Angus

by Melissa Schroeder

  He shook his head, or tried to, then winced in pain. “Doona fash yourself, Maggie. The emerald will appear.”

  He passed out and she sat back. She was just happy the man she loved and her son were okay. Once they sorted through this mess, somehow she would find that emerald for him.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “And so we don’t need to go hide, even with a dead body?” she asked.

  “Taken care of, at least for now,” Callum said, smiling before taking a shot of whisky. “Dylan O’Conner, known to Interpol for his thievery over the last ten years, met a tragic end at the hands of his employer. That’s the way it will read.”

  She shook her head. “But we lost the emerald.”

  Callum shook his head as he walked over to the table behind his desk. He picked up the sword she had noticed before.

  “It appeared,” he said. “Just like the diamond did before. You completed the quest and we were rewarded.”

  She stepped closer and touched the sword. It was warm and Callum was correct.

  “And you really don’t have enough worry about Sweeney,” Anice said. “How do you think Sweeney amassed that fortune? He’s been stealing that art for years.”

  She glanced over to find Jack sleeping on the couch, his head in Phoebe’s lap.

  “Don’t worry about him. He’s been passed out for the last ten minutes.”

  “I would rather him not know exactly what his father was,” she said.

  “But he does know,” Angus said. “You said yourself that he did.”

  “Then I would like to pretend he doesn’t.”

  “And, your friends are upstairs,” Logan said.

  She blinked. “Friends?”

  “Meg and Rena. They showed up a little bit after you left and we gave them rooms upstairs.”

  Lord, the idea of a siren and half-fae running around the Lennon mansion was a little too much to think about. With a sigh, Maggie stepped forward and allowed her fingers to dance over the handle of the sword. Three more openings, three more stones. The quest would continue after she was gone.

  “So, now, will you tell me the truth of the matter?” she asked.

  “Not before you tell us about your connection,” Phoebe said.

  Maggie glanced at her. The calm expression told her that she had an idea of who she was.

  “The witch…she was an ancestor. How did you know?”

  Phoebe looked at Callum, who gave her an almost imperceptible nod. She picked up the diary and walked toward Maggie.

  “Every time you are near, it glows. Really, from the moment you came here, I noticed there was something different about it. The day you…well, Angus, revealed what happened with your husband, it all became clear to me. And, with you here, it is easier to decipher. Callum and I were talking about it, and we would like you to stay on.”

  “Stay on?” she asked.

  She nodded. “I can decipher all of it, but you might pick up on the meanings. I’ve spent weeks working on it page by page because I have no idea if it has to do with the curse or not.”

  “You will have to tell me what the curse is.”

  “You already know.”

  She cocked her head to one side. “I have an idea, but I don’t know everything.”

  “I think we can leave that to Angus.”

  She looked at him as everyone else started to leave. Callum picked Jack up and walked toward the door. “We’ll get him to bed.”

  Logan leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Welcome to the family.”

  She gave him a look and he winked at her before moving on. Soon, she was alone in a room with the one man she should avoid.

  Angus hadn’t said anything. He was still standing by the window, sipping his whisky. He hadn’t said a word since he’d passed out in the car.

  “So, tell me.”

  He finished the last of his drink before setting it down on the table with a loud click.

  “Tell you.”

  “Yes.”

  “But you know.”

  “I know you are not what you present the world.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her, the black eye he had gotten in the fight with Dylan barely there. “That’s a nice way of saying we are lying about who and what we are.”

  “There have been rumors in my family for years.”

  He turned around and leaned against the table while he watched her. “Rumors?”

  “Yes, of a Clan that had all but disappeared off the face of the earth after Culloden.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  She nodded, thinking about the tales from her mother and grandmother. “Their laird had upset the laird’s wife from a neighboring Clan. She had then gone to a witch—”

  “One of your ancestors.”

  She nodded. “They were cursed with something most people wouldn’t see as a curse…until you had to live with it.”

  He said nothing, his steady gaze unblinking. She saw it there, the pain of their past, the need for her to understand.

  “The idea of never dying, of being able to do anything, of seeing hundreds of years of history would be a thrilling prospect.”

  “Indeed?”

  “But, for a person to survive all those years, you lose a lot. You watch friends, family…lovers die. That loss would be crushing in my opinion.”

  He still said nothing and she walked toward him.

  “Was it?” she asked.

  “Did you mean what you said?”

  “Just now? About it not being the thing that wouldn’t be cool?”

  “No. When you thought Dylan was going to kill me…when you thought I was dead.”

  “Oh, when I said something about not dying?”

  His eyes narrowed on her face as she stepped so close she could feel the heat of him.

