HighlandHeat Read online

  An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

  www.ellorascave.com

  Highland Heat

  ISBN 9781419919602

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  Highland Heat Copyright © 2009 Tilly Greene

  Edited by Briana St. James.

  Photography and cover art by Les Byerley.

  Electronic book Publication January 2009

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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

  Highland Heat

  Tilly Greene

  Dedication

  For the cutie.

  While you were away, this kitty worked without Red Vines and missed you.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Red Vines: American Licorice Company

  Prologue

  The Highlands, Scotland

  Perfect!

  It was the most romantic night of the year and she, dressed in her best, sat all alone in a car that had conked out on a deserted road. Casting her gaze around her surroundings, she looked for where the rabid beast from Hound of the Baskervilles would jump out and land on the hood of her little car, snarling as it attacked.

  Why not?

  A night which had started out so well had turned distinctly sour. To make matters worse, it looked like her imagination had hijacked her mind and left her with childish fears.

  Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and pushed the unrealistic fears away.

  Catriona Buchanan looked out the windscreen and couldn’t see anything of substance to help regain her sanity. It was pitch black outside, with thick mist clinging to everything, making it look eerie. Of course, it was freezing cold inside the car so there was no doubt it was absolutely frigid outside. As if to prove her point, a brisk wind knocked against the vehicle, causing it to shudder on its unsubstantial wheels. She gasped as the miserable dampness pushed inside and further into her bones.

  Great, she breathed out with frustration and watched the puff of white air confirm her conclusion that it was cold inside this metal box. Darn it, she hated being cold.

  Despite being disappointed with how tonight had turned out, she was very happy with her man and couldn’t wait to marry him.

  Irving Cunningham was the man she loved with all her heart. He was her future and, unfortunately, he didn’t always understand her, specially now with her hormones raging out of control. She was pregnant with their first child and neither one of them had anticipated the roller-coaster ride her emotions were taking.

  Pulling her heavy coat closer, she crossed her arms over her swollen belly and thrust each hand into the opposing sleeve. In a moment of weakness, her mind went back to bouncing back and forth between being upset with Irving for staying behind and cursing her own stubbornness for leaving without him.

  She couldn’t stop the heavy sigh as it escaped. To help calm herself down, she talked with her baby.

  “Okay little man, you have the Y chromosome, how could your papa not have his priorities in order? Everyone knows this is an evening for lovers, chocolate and romance, not the guys, beer and rugby. When you’re older, I’ll remind you of this fact, often. I’ll make sure you know the right way to treat a lady.”

  Cat smiled as he moved around, maybe he was actually listening to her.

  “Don’t get me wrong, your father is a good man, although maybe a little afraid of you. I can’t say anything bad about that because I am as well. Who wouldn’t be scared? We want to do everything right for you.”

  The baby had been a surprise for them both, but they’d taken it in stride. Their wedding had been organized for over a year now and would take place this coming June. The only difference from their original plan was that there’d be a new bundle in their arms rather than a twinkle in their eyes.

  Smoothing hands over her belly, she thought about the little man in her belly who brought her nothing but joy. Despite all the changes going on with her body, she couldn’t wait for him to make an appearance so she could get to know him. To watch him grow up into a happy and healthy young man was what she looked forward to. She couldn’t wait to see his face and kiss his tiny little feet. The latter she’d have to do in a bid to make up for all the horrible thoughts that rushed through her head whenever he kicked her awake or had her dashing for the restroom. Maybe his being an active baby meant he was going to be a football player. A star for the Rangers would be great.

  A sob bubbled out and surprised her. She covered her mouth with a hand to not let any more out.

  Now come on, Cat, pull yourself together and get on with it. Are you a woman or a mouse? All you have to do is step out of this car and walk home. It’s not as if you’ve never done it before. She wasn’t sure the pep talk was working or helping her move, although it was encouraging her gumption to make a comeback.

  Okay, you’ve never made the walk in the dark, alone and six months pregnant, but it isn’t far. All you have to do is make it through the forest, over a few fields, across a handful of backyards and you’re home. No problem!

  She wiped the window again and looked out the car window at her surroundings. Mist filled in empty space between towering trees. The sight was intimidating, overwhelming and highlighted her lack of courage. Intellectually, she knew once she made it through the trees and out in the open, everything would be fine. All she had to do was keep reminding herself of that fact and she’d be home in an—oh, dear.

  In the end, a swift tiny kick to her bladder made the decision for her. The little one had made ignoring her needs impossible.

