Angus (23 page)
Authors: Melissa Schroeder
Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Mythology & Folk Tales, #Witches & Wizards, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Fairy Tales
“I said no, Angus, not until we can have a bed nearby.”
She backed up, but he kept walking forward. “I don’t think you are quite understanding what it means when you give yourself to a Highlander.”
She screamed and ran, but he caught up with her easily. He grabbed her around the waist and turned her around to face him. He was smiling down at her and her heart lurched, but this time it didn’t scare her.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.”
He shook his head. “No, let’s not live in the past. I have learned over the years not to look back. Know this. I will never do anything that would hurt you again. I am sorry I accused you.”
“And you accept me, the Magick and all?”
“I willna have it any other way.”
He brushed his mouth over hers and settled her on the desk. When he started easing her back on the surface, she said, “Angus, I said...”
But she lost her train of thought when he pressed his mouth on her neck.
* * * *
There was a knock at the door and the Benefactor turned and smiled at his manservant. “All went as planned, sir.”
He sighed. “Good. Dylan O’Conner would have been useful, but the man couldn’t be trusted. The whole line of his family was a bit off.”
Looking out over the lights of Glasgow, he wondered what was going on at the McLennan house at the moment. “The witch and her boy are fine?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t ask about Angus. He knew without a doubt there was no way of killing a McLennan.
“Good. We might have use of them later on in this, but for now, I am happy with the results.”
“Sir, may I ask?”
“Yes?”
“You let them get the jewel and you aren’t too upset. I thought you would be bloody mad.”
He looked at his servant. “That’s something my old cousin Kenneth never understood. He always thought that we should keep them in the dark. But…if he had embraced the Magickal side of the family, he would have found out there are worse things coming as they try to solve the curse. My ancestors might have given them a way out of the curse, but they never said it would be easy…and they never said it would leave them intact.”
The servant nodded and left him alone. Sitting back and sipping his whisky, Gavin McWalton smiled. There were, indeed, worse things on the horizon for the McLennans and he couldn’t wait to watch them suffer through every bit of it.
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About Melissa Schroeder
From an early age,
USA TODAY
Bestselling Author Melissa loved to read. First, it was the books her mother read to her including her two favorites, Winnie the Pooh and the Beatrix Potter books. She cut her preteen teeth on Trixie Belden and read and reviewed To Kill a Mockingbird in middle school. It wasn’t until she was in college that she tried to write her first stories, which were full of angst and pain, and really not that fun to read or write. After trying several different genres, she found romance in a Linda Howard book. Since the publication of her first book in 2004, Melissa has had close to fifty romances published. She writes in genres from historical suspense to modern day erotic romance to futuristics and paranormals. Included in those releases is the bestselling
Harmless series
. In 2011, Melissa branched out into self-publishing with
A Little Harmless Submission
and the popular military spinoff,
Infatuation: A Little Harmless Military Romance
. Along the way she has garnered an epic nomination, a multitude of reviewer’s recommended reads, over five Capa nods from TRS, three nominations for AAD Bookies and regularly tops the best seller lists on
Amazon
and
Barnes & Noble
. She was recently named Author of the year and most Accessible Author of the Year by the Authors After Dark Bookies.
Since she spent her childhood as a military brat, Melissa swore never to marry military. But, as we all know, Fate has her way with mortals. She is married to a retired AF major and is raising her own brats, both human and canine. She spends her days giving in to her addiction to
Twitter
, Facebook, Doctor Who, and The Big Bang Theory. She is very thankful her airman is retired and they can live where the bugs die in the winter.
You can connect with Mel all over the web:
Or email her at: [email protected]
Other Books by Melissa Schroeder
Harmless
A Little Harmless Military Romance
The Harmless Shorts
Prelude to a Fantasy
The Santinis
Semper Fi Marines
The Cursed Clan
Angus
By Blood
Once Upon An Accident
Leather and Lace
Leather and Lace—Print anthology
Texas Temptations
Hawaiian Holidays
Bounty Hunters, Inc
The Sweet Shoppe
Turning Paige
Connected Books
Saints and Sinners—print of both books
Cancer Anthology
Water—print
REISSUES
Tempting Prudence-The Sweet Shoppe
Coming Soon
Logan
Tempt Me
Touch Me
A Little Harmless Secret
Coming in August, the next amazing installment in the Cursed Clan series.
