by D. K. Combs
The Highlander’s Kiss
Book 2
D. K. Combs
Copyright © 2017 D.K. Combs
All rights reserved.
Cover Designed by “Covers by Combs”
Formatted by “Covers by Combs”
Edited by Rose Marie of “Merciless Editor”
COPYRIGHT: This story, “The Highlander’s Kiss“ including all chapters, prologues/epilogues and associated content (i.e fanfics, teasers and content within blogs, social networks and eReaders) is copyrighted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights are reserved by the owner and creator of this work (D.K. Combs) and any unauthorized copying, broadcasting, manipulation, distribution or selling of this work constitutes as an infringement of copyright. Any infringement of this copyright is punishable by law.
Punishments include but are not limited to:
A fine of up to $150,000 for each work infringed.
Infringer pays for all attorney's fees and court costs.
The Court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts.
The Court can impound the illegal works.
The infringer can go to jail.
Acknowledgments
I’m not known to make things long and awkward, so… Here goes. My dear husbutt, thank you for letting me stay up late to write and bringing me water when I needed it. Thank you to Julie, for being my brainstorm buddy when I needed it. And of course, my mom, for being my biggest hype-guy. And to everyone who has waited so patiently for this, double thanks and hats off to you!
Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue
Also by D. K. Combs
About the Author
Introduction
This is the second and long awaited sequel to The Highlander’s Touch. I know it took me three years, and I apologize for that. All I can hope is that Blayne and Alec connect with you as much as Saeran and Kane did. Happy reading, and thank you for being so patient, supportive, and just…amazing. Thank you. Seriously. I hope this read was worth the wait.
“This is becoming quite ridiculous, Blay. I’ve asked you time and time again to entertain your brother when I am as busy as this.”
Blay let the rock she’d been smoothing her thumb over clatter amongst the rest as her mother came up behind her. Cool, gentle rivets of water flowed over her feet, making her wish that she had chosen to swim instead of gaze that day.
“And I also do not like that you would rather sit around the creek than do your duties in the keep. You are completely aware that your father will lose his head at the slightest mishap—and what is going on right now, and has been going on for the past sennights? Unacceptable, my love. Completely unacceptable. And you know this.”
Her mother sat on the ground with a hmph, picking up the same stone she’d been holding and making the same swirling motion with her thumb.
“Also,” her mother said with a small smile, “our dear lad Leith has been asking after you.”
Blay’s eyes flipped to her mothers. “Nay, mother!”
“Oh, yes. You would know this if you had not been shirking your duties and putting Alan into poor Sada’s hands.”
Sada was the cook of the castle, but with her old age, her daughter had taken over most of the preparations; which gave her more time to coddle Alan—while making it perfectly acceptable for Blay to give him to the woman.
Blay loved her brother. She really did—he was the sweetest little boy with a toothless smile that made her heart leap. It was just…sometimes, she needed a break—a very nice, long break by the creek, where nothing could bother her. She hated to be bothered. Bad things seemed to happen when she was—like right now, with news of Leith.
Her mother reached over, sliding an arm around Blay’s shoulders. As if she were reading Blay’s mind, her mother said, “Sometimes I worry about you, my love. You’re one and twenty, and you’ve shown interest in only wasting your days by the creek.”
“That is no’ something to worry about,” Blay said uneasily. She moved away from her mother, getting a better look at the woman’s face. Saeran Shaw was a renowned beauty—her eyes, which she had passed onto Blay, were crystal blue and fringed with thick, ashy lashes. Her face, even after all of the work as the laird’s wife, had been showing signs of wear, though she did not appear as aged as she should, compared to the other clanswomen.
Her golden locks were threaded with grey. It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. It gave her a certain look, a powerful image that even Blay had a hard time defying.
But, Blay was her mother’s daughter. And Saeran had a personality as strong as iron and as fiery as hell—which was another thing Blay had been given, though it was more subdued; passive, almost. ‘Lying in wait like a sleeping dragon,’ her father would proudly say.
“Do you know how fortunate we are that Leith wishes to court you?” Saeran said, her eyes twinkling with happiness, hope. “All these years, ever since you turned ten and six, I feared that you would never again find a husband—and now…now he is waiting for you at the castle. Come, my love!” Her mother brought them both to their feet, her body practically vibrating with excitement.
“Come!” Her tiny mother began striding in the direction of the castle. The light blue dress she wore swayed over the grass, kicking up fluff from weeds in her alacrity. “Walk faster, dear! You’re taking quite some time.”
Blay sighed, giving the creek one last look. The ground she’d been sitting on was covered with bright, healthy grass, pebbles and weeds creating a relaxing shore. The waters sang in delicate notes as they ran over the smooth stones and partially-submerged plants.
