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Authors: Julianne MacLean

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BOOK: Claimed by the Highlander
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Catherine lay motionless beneath him, afraid to move, lest he grow violent again. All she could do was stare up at him in bewilderment, waiting for him to do something, to say something.
Anything.
He squeezed his eyes shut and touched his forehead to hers, grimacing as if he were in terrible pain.

Catherine slid out from under him and scrambled backwards. He withdrew onto his haunches, gaping at her with dark, suffering, bloodshot eyes.

“Look what you’ve done to me,” he growled, shaking his head. “I despise you, Raonaid.”

“I’m sorry…” she replied, even though she had no memory of what she had done. And it was ridiculous for her to be apologizing to
him
, under the circumstances.

He watched her with a strange mixture of shame and desperation, then spoke quietly through gritted teeth. “I beg of you—just lift the curse, and I’ll leave you be.”

“I assure you, I would have done so already if I’d known what you were talking about, but I have no memories. I don’t know who I am.”

His eyes darkened. “You are Raonaid, the Oracle. The witch who put a curse on me three years ago. You are not the Drumloch heiress.”

All the blood in Catherine’s body rushed to her head as she tried to comprehend what he was saying. Was it true? Was she some kind of mystic, and had she unknowingly been deceiving the Montgomerys all this time? Half the servants believed she was a fraud. But why would her grandmother lie? Or was the woman simply in denial, refusing to believe that her only granddaughter was still missing, or possibly dead?

Just then, the resounding
crack
of a gunshot ripped through the air. Catherine jumped back, while the Highlander fell to his side, cupping his upper arm.

“Shit,”
he groaned, utterly defeated as he rolled onto his back and grimaced up at the sky.

Catherine rose to her hands and knees, just as her cousin John came striding into the interior of the stone circle, reloading his pistol.

“I heard your screams,” he explained as he dismounted. “My apologies, Catherine, for taking so long to arrive, but I needed a clear shot.”

Lying flat on his back, moving his legs about in discomfort, the Highlander swore something in Gaelic. Catherine could not understand the words, but she recognized his tone of self-recrimination. Blood seeped through his linen shirt and dripped onto the grass.

John finished reloading his pistol, cocked it, and strode closer. He stood over the wounded Scot and pointed the gun at his face. “I am John Montgomery,” he said. “Fifth Earl of Drumloch. This woman is my cousin, and I would be within my rights to shoot you dead, you vile savage.”

Catherine rose quickly to her feet and laid a hand on John’s arm. “It’s all right,” she told him. “He didn’t hurt me, and look, he is wounded. You can lower your weapon now.”

John refused to do so. “This dirty Highlander tried to disgrace you, Catherine.”

“Indeed,” she replied, “but he regained control of himself before doing so.”

And she could not let him die, for he was the first person she had met who seemed to know something about her whereabouts over the past five years.

“I cannot let him go free,” John declared.

The Highlander’s lips pressed together in a thin line, while he glared up at her cousin with contempt. “She’s not who you think she is.”

John raised the pistol again. “And how would you know anything about it?”

“Because I know this crafty lass,” the Highlander ground out, struggling awkwardly to sit up. “And she’s a nasty, vengeful witch.”

Catherine sucked in a breath at the cold insult to her honor, just as her cousin swung back a heavy boot, kicked her attacker in the head, and knocked him out cold.

St. Martin’s Paperbacks Titles

by Julianne MacLean

 

Captured by the Highlander

 

Claimed by the Highlander

 

Praise for Julianne MacLean …

 

“You can always count on Julianne MacLean to deliver ravishing romance that will keep you turning pages until the wee hours of the morning.”

—Teresa Medeiros

 

“Julianne MacLean’s writing is smart, thrilling, and sizzles with sensuality.”

—Elizabeth Hoyt

 

“She is just an all-around wonderful writer and I look forward to reading everything she writes.”

—Natasha Smith,
Romance Junkies

 

… and her bestselling romances

 

“Sparkles with life and emotion … delightful.”

—Jo Beverly

 

“A sizzling treat.”

—Karen Hawkins

 

“Brimming with incredible passion.”

—Cathy Maxwell

 

“It takes a talented author to segue from a lighthearted tale of seduction to an emotionally powerful romance that plays on your heartstrings … a very special, powerful read.”


Romantic Times Book Reviews

 

“MacLean’s compelling writing turns this simple, classic love story into a richly emotional romance, and by combining engaging characters with a unique, vividly detailed setting, she has created an exceptional tale for readers who hunger for something a bit different in their historical romances.”


Booklist

 

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

 

CLAIMED BY THE HIGHLANDER

 

Copyright © 2011 by Julianne MacLean.

Excerpt from
Seduced by the Highlander
copyright © 2011 by Julianne MacLean.

 

All rights reserved.

 

For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

 

ISBN: 978-0-312-36532-5

 

St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / April 2011

 

St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

 

eISBN 978-1-4299-6532-3

 

First St. Martin’s Paperbacks eBook Edition: March 2011

 

 

“When it comes to exciting Highland romance, Julianne MacLean delivers.”

—Laura Lee Guhrke,

New York Times
bestselling author

Don’t miss the first novel in this sensational series!

 

CAPTURED BY THE

HIGHLANDER

ISBN: 978-0-312-36531-8

 

From St. Martin’s Paperbacks

 

Coming soon …

 

SEDUCED BY THE

HIGHLANDER

ISBN: 978-0-312-36533-2

 

Available in October 2011

from St. Martin’s Paperbacks

BOOK: Claimed by the Highlander
7.48Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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