The Wolf of Kisimul Castle
Heather McCollum
Published by: Entangled Publishing
Publication date: August 14th 2017
Genres: Adult, Historical, Romance
Mairi Maclean is kidnapped on her wedding day by the enemy of her dead husband. Taken north to the water-surrounded Kisimul Castle, she is held captive in the name of retribution. But The Wolf of Kisimul Castle soon learns Mairi is not a docile pawn in this game of war between neighboring
Scots. Nor will she be frightened into walking down the aisle to wed the fierce Highland chief.
Alec MacNeil is set on revenge. When he finds his enemy dead, he takes his wife to replace the one that was murdered. An eye for an eye. A bride for a bride. But Mairi is more tiger than kitten and refuses to bend to his will. Set stubbornly against one another, the passion that flares between them threatens to tear Alec’s strategy to shreds.
—
EXCERPT:
He crossed to the window without a word and looked out at the courtyard, his eyes scanning beyond. “Where is everyone?” he asked. “At the chapel, I assume,” she said, stepping closer. He probably smelled of sweat or ale. She inhaled. Nay. She smelled pine and the sea and fresh air on him.He turned, and she rubbed her nose to hide the action of sniffing him. His gaze dropped to her as if her nearness surprised him. “We will go,” he said.
Mairi sighed. “I won’t have Geoff wondering if I would have failed his test, so go ahead.” She let her eyes flutter shut and waited. “Go ahead?” he repeated, and she blinked open.
“Aye,” she said, starting to feel foolish. “Kiss me, if ye’re going to. Otherwise take me to the chapel.”
The only change in the man’s devilishly handsome face was a slight rise in his brows, his clear blue-gray eyes widening the smallest amount. Those damnably tempting lips opened and closed, and his gaze drifted to the shut door before returning to her. He stared at her, as if he were delving into her thoughts. The idea shook Mairi, and she frowned.
“Well, if ye’re not—”
The man wrapped his hand around her arm, slowly reeling her in with constant, gentle pressure until she had to tip her head back to see his face. He radiated authority and determination, as if he could order the mountains to move, yet chose to hold her instead. Her heart hammered in her chest as he set his hand on her cheek. “A kiss, and then we go,” he murmured, moving his thumb across her jaw.
She had time for only a quick inhale as he descended. Mairi had expected a bruising press of his mouth like Geoff had given her when he’d asked her to wed. But this man’s kiss was gentle and warm. With slight pressure, he tipped her head to seal their lips together, moving against her as if tasting an aged whisky. Heat flowed down through
Mairi, wiping away all rational thought. Her knees numbed, but the man seemed to accept her weight easily as he held her against his hard body. His height made him loom over her, but Mairi felt safely surrounded by power instead of fearful. Her fingers reached behind his head to feather through his wavy hair. They were still woven in the dark mass when he gently pulled back, ending the most sensuous kiss Mairi had ever experienced. What bloody foolishness was Geoff thinking? Her traitorous body begged for more, but she stepped back, hands to her flushed skin above her low neckline. The man adjusted himself through his kilt, proving that he too had been affected by the kiss.
“Who are ye?” she asked.
Author Bio:
Heather McCollum is an award winning, historical and contemporary YA paranormal romance writer. She earned her B.A. in Biology from the University of Maine, much to her English professor's dismay. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, won the 2015 Readers' Crown, and was a 2009 Golden Heart Finalist. Ms. McCollum has twelve historical romances released in both electronic and digital formats. She also has three YA paranormal romances released in both formats.
When she is not busy writing and answering calls of "Mom", she can be found educating women about ovarian cancer. She is a teal warrior herself and slayed the ovarian cancer beast in 2012.
She currently resides with her very own Highland hero and three spirited children in the wilds of suburbia on the mid-Atlantic coast.
More information about Ms. McCollum and her books can be found at www.HeatherMcCollum.com.
Excerpt
He crossed to the
window without a word and looked out at the courtyard, his eyes scanning
beyond. “Where is everyone?” he asked. “At the chapel, I assume,” she said,
stepping closer. He probably smelled of sweat or ale. She inhaled. Nay. She
smelled pine and the sea and fresh air on him.
He turned, and she
rubbed her nose to hide the action of sniffing him. His gaze dropped to her as
if her nearness surprised him. “We will go,” he said.
Mairi sighed. “I
won’t have Geoff wondering if I would have failed his test, so go ahead.” She
let her eyes flutter shut and waited. “Go ahead?” he repeated, and she blinked
open.
“Aye,” she said,
starting to feel foolish. “Kiss me, if ye’re going to. Otherwise take me to the
chapel.”
The only change in
the man’s devilishly handsome face was a slight rise in his brows, his clear
blue-gray eyes widening the smallest amount. Those damnably tempting lips
opened and closed, and his gaze drifted to the shut door before returning to
her. He stared at her, as if he were delving into her thoughts. The idea shook
Mairi, and she frowned.
“Well, if ye’re
not—”
The man wrapped
his hand around her arm, slowly reeling her in with constant, gentle pressure
until she had to tip her head back to see his face. He radiated authority and
determination, as if he could order the mountains to move, yet chose to hold
her instead. Her heart hammered in her chest as he set his hand on her cheek.
“A kiss, and then we go,” he murmured, moving his thumb across her jaw.