The talk her mother had attempted to give her was a subtle warning that she was not going to be coming here again—that is, if Blay actually listened to her mother for once. With a small smile, she gathered her skirts in her hands, and followed after the elderly woman.
When the castle was within hearing distance, the smile sank from her face.
Leith.
He was the man her parents were going to force her to wed, if she did not willingly accept his proposal. The excitement in her mother told her that this was more than just a little visit.
Nay, he was going to propose to her.
And Blay did not want to be married, under any circumstances, to anyone.
Ever. Again.
Blay took one look at her father, one look at her mother, and spun on her heel. It was rare that she became so angry that she couldn’t speak, but in that moment, the heat in her chest was spreading to her throat and that was, in turn, causing a shortness in her breath—all that did was enrage her further.
How…how dare they?
She clenched her fists together, seeing nothing. There was nothing to see. No future, no past, no happiness—no nothing. Only the image of Leith in her mind. It was nauseating—and not because he was an unattractive man. Nay, Leith was the most desired man in the Highlands. His father and he w
ere fierce warriors. He could provide for her and give her strong, brave sons equally as brutish as he.
The thought was repulsive enough to make her gag.
“You’re being incredibly rude, dear,” her mother said from behind. A gentle hand came upon her shoulder, but she didn’t respond—couldn’t. It was taking everything she had not to shove her mother at Leith and run screaming for the creeks.
“He is the perfect suitor, the perfect husband. Even your father approves.”
“I never said such a thing,” Kane Shaw said.
Her father’s large shadow fell over her. She focused on the edge of the darkness cast meeting with the lines of the stone ground, using it as a focus point, as a way to calm her breathing.
It didn’t help.
“Hush, Kane! We have to reassure her that all will be well.”
“It will no’ be well,” Kane and Blay said at the same time. His voice was petulant, whereas hers was furious. She pulled herself away from her mother’s soft hands and faced the two of them, trembling.
“I refuse to marry him.”
“Love,” her mother said with a crease in her brow. “Earlier, you were not so adamantly against this. What happened to change your mind?”
“It does not matter! I refuse to ever see him again, let alone be his wife! Nay,” she said sharply, shaking her head. The memory of their conversation came back to her. More than that, it was the way he had tried to hold her hand. The domineering attempts at wooing her, the audacity he had posed by going so far as to touch her… Her thick black braid slapped at her back with the force she put behind the shake. “I will not. I would sooner go to court and be subject to the women and their vicious rumors than—”
“Mayhap we should have sent ye’ to court,” her father said musingly. “T’would have ripped the rebellion right out of her.”
“Rebellion?” Blay repeated, aghast. “Father! This is not rebellion—this is me, refusing marriage to a man that I will never share myself with. This is you two, taking away my choices.”
“What,” her mother snapped. “Would you rather be wasting your days by the creek, doing nothing but sitting there? What kind of life is that, Blay? Would you rather not have a husband and children and a family?”
“No’ all of us women are willing to sign our lives away to men, mother.”
Blay’s words caused a silence as heavy as the castle itself.
“Is that what ye’ think marriage is, lass?” Kane scowled—and like always, the scowl caused her feet to shuffle and some of the fight to die out. “Marriage does no’ sign yer life away to a man. Tis an agreement between two people to work in harmony—”
“Nay,” she denied, crossing her arms over her chest. “Nay, father. Mayhap that is the case with ye’ and mother, but yer the only other marriage besides Brodrick and Emory that does no’ reduce a woman to a piece of…of nothing. Of a breeding mare who does nothing but work and bare children.”
“There’s more to it than that, lass,” Kane said tenderly, his voice thick with fatherly love and understanding. While he came forward to draw her into his side, her mother stared at her with an expression that made her fear for her life.
Or would have, if Blay hadn’t been furious enough to actually fight with her mother if it came down to it. She could be gentle and soft-spoken, but when it came to matters such as this…there was no ‘soft-spokenness’ involved.
“I donna believe there is,” she lied tightly, though she didn’t pull away from her father’s embrace. She took more comfort in it than she should have.
“Blay, listen to me, and do not think of defying me,” her mother said, her voice as hard and cold as stone. “If you do not go through with this marriage, it will shame you in the eyes of the clan. They already look upon you with distaste for denying every suitor and duty you’re given and assigned. I will no longer have it—do you understand me?”
Blay gritted her teeth. “I am an adult—”
“You are not an adult until you have a husband,” Saeran snapped. Her face was beginning to turn red and her voice had risen an octave.
Blay pressed her lips closed against the denial that wanted to sprout from her mouth for the pure fact that while her mother was rarely this angry, it was still terrifying when she was.