  After taking a deep breath, she pulled the keys from the ignition and checked in her bag for tissues. With a couple of white paper squares clutched in her hand, she opened the door before she could change her mind. Stepping out of the car, Catriona stood still for a long minute, clutching her purse to her belly. Another nudge from her baby and she raced the short distance to the one tree she’d been eyeing earlier and made use of nature’s emergency facilities.

  Once she’d finished and nothing horrible had occurred, it became easier to accept that the walk home wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be. Locking the car, Cat moved in the direction of their cottage, or at least where she thought it was.

  There was one positive in all this mess, at least it wasn’t raining. If it had been, there was no doubt it would be the final straw to mark this down as the worst day of her life. Of course she was exaggerating and she’d happily place the blame for that on hormones. Although in her defense, there wasn’t a soul alive who would argue the point with her.

  Okay, enough dela
ying, it was time to make her way home.

  Cat looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her before picking her way through the trees. The idea was so ridiculous it managed to lighten her mood a bit. No one was going to be out here tonight. They were all tucked up in nice warm homes, safely snuggling with their lovers. Besides, it was so dark and thick with fog out here she wouldn’t be able to see them if they were right in front of her. While still looking behind her, she tripped and suddenly everything changed.

  Landing hard on her hands and knees, she screamed out of fear and desperation. All the terror and frustration she felt was right there in the loud cry. Her heart raced, pounding wildly in her chest while her throat burned with fright. Crouched on the ground, trembling, she waited for the horror of being attacked to begin.

  Breathing heavily, it took a long minute to realize no one had launched themselves on her or tried to hurt her baby. Without any help from another, she’d tripped and fallen. Apparently she was able to create her own frenzy without any help.

  She sat back on her feet and stroked her shaking hands over her belly while trying to calm them both down. “It’s all right, little guy. Your mum is scaring herself for no good reason. Everything out here is just fine. We’ll be home and tucked up in bed in no time.”

  Off balance because of the baby, she made an awkward ascent to her feet and then looked around for her bag. It was an impossible task. When she was ready to give up and leave without it, she stepped on it. Unfortunately, its contents had spilled all over. Except for her wallet, there was nothing of importance in it.

  Ungracefully, she went back to her knees and crawled around, patting her hands until she found it a short distance away. Picking up the small clutch, she put it in her coat pocket and stood back up. Next she patted her other pocket to make sure her keys hadn’t fallen as well. There was no way she was going to make the long hike only to reach home and not be able to get in the front door.

  Pulling herself together, Catriona started walking again, slowly and with more care this time since she couldn’t see exactly where her feet would land.

  An eternity seemed to pass before she came upon an old stone wall. Wrapping her coat more closely about her, she took a second to cast her mind back to the last time she’d rambled this way with Irving. She needed to try to remember where the road met the wall in relation to the stairs she had to climb over. She didn’t think they were too far from where she stood and started to walk further up the hill.

  The last time they’d walked the fields, she remembered Irving saying something about always keeping the trees on the right and there wouldn’t be a problem getting back to their village.

  Instead of stairs, she came across a break in the stones and started to carefully work her and her belly’s way through the opening. While she was wiggling through, a tree branch snagged her knit hat and whipped it from her head. Gasping with surprise, she turned and looked at her dangling chapeau while clutching her bare blonde curls. Chilled air nipped at her head as she tried to keep the shivers from rattling uncontrollably through her body.

  There were two fields to cross, a few small yards and she’d be home free. If she kept reminding herself of this, then she could keep moving forward. The tree could have the beloved hat her mum had made for her. Irving would come for it tomorrow. Since the car was his to maintain, she figured he owed her big-time for tonight’s debacle.

  She walked straight across the field while keeping the tree line to her right. Here the moon shone brightly and made it so she could distinguish the land layout more easily. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see because of the thick fog clinging to the damp grass. None of this mattered as she now felt more confident with making it home.

  The worst part of this walk was how quickly her feet were becoming cold. Obviously she hadn’t worn the right shoes for tramping through wet fields when she’d dressed for a romantic dinner with her fiancé. A foot rub from Irving wouldn’t be too much to ask for tomorrow.

  In the distance, she could hear bleating and a small smile started to bloom. The MacGregor family currently had their flock on the north field. This was a good sign. Being on their field meant she was taking the right path home.

  The hard ground beneath her feet was frozen solid. Large clumps of turf littered the surface and made it difficult to walk on. Despite the mist clinging to the ground, she wasn’t as afraid out here as she’d been in the forest.

  A few steps later, she stumbled on a large clump of turf and slowed her pace. Nothing was going to hurt their little treasure resting comfortably in her belly, especially not a stupid evening jaunt across a frozen field.

