Highland Stallion

by Kate Hill

  HIGHLAND STALLION

  An Ellora’s Cave Publication, November 2004

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

  1337 Commerce Drive, #13

  Stow, OH 44236-0787

  ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-918-5

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  HIGHLAND STALLION © 2004 KATE HILL

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  Edited by Briana St. James.

  Cover art by Syneca.

  Warning:

  The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Highland Stallion has been rated S-ensuous by a minimum of three independent reviewers.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

  S-ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

  E-rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition, some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

  X-treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

  Highland Stallion

  Kate Hill

  Prologue

  The night’s chill disappeared as Sophia’s dream lover wrapped his enormous, rock-hard arms around Sophia and cradled her against his heated, steel-muscled body. A soft mat of chest hair cushioned her cheek. She twisted a finger in a dark brown tendril and pressed her lips to one of his flat, pink nipples. She stroked the length of a thick scar, white with age, marking his ribs. Similar scars riddled his torso and impossibly long legs. Sophia felt the roughness of those scars and the short, curling hair that dusted the lap on which she sat. So many times she’d asked him the cause of those scars, but he refused to answer. Still, she sensed his desolation and pain, so old and deep it was beyond tears.

  His hand, large and rough with calluses, cupped her chin with gentleness befitting a mother caressing her newborn child. At first such gentleness from him had shocked Sophia, but she’d soon grown accustomed to it. He tilted her face upward and bent his own, touching his mouth to hers in a tender kiss. His lips felt soft and moist as they parted hers. Their tongues met, stroking and tasting. Sophia’s arms slipped around his neck, clinging so hard she might have choked a human male, but her strength was insignificant to such a powerful Horseman. In Huform, he stood over seven feet with a body forged of heavy muscle. Not a bit of extra fat or loose flesh marred his broad torso and legs that seemed chiseled from granite. Sophia had seen his equine form as well and knew it to be just as magnificent with the height and muscle of the fittest draft horse. As in his Huform, white scars riddled his smooth, dark brown coat. Sophia knew for scars to remain through shapeshifting, the injuries must have been traumatic. If he would only tell her—

  “Sophia,” he whispered against her lips. His kisses trailed down her neck and across her breasts. One of his fingertips circled her nipple with such care that she scarcely felt his touch, still it was enough to make her heart flutter and dampen her pussy.

  “Zach,” she moaned, clutching his chest and kneading the muscles.

  He kissed her again, his tongue exploring every inch of her mouth while that hard but gentle finger slipped into her heated pussy and gathered moisture. He circled her clit and she wiggled against his massive erection.

  “Sophia, hold me hard,” he groaned, clasping her bottom and lifting her slightly. She straddled his lap and guided his thick, hard cock inside her. “Zach, oh, Zach!” she panted, rocking against him, clinging to him so hard her limbs ached.

  “That’s it, love. Harder! You can’t hurt me.”

  She knew it was true. He was so big, so strong, so full of masculine perfection. He was a stallion in every sense of the word. Her stallion.

  “Zach! Gods! Oh!” she sobbed, her entire body throbbing in ecstasy.

  * * * * *

  Sophia awoke gasping, her heart pounding and body throbbing in the aftermath of another perfect orgasm.

  Sighing, she curled up tightly in her empty bed and swallowed tears. It seemed as if she’d been dreaming of him forever, though it had only been a few weeks. She’d heard stories of others sharing dreams with Horsemen, but she never imagined it would happen to her.

  When a Horseman shared dreams with a human female, they were destined to mate. Still, it could take months, even years, for them to find one another. She had no idea where Zach was or even who he was, though she felt closer to him than to most of the people she’d known all her life. In the dream sharing, it was impossible not to learn what was in each other’s hearts and souls. Zach was a good man, she would wager her life on it. He was gentle and caring, but so terribly sad. Even in their most intimate dreams, she’d never seen him smile. When he clung to her in lovemaking, she felt he needed their closeness for more than just physical release. Of course, so did she. At first she’d thought the sex bound her to him, but it went beyond carnal pleasure. When the dreams ended, she missed him. She longed for him to be with her, holding her, talking with her, sharing life itself with her.

  “Zach,” she murmured, gazing at the dying embers in the hearth across her cottage’s single room, “where are you?”

  She drifted to sleep, still encompassed by his warmth and touched by his deep, tender voice echoing in her mind.

  Chapter One

  Highland Blood

  Zach drew a deep breath and narrowed his eyes against the wind as he soared across fields, meadows, rivers, and villages. He hadn’t the words to describe how marvelous it felt to stretch his wings and truly soar for the first time since childhood. His flying was rusty, but each day he felt more comfortable with the Horsemen’s natural domain, the sky.

  He’d never imagined air could smell so fresh, that water could feel so clean, and food could taste so delicious. Why had it taken so long for him and the other miners trapped in the Vertue Mountains to rebel?

