekend at Replay. He was making it possible for her to finally experience what she’d only dared to dream about.

  “Thank you.” She managed to push the words past a throat grown thick with emotion.

  Hearing it, he had to clear his own throat before speaking. “Aye. Weel. There’s still the clearances required, and the clothes. I took the liberty of setting up the three appointments for ye. In the envelope,” he added. “The numbers are there, if ye need tae change anything.”

  Jannet looked again, and found a small piece of paper with three names, addresses, numbers, and times. A doctor for medical approval, resort psychiatrist Sir Josef for a psychological evaluation, and wardrobe Mistress Jewell Fraser for measurements—

  All for tomorrow.

  No wonder Micheil and Rowena had been keyed up. They’d held off until the last minute, probably so that she wouldn’t change her mind.

  It wouldn’t have been the first time that she’d talked herself out of a good idea.

  Her billionaire brother smiled. “So…ye’ll do it, then?

  “Aye,” she said. “I’ll go.”

  Her weekend was two weeks away. She’d let Micheil think that she was going for the music, but she planned to make the most of it while she was there.

  Chapter Two

  Jannet hadn’t seen Aubrey Wolfe since their years at Juilliard, where Aubrey studied piano and Jannet danced. Although Replay was known for the historical accuracy of their period garments, music weekend was proving the exception to the rule. Aubrey’s outfit consisted of fishnet stockings, short pantaloons, an 18th century style coat, and a white powdered wig. She was wearing makeup—something that Jannet had never seen on her. Aubrey was visually impaired. Someone would have had to apply the cosmetics for her. Just guessing, she thought it might be one of her partners, Luc Vashon, who’d guided her in and readied her for her performance tonight.

  The concert was brilliant. Everyone attending was spellbound. At least one was moved to tears. Local librarian Gini Shelton’s face was wet by the time the last notes of “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”—“A Little Night Music”—adapted for piano faded and the next selection began. Seeing Gini’s Dom, Marcus Vos, pull her onto his lap and comfort her made Jenny acutely aware of her own lack of a man in her life.

  She’d brought extra batteries, just in case.

  Sir Josef left Mr. Vashon by the piano where Aubrey was playing and made his way to where Jannet was. The Austrian-born psychiatrist was glowing with pride for his submissive’s performance.

  “I understand that you and Aubrey know each other,” he said when she finished her song. “And Mr. Vashon, from Juilliard.”

  “Not well,” Jannet admitted. “Different departments. But Aubrey and I knew each other’s work. She’s brilliant.”

  “As were you, Luc tells me. When time allows, we would welcome a visit as soon as you can arrange it. You have my number. I have Aubrey’s schedule with her travel dates. We shall want to make certain that she and Luc are home when you come.”

  Jannet was excited, thinking about the prospect of reconnecting with her former schoolmate and Aubrey’s teacher. Since moving here, her main conversations away from home were with the librarians when she took Alexis to bring back and check out books, and with the medical professionals that Alexis saw, including Eleanor Benoit St. Leger for her flashbacks and nightmares. Other than her sister-in-law, she hadn’t really developed any friendships.

  “Thank you, Sir Josef,” she told him sincerely. “I look forward to it. I’ve heard that your home is lovely.”

  “It is,” he admitted. “We recently added onto the back. Enclosed the pool with a stunning solarium. It was designed by the same architect who built your brother’s home. I was very happy that he agreed to do my much-smaller project.”

  Ian McGregor.

  Jannet felt her face grow flush, remembering him from her brother’s wedding. She’d never met him until they were a paired bridesmaid and groomsman. Seated next to each other at the reception, she’d had all night to study him, even when her anxiety had kicked in and made it difficult to talk.

  He was handsome. Charming. Blessed with a squared jaw and dimpled cheeks, he had long brown hair and warm hazel eyes that missed nothing. He was observant enough to not press her to dance, and considerate enough to stay with her when he could have partnered any number of women there.

  She hadn’t missed th
e looks thrown his way. Unless she was very much mistaken, when he spent a night alone, it was by choice.

  Unlike her.

  “And there he is.” Sir Josef pointed to a group of men—all Dominants, from the looks of them.

  One of them was Ian McGregor.

  He was looking at her.

  Why? What was he thinking?

  “Come,” Sir Josef coaxed, breaking her from her reverie. “Dance with me.”

  Jannet bit her lip. At the wedding reception, she’d led Ian to think that she couldn’t dance rather than let him know that she was too nervous to trust herself on the floor with him. He was a Dominant, like her brothers. With her submissive nature and the aura that Ian emanated, her knees had been jelly.

  Ever the astute observer, Sir Josef noticed her discomfiture and pressed her gently. “Tell me,” he murmured. “Why the hesitation?”

  Rather than confess what she’d done, she shook herself, turned to face him, pasted on a smile, and lifted her arms for the waltz.

  Thankfully, Sir Josef didn’t demand more than her willingness to partner him. He turned out to be a decent dancer—at least for the waltz. She followed his lead, gliding across the floor, welcoming the familiar response that came with their movements. It wasn’t ballet, but it was dance. It was enough for now.

  The song ended. Mr. Vashon leaned over to whisper in Aubrey’s ear, and she started another waltz.

  Intending to rejoin the rest of those listening, Jannet turned and found her way blocked by a wall of velvet-clad muscle, dressed in period finery. Ian McGregor caught her right hand in his left and stretched their arms out to the side. Sliding his other hand around her waist, he pulled her closer to him than was necessary. Or maybe it was. There was no way that she could slip free, not without making a scene.

  Then again, why would she, when she’d dreamt of being in his arms and she was finally here?

  Sir Josef was an adequate partner. Ian commanded the dance floor. Commanded her. He led her through increasingly difficult waltz steps, demanding her submission, bending her to his will. Dipping her low, he pulled her upright and guided her through a sequence that had her craving more.

 

‹ Prev