Stolen By A Highlander (Scottish Pregnancy Romance) Page 13
He cradled her next to his warm body as they drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Nine
As it always does, eventually the spring sunshine chased away the winter’s snow and cold and gloom. Victoria reveled in the Scottish countryside as it started to turn green and the little blossoms popped out on the trees and bushes.
Abigail was more and more attentive, and Victoria was becoming annoyed. She was starting to feel like the petulant little girl that she had finally left behind. Have you written your parents? It was the same conversation every time. Not yet, there will be time, and I will see them beforehand.
Dylan spent his evenings parading around the dining hall, virtually patting himself on the back. Victoria would simply roll her eyes and reach for another piece of bread. She knew that eventually her father would make his way to Dylan’s castle to discuss the spring and summer trade, and she hoped her mother would join him on the trip.
By mid-April, the vegetable garden was well underway and the fields seemed thick with tiny baby lambs. Victoria loved to put on her oldest house dress and chase them through the meadows until Abigail hollered for her to stop.
One morning, Victoria was getting ready in her room and Dylan stopped by after checking something with the horses.
She sat at her vanity, her dressing gown clinging to her damp body and her blonde hair hanging in a wet curtain down her back.
“Excuse us,” he muttered gruffly to Abigail.
She rolled her eyes and left the room in a huff.
“Better and better each time I see you,” he murmured against her neck.
Victoria giggled, “When do we have to stop?”
“Never!” he crowed.
She took his large hands and rested them on her swollen belly.
“We’ll have to stop sometime. You’ll dent his head with the way you take me.”
He slid his hands up to her ripe breasts and groaned softly.
“Sometime, but not today.”
An hour later, Victoria was still not dressed and now her freshly washed hair was a frightful mess but her cheeks glowed a happy pink.
“Dylan, I look like a vagabond! My parents will be here by supper!”
He sat her up in front of him and leaned over to pick up her silver hair brush. Softly and gently, he started combing it down her back until it fell into the soft waves that ticked his bare chest.
“Now Abigail can fix it up,” he smiled down at her face as she turned to wink at him.
Abigail returned when Dylan left and was able to braid Victoria’s hair down her back with relative ease.
While Dylan headed downstairs to meet the arriving caravan, Abigail helped Victoria dress for seeing her parents. As Victoria rested in one of the large chairs with her eyes closed, she heard a loud gasp from the doorway.
When she opened her eyes and looked, her mother Lydia was rushing towards her as she struggled to stand.
“Oh m’dear! Look at you! I had no idea!”
Victoria beamed, “We just kept trying and trying, and it finally worked.”
Lydia’s cheeks flushed pink and she giggled.
When Victoria and her mother strolled down the staircase, Andrew looked up with a start at his swollen expectant daughter.
“Someday, father dear, your estate will all be owned by this proud Scotsman here,” she pronounced proudly as she patted her tummy.
THE END
My Sinful Surrender to a Highlander Werewolf
Carden crawled through the woods sniffing at the air, he could still smell the smoke from the night before. It had been a long night for him and his clan the army of Sven had attacked a small village burning the small shacks to the ground and taking everything that remained.
It all started when the Kingdom of Berigord was taken over by Sven the Conqueror, the Kigom’s did not want Sven’s kingdom to grow and had hired Carden’s werewolf clan to take Sven’s daughter Zuzella in an effort to force him to stop destroying the villages. The King had continued to press further into the Kingdom of Kigom and their king was not willing to be conquered.
Even though the King of Kigom knew his army could not defeat Sven’s he knew that the werewolf clan was willing to work as mercenaries and would do whatever it took to get the job done. The King also knew how much Sven valued his daughter and that if she were missing Sven’s focus would no longer be about conquering but on finding her instead.
The King had called on Carden and his clan to complete the mission and it had been accepted. The werewolf clan wanted no part of Sven’s kingdom. They knew that he looked at them as nothing more than filthy animals and was determined to eradicate them from the face of the planet. Even though Sven knew it would be hard as he had not yet figured out how to kill the Highlanders, he did not want them breeding with his kind and he did not want them in his cities.
If Sven had known that the only way to kill the Highlanders was to cut their heads off Carden knew that he would make sure to kill every last one of them. He had seen kings like Sven in the past, those who only worried about growing their own kingdom and did not worry who he hurt along the way. None of them had come as close to finding out the Highlanders secrets as Sven had.
He had been watching them since the day he became king. Sven had always been amazed at the secrecy of the warriors who worked as mercenaries. Even when he was a child his own father had told him stories of the people and although he did not believe that they could shapeshift into werewolves he knew that they were a strong people. Many of his own soldiers had reported shooting the Highlanders only to have them become even angrier and come after them as if they had not been harmed at all.
