Rogue's Challenge
The Wild Rose Press
www.thewildrosepress.com
Copyright ©2008 by Jo Barrett
Here's a sneak peek at Jo Barrett's next book...
Jenny felt warm, safe, and very comfortable. So much so she didn't want to open her eyes. That is until her pillow moved.
She fell very still and lifted her lids. A chin with a rather strong looking jaw covered in a day old fair-haired beard was barely a breath away from her face. This close she had no trouble seeing the slight cleft faintly hidden beneath the stubble.
With a gulp she lifted her head, dying to get a really good look at Ian Southernland. Without her glasses she had to be nearly nose-to-nose with the man to see him, and this was her only chance, because she didn't believe for one minute that they would find a peddler with glasses, least of all one with any strong enough to make much of a difference. Regardless of how many wishes she made.
Praying Ian was still sound asleep, his deep breathing hinting that he was, she let her gaze travel along his powerful jaw across his features. She was stunned, awed, and thoroughly amazed at how right Tuck had been. He was the very image of her Prince Charming. He was beautiful.
There was a hitch in his breathing and she suddenly found a pair of startling blue eyes peering back at her. She licked her lips as she struggled for something coherent to say while her limbs had locked in place, but what? Sorry I slept on you?
Those amazing eyes darkened, sending her good sense to the farthest edge of the planet, and she pressed her mouth to his. He was not appalled by her actions, quite the opposite. Like a whisper, he teased and tormented her with his lips, warm and soft, and full of sin.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Rogue's Challenge
COPYRIGHT ©
2008 by Jo Barrett
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Cover Art by
R.J.Morris
The Wild Rose Press
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Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706
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Publishing History
First Faery Rose Edition, 2008
Print ISBN 1-60154-257-7
This one is for all those wonderful readers who begged for the sequel. Thank you!
Scotland, Isle Of Mull, Summer 1585
"I have lost my bloody mind,” Ian Southernland grumbled.
"Second thoughts?” Colin MacLean asked.
"Nay, but ‘tis a bit overwhelming,” he admitted to his long time friend.
"Aye. But I wouldna’ ask if Amelia wasna’ certain that Jenny would be of help tae her."
Amelia MacLean, formerly Amelia Tucker, was Colin's wife and a dear friend of Ian's. She was in the last stages of her pregnancy and wished for her friend to be by her side at the birthing. Jenny Maxwell, however, was not only a female physician, but happened to reside in the twenty-first century, and it was Ian's job to fetch the woman back through time.
He rubbed his temple as they neared the spring.
"Are you not well, mon?"
"Nay, ‘tis but a pain in my head from the bludgeoning of information Amelia has bestowed on me these past days. I only hope that I do not appear as ... how did she phrase it?"
"Nutball. Aye, ‘tis what she said."
Ian chuckled. “Not a flattering image."
They dismounted.
"I still cannot believe I am about to step into a bit of water and be transported through time. If I had not seen Amelia disappear myself one year past, I would never believe such a thing,” he said as they neared the enchanted spring.
"Aye, ‘tis a baffling thing. One has tae see it tae believe.” Colin's face turned grim. “But I will understand if you doona wish tae do this thing, Ian. ‘Tis no simple task we ask of you."
"Nay, I shall not waiver in my decision. But if I should not return...” he let out a long steady breath.
"You will return.” Colin slapped him on the back. “Aunt Elspeth has seen it. And her gift of sight has ne'er been wrong."
"Aye.” Ian's shoulders drooped. “But ‘tis what she has not seen that concerns me."
"All will be well, my friend."
Ian snapped his head up and straightened his spine. “Aye, and I shall return. And with Mistress Maxwell. I vow it."
"And I will be here."
With a nod Ian stepped toward the water.
"And doona take all day, you Sassenach,” Colin called after him, his brogue thick with jest. “I've better things tae do than stand around this bleedin’ spring waitin’ for you."
An unsteady laugh escaped Ian's grim lips as he stepped into the burbling stream and everything around him, the very world he knew, vanished.
Scotland, Isle of Mull, Winter—Present Day
"Fascinating. If I weren't a scientist, I wouldn't have believed my very own eyes,” Jenny murmured, adjusting her glasses. But it was true. Amelia Tucker, Jenny's bodyguard, her friend, was gone. She'd vanished the moment she stepped into the fountain. Jenny could only hope her time travel theory was correct and that Tuck would be sent back to sixteenth century Scotland to the man she loved, where she longed to be.
A shard of jealousy sliced through her as the cold night air snuck beneath her coat. Tuck had someone who wanted and loved her, while Jenny...
"It's of no consequence,” she said on a long exhale. It was Tuck's chance at happiness, one she deserved. But would she ever have that same chance? Jenny shoved her hands deep into her pockets and started toward the car.
