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SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER Excerpt


from Mia Marlowe...

I finally have a free hour in my New Year Blog Bash to celebrate the release of SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER. I though I'd use it to share the opening of the story:
 
The peat fire had burned out and the ash gone gray, but Rob MacLaren didn’t feel the least bit cold. Not while his hot-blooded woman writhed under him. Their breaths mingled in the frosty air of the bedchamber. Fiona tilted her hips, welcoming him deeper, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from emptying himself into her.
It was too soon.
He never wanted it to end, this joining, this loss of himself in the woman he adored.
          Rob raised himself up on his arms and gazed down at her. The candles had burned down to nubs but still flickered enough to cast her in soft light. He could see his wife clearly. 
“What are ye doing, daftie man? ‘Tis too cold!” Fiona raised herself up and clung to him for warmth.
“That’s what ye get when ye marry a man on Christmas Day—a cold bridal night.” He gently pushed her back down and she sank into the feather tick.
“It doesna have to be cold.” Her skin rippled with gooseflesh. “Come back under the covers, love.”
     “I canna. I need to see the lass I wed,” he said. “I want to watch ye melt for me, to see your face when ye make that wee kitten noise just afore ye come.”
     “Wee kitten noise, is it?” She shook with laughter. “Have a care, husband, lest I bare my claws.”
     She raked her nails across his chest and the sensation made his balls clench.
He lowered himself and kissed her, devouring her lips and chasing her tongue. He withdrew for a heartbeat for the sheer joy of sliding slowly back into her slick wetness. Then he raised himself again and reached between them to stroke her over the edge.
     “Oh, Rob.” Her inner walls clenched around him and he felt the soft tremor that signaled the start of her release. “When ye do that, I don’t care a fig if it’s so cold I catch my death . . . my death . . . my death . . .”   
Her voice echoed round the chamber and faded into the distant thatch overhead.
Rob jerked awake.
He wasn’t in his bridal bedchamber. He was lying on stone hard ground still primed to make love to the woman in his dream. Stars wheeled above him in a frigid sky. His band of men snored nearby.
And the fact that Fiona was dead slammed into him afresh.
He’d married her two years ago at Christmas and she’d been gone by Epiphany. Twelve days, he’d been a husband. Only twelve.
And now a night didn’t pass without his wife visiting him as some phantom, sometimes tender, sometimes terrifying. She lived in his dreams, but always he was powerless to hold her to earth. 
She was so vibrant, so real by night, he suffered all the more in the waking world with the knowledge that he’d not find her there.
One of the men in the clearing let out a loud snore and mumbled in his sleep. It was hours till dawn and even more till Rob could accomplish what he intended in the coming day. But he would not seek sleep.
He couldn’t bear to lose Fiona again so soon. 
_______________________________

Hope you enjoyed the snippet of SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER. If you'd like to read more of the first chapter, visit my website. While you're there be sure to enter my website contest for a chance to win a KINDLE!
Leave a comment here and you'll be entered in a drawing for winner's choice from my backlist!

Comments

  1. I'm a big Highlander fan and love stories with emotional angst. Sins Of The Highlander sounds like a good one.

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  2. Mmmm...highlanders. This sounds like an excellent read!

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  3. Hi Mia . I love everything about highlander especially the highlanders in historical romance stories. Thank you to make a dream come true story for me by creating this book. Love it so much. Can't wait to go to the nearest bookstore and takes a peak of all of your backlist books . Cheers n happy new year to you. Aretha zhen, aretha_zhen@yahoo.com

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  4. Thanks, Chris. I agree that emotion is so crucial in order for a story to deliver a satisfying Happily Ever After. The suffering we put Rob and Elspeth through is so necessary. ;-)

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  5. Brooklyn Ann--It was such fun to write a Highland hero!

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  6. Aretha--Thanks so much. I hope you love SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER. It makes me cry.

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  7. You caught my interest with "Highlander." Sins of the Highlander sounds fantastic and I can't wait to read it.

    Barbed1951 at aol dot com

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  8. I love all ur books and would love to win one also..thanks for the giveaways!!!

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  9. Barbara--I'm still waiting for someone to tell me I had them at "Sins." LOL!

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  10. Thanks, Zehra. Good luck in the drawing!

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  11. I love Highlander books, I love their battles, their angst souls which eventually get mended and I also love how they love.

    dpd333 (at) aol dot com

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  12. That was a great opening scene! It really brings Rob's loss and sorrow front and center.

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  13. Yowza. I love a sexy Highlander.

    Also love the cover - I would buy the book on the cover alone.

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  14. Diane--We do love men who need fixing, don't we? Hmm... that didn't sound right. My terrier is glaring at me.

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  15. Maria--I had one gal crying in Rhoad Island when I told her about the opening. She so empathized with Rob's loss.

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  16. Jodie--I freely admit we were kissed by the cover faeries!

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  17. A great insight into Rob's mind. When it comes to his feelings he doesn't seem to hold back at least in thoughts. It sounds like he needs to find his happy ending. Highlanders make great heroes.

    Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  18. Na--He knew how he felt about Fiona because she always told him! Even though she's dead when the story starts, we tried to give readers a sense of who she was.

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  19. Love the excerpt. :) Sounds like a terrific story.

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  20. There is absolutely nothing sinful about Highlanders. Everyone should have one! I have to get your book. I buy every Highland romance I can! It sounds terrific!

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  21. Wow, Mia! This sounds like a fabulous story. I'm a sucker for a braw man in a kilt. :)

    Thanks again for everything!

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  22. Wow, Mia! This sounds like a fabulous story. I'm a sucker for a braw man in a kilt. :)

    Thanks again for everything!

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  23. Poor Rob:( I can't wait to read the rest of this story! CONGRATS Mia, it sounds like a winner:)

    yadkny@hotmail.com

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  24. That is such a heartrending end to the excerpt. Really hope that he has a thorough happy ending.

    little lamb lst at yahoo dot com

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  25. It is a great snipped Mia, I like your writing style, but it is making me sad for your hero. Only 12 days together! I want to know how that happened...

    auriansbooks at gmail dot com

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  26. Love highlanders, so the book is high on my tbb list

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  27. read it and like it mia ;)

    but not sure i can join your kindle giveaway ;(

    eli_y83@yahoo.com

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  28. I love Highlanders. Your new book sounds amazing. Love the cover.
    Crystal816[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  29. Oh I do so love a man in a Kilt! I am married to a scottish descendant, so I really do love historicals set in Scotland!

    You are a new to me author, Mia, so I am very excited to have a chance to read one of your books! I have added Sin's of the Highlander to my TBR list for sure!

    Happy New Year, and thank you for the giveaway opportunity!

    Gena Robertson
    robertsongena@hotmail.com

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  30. Oh, goodness! I am so looking forward to reading this book!

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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