Loving A Highland Enemy: Ladies of Dunmore Series (A Medieval Scottish Romance Story)

by Freya, Bridget

  Once it had finished, they enjoyed a bountiful feast provided by the laird, who had come to see his own benefits within this marriage.

  Grace told him that she saw her friends Colla and Beiste present and she introduced Douglas to them.

  “We are so pleased to meet you, finally,” Colla said, greeting him.

  “And I you. Grace has told me so much about you both,” he said. Beiste and Douglas began to speak about their respective lives and it soon seemed that they were fast friends.

  After a while, Grace also nudged Douglas to the fact that Richard and Adeline were dancing with one another and the two smiled at the fact.

  Finally, the time came that the wedding party was winding down. Guests were either drunk or tired and many were wandering home. Their friends remained for a longer period, but even they began to get drowsy, for the celebrating was so grand.

  “Shall we go?” Grace asked her new husband.

  Douglas smiled at the thought of it being just the two of them and Grace returned the smile with a mischievous grin.

  “Well then, we ought to go quickly,” she said in response to his expression.

  They stood and made for the door before making their way to the stables. Douglas had reserved a room at a nearby inn, where they could stay for the night before traveling to the Highlands in the morning, where they would spend the next few weeks touring.

  They got to the inn swiftly and Douglas carried Grace up the stairs to their room. Once inside, he stood before her and she before him.

  “My bride,” he said, placing his hands on her waist and drawing her close.

  “Me husband,” she replied, melting into him.

  Soon their lips met and the kiss had begun. It led to delicious kisses all over one another’s faces and their hand allowed themselves to explore. That moment more than a month ago when Grace had felt herself change--she knew she would soon experience that again.

  Douglas could not resist her beauty or her kindness, and all he wanted was to give himself to her again and be the one to whom she gave herself.

  Their loving union was every bit as beautiful as it had been the first time, even more so now that they knew they had publicized their commitment before friends and family and God.

  This was for life and nothing could get in the way of that.

  Indeed, Grace was overwhelmed by the joy that she felt and she gazed at Douglas until they both fell into a satisfied sleep.

  EPILOGUE

  “No matter how many days pass, I cannae seem to get over the beauty of nature,” Grace said, feeling Douglas come up behind her.

  She gazed out over the ocean from just outside the back door of their home. It was a bright, sunny day. She could hardly believe that more than a year had passed since she had given herself in marriage to Douglas. She loved him even more fiercely now, but it still seemed as if it had been yesterday that he stumbled, bleeding into her life. Or that he had come riding up and surrounded her with his men. Or that he had asked her to be his wife.

  Now, he wrapped his arms around her, just beneath the bump that was growing in her belly.

  In two months, she would be even more taken aback by the beauty of nature as she held their little blessing in her arms.

  “No matter how many days pass, I cannot seem to get over the beauty of my wife,” he whispered in her ear and kissed her neck just below it.

  Grace smiled and her belly warmed. She loved the comfort of these words from her husband. She could not wait to see him as a father. There was joy in his voice every time they spoke of the child and it encouraged Grace to know that their marriage and upbringing of this baby would be so unlike the sad experience of his own childhood.

  She was grateful that he had chosen to forgive, to move on, to understand and accept the truth of how deeply his mother had loved him.

  After the wedding, they had taken their honeymoon tour around the Highlands. Douglas had considered that they might move into his ancestral home in Fleet, but the violence he had encountered there gave him pause. Still, he thought it could be a good option once they knew that he was half one of them. However, on their journey, he discovered this home in Dounreay.

  It had belonged to a distant uncle of his, but there had been no heir until now. Douglas was stunned to learn of this property that was rightly his. He and Grace had quickly decided that it would be the place they called home.

  The cottage was large, but not as large as the land in Fleet. Still, it would be more than enough for them. If their family grew as large as Grace hoped it would, they might have to expand the house one day, but that would be easy.

  “Are ye glad to be here?” Grace asked him. Douglas shifted himself back in surprise.

  “How could you even ask me that?” he questioned. He understood her concern, but it still seemed ridiculous of her even to wonder.

  “Ye gave up so much. Do ye ever regret it? Do ye ever regret saying farewell to yer life? The life ye worked so hard for?” she asked.

  “Do I ever miss the life that left me constantly questioning my loyalties? Fighting the battles of men I could not withstand? Trying to be someone that I never was? I do not miss it at all, my love,” he replied.