“Until you’re married off, you are under the control of your father and I—and that is that. If you continue to set a bad example for Alan, and the rest of the clansgirls that take note of your irresponsible actions, the reparations …Oh, you will not like them. Am I understood?”
“Saeran,” Kane said quietly. “Mayhap we should no’—”
“Do not say another word on the matter, or you’re sleeping in the stables.”
“I donna ken why yer so dead-set on forcing me to marry Leith. Did ye’ no’ suffer from an arranged marriage? Ye’ had to go months pretending ye’ were a boy just to avoid it. Why would ye’ force it onto me—especially seeing how my last one went?” She stared at her mother, the hypocrite of the century, in disbelief.
“I might have suffered in the beginning—but that was my own fault in believing your aunt. This is different, Blay—you know it. Your father and I crave grandchildren, another line for our legacy. Leith has been a family friend for a long time. His father is Kane’s best man. There has never been any qualms with the two of you before—”
“That’s because he wasn’t being forced into marriage!”
“He’s not being forced, child. He’s entirely willing.”
“But I am not,” she said fiercely, feeling like her head was going to pop. The stubborn look on her mother’s faces was one she knew well. “It doesn’t matter who it is, mother. It could be the heir to the throne and I would not accept them. Yer forcing me into a marriage that I donna want, even after ye’ experienced—”
“It is because I experienced it that I can tell you right now, my daughter, that our situations are entirely different. I did not know my husband was not a barbarian like everyone assumed. Had I, I would have done my duty and handled it differently. I do know—as you do—that Leith would make a fine husband—I’ve known the lad since he was but a wee bairn.”
“That doesn’t mean you can—”
“It sure as hell means I can!” Saeran snapped, eyes flashing with anger. When Blay stared at her in silence, the fire in the crystalline eyes died out. “I’m worried for you, my dear. You’re not the same. I’m confident that love—a family— will change you.”
Kane made a rough sound.
“And you.” Saeran said sharply, rounding on her husband. “We will have words tonight, so help me Lord.”
Her father groaned.
With that last ominous warning to her husband, Saeran turned on her heel and stormed through the front of the castle. Blay watched her go, trembling just as much as her mother was. It wasn’t until she turned the corner that Blay pulled away from her father.
“Donna let her do this to me,” she whispered brokenly. She hated to see her mother this strained and furious, hated the way it made her feel herself; but there was nothing in the world that would ever make her accept married life. “Please, father.”
He cupped her cheek with his large paw of a hand, smoothing a thumb over her cheek. “My sweet lass. I donna ken what has ye’ so against marriage, but…ye’ need to overcome it. I canna change her mind on this—and she is correct in that yer setting a bad example for the younger ones. As their lord’s daughter, they look up to you. Just an hour ago, we had complaints from two families on their daughters rebellious tendencies.”
“They think I am the cause of that?”
“Aye, lass.”
“But I donna even see anyone—nor does anyone see me. I donna understand—”
“Which is why the lasses are beginning to feel as if they can have free reign. Yer their leader, just as I am the leader of men. Yer mother is the leader of the women. Tis how the clan works, lass, and whether ye’ like it or not, people are taking note of yer actions
. Yer my world, Blayne. But yer mother has a plan for ye’.”
“I will fight it,” she warned. “I will no’ let her do this to me.”
“Aye, lass.” His smile made the fight die out of her. It was too patient, too understanding. Too filled with love.
“Just donna fight the truth of yer resistance for so long. It did no’ work out for your mother and I all that well, ye’ ken?”
He bent to kiss her on the forehead, and she sighed. The story of her parent’s stubbornness and trials was legendary in the Highlands. Not only was that a story to be passed down, but their marriages were something that was rare. Aye, they had their fights, but the love between them was a once in a lifetime deal—something Blay had witnessed countless times within other families.
“Donna cause yer mother to fash herself for the rest o’ the night, please. I donna want to be sleepin’ in the stable.” He gave her another hug and then departed, leaving her in the great hall with servants milling around, her chest still bleeding fire.
Her mother was not going to control her this easily.
Though her father hadn’t taken her side outright, she knew why and understood his decision. When Saeran Shaw came into one of her moods, you let her be furious until she was too drained to be—and her father had rarely been on that side; he wanted to keep it that way. Aye, he ruled the Shaw Highlands, but his wife? She ruled the family.
Always would.
Until she married Blay off to Leith.
The reminder of why she was so angry caused her to huff and storm out of the hall. Hopefully the bastard was not in the hut today, because she had words that she desperately needed to say to Anna that he would not like hearing—the bastard was, after all, the cause of her disdain of men that were not her father or brother.