by Laura Glenn
Devil’s Heart
Laura Glenn
After Leah’s fiancé dumps her just before the wedding, the shy librarian travels to Scotland alone in a quest for adventure. Getting ripped through time and thrown into the arms of a muscular medieval bad boy, however, is a bit more adventure than she had in mind. But Rathe’s sexual magnetism overcomes her reserve and ignites a fiery passion she has never known.
To Rathe, wives are nothing but trouble. If it weren’t for his lack of a male heir, he’d be content to remain single and tup whatever tasty wench crosses his path. But that all changes when he meets Leah, a quiet, gentle lass with a hidden lusty side who moves him as no other woman ever has.
Leah’s hunger for Rathe duels with her longing to return home, but when a dark figure threatens the people she has come to love, Leah must make a choice. In doing so, she discovers an inner strength she never imagined.
A Romantica® time travel erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
DEVIL’S HEART
Laura Glenn
Chapter One
Highlands of Scotland, 2014
What an asshole.
Leah dropped her backpack to the grimy wooden floor, sending up a poof of dust. The tiny one-room cabin with its ’seventies harvest-gold, apartment-sized appliances on one side of the room and institutional-style, metal-framed bed on the other looked nothing like the brochure Simon had shown to her.
After four years of dating and two years as an engaged couple, it was no secret he was a cheapskate. They had first met when he approached her at the reference desk of the university law library in which she worked while studying for her master’s in library science. He had wanted his dime back for a photocopy which had gone awry. It wasn’t library policy to refund money from the copy machine due to user error, but Simon had been so well-spoken and even smiled at her. She handed him the dime without a second thought.
Despite never having to worry about money his entire life, especially now he worked as an attorney in a high-priced downtown law firm, getting a good deal was always paramount to him. If he could get it faster and cheaper, then he was a happy man. Most of the time it didn’t bother her. She had grown up as the oldest daughter of a single mother who worked two jobs just to keep her daughters housed and fed. And Leah’s library career didn’t exactly set her up to live a life of luxury as an adult either.
But, just this once, she wanted something nice. A bit of pampering on her honeymoon and he had assured her she would get it. Of course, just last week he had also promised to show up for the rehearsal dinner the night before their wedding. Instead, he sent her a text.
Sorry. Can’t do it. Please drop the ring off with my secretary.
Leah retracted the handle of her rolling suitcase and shoved it against the wall just inside the door of the cabin. Catching her reflection in an old speckled mirror hanging on the wall as she turned back toward the open door, she stopped to tuck a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear. She leaned closer and rubbed away a smudge of mascara below her hazel eyes.
Only a week prior, her eyes were swollen and red from crying for two days straight after finding out through Facebook of all places that Simon hadn’t dumped her because he wasn’t ready to get married—he had dumped her because of Mandy, the new law clerk at his office. He’d mentioned her several times, going on and on about how much she followed him around like a puppy and hung on his every word. Leah hadn’t thought much about it. Simon had always been a steady, very routine type of guy. It never occurred to her he might cheat on her.
But there the photos were. All five-foot-two of buxom, bleached-blonde, blue-eyed, half-naked Mandy draped across Simon at a pool in Las Vegas the weekend before Leah and Simon were to have been married.
Then there were the photos of them kissing near a roulette table.
And yet more with an Elvis impersonator where Simon’s hand was clearly resting on Mandy’s teeny-tiny, size-double-zero ass.
Only Leah’s sister, Dani, could snap her out of the funk. She’d never liked Simon and always told Leah she could do so much better. He’d often been critical of Leah, especially since the engagement. Her clothes and hair were never fashionable enough. She was too shy and quiet at firm gatherings where Simon was always trying to impress the partners. And when she did speak, it was too often of books, history, and language instead of politics or gossip, neither of which held any intrigue or fascination for her. Nothing she said or did was ever quite good enough for Simon, but she never questioned it at the time. Men didn’t exactly fall at her feet like they did for Dani. In fact, Leah had only dated two other guys before Simon.
Dani often insisted men were intimidated by Leah, saying she was too smart, too pretty, and too aloof for the comfort of most men. Leah had always rolled her eyes at her sister. It was easy for Dani to talk. She didn’t understand what it was like to be shy. Leah couldn’t help coming off as aloof, though it was never her intention. And pretty? Whatever. Dani had received all the beauty in the looks department.
In the end, Leah had chosen to put up with Simon. She was nearing thirty, after all, and the pool of available men was dwindling by the moment. She wanted a family and stability. And he could be sweet and loving at times. Why give him up?
But now here she was, alone and unmarried on what was supposed to be her honeymoon in the romantic Highlands of Scotland. People, her mother in particular, thought she was insane for going alone. Dani had insisted, however, and had even packed Leah’s bags for her. Leah had almost refused to get out of Dani’s car at the airport, but Dani threatened to drag her through the security line. She urged Leah to do something wild and unexpected for once. To ignore her near-constant reservations about doing something different and unfamiliar and instead explore the world and open herself to whatever life threw her way.