"Again, it's of no consequence. I have my work, my father needs—” she staggered over the words, tired of lying to herself. Her father didn't need her or want her. She was a commodity when her research proved fruitful for his company, but other than that, he didn't know she existed. His health was poor, but he still managed to run his empire from a wheelchair without any help from her.
Jenny paused and looked up at the star speckled sky. “I should've gone with Tuck,” she whispered. She wasn't needed in the twenty-first century, not by her father, not by anyone.
There was no doubt she'd miss the ease of life in the present, the conveniences, and she did think that sixteenth century Scotland was a bit rougher than she'd like, but at least she would be with her friend. Someone who cared.
"Nonsense. As if Tuck needs a tag-a-long on her adventure. She has a man that loves her, a new family of a sort."
Jenny resumed her walk to the car, forgetting she was supposed to be stealthy as she crossed the vast gardens of Raghnall Castle. A fact brought rapidly to the forefront of her mind at the sound of a man shouting at her.
The night-guard! How could I be so stupid?
She bolted down the path, dodging left and right. She was horrible at lying and would babble nonsense like a fool if they caught her again.
On the fall equinox, when she and Tuck had stolen onto the property to test her theory about the fountain only working on the solstice, the guards had caught them. But thanks to Tuck's ingenious talent for quick responses when placed on the spot, the guards let them go.
The likelihood, however, of such an occurrence happening again and without Tuck in attendance was dismal at best. She'd have better luck regenerating dead tissue, she thought with a snort, then slid into a thick hedgerow, praying they wouldn't find her.
"This cannot be right,” Ian murmured in the dark, deep within the shadow of a tall tree. According to Amelia, he was to appear in the daylight on an equinox, which equinox she was not certain, but ‘twas most definitely supposed to be daylight. The location appeared to be correct, however, or so it seemed from her description. The tall statues and sculptured garden of Raghnall Castle surrounded him. Still, something was not as it should be.
He heard footsteps and decided his best option was to remain undetected until he could determine where and more importantly
when
he was.
"She went tha’ way,” a voice said nearby. “We'll corner her at the folley, there isna a way out from there.” Gravel crunched beneath boots and separated, surrounding him. Ian had no doubt he was well concealed, but was curious as to who these men were.
The footsteps passed and he eased out of his hiding place. Could they be the guards Amelia had spoken of? If so, he needed to keep clear of them. But why would they be chasing a woman through the gardens in the dead of night?
A twig snapped and he froze. Breathing, faint but rapid, reached his ears. A smile teased his lips. Whoever she was she had evaded the sentries and doubled back. This female was leading them on a merry chase.
"She's no’ aboot. Are ye sure ye saw her come this way?” one guard called to the other.
They were coming back. Ian moved silently toward the woman using her rapid breaths as a beacon. She was certain to be caught if she did not steady herself.
He paused a few paces away wondering what possessed him to aid this female. He knew nothing of her, of her reason for being here lurking in the dark on private property. Perhaps she was a thief of some kind.
Still, he had always felt the need to aid any woman in distress, and this one was most definitely in a bit of a spot. Outnumbered and alone, he could no more ignore his sense of chivalry as he could ignore the rising sun.
Egads! The sun!
The telltale signs of dawn were visible on the horizon. They'd both be caught for certain if they did not get themselves away but soon. Quickly and silently he stole up behind her and threw one arm around her, pressing her back into his chest, while clamping his hand over her mouth.
"Shh. I mean you no harm, mistress.” She struggled with surprising force considering her tiny size, and for a moment he thought her a child, for he had little trouble controlling her. “Be still. They are almost upon us."
The woman calmed, but only on the outside. Under his arm Ian could feel her racing heart beneath soft supple breasts. A grin tweaked the corner of his lips. Definitely no child. A shapely woman, albeit small, and one with a unique scent that teased his nostrils. He shifted, his cheek brushing the side of her head and sampled the silkiness of her hair.
"Where the devil can she have gone?” a guard asked grumpily, yanking Ian from his survey of the woman's form. What a dolt he'd become. Lusting after a woman he could not even see!
He had stayed too long without a bit of female companionship, but there was none at Arreyder he wished to acquaint himself with. He lived there, for the most part, and did not think it would be a comfortable situation should the lady or he have a change of heart at a later time. And with Colin happily homebound with his love, excursions about and abroad had ended. Thus, so were Ian's opportunities to seek his physical pleasures.
"Damned if I know where she could've disappeared tae,” the other guard replied. “Didn't look like much of a cat burglar, though, from what I seen."
"Aye, ye may be right. Hey, think it was one of them women we caught some months back?"
One of the guards laughed. “Them loonies! Aye, I suppose it could've been. Or maybe one of the teenagers from the village again. Ye know how they get bored and dare one another tae do stupid things."
"Aye. Like the two of us once, eh?” They both chuckled as they walked past, their voices fading as they reminisced about times gone by.