“Yes.” They reached for the same button on her earasaid, and their hands bumped each other as if it was their first time.
He chuckled and reached down to her skirt’s hem, pulling it up, the soft linen sliding across her sensitized calf and thigh. Goosebumps prickled across her skin.
When he reached her core, he stroked a strong, blunt finger along her cleft. “You are already prepared.”
Desire shot from her chest downward, and she writhed against his hand. Her hands shook, and she fumbled with her second button. “Dammit.” She gripped his face. “Never mind my dress. I want you, Iain. Now.”
His eyes flared with heat, and he fell onto his elbows, bracketing her in his wonderful, sexy self. He locked his gaze with hers and surged inside her in one, sure stroke.
Oh, yes. The feel of him, hot and hard, stretching her and filling her so fully, felt like a completion, an answer. And a start of their new commitment. Together. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and raised her knees to cradle his hips. He remained still and touched his forehead to hers. “You’re mine. I’m yours.”
Her heart swelled, and she swallowed against her suddenly thick throat. She was his, fully and completely. And he hers.
As he slowly made love to her, and she shattered gently around him, she finally felt what she’d searched for for so long—belonging.
Epilogue
As soon as Iain had swept Traci away, Fiona allowed herself a moment to be still and just…breathe in. And out.
Cuz, yeah, holy crap. She was here in seventeenth-century Scotland. Surrounded by everything she’d ever fantasized about.
She slipped up the tower stairs from the keep and headed to the top where a wooden bridge led to the living quarters on the next island over. Now that she was no longer needed to lend moral support to her sister, she was compelled to go where she wasn’t at all sure she was wanted.
Duncan’s sick room.
The stairs were steep and winding, and she could feel the burn in her calves by the time she reached the top. She pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped out onto the bridge. In just the time it took for her to make her way through the keep and up the stairs, the weather had shifted. Dark, gray clouds muffled the sky, and the wind blew sharply through the space between the two buildings, buffeting her. Wisps of hair snaked and tickled across her face, and she tucked them behind her ear.
Halfway across the bridge, she paused and drank in the view. Before her was the northern shore of Loch Garry, with the stretch of water interrupted only by a small, rocky island. On the far side, the bank rose sharply almost to a level with the bridge, and draped behind was the peak of Meall Dubh.
Here she was. In a historic castle at a time when Highlanders still had a hold on their traditions. When the coming horror of the Battle of Culloden in 1746 had not yet depressed the confidence and spirit of the people in these lands. Here she was, as she’d always dreamed.
She should have been ecstatic.
But as all dreams end up, it wasn’t quite what she’d imagined. She took a shuddering breath.
Oh God. Did I make a mistake?
She bit her lip and sucked up the conviction she’d found earlier, when she’d resolved on finding her sister at her flat and talking her into coming back, or at least giving Fiona the calling card case. For the family legend her granpappy had told her every time she saw him, the one that was her absolute favorite, was about her.
She was the mysterious Fiona Campbell who had saved her ancestor from certain death. Sometime this year, she needed to be at Urquhart Castle when it was under siege. She’d stupidly thought it had already been happening, and so had hightailed it up there from Invergarry, only to find out how wrong she’d been.
According to her research, it wouldn’t be until the fall.
She turned and faced the door into the living quarters. Inside was the other reason she’d come back. She’d felt honor-bound to do so, for she owed Duncan not only an apology, but something more. A chance.
However, she also faced the very real possibility that this Campbell ancestor was an enemy of her sister’s new clan.
She swallowed her doubts and fears and straightened, pulling her plaid tighter around her shoulders. She strode down the rest of the bridge and made her way through its corridors to the sick room. The oak door gave way with ease, and she crept to his bedside.
Duncan had been in and out of consciousness for most of the trip. Fiona had kept him sedated with the medicines she’d brought back, desperate to give him the chance to heal and fight the probable infection from his wound. Unsurprisingly, he hadn’t noticed her on the battlefield, having been wounded and all. She dreaded what he might say when he did wake up and realize she was here.
As if sensing her turmoil, Duncan groaned, and his eyes flickered open. At first, they were fogged from pain and unfocused.
Then they cleared, and he frowned in confusion. “So you’ve returned. The woman who one moment handfasted with me, and the next turned me out of bed in disgust.”
For more time travel romance adventures, be sure to check out the next book, Must Love More Kilts, which follows Fiona and Duncan, releasing in 2017. To be alerted to its release, be sure to join my newsletter.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Must Love Kilts!
I hope you enjoyed Traci and Iain! Keep flipping forward to read my historical note about the events in the book. And if you join my mailing list for the latest news, I'll send you deleted scenes from Must Love Breeches as a thank you! If you realllly loved it, and want to help pimp my books and get free content and be the first to hear of news, you can join my Facebook fan group Angela's Time-Traveling Steampunk Regency Assassins!