It had always been Dani’s approach to life. Leah was the dutiful, responsible older sister while Dani had run wild. Leah had vacuumed, washed the dishes, and stayed home with her nose in a book while stirring strange orange powder from store-brand boxed macaroni and cheese into steaming pasta and half-melted butter while their mother worked. She’d gotten straight As, never kissed a guy until she was a freshman in college, and had closely adhered to the nine o’clock curfew her mother had set. Dani, on the other hand, ignored the curfew, hid weed under the mattress, backpacked across Europe, and shacked up with a sculptor in Paris for a few months, all before the age of nineteen.
Though Leah enjoyed Dani’s stories of her adventures, a secret thread of jealousy had always wound its way through her. What would her life be like if she’d only been half as confident and daring as her younger sister?
Leah shoved her hand into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out the key to the cabin as she stepped outside. She had spied a small loch through the trees as she hiked her luggage up the driveway to the cabin and she was determined to see her first sunset in the Highlands from the banks of that loch. She yanked the creaky door shut and locked it before twisting the doorknob to test the lock a couple of times.
She skirted a large, gray granite boulder which marked the beginning of the worn path through the woods to the loch. Her scalp ached and she pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair and slipped it around her wrist as she made her way toward the woods. She shook her hair out, allowing her long tresses to flow down her back. From now on, she would wear her hair down as often as possible. Simon had always preferred it when she pulled it back, telling her it gave her a sleeker, more modern appearance, right before suggesting she get a haircut. But Leah had always adored her long hair, considering it to be one of the few attractive things about her, and refused to chop off any of it.
Twigs and dried leaves crackled beneath her feet with every step. The blue-gray cast
of water peeked at her from between the trees. As she broke through the brush, the loch spread before her with an expanse of low-lying green mountains topped with mist hugging its shore on the opposite side. Small rivulets of water trickled down from the mountaintops, around craggy rocks, and spilled into the water below. Her shoulders eased as a peculiar mixture of calm and excitement swirled within her.
She had seen countless pictures of Scotland over the years but she had not been prepared for the strange, aching relief that gripped her heart as she stared out across the water. Only one word echoed in her mind.
Home.
Her brows drew together. Weird. She’d never been outside the States before and adored the little corner of the earth in which she’d spent most of her life. Maybe Minneapolis and the surrounding ‘burbs weren’t the most exciting places, but she’d never had any real complaints other than an unfulfilled desire to travel through Europe. Maybe it was because her paternal grandfather had been born and raised in Thurso, a town that hugged the shore of mainland Scotland far to the north. Unfortunately, once Leah’s father had left, her mother flat-out refused to allow Leah’s paternal grandparents any contact with either her or Dani. Maybe that’s what the strange sensations were about—reconnecting with her severed roots.
A chilled wind swept around her, carrying a soft song to her ears. She searched down the hill along the bank of the loch until her eyes landed on a hunched figure with a faded black cloak draped across bony shoulders. With a cane in one hand, the person ambled along the shore, stooping now and then to pick at one of the plants growing close to the loch.
The song floated back to Leah again just as a fog rolled down the lush green mountains to shroud the loch. She pulled the collar of her cream-colored cardigan together at the base of her neck as she shivered.
The figure stumbled to her knees. Leah gasped and leapt down the embankment. She dashed toward the figure and grasped her elbow. The woman’s almost skeletal hand reached for her.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Oh, dearie me!” the old lady proclaimed with a cackle that shot a peculiar shiver through Leah’s skin. “It does not seem so long ago I was as light on my feet as you are now, lassie!”
Leah smiled, assisting the small woman to stand. She stooped to retrieve the cane that had slipped out from underneath the old woman and handed it to her. The old-fashioned gray shift dress she wore hung on her thin frame like a sheet draped over a coatrack.
“I’m sure you just caught your foot on a rogue rock or something. It happens to the best of us.” She glanced down at the worn brown leather of the woman’s shoes peeking out beneath her skirts. They appeared almost homemade.
The old lady chuckled again, turned her wizened, ancient face up to Leah, and grinned. Wisps of pure white hair escaped from the black hood covering her head.
“Do you need any help? I could gather whatever you need if you point it out,” Leah offered, gesturing toward the woven basket hanging from the woman’s arm. She could break a hip wandering around the rocky shore of the loch like this.
The woman waved a gaunt hand at her. “No, no, lassie. I have been walking this shore for as long as I can remember. I will be just fine. But you. You need help.”
Leah’s brows drew together in confusion at the woman’s odd statement. Sympathy radiated from the woman’s faded gray eyes as she reached toward Leah’s face.
The elderly woman dragged one cold finger across her cheek and sighed. “Such a pretty thing. That one was not meant to be yours. Do not worry though. Your man will be along soon enough. He is a bit of a devil but his heart is wrought of the finest gold. You mark my words. You are home now.”
An inexplicable chill slithered up Leah’s spine and she took a hesitant step backward. The woman’s eyes sparkled with shimmering silver lights.
The lights dulled and Leah blinked several times. It must have been her imagination. The poor thing probably wasn’t in full possession of her faculties any longer and certainly didn’t mean any harm. She nodded and smiled.