Logan, Book Three
A man who always sees beneath the surface.
Logan has lived his dream of being an artist for hundreds of years. He’s painted some of the most beautiful women in the world, but none of them compare to Meghan Campbell. When they are paired up to go after the next jewel, resisting her becomes almost impossible, but he knows he must. The witch is hiding something and until he knows what that is, he cannot fully trust her.
A woman who can lure any man.
As a witch with siren abilities, Meg has never had a problem with the opposite sex. That is, until she met Logan. The irritating man seems to be the one person in the world who doesn’t succumb to her spell. Unfortunately, he is the one man she really wants. No matter how hard she tries, he resists her.
As they embark on their quest for the next jewel, tempers flare and passion ignites. But when a new layer of the curse is revealed, they discover their failure could put lives in danger. The two must work together to fight the rising power against them and hope that those who support the Clan survive the fight.
Melissa Schroeder invites you into the world of By Blood. Among the glittering Victorian ton lives a world of vampires, filled with borns and mades, and a man bent on destroying their world as they know it.
Desire by Blood
A man with a secret.
Nicodemus Blackburn has seen the best and worst of mankind. Five hundred years of dealing with them teaches the vampire to be very wary of the creatures. Unfortunately, alarming events leave him no choice but to enter the world of the ton to hunt a villain. He must find a rogue vampire, one who is making his own army of bloodthirsty vampires. Searching for the villain is not the worst of his troubles. That can be laid at the feet of bluestocking Lady Cordelia Collingsworth.
A woman on a mission.
Cordelia has always been an outcast, even in her own family. She has forged her way in the world with her ability to write, and Nico Blackburn is the focus of her next article. Before she can obtain any information about the mysterious man, she is pulled headlong into a scandal that leaves her with no choice but to marry Nico—a man with dangerous secrets.
A passion that consumes them both.
Thrust into a world she knows nothing of, Cordelia finds herself falling in love with a man who claims to be a vampire. As their passion grows, so does the danger around them and Nico will have to call on all of his powers to protect the one thing he has realized he cannot live without: his opinionated, infuriating, and thoroughly delectable wife.
Enjoy the following unedited excerpt:
He walked to the door but it blew open, bringing Lady Cordelia with it. His body responded immediately. The normally perfectly coiffed curls that dangled over her ears were in disarray. A look of irritation marred her usually smooth features. She slammed the door shut behind her and then leaned against it much the same way that Gray had. Clearly, she did not notice him in the room.
“Stupid man.” She locked the door behind her and then patted down her hair. “He is becoming a real trial.”
“I hope you are not referring to me,” Nico said.
She started and then looked in the shadowed corner where he stood.
“Mr. Blackburn?”
He cursed himself the moment he realized she could not see in the darkness. If he had stayed quiet she would not have seen him. She had not mated yet, so she possessed only human abilities.
“It is I. I take from your comments that you did not follow me here.”
She sniffed. “Of course not. I am trying to avoid that idiot Hurst. Why on earth he has decided to bother me now is beyond me.”
Bloody hell. Hurst’s constant pursuit could herald the coming of his blood lust. If the viscount touched her, he’d likely sink into madness. Something would have to be done—tonight.
“Come, now, Lady Cordelia. You could easily attract his lordship’s attention for any number of reasons.”
She mumbled something under her breath that sounded like “not bloody likely.”
At least she understood there was danger. Unfortunately, it did not help his protective instincts. The need to shelter her, keep her safe, coursed through his blood, along with a healthy dose of lust. He did not speak for fear of revealing the depth of his need.
Silence loomed several moments, then without any warning she flashed him a brilliant smile. He blinked as he watched her approach, amazed at the change in her expression. And wary. No woman could be trusted, especially a Carrier. Those with the ability to birth vampires were frighteningly clever—they had to be to survive. He knew without a doubt, Lady Cordelia was working something out in her brain that would only bring about disaster for them both.
