by Tarah Scott
The beast reared. Iain yanked back on the reins, but she kicked again. The stallion reared a second time. Iain seized the pommel, but felt their bodies slipping from the saddle. He rolled, hugging her close so that she landed on top of him as they crashed to the moist ground. She shoved away from him. He held tight, laughing in spite of the dull pain in his shoulder when she growled. She jabbed an elbow into his ribs. Pain lanced through his gut. His grip faltered and she broke free. The closest of the warriors shot after her and was upon her in a few short strides and grabbed her.
Iain leapt to his feet and lunged after her. “Release her!”
The man dropped her. She jumped up, tripped on her skirts, and barely scrambled up again as Iain brought her down like a wild animal.
He flipped her over and straddled her. “I should have let you break my fall.”
She grabbed his shoulders and dug nails into the hard muscle. Iain seized her wrists and shoved them above her head. He slid his body along hers until he covered her length and his face was an inch from her mouth. She continued to struggle.
His groin thickened. “At least you might have been knocked senseless long enough for me to get you to my bed and shackle you there.”
She stilled, eyes wide. Regret stabbed at him. He had enjoyed the thrust of her slim hips against him.
The lower edge of Father Brennan’s scapula came into view beside them. “Let her up, Iain.”
Iain shook his head. “Nay. I am enjoying this more than anything else this morning.”
A round of approving grunts and laughter went up from his men. As an afterthought, Iain lowered his mouth on hers. She stiffened, but the scent of rose water mingling with the heather crushed beneath her assailed his senses and he breathed in the arousing scents. Shifting, he found the curves of her body held the expected promise. He couldn’t help a glance in the direction of the forest where privacy lay but a moment away.
“MacPherson,” the priest growled.
Iain jerked his gaze back onto her. Fear tinged her expression. A twinge of guilt gave way to the desire to kiss away the small tremor on her lower lip.
“Iain.”
“Aye.” He rose, pulling her to her feet.
She bolted, but he yanked her to his side.
“Please.” She worked to pry his hands from her arm as he led her in the direction of his horse.
The desperation in her voice halted Iain’s march.
Father Brennan gave her a fatherly pat on the arm. “All will be well, lass.”
She scowled. “What an absurd statement.”
Iain laughed and received a kick to the shin for the offense.
“I am to blame, child.” Father Brennan sighed. “I did not warn you to remain on holy ground when we had visitors.”
Iain angled his head in acknowledgement, then faced her. His brief inspection earlier suggested her long skirts hid feminine curves and shapely legs. Yet, her carriage had intrigued him above all. A woman of intellect and gentle breeding, she would suit him well. To his surprise, she had spared but a cursory glance in his direction before turning back to her book.
He touched the spot where cheekbone met eyes. “As blue as the waters of Loch Ericht.”
Startled understanding appeared in the blue depths and satisfaction rippled through Iain. Luck was with him today, luck and his captain’s suggestion that he visit Montrose Abbey to investigate rumors of trouble with the Menzies.
Her eyes narrowed. She shoved his hand away and faced Father Brennan. “You are saying that because I took one step too many in the wrong direction this . . . this man can take me and I have nothing to say about it?”
“Well, ’twas more than one,” Father Brennan corrected.
She gave an unladylike snort.
“Lass,” Iain cut in. “I am Iain MacPherson, leader of my clan. I will provide you a fine home and swear by God to keep you safe.”
Her severe expression turned with deliberation on him. “King are you—”
“Clan chief,” he corrected. “A difference King James is sure to appreciate.”
She raised a scornful brow. “That gives you the right to take me prisoner?”
“Nay, my lass.” Iain yanked her to his chest. “The fact I am a man gives me that right.”
Determined fury darkened her eyes. He tangled a hand in the soft tresses behind her neck and pulled her mouth to his. She shoved at his chest. Iain tasted her with slow consideration, not forcing the tightly clamped lips apart, despite the compelling desire to thrust his tongue inside. The length of him hardened to near pain and his heart pounded at breakneck speed, but he ended the kiss. She twisted in an effort to free herself, yet Iain didn’t miss the tremble in her body.
“Nathan, fetch my horse.”
The young warrior broke from the band and, a moment later, brought the horse up alongside, with Iain’s sword strapped to its side.
“Hold fast the reins.”
Nathan complied and Iain lifted her. She braced her hands against the horse’s ribs, but he hoisted her into the saddle.
“You will keep her?” Father Brennan crossed his arms over his chest.
“Aye.” Iain kept an arm around her waist as she tried to slide down the opposite side.
The priest nodded. “Since you take advantage of her stepping from holy ground, you will abide by the law and wait until she consents.”
“She will wed me of her own free will,” Iain stepped into the saddle and encircled her waist as he took the reins that were handed to him.
“That is not what I mean and you know it.”
“I do not force women,” Iain replied.
“Perhaps because no woman has ever refused you before?”
Iain locked gazes with the priest. “Beware that your good intentions do not take you too far, Father. You know I have never taken an unwilling woman.”
“Liar,” the lady interjected.