He had told the same stories that his father told him to his daughter Zuzulla. As a young girl she had been so intern his stories, but as she had gotten older her interest seemed to fade. Sven loved his daughter more than life and he was determined to leave her with the largest kingdom in the history of kingdoms when his time was done. Her mother had died while giving birth and Sven was all she had ever had. He had never remarried, but instead focused on ensuring Zuzulla was a powerful ruler when her time came.
Of course Zuzulla had many servants and many people caring for her besides her father, but he always felt guilty for her not having a mother. He wanted to make sure he left her with everything he could. Zuzulla was a beautiful princess and her father knew that she would have no problem finding a strong prince as her husband. Men had already started to inquire about her and she had just turned 18. She had fair skin and long black hair, the bluest of eyes and full red lips.
She had a body that men lusted after when she was seen in public, large plump breasts that were only accentuated by her corset, a small waist and full round hips. Sven was glad that her body was not visible under the dresses that she wore outside of the castle, but fire shot through his veins when he was the way the soldiers looked at her as she pranced through the castle in more revealing clothes. It was times like that when Sven wished he had been able to give her a brother. Someone who would be able to keep an eye on her all of the time. To be honest Sven knew he would breathe a sigh of relief once she was married. At least then he would not have to worry about her as much even if it meant that his little girl was growing up.
That side of Sven, the caring, gentle side that was reserved only for his daughter was a side that no one saw except Zuzulla. He could not have his enemies thinking he was weak.
Sven had sent his army into a little village the previous night, it was a village that the Highlanders were known to frequent. He not only wanted to conquer a new land, but he wanted to send a message to the Highlanders. He wanted them to know that he knew where they were and that he was coming after them. He had his best warriors plotting to kill all of the Highlanders and he would stop at nothing until they were all dead. They were the only thing that stood between him and conquering the entire countryside.
Sven knew that if he wanted to be the King in all of the surrounding lands he would have to get rid of the Highlanders, he
knew that they would cause a revolt among the people and that they could lead an army against his. He also knew that the Highlander army with the help of the people would defeat his own army.
Carden crawled up to the bushes that lay on the edge of the woods, peering through them, ensuring that there were no more soldiers left in the village. Smoke rose from the small cottages, most of them burned to the ground. The village was poor, but it was one that meant a lot to the Highlander clan. It was where they sold the fur of their kills as well as meat which allowed them to outfit the entire clan with only the best weapons.
The Highlanders had become quite fond of the people in the village as well, it was one of the few places that the clan actually felt accepted. Carden shook his head as he looked at the ground. He knew he should have been there the previous night to protect the town. He should not have gone to meet with the King leaving the town without protection. He had never suspected that Sven had known how important the town was to the Highlanders and it only made Carden want to go after Sven that much more.
When he was sure that there were no soldiers left Carden shifted into his human form along with several of the clan that had come to the village with him. They had seen the smoke rising in the sky as they made their way back to their camp that morning and it had not taken them, but a few minutes to get there in their werewolf form. They were able to run as fast as lightening when they were in their werewolf form, much faster than any man could ever run.
Several of the men in the clan had women that they were fond of in the small village and when Carden saw the smoke, he knew that the chances of the women surviving was very small. Sven’s men always killed all of the men in a village or allowed them to join their army if they were strong enough, that left the women and children. The men were not gentle when it came to the women and if they would not submit to the men in Sven’s army they would be killed.
The army killed the old as well, seeing no point in having them alive and only those who pledged allegiance to Sven and his army were allowed to live. They were just like Sven, Carden thought, heartless and nothing more than a waste of space on the planet. They were blind with power and Carden was sure that they actually enjoyed killing those who would not pledge their allegiance to Sven. He had seen the smirks on their faces when they had killed previously and it was like nothing he had ever seen.
Of course Sven and his clan had to kill humans on occasion they needed their hearts in order to survive, but none of them took pleasure in killing and made sure that they only killed the worst criminals when they had to feed. Often times Carden would wish that he were dead rather than kill another human, but he took comfort in knowing that he did not kill the innocent unlike Sven and his army.
Carden and his clan walked into the village, keeping a close eye out for any type of movement. He did not want Sven’s men sneaking up on them without any warning. They quickly went through the village, ensuring that it was not only safe for them to be there, but safe to bring out any survivors they would find.
Carden walked into one small cottage that had not burned completely down. A woman not older than 30 was laying on the bed completely nude and completely dead. Carden picked up a blanket off of the floor of the cottage and covered her body wanting to give her a little bit of her dignity back. He imagined the awful things Sven’s men had done to this gentle creature and fire flowed through his veins like hot lava.
Carden turned to walk out of the cottage when he saw a small figure hiding behind the table. He bent down, it was a young girl that he knew well. She could not have been more than 16 but was very popular among the younger Highlanders. Carden reached out and she took his hand, standing she threw her arms around him sobbing. He would have no choice but to take her back to the clan and change her. It was fine with Carden and he knew the elders of the clan would be fine with it as well, but he wondered if she had any idea what her future would hold and if she would have been better off dying at the hand of Sven’s army.