  “After that.”

  “Hmm,” she said, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath. He smelled erotic…of outdoors and of clean sheets…and sex. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Oh, Goddess be, she couldn’t even come up with words in her head. The man had melted her and he had no idea. He looked irritated and frustrated and sexy.

  Damn.

  “Are you going to play games, even after tonight? After everything?”

  She smiled. She couldn’t help it. She had known she was falling for him, falling knee deep in love with the man, but she had no idea until this moment how freeing it was. “Oh, you mean when I told you I loved you? That you shouldn’t die?”

  His frown turned darker.

  “Well, the truth of the matter is,” she said, leaning forward to kiss his chin, “that I do love you. Even if you are a stubborn Scot.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “And, I am not above using a spell to capture you.” She leaned against him and smiled at the way his heart was beating against his chest. “But, I have a feeling I might not have to use that.”

  She rose to her tiptoes and pulled his bottom lip between her teeth, then sucked on it. He shuddered.

  “And, truthfully, I had worked it out in my head that you had to know that we couldn’t die. So, why were you so worried?”

  She blinked. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t thinking.”

  She stepped away as she remembered the fear that had moved through her, the way her blood chilled.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Lord, you are stubborn.”

  “But, you love me.”

  She said nothing. Other than for Jack and her mother, she had never used the word love. Not until tonight.

  “Yes. I love you.”

  “And I love you.”

  “But I killed my husband.”

  He cupped her face. “Truth is, I would have done the same bloody thing.”

  “I come as a packaged deal,” she said, wondering if he understood what she meant.

  He smiled. “I wouldna have you any other way.”

  He
bent his head and kissed her. Soon the kiss was out of control and she pushed her hand on his chest. “Come on, Angus, you need to rest.”

  He stepped away from her and walked toward the door. He shut it, slamming the lock home. He turned around with a smile. “About that, we McLennans are very resourceful.”

  “I said no, Angus, not until we can have a bed nearby.”

  She backed up, but he kept walking forward. “I don’t think you are quite understanding what it means when you give yourself to a Highlander.”

  She screamed and ran, but he caught up with her easily. He grabbed her around the waist and turned her around to face him. He was smiling down at her and her heart lurched, but this time it didn’t scare her.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.”

  He shook his head. “No, let’s not live in the past. I have learned over the years not to look back. Know this. I will never do anything that would hurt you again. I am sorry I accused you.”

  “And you accept me, the Magick and all?”

  “I willna have it any other way.”

  He brushed his mouth over hers and settled her on the desk. When he started easing her back on the surface, she said, “Angus, I said...”

  But she lost her train of thought when he pressed his mouth on her neck.

  * * * *

  There was a knock at the door and the Benefactor turned and smiled at his manservant. “All went as planned, sir.”

  He sighed. “Good. Dylan O’Conner would have been useful, but the man couldn’t be trusted. The whole line of his family was a bit off.”

  Looking out over the lights of Glasgow, he wondered what was going on at the McLennan house at the moment. “The witch and her boy are fine?”

  “Yes.”

  He didn’t ask about Angus. He knew without a doubt there was no way of killing a McLennan.

  “Good. We might have use of them later on in this, but for now, I am happy with the results.”

  “Sir, may I ask?”

  “Yes?”

  “You let them get the jewel and you aren’t too upset. I thought you would be bloody mad.”

  He looked at his servant. “That’s something my old cousin Kenneth never understood. He always thought that we should keep them in the dark. But…if he had embraced the Magickal side of the family, he would have found out there are worse things coming as they try to solve the curse. My ancestors might have given them a way out of the curse, but they never said it would be easy…and they never said it would leave them intact.”

  The servant nodded and left him alone. Sitting back and sipping his whisky, Gavin McWalton smiled. There were, indeed, worse things on the horizon for the McLennans and he couldn’t wait to watch them suffer through every bit of it.

  If you enjoyed Angus, please leave a review at your favorite site!

  About Melissa Schroeder

  From an early age, USA TODAY Bestselling Author Melissa loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites, Winnie the Pooh and the Beatrix Potter books. She cut her preteen teeth on Trixie Belden and read and reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book. Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Included in those releases is the bestselling Harmless series. In 2011, Melissa branched out into self-publishing with A Little Harmless Submission and the popular military spinoff, Infatuation: A Little Harmless Military Romance. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer’s recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the best seller lists on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. She was recently named Author of the year and most Accessible Author of the Year by the Authors After Dark Bookies.

