Kiss A Highlander
A Scottish Time Travel Romance-A Highlander Across Time Book 2
Rebecca Preston
Illustrated by
Natasha Snow
Edited by
Elizabeth A Lance
Copyright © 2020 Rebecca Preston
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Natasha Snow
Edited by Elizabeth A Lance
Similarities to real people, places or events are purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
VIP Reader Club
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Epilogue
Preview of Highlander Found
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
About Rebecca Preston
Also by Rebecca Preston
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Chapter 1
Edith Davis looked at her swollen eye in the bed and breakfast bathroom mirror. A shade of faint purple had already started to color her pale porcelain skin. It reminded her of one morning when she woke up with lavender eye shadow smeared around her eye after having a fun night out with her friend Michelle. That memory seemed so long ago, and now her life had taken a drastic and dark turn.
"Hurry up in there!" a deep voice shouted through the door. The voice of the man she loved, who had turned into a monster overnight.
"I need to put on my make-up," she said as loud as she could, but was surprised at how weak her voice sounded. Edith cleared her throat and ran the water to splash the cold liquid on her eye to help it from swelling too much.
"Some honeymoon," she whispered. At just twenty years old, she'd thought she had really lucked out to meet such a charming and rich man like Gabriel Davis, twenty years her senior. His tall build, blonde hair, and winning grin had attracted her to him. Big blue eyes that held sweetness to them had lured her in body and soul.
Edith turned off the water and dried her face and lightly padded around her eye. Zipping open her make up bag she pulled out the cosmetics that would help to conceal the fresh hell she found herself in. As she applied the make up in a strategic manner, she thought about how she could have been so naïve to miss all the red flags. There had been a few during his whirlwind courtship of her, that she'd dismissed. Such as when she realized she was seeing her friends and family less and less since she met him only eight months before. She believed him when he said it was simply because he enjoyed spending time with her so much, that he wanted to always be with her, she thought this was sweet at the time. Now, she knew it was just his way of controlling her.
"Are you ready yet? If you want to see that damn castle then we need to head out soon," he said through the door.
Edith sighed. The mark wasn't going to get any better on her face. She yanked open the door and looked at her new husband, Mr. Gabriel Davis. He put his hands on his hips. "Ready?"
"Yes. I'm ready." She moved past him to gather her jacket and purse.
He grabbed his keys and coat.
They walked out of the room into the hallway that was decorated with old Scottish adornments and tapestries. Edith rather enjoyed this sense of history, but Gabriel had called it a dump and misleading advertising because he was expecting a polished and modern bed and breakfast.
"We'll go to the castle and then stop for a late lunch on the way back, maybe at one of these Scottish Taverns. Would you like that?" He grinned at her.
Edith was shocked. How could he flip-flop so easily? It was just the night before that he had let his true colors show, and now he was discussing lunch options.
"Yeah, that sounds good to me," she said quietly.
They were silent the whole way out of the bed and breakfast until they sat in their rented car.
"Look, I'm sorry I hurt you. You just really pissed me off by kicking me. It was a reaction," Gabriel said.
"Me? You were flushing my birth control pills down the toilet and then wrestled me when I tried to get them from from," she said looking at him with her bright blue eyes.
"You kicked me in the balls," he said.
"Because you grabbed my arm and twisted it. I thought it was about to snap," she said. "Then you back handed me."
"Only after you kicked me. I just said it was a knee-jerk reaction."
"Whatever," she said. At this point she knew he was trying to make himself the victim and talking circles around her until he persuaded her to apologize, but she was not having it.
He started the ignition. "Well I hope you're not going to be sour the rest of the honeymoon. I married a pleasant and quiet woman and that's what I expect to get. It's bad enough we didn't have a proper wedding night," he said driving out of the parking lot.
"That's because I was in so much pain after you hit me. Excuse me if I didn't feel like having sex with you," she said.
"Hey. Don't get sass mouth with me, Edith," he said in a dark stern voice.
Edith tensed up. They were in a car and he couldn't easily hit her again. She had to get away from this man, but how? They were in Skye, Scotland on their honeymoon and she was not familiar with anything. He had sufficiently isolated her. She was a kept woman, or as he put it, "My possession now that I've caught you."