She had time for
only a quick inhale as he descended. Mairi had expected a bruising press of his
mouth like Geoff had given her when he’d asked her to wed. But this man’s kiss
was gentle and warm. With slight pressure, he tipped her head to seal their lips
together, moving against her as if tasting an aged whisky. Heat flowed down
through
Mairi, wiping away
all rational thought. Her knees numbed, but the man seemed to accept her weight
easily as he held her against his hard body. His height made him loom over her,
but Mairi felt safely surrounded by power instead of fearful. Her fingers
reached behind his head to feather through his wavy hair. They were still woven
in the dark mass when he gently pulled back, ending the most sensuous kiss
Mairi had ever experienced. What bloody foolishness was Geoff thinking? Her
traitorous body begged for more, but she stepped back, hands to her flushed
skin above her low neckline. The man adjusted himself through his kilt, proving
that he too had been affected by the kiss.
“Who are ye?” she
asked.
Excerpt #2 (455 words)
Her outstretched
hand hit the tower of spiced cakes sitting on a table by the exit into the
courtyard. Arching upward, she watched them topple. With it came the
realization that she was not being taken to the chapel. “I said put me down.”
She sucked in sporadic inhales as he carried her slung over one massive
shoulder.
He pulled his
sword as they neared the dogs and lowered her feet to the ground. With a
furious look, he raised his sword with the hand that wasn’t anchoring her to
him. For an instant Mairi wondered if he’d slaughter the dogs, but he sliced
through their ropes, freeing them. “If ye don’t walk, I will carry ye,” he
said.
“Who the bloody
hell are ye?” she asked, her rose crown hanging before her eyes. She slapped it
back and quickened her steps to prevent him from dragging her. On the other
side of the garden gate, in the thick wall surrounding Kilchoan, sat two men on
horses in a dense stand of young trees. They wore green plaids, making them hard
to spot. A white horse with roses in its mane stood to the side of the pebbled
road next to an unconscious man tied to the trunk of an oak. This was
definitely not a foolish prank or loyalty test. She turned to Alec, a thousand
questions on her tongue. What was happening? Who was he? “Why did ye kiss me?”
fell from her mouth. Of all the questions, she’d chosen the most foolish of
them all.
“Ye kissed her?”
the warrior with red hair asked, his eyebrow rising high. The other man
scrunched his face. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”
“The plan
changed,” Alec said.
“But the plan
never changes,” red hair said, scratching his chin. “Unless it involves dogs.”
As if on cue, the three freed dogs ran up to the horses, tails wagging. Some
watchdogs they were.
“I can’t believe
he bloody kissed her,” the other man said, a grin spreading across his lips.
Without another
word, the large warrior hoisted her up onto his black horse and climbed behind
her. He pulled her up against his hard chest. “I have a right to know who is
stealing me away,” Mairi said, twisting to peer up into his face. A glint
sharpened his steely blue-gray eyes. “Who are ye?” she whispered.
Without warning he
clicked his tongue, and his horse took off, making her turn forward to grasp
the pommel. His lips, the ones that had made her question meeting Geoff at the
end of the aisle, came up next to her ear. “I am Alec MacNeil, the Wolf of
Kisimul Castle, and ye are Mairi Maclean MacInnes…my new wife.”
Excerpt
“Cullen Duffie?”
Alec asked, his voice gruff, making her turn to him in the darkness.
“Aye, do ye know
him?”
“I’ve met the man.” From his tone, she could
tell Alec loathed Cullen.
It sent a flame of
anger through her, and she pushed up onto one elbow. “What have ye against the
MacDonalds of Islay? Or is it just Cullen Duffie ye want to slaughter?”
He pushed up onto
his own elbow. “So ye love Cullen Duffie?” he asked, though it sounded like an
accusation.
“Nay, he’s married
to someone else,” she said, her brows lowering.
“But if he
weren’t, ye would want to marry him.” Mairi stared at Alec, her eyes opening
wider. Was he jealous of Cullen? Why would he be jealous of someone she had
loved?
A meek woman,
trying to attract the ruggedly handsome man lying next to her under the stars,
would have assured him that she’d never really loved Cullen. But Mairi was not,
nor ever would be, that woman. She lay flat once more and crossed her one arm
below the hoisted mounds of her breasts in Millie’s snug dress.
“Well,” she said
slowly and flipped her other hand about. “I don’t know. I mean…Cullen Duffie…”
She made her voice almost purr over his name and left it hanging there as if
his name alone answered what every sane woman would desire.
“That’s not an
answer,” Alec said tightly. She turned toward him, still raised up on his
elbow. He looked tortured as he waited. She even saw the white glimmer of his
teeth between his lips as if they were clenched. Aye, Alec MacNeil was jealous.
Why? “Ye would marry him if something happened to his wife and he asked ye,” he
said, his voice flattening out, the emotion gone.
Without moving,
she could feel him pulling away, and she didn’t like it. In fact, she hated it.
“Alec,” she said slowly. “I am an honest woman. I grew up thinking I would
marry Cullen. If he’d asked, I would likely have said aye. But he’s left broken
hearts all over the Highlands, and I guard my heart well. I doubt he ever knew
of my interest.”
Alec’s teeth came
down for a second on his bottom lip. Did he even know the vulnerability that
small movement showed? The disciplined man who never gave away his emotions?
How could he have slipped so?
Before she could
remind herself again of her prisoner status, she reached forward to place her
hand on the side of his face, her fingers brushing down his cropped beard. He
didn’t move, just stared down at her. The day together had been wonderful and
relaxing, and the pull she felt toward him was undeniably fierce. His jealousy
over Cullen confirmed that he was feeling the same. Mairi stroked a finger down
his cheek again.
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