The other members of the Highlander clan had found a few survivors and checked to see if any supplies had been left in the village. Although there was very little left by Sven’s soldiers they were glad to find a small amount of food and water. This would be enough to get the humans back to the Highlander camp without having to worry about hunting. Carden told the other members of his clan to take the humans to the Highlander camp, he was going to go ensure that King Sven never did this to another person again.
Zuzulla was preparing for her evening walk, it as something that her father did not like, but he allowed her to do so that she could get out of the palace walls. She hated not being able to go into town and visit with the normal people. She also hated having guards around her all of the time and this was her get away. Her father made sure that he knew exactly where she was going and to her dismay, he always had guards close by. He thought that she did not know they were there, but she had grown up around them, she knew when they were around and she knew how to lose them as well.
She laughed as she thought about how angry, they would become when she would sneak away in the woods hiding from them. She had done it since she was a child. Back then it had been a game, she would hide in the bushes where they could not see her and watch them search for her. Now it was just a way for her to get away. Growing up in a palace meant that there were always people around. People to bathe you, people to dress you, people to watch you eat and people to watch you do everything imaginable. Running out into the woods was the only time that Zuzulla did not have someone watching her.
Finally, she was ready to leave the palace and placed a cloak with a hood over her dress. She did not want anyone to recognize her if they were out wandering around the woods. She had been approached a few times recently, but she told the men that she was just a local villager out looking for berries. It had been frightening the first time she was approached, but she knew her father’s guards were keeping a close eye on her and the man that spoke with her.
Zuzulla walked out of the castle and across the hill. She knew the guards hated following her, she had heard them call it babysitting duty but she didn’t care. She knew that if her father found out how often she was able to hide from the guards he would have them thrown in prison for the rest of their miserable lives.
Zuzulla was not going to say anything to her father though. The guards knew that she would run away each day and that she would return when she was ready to go back to the castle. She figured that they had to pretend to be angry with her, but it had been a long time since they had actually looked for her when she took off into the woods. It was if they had an unspoken agreement. They allowed her to do as she wished and she did not tell her father.
She would not have told him anyway, even if the guards had really been angry with her. She knew her father had a temper and she had overheard some of the servants talking about how he had destroyed an entire village. Zuzulla refused to believe that he could do the things they said he had and she knew that when she was queen she would bring peace to the land. Even though she refused to believe that he had killed all of those people just to get to the Highlanders, the people who were nothing more than a fairy tale, she had seen her father sentence others to death and she did not wish that upon anyone, not even the guards that drove her so insane.
The guards followed Zuzulla as she walked into the woods, two of them leaned on the trees at the edge of the woods and the two others followed her further in. When they were about 100 yards from the edge the other two guards stopped and let Zuzulla go off on her own. They were not worried about her becoming lost, they actually enjoyed the time out in the woods. It was the only time they did not have to make sure they were doing everything the way the King wanted it to be done. They knew if they did not bring his daughter back, he would have them killed, but she had been wandering these woods for years they had no idea that today she would not return.
As Zuzulla made her way deeper into the forest she heard branches breaking behind her. She was amazed tha
t the guards had followed her this far, normally they stopped much further back. She smirked when she thought about going even deeper into the forest and as she turned to see where they were a hand was quickly placed over her mouth and an arm went around her waist.
She struggled against the man who grabbed her. She could not scream because of his enormous hand and knew she would not be able to fight him off on her own. She had never seen muscles as large as the ones that were on this arm that was wrapped around her. The man had something in his hand that was over her mouth and as she tried to fight him off, she felt herself becoming weaker and suddenly her body went limp as her eyes closed.
Carden had a horse waiting on the other side of the forest and he knew he had to get the princess there quickly before the guards began to look for her. She had only been in the woods a short time and he knew from watching her on previous days that he only had about an hour to get as far away from the area as he could. He threw Zuzulla over his shoulder and ran for the other side of the woods.
Carden ran as fast as he could and even though Zuzulla was light, he struggled with her dress getting in the way. He tried his best to work around it, but found that it was impossible. He dropped Zuzulla to the ground and grabbed the skirt of her dress ripping it until there was nothing more than a small skirt that fell just below her rear. Carden picked her up again and threw her back over his shoulder. He knew that her father would panic when he found her ripped dress and for that reason alone left it lying in the dirt.
Carden was able to move much better once he had gotten all of the extra material out of his way and made it to his horse in no time. Only about 30 minutes had passed since he had taken her and he knew he had to get further away. He mounted his horse and sat Zuzulla down facing him. He wrapped her legs around his waist and laid her head on his chest. For a brief moment he felt almost guilty as he looked down at her.
He knew it was not her fault that her father was as evil as he was, and he also knew that there was no other way to get her father to stop. Carden took off on the horse and headed toward the river. He knew if he could get her across the river Sven’s entire army could try to track them but they would fail.