  After a few more minutes of trekking, she stopped. The trees were still to her right, but something was wrong. If she had the land plotted out correctly in her mind, then she should’ve come across the wall separating the MacGregor and Willis spreads. With the chill seeping further into her bones, she resumed walking, but with a little less assurance that she was heading in the right direction. When next she placed her foot on the uneven ground, she encountered a large rock and she tripped, falling hard to the ground.

  Catriona’s frustration grew. Tears gathered in her eyes and started slipping down her cheeks as she knelt on the frozen earth.

  Stroking her belly calmed her down, so she did that and searched for strength to get back up by talking to her baby.

  “I’ll get us through this, little man, don’t worry. I’m so very tired, but we’ll get home and warm in no time at all. This walk is harder than I thought it was going to be. I knew it would be scary, just not so hard. It may not be as bad as the woods were, but I can’t see much of the ground. I hope you’re nice and warm in there. It’s cold out here and while I can’t see them, I can definitely hear the flock bleating. For some reason they don’t sound happy to share the field with me tonight. Can sheep sound happy?”

  Once she spilled her fears for God and everyone to hear, she worked to calm herself. Focusing on taking a few solid breaths helped ease her heartbeat. Realizing her legs were stiffening, she decided it would be best to get moving or it was going to be even more difficult to continue.

  Eventually she calmed down enough to go on. With her hands on the ground, she braced herself to get up. It wasn’t an easy move to make these days, but she couldn’t crawl home either.

  Suddenly, the chaotic bleating grew louder and the ground started to tremble beneath her hands. Bent in half as she was, Cat felt vulnerable and used all her strength to push herself upright. Before she had her feet solidly planted beneath her, she was unexpectedly rammed from behind and sent sprawling across the frozen turf.

  Startled and terrified, she screamed. Something stomped over her body. The pain was unbearable. There was more than one thing attacking her. To her, it felt like hundreds of animals were running over her body, digging their sharp hooves into her flesh. Oh no, they weren’t stampeding in general, they were after her.

  Only one thought stayed in her mind during this horrific time. At all costs, she had to protect her baby.

  With a great deal of effort, she braced herself on her knees, curled up into as tight a ball as she could. Wrapping her arms protectively around her belly, Cat exposed her back to their vicious attack, all while trying to speak with her baby.

  “It’ll be okay, little man, you’ll be fine.”

  Suddenly, sharp horns stabbed her and she screamed as if her and her baby’s life depended upon it, because she realized it did. Lying there while being attacked, she held on to the hope that someone would hear her and come running to rescue them.

  “Help!”

  But the torment continued. It felt endless. Tearing, gnawing, she knew they were going to rip her apart.

  “NO! My baby! Someone help us!”

  She heard nothing except her own cries, but she wouldn’t stop trying. Whatever the cost, she had to shield her baby from harm. From the second he’d made his conception known, he had meant everything to her. It would brea
k her if something happened to him.

  “Help us!”

  Holding her belly and her baby inside tightly, she prayed and called out for help. A hoof landed sharply on her head. Everything went black. Unconsciously her body continued to protect her baby.

  * * * * *

  “Have you heard the news?” A shopkeeper from the village said to the bartender as he sat himself at the bar.

  “No, what’s happened?”

  “This morning, Catriona Buchanan’s baby was eager to greet the world. Hamish Buchanan emerged screaming and was pronounced in stable condition, despite the trauma he’d suffered. Bless the lass for hanging on as long as she did for the young’un’s sake.” The good news was received with a heavy heart by those who heard.

  It was a busy night at The Lazy Newt, full of locals who knew the family and the young woman herself. Despite the crowd, as the news traveled through the room, they all fell silent as they remembered the horrible night she’d been attacked in a nearby field. The bartender looked around his pub and found the usual patrons were present. They were a close-knit community and all had been touched in some way by the shocking attack on the young lass.

  This past Valentine’s Day had been a nightmare for everyone, but especially the Buchanan family. Almost two full months later, an explanation had yet to be found. Word was that something had spooked the flock and they’d ravaged the nearest thing that was alive. MacGregor was distraught over what happened and had all the animals involved destroyed. Prior to this tragedy, the old farmer had been a regular at the pub, now he never came here or anywhere else for that matter. He’d become a true recluse, causing them all a great deal of concern for his well-being.

  As he pulled himself a pint, the bartender thought about how there’d been at least one miracle involved in the attack that night in the field. He’d been told by one of the first responders that despite the trauma her body had suffered, Catriona had been found clinging to life with a desperately shallow heartbeat.