It had all unfolded the night before when she was getting ready for her wedding night. Edith had put on the white silk nightgown he had bought her and was in the bathroom brushing her hair, excited and ready to finally have sex with the man she loved. It had been his idea to not have sex while dating. He wanted her virginal on their wedding night, though she wasn't a virgin. Gabriel had stated that to him, it was like she would be a virgin and he would claim her on the wedding night as his. At the time she'd thought it was a romantic statement and found his restraint to be a sign that he loved her and not just her body. Now, she understood it to be something far more sinister.
As she readied for the wedding night, she took out her birth control pack, ready to pop one in her mouth when Gabriel suddenly yanked them from her hand. At first Edith thought he was being silly and playing around, but then he opened the toilet lid and started to pop them into it.
"Gabriel! What are you doing? Those are my birth control pills!" she said stunned.
"There's no need for them. Now that you're mine you're going to give me a lass as soon as possible."
"What? Gabriel I'm twenty years old, there's plenty of time to plan for a family, but we've only known each other eight months and just got married I think tha
t…"
"It doesn't matter what you think," he said.
"Give them to me," Edith said grabbing them.
Gabriel grabbed her arm and twisted it. Horror crossed Edith's face as she looked into the ice blue eyes of her husband. They had changed. There was no warmth in them. He had a crazy and dark look. She panicked and kicked him in the crotch. He immediately back handed her, knocking her onto the floor.
Edith burst into tears and an argument exploded between them. She now knew she had married a monster, a real Jekyll and Hyde. The man she knew was all a mask to get her to marry him, and then control her.
Now as she sat in the car, she tried to stay calm and figure out how to get out of it all. It seemed a hopeless case because he had isolated her from family and friends, and in all honesty, she was not a strong person.
Edith considered herself a hopeless romantic with a delicate heart. This made men like Gabriel target her because of her gentleness, generosity, and vulnerability. Gabriel was the type of man that believed he could bully her into being 'even more suitable.'
Edith rolled down the window, allowing the cool ocean air to wash over her face. She took a deep breath inhaling the salty sea breeze and closed her eyes.
"There it is," Gabriel said.
Edith's eyes fluttered open. "That?"
"Well that's the bridge to the castle. It's the only way on or off the castle island," he said. "A service bridge only there during the day and at night it's lifted to let ships pass. The original bridge collapsed a long time ago, like most of the castle."
Edith looked at the bridge they were approaching. It crossed a ravine of scraggly cliffs and ocean below it, wide enough to let ships pass. Her eyes then moved to the high cliffs, there was no way out.
"According to the guide it's just over this hill," Gabriel said.
Edith looked at him, still confused after he could be so casual after the way he treated her the night before.
"Aren't you excited, Edith?" he said looking at her.
She turned cold. Her survival instincts told her to play along, then she would have a better chance of escaping him.
She smiled slightly, not too much. "I am. I love history."
"I know you do. That's why I picked this spot. See how lucky you are to have a new husband that thinks of your needs. I could have picked a spot that I would enjoy, you know. I'd much rather prefer to be on an exotic island somewhere," he said arrogantly. Then his brow furrowed. "Though I would not want other men looking at you in a bikini so just as well."
Edith turned to the windshield just as they came over the hill. The site of the beautiful castle ruins took her breath away. For a mere moment she was able to think of nothing else but the beauty before her and not the perilous predicament she was in.
"The vines and moss on the walls… so beautiful," Edith said as she looked at the grey stones of the ruins.
"I thought more of it would be standing. Those towers at least are only missing parts of the roof and look to be in good shape. But that side of the castle is missing an entire wall. I want to find secret nooks and crannies so I can conquer you there like an old ruling Laird," he said.
Edith had a chill run up her spine. She did not want to have intercourse with this man, and something told her it would be a struggle to keep him from doing so.
Just then, relief hit her.
"Damnit. I thought we would have this place to ourselves," Gabriel said.
Just ahead, two vans parked in the parking lot. About ten tourists were milling about the grounds. Edith had never felt so relieved.
"I'm excited to explore inside," she said already gearing up to find some winding paths and hidden tunnels to escape Gabriel and then speak to one of the tourist about getting her out of there. She felt better now that she had a plan.
Chapter 2
Edith stood in front of the massive wooden doors alongside Gabriel, who had a restrained angry look on his face. It was obvious to her that he was annoyed by the tour group that stood in front of them. A tour guide was giving the run down on the entryway, and Edith lifted her head to hear, letting Gabriel know just how interested she was in this information. This way she could follow the tour group through the castle as closely as possible. Finally, they entered, and Edith followed, without even a glance at Gabriel.