  Since she spent her childhood as a military brat, Melissa swore never to marry military. But, as we all know, Fate has her way with mortals. She is married to a retired AF major and is raising her own brats, both human and canine. She spends her days giving in to her addiction to Twitter, Facebook, Doctor Who, and The Big Bang Theory. She is very thankful her airman is retired and they can live where the bugs die in the winter.

  You can connect with Mel all over the web:

  WEBSITE

  TWITTER

  FACEBOOK FAN PAGE

  HARMLESS ADDICTS

  THE HARMLESS SERIES

  THE CURSED CLAN

  Or email her at: Melissa@MelissaSchroeder.net

  Other Books by Melissa Schroeder

  Harmless

  A Little Harmless Sex

  A Little Harmless Pleasure

  A Little Harmless Obsession

  A Little Harmless Lie

  A Little Harmless Addiction

  A Little Harmless Submission

  A Little Harmless Fascination

  A Little Harmless Fantasy

  A Little Harmless Ride

  A Little Harmless Military Romance

  Infatuation

  Possession

  Surrender

  The Harmless Shorts

  Prelude to a Fantasy

  The Santinis

  Leonardo

  Marco

  Gianni

  Vicente

  The Santinis Collection

  Semper Fi Marines

  Tease Me

  The Cursed Clan

  Callum

  Angus

  By Blood

  Desire by Blood

  Once Upon An Accident

  The Accidental Countess

  Lessons in Seduction

  The Spy Who Loved Me

  Leather and Lace

  The Seduction of Widow McEwan

  Leather and Lace—Print anthology

  Texas Temptations

  Conquering India

  Delilah’s Downfall

  Hawaiian Holidays

  Mele Kalikimaka, Baby

  Sex on the Beach

  Getting Lei’d

  Bounty Hunters, Inc

  For Love or Honor

  Sinner’s Delight

  The Sweet Shoppe

  Turning Paige

  Cowboy Up

  Tempting Prudence

  Connected Books

  Seducing the Saint

  Hunting Mila

  Saints and Sinners—print of both books

  The Hired Hand

  Hands on Training

  Cancer Anthology

  Water—print

  REISSUES

  Telepathic Cravings

  Her Mother’s Killer

  A Calculated Seduction

  Going for Eight

  Tempting Prudence-The Sweet Shoppe

  Cowboy Up-The Sweet Shoppe

  Chasing Luck

  Coming Soon

  Logan

  Tempt Me

  Touch Me

  A Little Harmless Secret

  Coming in August, the next amazing installment in the Cursed Clan series.

  Logan, Book Three

  A man who always sees beneath the surface.

  Logan has lived his dream of being an artist for hundreds of years. He’s painted some of the most beautiful women in the world, but none of them compare to Meghan Campbell. When they are paired up to go after the next jewel, resisting her becomes almost impossible, but he knows he must. The witch is hiding something and until he knows what that is, he cannot fully trust her.

  A woman who can lure any man.

  As a witch with siren abilities, Meg has never had a problem with the opposite sex. That is, until she met Logan. The irritating man seems to be the one person in the world who doesn’t succumb to her spell. Unfortunately, he is the one man she really wants. No matter how hard she tries,
he resists her.

  As they embark on their quest for the next jewel, tempers flare and passion ignites. But when a new layer of the curse is revealed, they discover their failure could put lives in danger. The two must work together to fight the rising power against them and hope that those who support the Clan survive the fight.

  Melissa Schroeder invites you into the world of By Blood. Among the glittering Victorian ton lives a world of vampires, filled with borns and mades, and a man bent on destroying their world as they know it.

  Desire by Blood

  A man with a secret.

  Nicodemus Blackburn has seen the best and worst of mankind. Five hundred years of dealing with them teaches the vampire to be very wary of the creatures. Unfortunately, alarming events leave him no choice but to enter the world of the ton to hunt a villain. He must find a rogue vampire, one who is making his own army of bloodthirsty vampires. Searching for the villain is not the worst of his troubles. That can be laid at the feet of bluestocking Lady Cordelia Collingsworth.

  A woman on a mission.

  Cordelia has always been an outcast, even in her own family. She has forged her way in the world with her ability to write, and Nico Blackburn is the focus of her next article. Before she can obtain any information about the mysterious man, she is pulled headlong into a scandal that leaves her with no choice but to marry Nico—a man with dangerous secrets.

  A passion that consumes them both.

  Thrust into a world she knows nothing of, Cordelia finds herself falling in love with a man who claims to be a vampire. As their passion grows, so does the danger around them and Nico will have to call on all of his powers to protect the one thing he has realized he cannot live without: his opinionated, infuriating, and thoroughly delectable wife.

  Enjoy the following unedited excerpt: