Highland Grace
Authors: K. E. Saxon
Tags: #General Fiction, #alpha male, #medieval romance, #Scottish Highlands, #widow, #highland warrior, #medieval erotic romance, #medieval adventure, #lover for hire
by
K.E. Saxon
Trilogy
The second in the Highlands Trilogy, HIGHLAND
GRACE begins where HIGHLAND VENGEANCE ended, giving you Bao and
Jesslyn’s story.
Set in the turn of the 13th century Scottish
Highlands. When widow and devoted mother to a five-year-old,
Jesslyn MacCreary, discovers her brief encounter with her laird’s
long-lost brother has resulted in an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, she
is thrust into matrimony with its exotically handsome, angry, and
seemingly unwilling, father.
Bao Xiong Maclean, by day, a contracted
warrior for William, King of Scots, and by night, a lover for hire
to the pampered ladies of the king’s court, is fighting his
attraction to the lovely flaxen-haired widow whose family is the
reason he and his mother became slaves to the man who sired him:
Jamison Maclean.
Don’t miss the excerpt of
HIGHLAND MAGIC, Book Three in the Highlands
Trilogy
at the end of this book
* * * *
Highland Grace
Copyright © 2008 by K.E. Saxon
All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or
mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any
information storage retrieval system without the written permission
of the author K.E. Saxon, the copyright owner and publisher of this
book, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, brands, media, and incidents either are the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead,
is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the publisher.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners
of various products referenced in its work of fiction, which have
been used without permission. The publication/use of these
trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the
trademark owners.
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Cover obtained from
Romance Novel
Covers
* * * *
I am eternally grateful to a wonderful new
Welsh writer friend, Elin Gregory, who kindly and generously
supplied the phonetic pronunciations of two of the Welsh terms in
my glossary. This, after many long, hair-pulling months of trying
to find them on my own. Thank you again, Elin!!
K.E. Saxon
NOTE
The twelfth and thirteenth century Scottish
Highlands is a fascinating time in history. Although much is known,
there is still much that remains in shadow and supposition. The old
laws of succession, and the old Celtic systems were mixing with the
new feudal systems brought in by the Norman-influenced kings of
Scots (the first key figure in this being David I, who became king
of Scots in 1124).
Although, by the time of William the Lion
(William I), who ruled Scotland from 1165 to 1214, the feudal
systems were more firmly established in the southern region of
Scotland, the king had managed to exert his influence and sway in
the wilder northern and western regions as well. Mostly through
alliances with foreigners to whom he chartered land, or to natives
who sought a royal charter for their land in order to secure it for
their own offspring.
My vision, therefore, was of a kind of
“melting pot.” The old ways, not completely abandoned, yet the new
coming to be embraced.
Although I did many, many (many) months of
research into this time in the Scottish Highlands history, I still
found it necessary to take some creative license on certain aspects
in order to fulfill my vision for the romance, and allow for less
confusion to the romance reader. I won’t list the licenses I took,
but hope that the history purists will close an eye to these
instances and simply enjoy the tale.
K.E. Saxon
* * *
Alban Eiler
\
all-ben A-ler\: The feast of the vernal equinox. Lit.: Light of the
earth
crwth
\ krooth \: an
ancient Celtic musical instrument with the strings stretched over a
rectangular frame, played with a bow.
Cymru
\ kumree \:
Welsh for ‘Wales’
Hogmanay
\
hog-m
uh
-
ney \
:
The eve of New Year’s
Day
kraken
\
krah
-k
uh
n \: According to Viking legend, a sea monster large
enough to swallow a whole boat
Matins
\
'mætinz \: Morning prayers at sunrise
Pencerdd
\ Penkerth
\: the chief poet in a welsh court
penteulu
\ pentaylee
\: head of Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth’s
uchelwyr
teulu
, his noble warriors
Sext
\ sekst \: The
fourth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it,
originally fixed for the sixth hour of the day taken as noon.
Terce
\ turs \: The
third of the seven canonical hours of the divine office, originally
fixed at the third hour of the day, about 9 a.m.
uisge beatha
\ishka
beyha\: Lit: ‘Water of Life’, a.k.a. whiskey
Uphalieday
\Up-helly-a\: January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, a.k.a. ‘Twelfth
Night’.
Perth, The Highlands,
Scotland 1204
“Relax and let me love you.”
“Aye,” she murmured between the hot, wet
kisses she blazed across his neck and chest.
Through the slits of his half-opened eyes, he
watched her. Watched as her gloriously blushed breasts bounced in
time to his rhythm, as her nipples grew ever more tightly
wound.
He bent forward and greedily sucked one of
them into his mouth. She climaxed instantly, the undulating walls
of her taut canal squeezing and caressing him as they milked him
into a long release as well. At its peak, he arched his back and
choked out, “Oh, God!” as the head of his erupting sex rammed
against her womb, flooding it with his hot seed.
* * *
Bao woke with a start and sat up, rubbing the
base of his palms against his eyes. He wiped the sticky discharge
off of his belly and thigh with the wool blanket before tossing it
aside, feeling like a callow youth, surging with carnal urges so
intense that he spewed seed as he slept. But the dream had been
vivid, his mind’s perfect reflection of his and the flaxen-haired
goddess’s only time together. Even now, over two moons later, he
could almost taste her on his tongue.
After rising, he walked to the wash basin and
poured water from the earthen pitcher into its base. He pulled the
top portion of his long, straight black hair back and tied it with
a leather thong and scrubbed his stubbled face with the cold water.
After drying it with a cloth, he took up the silver platter he used
as a mirror and began his morning shave.
He lit a candle and looked at his reflection.
The image he saw was haggard and sad. His eyes were red from lack
of sleep the past few nights; the green flecks in his umber eyes, a
direct contrast. They were puffy as well, causing them to have a
more pronounced slant. He ran the sharpened knife against the edge
of his jaw, nicking the place next to the dent in his chin. “Ouch!
Dammit.”
Stop thinking about her! Her family profited
from your mother’s enslavement!
A knock sounded on the door and Bao called
out, “Enter!” relieved at the interruption.
“A missive just arrived for you, sire, from
the King” his servant said and handed the scroll to him.
“My thanks,” Bao said absently, unfurling the
parchment as the man departed. Another assignment, no doubt.
As his eyes scanned the words, his heart
began to speed. ‘Twas a demand that he escort one of the ladies of
the court as far as his brother’s holding so that her husband could
meet her there and escort her the rest of the way home, along with
a proposal that he remain there with his family through the coming
holy days, if he so desired.
He’d sworn a vow to himself not to return to
that holding—at least not until his brother found a suitable
husband for their sister. But, as a soldier and liege to William,
King of Scots, he had little choice in the matter.
His fate set, he gathered his belongings,
arranged his affairs and set his course for the Maclean holding.
Only long enough to transfer the lady into her husband’s
hands
, he told himself,
and tell his brother what he’d
learned about Jesslyn’s kin as well.
He’d stay clear of the
flaxen-haired widow. Well clear.