"The Lairds of the past wanted to impress as well as cause fear in the hearts of their guests, so this entry hall would have been adorned with armour and richly woven tapestries in the clan colors," the guide said.
"Edith…" Gabriel said, but she ignored him and continued following the group. She knew there were safety in numbers. If he got her isolated in a part of the ruins, who knew what he would do to her. She knew that his sense of pride about his charming exterior would not allow him to make a scene near the tour group, so she attached herself to them.
"Follow this way down the hall. Underneath the castle is the catacombs, but we will see that last, but this door leads to the stairs that go down into that dark area," the tour guide said.
That's it. I have to get to that staircase, then I can lose Gabriel and circle back around once it's clear and find another tour guide to allow me on the bus back to where ever they are going.
Edith lagged behind a bit looking at the door. Gabriel was at the other end of the hall, occupied with something she could not see. This was it. Her chance.
She pushed open the door as quietly as possible. Every hair on her body stood up at the possibility of getting caught by Gabriel. He still had his attention away from her, it was now or never.
The door opened a slight crack and she quickly squeezed inside. Not wanting to make any sort of noise, she left the door open. It was dark. She didn't care.
She pulled out her cell phone and used the light to guide her. A spiral stone staircase stood before her, going deep down. Edith threw caution to the wind and quickly moved down them, hoping all the steps were still intact. Her breath was so heavy she thought they would be able to hear it upstairs. She kept going. She had to.
Finally, she reached the bottom of the stairs. Edith turned in a circle. Only one option stood before her – stay where she stood or continue down the corridor in front of her.
"Edith?" Gabriel's voice echoed from upstairs.
Edith's heart raced. Panic ran through her. The unmistakable sound of the door opening at the top of the stairs echoed down the stairs.
"Edith." This time the voice was stern and full of anger.
Edith jolted forward down the corridor and in doing so, dropped the phone. It fell with a loud clank that echoed up the staircase.
"Fuck," she whispered.
"I can hear you. Get back up here now. It's dangerous down there," Gabriel said.
She could tell he stood on the landing at the top of the stairs. Edith picked up her phone and ran forward. She had to find a place to hide. The corridor opened up into a large cavernous room, the castle catacombs.
"Hide. I need to hide," she whispered to herself in reassurance.
"Edith! Damn it! Fine! I'm coming down and I'm not happy about it!" Gabriel shouted from above.
His menacing voice terrified her. She could not get caught, especially so far removed from everyone else. Edith knew he would hit her. "There. A door," she moved toward an open door that was so small she wondered for a moment what it could possibly be used for.
She crawled through the door and into a brightly lit room. She looked around quickly. There was so much light provided by lit torches on the wall that she thought it might not be a good place to hide. She moved ready to crawl back when…
"Edith!" Gabriel's voice and footsteps echoed in the catacombs.
It was too late, she had to keep going. She ran down the corridor. A small nook with a large tapestry hung on the wall. Quickly she picked up the heavy cloth and stood behind it. She pushed her phone into her pocket.
"Edith! You're going to get lost down here! Enough of this. When I fucking find you, I'm going to kill you!" Gabriel shou
ted a long range of rants as he rushed past her.
Edith held her breath and didn't move a muscle. In this moment she was glad for her petite framed.
"Do you hear me? I'll kill you!" Gabriel shouted.
Then to Edith's surprise she heard other voices. Was it the tour group? The voices were deep with a thick Scottish accent.
"Who will you be killing?"
"Stop right there, intruder!"
Edith listened intently.
"Where is she? Where is Edith? She's mine, not yours," Gabriel seethed.
"Edith? We do not know of such a name. How did you get down here? You are not of the MacLeod clan," the deep voice said.
"What? What is this? Some sore of re-enactment? I'm not here for that. I'm looking for my wife. She's in here somewhere," Gabriel said.
"Here in our dungeons? That is a lie. We will be taking you for questioning, intruder," the Scottish accent said.
"Get your hands off of me! Edith! You're really going to get it when this is all through. I don't want to be part of whatever re-enactment this is with the castle!"
"Throw him in a cell," the men said.
Edith stood behind the tapestry, shocked. She didn't want to move until she could no longer hear the voices. She wasn't aware of the re-enactment plays going on, but it was a nice diversion so she could escape and get help from a tour guide. With Gabriel locked in a fake jail cell, it would give her enough time.
Kiss A Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (A Highlander Across Time Book 2) Page 1