  Grace nodded in relief. They were north of the fighting, about as far north as they could possibly be. It was a relief to her, but she worried that she had taken Douglas from the only life he had ever known.

  Yet he had done very well since they left. He had begun work as a carpenter and she enjoyed selling goods in the local village to prepare them for the expenses of the baby arriving. It was a season of sweetness for just the two of them, but she was ready for their family to grow.

  Grace knew well that Douglas was ready too. He would prove an amazing father, she was certain. He already took such great care of her and encouraged her as she tried to make a life for herself in this new place.

  She enjoyed doing a bit of work in the community, but more so enjoyed the work she was able to do in their home. She had planted a lovely garden and they always had a supply of fresh food. While she had a generous income from her family as a result of their station, they used little of it.

  “There is such peace out here,” Douglas said, obviously still lost to his thoughts of what he had left behind and how worth it the sacrifice was for him to be away from that.

  “Aye, indeed there is,” Grace replied. She, once more, looked at the ocean and leaned her heavy body back into her husband’s arms for comfort.

  Yes, it was peaceful and it was a dream.

  Oftentimes she missed her friends, but Douglas had arranged multiple surprise visits for her. Each time, Grace’s joy had been palpable. Once they had even hosted Beiste and Colla, and their little one. It was a time of celebration and it was also when Grace had learned of her own pregnancy, just a month in at that point.

  Catching up with Adeline and hearing grand news from her was something special and it consistently put a smile on Grace’s face to think of what the season was holding for her dearest friend.

  Twice they had traveled back to Dunmore to see her family and spend time with everyone, but Grace knew that with the baby coming soon, travel would be difficult, and she did not want to be in a place of danger with her child.

  One of the benefits of being up here in Dounreay was the distance from battle. They would be able to raise their children in peace, away from war, with only the knowledge of unity.

  Grace wished that everyone could raise their children with this knowledge of unity; that every child would grow up knowing only peace between the English and the Scottish. She knew it was unlikely, that the world had not reached that level yet, but she would strive to ensure that her children would believe it was possible.

  She considered that one day, because of the loving union of their parents, her children might even be willing to expand past thoughts of nationality in their unions. What a beautiful world it would be if the English and the Scottish could grow in love and loyalty to one another!


  “We will be good parents, will we not?” she asked Douglas rhetorically. She knew they would. She knew that their children would grow strong and wise like their father. She knew they would be brave and intelligent like her. She knew that they would be children who fiercely loved one another and the world.

  “My dear, our children will be the greatest children because they have the greatest mother. And I will love them fiercely, you can depend on that. Yes, we will be excellent parents,” he answered her.

  They stood, close and sturdy, gazing at the water. The ebb and flow of the ocean’s waves were comforting and exquisite. Nature had grown more and more delightful since moving out here, and certainly since being married.

  The cliffs and stacks were kissed by gentle lashings of waves. With each one that crashed, Grace was reminded of how the ricks were shaped and formed by those waves, just as she and Douglas had been shaped and formed by the crashing waves that had come against them. It had made them stronger, sturdier, and more ready to fight any battles that may lie ahead.

  “Then that is all the life I can ask for,” Grace finally replied with joy. Her eyes filled with tears in her excitement for the life to come. The next two months could not pass quickly enough. Soon the child of their loving marriage would be in her arms just as she was in Douglas’.

  “I love ye,” she said.

  “And I love you,” he replied.

  Grace turned to her husband and looked him in the eyes, only the bump of their soon-to-be-born child between them.

  Leaning into his embrace as far as she could, Grace allowed Douglas to close the distance in their sweet, tender kiss.

  Behind them, the sun was reaching its peak for the day and the birds called over the deep blue water.

  In the Highlands, there was peace, there was joy, and there was love.

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  ALSO BY BRIDGET FREYA

  * * *

  Ladies of Dunmore Series

  Book 1 Link -> Highland Secrets Revealed

  Book 2 Link -> Loving A Highland Enemy

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  Acknowledgement

  Thank you for taking your time and energy to read “Loving A Highland Enemy”. Without your continuous support, I would not have written this book.

  Wherever you are, I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart. I also want to thank my wonderful Facebook fans, my advance copy reviewers and beta readers in advance for making this series a success.

  ~ Bridget

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  Publisher’s Notes

  Copyright © 2018 by BRIDGET FREYA

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.