Iain leaned her back in his arm and stared into her eyes. “You do not know me, lass. Why say such a thing?”
“I am unwilling, yet you force me to go with you.”
For an instant her logic confused him and memory of another woman made captive by a man who claimed love flitted through his mind. “Aye,” Iain agreed, through tight lips. “But you will choose to marry me.” He gave a quiet order to one of his men and pulled on the reins, once again wheeling his horse away from the abbey. “Come to us in ten days, Father,” Iain threw back before they were out of earshot.
“He will only come to bring me back,” she said through clenched teeth. “I will never marry you.”
About the Author
Award-winning, published author Tarah Scott cut her teeth on authors such as Georgette Heyer, Zane Grey, and Amanda Quick. Her favorite book is A Tale of Two Cities, with Gone With the Wind as a close second. She writes classical romance, suspense, horror and mainstream.
Born in New Mexico, Tarah grew up in the Southwest. Fifteen years ago, she relocated to Westchester County, New York, where she and her daughter reside in a lakeside community. Don't be fooled by what sounds like a quiet life. The city that never sleeps is only an hour away, and this Texas girl and her New York bred daughter wouldn't have it any other way.
Website:
http://www.tarahscott.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TarahScottsRomanceNovels
Twitter:
@TarahScott
Also by Tarah Scott
Claimed
Sometimes, the hero must be the villain...
Fourteen months ago, Lady Rhoslyn lost her husband and infant son to a fever. Now, by order of King Edward I, she is yanked from the healing tranquility of a convent to marry the king’s favored bastard knight. Rhoslyn has no intention of returning to the home where her husband and child died. Neither does she intend to hand over her fortune to the ‘Dragon’—no matter his sweet promises and warm kisses.
Talbot St. Claire tires of war. Seventeen years is enough. King Edward wi
ll never release him from service, but the king promises Talbot will find some peace in front of his own hearth. Talbot expects to find a horse-faced, hostile woman in the Scottish heiress Edward commands him to marry. Instead, he discovers a fiery Highland beauty worthy of a man’s respect...and love. Talbot determines to do anything to win his new bride’s acceptance. Anything except the one thing she demands: betray his king and embrace his Scottish heritage.
My Highland Lord
London Heiress kidnapped by the Marquess of Ashlund, read the headlines. Yet no one tried to save her.
Phoebe Wallington was seven years old when a mass assassination attempt rocked Regency England. Her father was the only accused traitor to elude capture. Seventeen years later, the one man who could prove her father's innocence is dead. Now as a grown woman and a British spy, she's no closer to learning what really happened that day.
Phoebe's quest for the truth takes a sudden turn when she's kidnapped by a suspected traitor. But Kiernan MacGregor, the Marquess of Ashlund, may not live long enough to stand trial. Someone wants him dead…and Phoebe stands in the killer's way. The only way to save her reputation and protect Kiernan is to marry him.
Lord Keeper
No man bargains for war when he chooses a bride, but when he steals her from holy ground, he can expect nothing less.
A midnight race for freedom leads Victoria Hockley, the Countess of Lansbury, to a churchyard deep in the Scottish Highlands. But not even hallowed ground can save her from the devil who’s pursued her from England, or from the furious Scot who swears to protect her.
Iain MacPherson swore he was nothing like his father, but his kidnapping of Victoria Hockley shows the same kind of obsessive jealousy that sent his mother to an early grave. Now Iain has hell to pay, and the devil may very well be the noble English lass who has bewitched his very soul…
A Knight of Passion
Lady Riana Ellis will risk the fires of Hell for those she loves.
Can she let a man do the same for her?
As whore for the Duchess of Arundel, Lady Riana Ellis keeps her sister safe from the duke’s lascivious desires. Now the duchess demands that Riana murder the man already sent to her bed.
Sir Bryant Cullen determines to have the duchess’ whore. Her land is a prize, but it’s her secrets he wants. Once he knows what she knows, he will control one of the most powerful houses in Scotland. And she will be his.
This is erotic romance
The Pendulum: Legacy of the Celtic Brooch
Two Men.
Two murderers.
Two demands for the promised payment of marriage.
Murder, deceit, and fraud pull Lady Arin Keith between these men.
Which one will bed her, claim her...own her?
When a Rose Blooms
This is a twenty page short story.
On the fifth year anniversary of Margaret Moncreiffe's death, her husband Nathaniel kneels at her grave, asking the questions he fears were answered the night she died of a mysterious fever. As the evening progresses, however, a flesh and blood woman enters the battlefield he has created around his heart, forcing him to choose between life among the living, or life with nothing but memories of the dead.
Seduced
It’s a Mississippi Deputy Sheriff’s duty to bring a serial killer to justice…even when he’s a three hundred year old Scottish lord. It’s an SAS agent’s duty to save her.
With each passing day, Lord Colin Morrison grows more furious...and more desperate. In three hundred years, not one of the women who shared his bed broke the spell that imprisoned him in Castle Morrison. Margot Saulnier is different. She can save him. All she has to do is give in to her desire for him. Then die.
Deputy Sheriff Margot Saulnier knows her best friend murdered her husband—Margot’s cousin—but she can’t prove it. Now, four years later, out of the blue, Cat calls Margot from Scotland and invites her to visit. Margot turns in her badge and leaves Mississippi. This time, she’ll do whatever it takes to prove Cat murdered Donny. Margot didn’t plan on falling in love with an SAS Agent—or a three-hundred-year-old Scottish lord. Now she must choose.
SAS Agent Charles McNeil is going to keep Margot Saulnier out of trouble—whether she likes it or not. He understands her need for justice, but with no proof and no authority, she’s headed for serious trouble. So is he. Charles didn’t plan on falling in love with Margot. Neither did he plan on saving her from a serial killer.
The Highlander’s Improper Wife
A proper young lady should never attend a Masque...Aphrodite is no lady.
Betrothal to the callous Lord Blackhall painted a future devoid of love. Upon his death, Lady Caroline Wilmont is promised to the younger brother. Caroline refuses to allow her first taste of desire to be at the hands of a man who would rather have any woman but her. This, her last night of freedom, is to be a memory of lust that she can take with her throughout her loveless marriage. As Aphrodite, Caroline attends a masque determined to find a man to initiate her into the intimacies of erotic love.
Taran Robertson, Viscount of Blackhall, makes no secret that he despises his obligation to marry the Sassenach heiress chosen for him by his father. As a last foray before his wedding, he attends a masque. However, the spirited vixen he meets and seduces has secrets...secrets that just may reveal he’s to have an improper wife.
Double Bang!
Sara Martin has a problem. And it’s not the attraction she has for her co-worker Devon Curran…or the lust she feels for her sexy neighbor, Rigg. Yes, those are problems. But she has bigger issues. There’s been a security breach in the impenetrable computer system at work. Suddenly Devon doesn’t look happy. And that is a gun in his pocket!
Devon is working undercover…and Sara is about to blow his case. He’d rather she blow him. She’s as smart as she is beautiful. But he’s lied to protect her. What will she do when she discovers he works with a partner? Tonight, they are going to keep her close…very close…in their protective custody.
Born Into Fire
Ryalda - the Element heroes of old - leak from the dark void of nothingness, Ghen, and bring with them beauty, desire... and destruction.
Air Element, Erion aches to feel the heat of Kenna's emerging fire. However, merging his wind with the woman on the cusp of transformation comes with great risk. A risk he's unwilling to take. But with a male Fire Element intent on enslaving Kenna, Erion reconsiders his vow. To protect her, they must merge, but he will not bond his wind with her fire.
Aspiring glassblower, Kenna Lang finally has a showing that could launch her career - with Drakaura, blown glass replicas of the dragons of her dreams. A chance meeting with Erion ignites an attraction hotter than the furnace used to blow glass. Drawn into an erotic joining, Kenna is born into fire. Now her world is going up in flames.
Merged as Air and Fire, their power is unimaginable. However, both are unprepared for the emotions awakened by their joining and the timeless battle waged against them. Only together can they defeat their enemies, both Element and Dragon, and escape the darkness of Ghen.
Lord Grayson’s Bride
She can’t allow his love for her to destroy him...
When Nicholas Spencer, Earl of Grayson, returns to claim the woman he loves, Lady Josephine Knightly isn’t willing to forgive him for abandoning her six years ago. But neither can she resist the man he’s become.
Two days after Josephine signs the marriage contract she discovers a nasty secret that will destroy her family. The only way to protect them—to protect the only man she’s ever loved—is to disappear...or die.
Nicholas won’t make the same mistake twice and let Josephine Knightly go. She loves him. He felt it in their one kiss before he left, and in the single kiss she allowed since his return. But she’s doing everything in her power to sabotage the marriage even before it’s begun. Nicholas doesn’t care. If Hell is where he must live to have her, then she must stand by his side in the fire.
Lord Ruth
ven’s Bride
Love is always sweetest the first time around…
A harmless attraction leads to a friendship that forces Lady Annabelle to choose between the two men who love her. One saved her from a killer. The other is her future husband.
James Waterson, newly titled Viscount Ruthven, is hunting a killer. When Lady Annabelle steps into the killer’s sights, James will do everything in his power to protect her. Even if that means letting her go.
Coming Soon
Death Comes for a Knight
My Highland Chief
A MacLean Highlander Novel
The Highlander’s Courtesan
Award Winning Titles
Lord Keeper
Golden Rose Best Historical of 2011
First place in the 2004 RWA CoLoNY Happy Endings contest
Third place in the Greater Seattle Chapter RWA's 2003 Emerald City
My Highland Love
Indie Romance Convention Best Readers Choice Awards 2013
As T.C. Archer
Dangerous Liaisons
Full Throttle
Sin Series
Sin Incarnate
Texas Rangers: Special Ops Series
Abducted Reconnaissance Team
Coming Soon
Phenom League Series
Behind Enemy Lines
Desert Fox
Sin Series
Sin Revisited
Sin Reborn
Texas Rangers: Special Ops Series
Hijacked
Kirsoval Scourge Series
Winter in Paradise
Yeoman’s Curse
