No Other Woman (No Other Series)

No Other Woman

by

Shannon Drake

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are 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.

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Copyright © 2011 by Heather Graham. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

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Thank You
.

To Jody Cabot with many thanks

and to all the folks at Crow Haven Corner

Prologue

To Deal with the Devil

Gray friar Castle

Commonly known as Castle Rock The Highlands

Fall 1870

David awoke instantly at the faint scratching sound at the ancient stone window leading from the master's chamber to the fortress balcony beyond. The years of warfare in America—not to mention the lessons he had learned among his brother's people, the Sioux—had left him with the ability to awaken instantly at even the slightest shift in the breeze.

He half opened his eyes and saw her there before he heard her sultry whisper, a siren's call, on the air.

"David?"

She was framed in the window, caught by starlight and the faint glimmer of firelight now lying low within the hearth, a slender, perfect young form hugged by the wind and the silky garment she wore, clinging to the wondrous dips and curves of her body. Her long hair, as black as India ink, flowed in the night breeze as well, sweeping around her.

Instinct had awakened him.

And instinct aroused him.

Yet he was ever cautious of the lady, for they had certainly clashed on many an occasion over the years. Most often, he had enjoyed taunting her. One day, he thought, he would challenge her airs and independence, and the arrogance with which she had come to greet him more and more with the passing of time. They lived in the modern world, of course. But by the old standards that continued to mean so much in the Highlands, he was the overlord here, and she seemed to resent it. No matter. Both of their clans and family septs had lived in and near Craig Rock for hundreds of years. He was the heir to all the Douglas of Castle Rock holdings while she had inherited the MacGinnis title and properties at her father's death, three years ago.

She took it all very seriously.

But then, he'd had the opportunity to know a different life as well, to travel over much of the world, even fight other men's battles with them. She knew their Highland world and little more. He'd known ladies, maids, countesses, and whores; she'd been protected by the MacGinnises and all their septs, for it was most important that their heiress marry well. He'd done his honorable best to remember her position each time she had regally taunted him, but she was certainly not a child anymore, and he was quite sure she knew full well just what effect she was capable of having upon a man. He had threatened often enough to teach her a few lessons if she did not take care, and he was not sure himself just how far he would take his threats.

And now...

She tiptoed softly down the stone steps, nearing his bed to watch him sleep. Yet, as she paused, staring down upon him, he reached suddenly for her wrist, startling her so that she nearly cried out.

Yet she composed herself.

"David!" She whispered his name fervently, her Highland burr soft and sweet, tempered by hours with stern tutors, yet still there, for it seemed that no amount of study of what was deemed as "proper" elocution could ever truly hide away a Highlander's burr.

"Aye, lass, whom might you be expecting in my bed? And if you haven't come, planning on joining me here, I would suggest that you leave quickly, and not visit your overlaird in the dead of night while he lies sleeping naked in his bed."

She snatched her hand free, indignant and regal, in the firelight that burned softly from the hearth.