Want some visuals? While drafting and revising, I created a Pinterest board to help visualize and brainstorm, and it includes not only some historic clothing, but also which actor I pictured for Robert :)
Did you miss Book One, which featured Isabelle’s adventures back in time? Must Love Breeches is the first book in my Must Love Time Travel series and she meets not only a hunky lord, but also historical figure Ada Lovelace. Flip to the end of this book for a sneak peek at the first two chapters or add it to your Goodreads shelf.
Please feel free to reach out to me. I love to hear from readers about what they loved (or didn't) about my books, so drop me a line if you'd like at [email protected] or find me on my website or on twitter at @angelaquarles, or on my Facebook page.
Join Hearts Through Time! I and several other time travel romance authors have created a closed facebook group for readers to talk to each other about one of their fave genres: time travel romance! Join the discussion at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1759780920916223/
And now a big favor. Readers like you make it possible for writers to do what they love, spin tales! Thank you for your support. If you enjoyed Must Love Kilts, I hope you'll take a moment to share your enthusiasm with other readers by posting a review. Discoverability for new authors like me is a challenge and every review helps connect a reader to a book they might enjoy. I appreciate any review, positive or negative, so if you have a moment to post one, even just a line or two about what you thought of the story, on Goodreads or your favorite review site, I’d be grateful! The more reviews a book receives, the more other readers are willing to take a chance on a new author. It also helps a reader decide whether a book is for them or not. Regardless, I thank you for reading! If you do leave a review, send me an email at [email protected] so I can personally thank you, or tweet me @angelaquarles.
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Also by Angela Quarles
Beer and Groping in Las Vegas
an erotic geek romantic comedy
Must Love Breeches
a time travel romance, Book One in the Must Love Time Travel Series
Must Love Chainmail
a time travel romance, Book Two in the Must Love Time Travel Series
Steam Me Up, Rawley
a steampunk romance
Coming 2017
Must Love More Kilts
Book Four in the Must Love series following Fiona and Duncan's story
Join my mailing list to be among the first to hear of its release!
Historical Note
I strived to be as authentic as possible in the constraints of the story, but there were some liberties I took with the historical record. The biggest is that Dundee, who later became known as Bonnie Dundee, died at the Battle of Killiecrankie, dooming the Jacobite cause for another generation.
Also, due to the destruction of villages and records during the Highland Clearances—an awful, awful time in the history of the Scottish Highlands that the region hasn't fully recovered from—it’s impossible to know whether there was an inn in 1689 where the current Cluanie Inn currently stands.
I hope that sticklers will also forgive me for the liberties I took with the custom of handfasting. Handfasting was actually a Lowland Scots tradition, not Highland, though the Highlanders had a similar tradition called a Trial Marriage. However, since that only happens once a year, and it was later than the events of the Battle of Killiecrankie, I took the liberty of borrowing the Lowland Scots tradition. And as far as that tradition goes, accounts vary, but I found multiple sources that said that witnesses were not needed, though it did make it easier to prove.
While the MacCowans were a sept of the MacDonells of Glengarry, the persons in this story are fiction, as is Dungarbh, which I set on the cluster of islands visible from the shores of Loch Garry. This island cluster is called Garbh Eilean, meaning “rough isle,” so that’s how I came up with the name for the MacCowan's keep Dungarbh, meaning “rough fort.”
The MacDonell chief and his son Alasdair are historical personages, and the chief did send his son in his stead to the Battle of Killiecrankie to hedge his bets. Also, Cameron of Lochiel was a historical person, and the story of him biting out the throat of a British soldier can be found in several places, though it might be apocryphal. And there was a little cameo of the famous Rob Roy, who fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie. Some sources I found said his father was still alive and at the battle too, so I placed him there.
I’ve read many Scottish history books, but I found the books Warriors of the Word, by Michael Newton, and Scottish Customs: From the Cradle to the Grave, by Margaret Bennet especially helpful. It was during this reading that I discovered that Highlanders have long used the term kale-eaters to disparage Lowlanders, where eating kale was popular.
About the Author
Photo by Keyhole Photography
Angela Quarles is a RWA RITA® Finalist and USA Today bestselling author of time travel and steampunk romance. Her debut novel Must Love Breeches swept many unpublished romance contests, including the Grand Prize winner of Windy City's Four Seasons contest in 2012. Her steampunk, Steam Me Up, Rawley, was named Best Self-Published Romance of 2015 by Library Journal. Angela loves history, folklore, and family history. She decided to take this love of history and her active imagination and write stories of romance and adventure for others to enjoy. When not writing, she's either working at the local indie bookstore or enjoying the usual stuff like gardening, reading, hanging out, eating, drinking, chasing squirrels out of the walls, and creating the occasional knitted scarf.
She has a B.A. in Anthropology and International Studies with a minor in German from Emory University, and a Masters in Heritage Preservation from Georgia State University. She was an exchange student to Finland in high school and studied abroad in Vienna one summer in college.