  “Great day for flying!” shouted Terra, a black-haired, blue-eyed Horseman who flew in beside him. Being a Fighting Carrier, Terra was elite among Horsemen. Not only did Fighting Carriers undergo the treacherous journeys to the frigid Spikelands and the sweltering tropics to harvest Rock Blood, but they were skilled warriors. Horsemen and humans alike respected them, and for the first time, Zach shared that respect. If it hadn’t been for his friends Terra, Moor and Moor’s wife, Susana, he and dozens of other slaves would still be suffering in the mines.

  “Any day is a great day for flying!” Zach replied.

  After so many years harnessed and in chains, breaking his back hauling rock and metal beneath the lash of slavers’ whips, any freedom was priceless, though somewhat daunting. Now that he was free, how would he blend with society? While others had learned professions and built families, Zach had nothing. Even the few articles of clothing folded into the leather bag slung across his bare chest had been supplied by Terra and Moor. Clothes hadn’t been necessary in the mines. Horsemen’s wings and testicles h
ad been pierced with metal hoops attached to short chains that kept them from flying and shifting shape. During rare occasions when the weather grew cold, the Horsemen’s full-coat kept them warm. Most of the time they suffered in unbearable heat harmful to humans, let alone Horsemen with their high body temperature. The slavers stole Horsemen children—or full-grown Horsemen, if possible—and used them to dig and haul for profit.

  With the maze-like structure of the Vertue Mountains, the scattered mines were nearly impossible to find—not that many people even bothered to look with the StoneSnakes that crept through the territory. The creatures were large and strong enough to squeeze the life out of a bull and swallow it whole. Zach had seen it happen. It had been a favorite punishment of the slavers when he was a child, to force him to watch a captive StoneSnake feed on livestock, then threaten to toss him in, should he not conform. When he was very young, fear had kept him from trying to escape.

  As years passed, he grew beyond fear and had taken every chance to flee. He’d torn his hands bloody breaking chains only to be struck with poison arrows that rendered him unconscious before he set a hoof out of the mines. Beatings had followed, so severe he’d often collapsed while hauling loads. Instead of rest, his lack of strength had brought him more lashings. He’d learned to bury his spirit and desires and put his mind and back to work.

  In truth, he didn’t mind the hauling. Part of him almost liked it. Some of the older miners had often praised his Highland blood. Highland Horseman were known for their superior size and strength. They boasted many of the best farmers and builders in the world. Their man-half was skilled in architecture and excellent with their hands, while their equine-half was built to haul heavy loads and plow the toughest ground.

  Fighting Carriers were known the world over for their speed and endurance during long flights, but even the strongest Carrier couldn’t haul like a Highlander. Zach kept that thought in mind as he watched Terra and Moor race ahead and circle back to engage him in some friendly conversation. There was no way he could fly as fast or as long as those Carriers, but he knew damn well that neither possessed his brute strength. Strength was all he had to sustain him in the world he was entering. He’d get a job on a farm—or maybe in a legitimate mine—and earn enough for his own home. Maybe he could actually have a life.

  Moor, a brown-haired Horseman with a sleek coat a bit lighter than Zach’s, flew to his other side. “Our village is just ahead. You’ll like Hornview.”

  “I’m sure I will.”

  “I know there are a few humans who’d love to hire you,” Moor continued. “Especially now during the summer. There are several farmers and woodchoppers who can use the extra hands. Most of them would be willing to board, I’m sure.”

  “In the meantime, you can stay with me and Inez for as long as you want,” Terra said.

  “Had our cottage not been wrecked during the storm while we were away, you would have been welcome to stay with me and Susana. Right now we’re both stuck in her old room in the Chieftain’s longhouse until repairs can be made on our place.” Moor looked disgusted. “As if we haven’t had enough trouble lately.”

  “At least we’re free of the mines,” Zach said. “And I won’t stay with you for long, Terra. I don’t want to impose.” Zach knew Terra and his wife, Inez, had married less than two years ago and had a baby. The last thing they needed was a houseguest. Not only that, Zach knew Terra and Inez, like Moor and his wife, had met through dream sharing—a magic that had touched his life too closely of late. For the past few weeks, even during his time in the mines, dreams of Sophia had plagued him, allowing him neither restful nights nor peace of mind. He thought the mines had destroyed his emotions, but the love he felt for her was agonizing in its intensity. The desire to track her down and claim her as his own was like a fist twisting his gut, but he couldn’t. Not now. What did he have to offer anyone? Even when he earned enough to provide a decent home, he feared the mines had hardened him too much to give a woman the caring she deserved. Deep inside, he might desire and love her, but how could he bring himself to express it?

  Terra interrupted his thoughts as he continued, “It’ll be no problem. When I told Inez you were coming, she said she’d be glad to board the man who headed the rebellion that freed so many miners.”

  “It was Moor who stirred us up enough to rebel.”