“That is a good lass,” the woman crooned, her eyes disappearing into the wrinkles that surrounded them as she smiled. She reached into her basket. Withdrawing her now-closed fist, she extended it out to Leah.
Leah hesitated and opened her palm, her eyes darting between the woman’s hand and her face. An amber-colored stone pendant attached to a thin strip of leather fell into Leah’s hand.
“A little something for your trouble.”
Leah shifted her feet. She didn’t need or want anything for helping the elderly lady. It was simply the kind thing to do. “Thank you, but it was no trouble at all.”
She studied the pendant, marveling at its translucent nature. Some sort of quartz, perhaps? An odd jolt zipped through her hand and up her arm to her head. A buzz tickled her ears and she swayed as her vision blurred.
And then a split second later all was normal. She sucked in a breath and stared at the stone, half expecting it to happen again. She lifted her gaze but the woman had vanished.
She whipped around and scanned both the loch and the expanse of woods for the woman. The fog that had been making its way down the mountains toward the loch now nipped at the edge of the dense woods and threatened to swirl around her. Uneasiness settled into the pit of her stomach.
What the hell had just happened?
The stone warmed as she rubbed the pad of her thumb back and forth over one of the smooth facets.
Your man will be along soon enough. He is a bit of a devil but his heart is wrought of the finest gold.
Her thumb paused over the stone. Her man? The last thing she needed right now was a man, least of all “a bit of a devil”. She’d already dodged a bullet with Simon who’d seemed like a stand-up guy for the most part. Who on earth could the old woman have been talking about?
Maybe it was the cute cabbie with the soulful brown eyes and the knee-weakening Scottish accent who had dropped her off at the rental office in town. Perhaps he had made his way up to the cabin to see how she was getting on.
Heat rushed to her cheeks just as a shiver of need slithered down her thighs. She shook her head to dislodge the wayward daydream and sighed in annoyance. This was just great—horny and alone in the middle of the woods on her non-honeymoon.
Awesome.
No. Men were off-limits right now despite her sister’s urgings to jump whatever tasty morsel of Scottish man-hunk caught her attention on this trip. She needed to assert her independence and find her confidence. What she needed now was an adventure, not a man.
Real, all-consuming love. Now that would be an adventure.
Ugh. Where were these stupid thoughts coming from?
A scream pierced the air. She jumped and whipped around toward the loch again. The fog swirled, pulling back just enough to allow the pinkish-orange hues of sunset to filter through and illuminate a small figure thrashing in the water.
She shoved the pendant into her pocket and threw off her sweater. She took a deep breath, shoved the rising anxiety down deep into her stomach, and ran into the loch, slogging through the shallows until she reached water deep enough to allow her to swim. She dug the balls of her feet into the rocky base of the loch and shoved off, the icy-cold water threatening to throw her muscles into complete inaction. But after a few, short strokes, the chill eased and Leah reached the small child in little time. Grasping him under the arms from behind, she wrapped one arm around his chest and swam toward the shallows.
As she planted her feet on the rocks and stood, she lifted the child up out of the water and his arms encircled her neck. He buried his cold little face in the crook of her neck, gasping.
“Easy now,” she reassured him as the cold water lapped at their chins. “I’ve got you.”
He tightened his hold and whimpered. Her heart ached for the little guy. He must have been terrified. She glanced up as shouts from the shore reached her. Three women and another small child, all wearing medieval costumes, watched her
with tears streaming down their faces.
Leah smiled with relief and patted him on the back. “He’s all right. Aren’t you?” She drew her head back to look him in the eye.
His little head popped up from her shoulder and he sniffled before speaking. None of the words made sense.
“What was that?”
His brown eyes widened. Again he spoke, but it was unlike any language with which she was familiar.
As she reached the shore, multiple pairs of hands grabbed the child from her. Eventually he ended up in the arms of a pretty, brown-haired woman whose warm, cocoa-colored eyes were watery with tears. She clasped him to her chest, her lips moving as she alternately whispered to the child and peppered his head with kisses.
One of the other women grabbed Leah’s hand, pressed it between her own, and repeated an unintelligible phrase over and over. The third woman approached and draped a woolen blanket around her shoulders.
Leah smiled, assuming they were thanking her, and tucked a strand of her dripping wet hair behind her ear.
Loud, booming male voices burst forth from the line of trees just ahead. Four large men who looked like something straight out of fantasy movie broke through the underbrush and ran toward them with worry etched across their faces.
Weird. Had she just stumbled upon some medieval reenactment?
The men stopped next to the woman holding the little boy and the women all spoke at once, gesturing toward Leah with excitement. The man with the trimmed dark-brown beard and brown, piercing eyes enclosed the woman and child in his embrace, kissing them both on the head as he held them.
Still, none of their words made sense. But their obvious relief the little boy was safe and no worse for the wear touched her heart. She was just thankful she’d been close enough to help. In the time it had taken the men to arrive, the little boy would probably have drowned if she had not been there.
The man lifted his eyes to Leah’s and he released his hold on the woman. He walked toward Leah, his hand resting upon the hilt of the sword hanging at his side. He stopped just a few feet in front of her and bowed his head as he spoke in that unintelligible language the women and little boy had used earlier.