Find Angela Quarles Online:
www.angelaquarles.com
@angelaquarles
Facebook.com/authorangelaquarles
Mailing list: www.angelaquarles.com/join-my-mailing-list
Acknowledgments
Writing a historical novel cannot be done solo, at least for me! I’m hugely indebted to a number of people who helped me out with the historical aspects of the plot, description, and characters. I’d like to specifically thank the following for helping me; any mistakes or inaccuracies, however, are my own.
I'd like to thank the folks who helped me when I scouted the locations for this novel in Scotland. To my hosts Isobel and Ian Mackinlay who provided a great cottage for me to stay in that week and were so helpful during my stay. And to Stewart MacGlashan who was so kind and generous to show me around for a day around the battle site of Killiecrankie and providing me with the disposition of the troops and also local anecdotes about the battle that I hadn't found in any history books. His knowledge was invaluable not only with the facts, but also in helping me visualize how Iain and his clansmen would have seen that day unfold. He also provided a nice map of troop placements and the script he and the reenactors use for the public when they give tours on the anniversary weekend of the battle. To Rulzion Rattray who also gave me information on the battle via email, especially the detail that they marched sunrise around the mountain before the battle. As he related in his email, “In the battle we see some great examples of their unique and superstitious outlook and way of thinking, starting with the importance of the direction and route of their march to the battle site, which took a sunwise (deiseal) the old Gaels had a saying ‘deiseal air gach ni’, the sunward course with everything — south course, right direction.”
To Monique and Andy, the proprietors of Cluanie Inn, and the bartender Andy, who answered my many questions about the region, thank you! And may their two cute, friendly dogs—Kye and Sweep—who keep the patrons company in the public spaces always have great doggie dreams and endless supplies of treats.
I'd like to thank the Alpha readers of the full manuscript who gave me helpful feedback, my best Beta buddy Jami Gold, as well as Buffy Armstrong—you helped me see where I was on track, or wasn’t.
I had two Beta rounds, and I’d like to thank Shaila Patel who read it both times as well as Jami (again!), Zoe York, Megan Finnegan Grimes, Meggan Haller, Courtney Case, Barbara Coffman, Karysa Faire, Tauline Rutherford, and Lenore English. Every one of you gave me invaluable feedback that made this book better than it would have been on its own. Special thanks goes to Jami, Buffy, and Shaila for always being available via Facebook chat when I needed encouragement or yanking back from some fruitless rabbit hole of research detail or for helping me brainstorm some tricky plot problem. Shout out also to the Divas on RomanceDivas forum for their help and encouragement.
To my editors who helped me get this into final shape! Jessa Slade for reading a pretty rough draft and helping me firm up the plot and characterization; Sharron Gunn for the Gaelic and Highland history and culture fact checking; Erynn Newman and Julie Glover for the word-smithing—you understood my voice and helped me make it shine; and finally to my proofreader Judi Lauren.
I also want to thank the members of my facebook fan group—Angela's Time-Traveling Steampunk Regency Assassins—for their help and support! And to Megan who won the contest for naming Traci's pony Glenfiddich :) It was the perfect name, and right when she suggested it, I was like 'of course!' And to Alex McLeod, my multiverse consultant, for his help with the mind-bendy time travel stuff.
To Pam, Diane, and the rest of the crew at the Government Street location of Starbucks who keep me supplied in food and decaf when I camp out there to write/revise; I get so much work done there and it helps me stay off the social media. I revised this book there numerous times.
To the members of the old forum Longbourn Loungers who first got me started writing fiction. The scene where Iain washes by the well is for you—sorry I couldn't make it a water pump, but that would've been anachronistic :)
I’d also like to thank my facebook and twitter friends who are always willing to answe
r questions I pose, whether it’s about writing, or character ideas, or an opinion sought.
And finally to my family, who have always believed in me and make it possible for me to pursue writing.
DID YOU MISS ANGELA QUARLES'S DEBUT RELEASE? BE SURE TO FLIP FORWARD TO READ AN EXCERPT
She’s finally met the man of her dreams. There's only one problem: he lives in a different century.
“A fresh, charming new voice” — New York Times bestselling author Tessa Dare
“a delight” — Publisher’s Weekly
“a delicious twist on historical drama and romance” — USAToday
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Chapter One
Here’s a sigh to those who love me,
And a smile to those who hate:
And, whatever sky’s above me,
Here’s a heart for every fate.
Lord Byron, To Thomas Moore
A reenactment ball was the perfect setting for romance. Or not.
Isabelle Rochon fidgeted in her oddly-shaped-but-oh-so-accurate ball gown, surrounded by women who’d sacrificed historical authenticity for sex appeal. Red carpet ball gowns in the nineteenth century, really? Once again she was like the dorky kid participating in dress-up day at school when everyone else had magically decided it was lame.
Must Love Kilts Page 26