  “I had to. It was our only way out. If it hadn’t been for you, though, Zach, I’d be dead!” Moor called. “I couldn’t believe my nephew and I got captured in the first place. I’m sure his parents were thrilled when he arrived at home.”

  “It’s the poison. That’s how they get most of their slaves.”

  “All that matters is you and the other slaves were freed,” Terra said. “There it is. Home!”

  The Fighting Carrier pointed to a pleasant-looking gray stone cottage in a lush field with a river running through it. A smaller wooden building stood near the cottage, and Zach knew it to be a bathhouse. Terra and Moor had both talked about the hot spring bathhouses in the village, and Zach looked forward to trying it.

  “I have to meet Susana in the village square. We’ll both stop by to see you later on.” Moor waved at his friends as he picked up speed and soared ahead while Zach and Terra descended near the cottage.

  It hadn’t been too long a flight and they’d traveled at an easy pace; still, they needed to take some time to cool down before shifting shape. Zach remembered all too well the discomfort caused by shapeshifting if the muscles and skin weren’t properly cared for. When too overheated, shifting was nearly impossible for Horsemen, and the results inevitably painful.

  No sooner had their feet touched the ground when a small, dark woman carrying a baby rushed out of the cottage, smiling.

  “Terra!” She kissed him as he embraced both her and the child.

  “Hello, love.” Terra tilted her face up for a kiss. He ran a fingertip over the baby’s plump cheek. “How is he?”

  “Fine. I think he might have been trying more of the shifting this morning, but then he gave up.”

  “He’s still far too young for that.” Terra smiled, though he couldn’t completely keep the proud gleam from his eyes. Since no female Horsemen existed, their species was kept alive through mating with human females. When a boy child was born to a Horseman and his mate, it was invariably a shapeshifter. Female children, though unable to shift shape, still retained some characteristics of their Horsemen fathers. Most were tall, strong, agile, and had a special talent for taming and training true-horses. They were appealing to both Horsemen and human males.

  Inez turned her smile to Zach. “It’s good to see you again.”

  He’d met Terra’s wife briefly when the slaves had first been freed from the mines. “You, too, Inez. Thank you very much for your hospitality.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” Inez said. “After you both have cooled down, come in and have supper. I made stew.”

  “She makes the best stew.” Terra winked, then kissed Inez again. “We’re going for a dip in the river. Be back in half an hour.”

  Inez waved as Zach followed Terra to the river behind the cottage. They each tore a branch off a tree and scrubbed their equine-halves as they allowed the cool water to refresh them after their flight. Zach knew most Horsemen required rubdowns and brushing to keep their skin and muscles in good condition for shapeshifting. In the mines, such things were impossible luxuries, and Horsemen paid the price for the lack of care. Zach knew his coat wasn’t very nice—not shiny and sleek like Terra’s or Moor’s. Scars marked his entire body, whether in Huform or when in his equine-half. Though shapeshifting incited rapid healing, the lack of changing in the mines combined with the severity of the beatings had left permanent scar tissue regardless of what form he wore. He might have been considered handsome, had he not spent most of his life in those damn mines. He might have been worthy of Sophia. He knew his scarred body bothered her, in spite of how she clung to him during their sexual dreams. She’d asked him enoug
h times about how he’d sustained the injuries and why they remained, even though he was a shapechanger. Pride had made him keep his silence. Pride and, to his disgust, a touch of fear that if she knew about his life, she wouldn’t want him, even in dreams.

  After washing, they finished cooling off with a short walk around the field. Back in front of the cottage, Terra took a jar of ointment from his leather travel pack and offered some to Zach. Terra had explained the herbal ointment was a very old recipe and felt wonderful on the body after exercise. The first time Zach tried it, he’d loved it. The strong scent permeated his nostrils, opening airways while the ointment itself seeped into his hair and skin and relaxed muscle aches in a way he never imagined possible.

  “Need help with your flanks?” Terra asked as he rubbed the ointment into his equine chest.

  Zach refused, though he would have appreciated help for those hard-to-reach places. Still, he was unaccustomed to things like rubdowns and brushing and preferred to care for himself. He probably should have asked Terra if he wanted help for his hindquarters, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. As if reading her husband’s mind, Inez stepped outside and offered to finish the rubdown. Zach stepped into the cottage and shifted to Huform. He tugged on brown trousers and a billowy white shirt with ties in front that he left open. As soon as he found work, he’d repay his friends for the clothing.

  Moments later, Inez and Terra, now in Huform, stepped inside. As they sat at the table, Zach began to feel for the first time that he was truly free of the mines.

  “Here.” Terra ladled stew into a bowl and passed it to Zach. “Eat. You show more ribs than us Fighting Carriers at the peak of Gathering Season.”

  Zach, his stomach grumbling, ate with zeal. He hadn’t realized exactly how hungry he’d been all his life, until he began eating good, regular meals with Terra and Moor.