Was there a part that bored you or that you didn't really like in the book? *

Even a character, a scene, or anything. You could say no if nothing bothered you.

What moment from the book you enjoyed the most? *

Something you liked, a specific scene, a character's quality, some detail that caught your eye.

Did it frustrate you how long Katherine kept her secret from Tor? *

• Yes, I think it would be better if she had told him earlier. It was not fair.
• No, I loved the tension it created. I understand her reasons, so I cannot blame her.
• I can't really decide. It annoyed me a bit, yet I could see Katherine's reasons.

Do you like slow-burn romances? *

• Yes, I love them! The tension they create is amazing!
• Not really. I get too anxious while waiting for the characters to get together.
• I don't have a specific opinion. They're alright.

Is there something else you'd like to share? *

Something you noticed, frustrated you, left you confused, etc.

Submit

Strathnaver, Scotland, One Year Later

Katherine stood on the shore of Loch Naver and stared out at the water. It was the first time that she had returned to the loch since that day all those years ago with her mother. She remembered her mother sitting reading, her hair shining in the sun. Katherine picked up a stone and skipped it across the water as she had done that day. She watched until it sank beneath the water’s surface.

“Remembering?” Tor asked, coming up to wrap his arms around her.

“Aye, it has been a long time,” replied Katherine.

“Much has changed,” he murmured, nuzzling her ear with his lips. “Ye are safe and loved,” he whispered, to reassure her. He knew that she still sometimes got nervous around large bodies of water, but she had come a long way since that day.

“Aye,” she murmured in agreement, leaning into his arms.

Tor’s hand slipped down to her abdomen. “How is our wee bairn?” he asked.

“Restless and excited tae meet the baby cousin,” she said, smiling down at her belly fondly. I am glad that Katarina agreed tae come tae us. I ken that she does nae have good memories of Strathnaver. I hope the trip is nae unbearable for her.”

“We will make new memories here for the both of ye,” Tor promised. “We should go and meet them now. They will be arriving soon.”

“Aye,” she sighed, turning away from the memories of her past and moving forward into the future with her husband.

The two of them rode to Ian’s so that they could meet the boat as it came to shore. Katherine squealed with delight as Tor’s family climbed out of the boat and clambered onto the shore. Dunn and Tor embraced each other laughing with happiness at their reunion. “I missed ye, brother,” Tor confessed.

“As I did ye,” Dunn admitted, as they turned to grin at Katarina, who was walking up the embankment with their new baby in her arms. Her sisters followed close behind her like a gaggle of worrying hens, making certain that she did not misstep and fall.

Katarina greeted Katherine with a heartfelt smile. “I have missed ye both so very much!” she said.

“As we have missed ye,” Katherine greeted, coming to admire her nephew.

Dunn stepped forward and took the baby from Katarina’s arms. “If I may I introduce ye tae yer nephew, Bran. Bran, this is yer Uncle Tor,” Dunn said and handed the baby to Tor to hold and grinned in pride at the sight.

Katherine looked on with a smile. Tor will make a wonderful father.

“We brought a guest,” Katarina informed her gently. “I hope that ye dinnae mind.”

Katherine turned back to Katarina. “Ye may bring whomever ye wish. I ken that this is a difficult visit for ye tae make. Ye dinnae have happy memories here,” Katherine said.

Katarina smiled at her gently, her eyes filled with compassion. “This guest is not for my comfort,” she said.

“Oh?” Katherine’s brows arched in question.

“I have brought our aunt from Rome,” said Katarina.

Katherine’s eyes opened wide with surprise. “Aunt?” she asked.

Katarina’s aunt stepped out of the boat and grabbed Katherine’s hands. “Katherine, my brother’s daughter, it is a great pleasure to finally meet you.” I have heard many things about you, and I must say that your father would have been proud of the strength that you have shown,” she said.

Katherine couldn’t speak because her throat was clogged with tears. She fought back a sob as she shifted her gaze between Katarina and their aunt. She had feared that she would never see the aunt Katarina had mentioned. She assumed she’d never meet anyone else from their family because what little remained of it was scattered across the known world. Their aunt had married the head of another important Romani family in the vicinity of Rome. Her duty was to her new people, but she had already left them behind to travel to the north of Scotland to see Katarina. She’d done the same for Katherine, a niece she’d never met. The emotion of it all overwhelmed her, and her control slipped away, leaving her to cry in her aunt’s arms.

“Katherine, my Katherine, do not cry,” her aunt soothed her, rubbing her back.

“I thought that I might never see ye,” she sniffed, trying to get her emotions under control.

“When Katarina wrote to me telling me that she had found you, I knew that I had to come. I miss my brothers every day. Having you girls gives me a piece of them back,” their aunt said. She opened her arms wider to embrace all four girls at the same time. “My beautiful nieces.”

Dunn and Tor smiled at the sight. “She also had tae come and see her new grandnephew,” said Dunn who beamed with pride as he took his son back from Tor.

Katarina smiled as she untangled herself from the group and retrieved her son from her husband. “Indeed, she did,” she said.

“And what a beautiful grandnephew he is,” their aunt praised, smiling at mother and child.

“Bran is nae the only grandnephew or niece that ye will need tae come and visit auntie,” Tor announced, smiling at Katherine as she moved away from the group hug and took a step back.

“Oh, aye?” Dunn inquired raising a brow.

“Katherine is with child,” Tor announced, also beaming with pride.

Joy spread across every face present. Katherine’s cousins rushed forward to embrace her once more, the younger two talking about names and rubbing her belly speaking to the bairn within. Katherine did not know what to make of all of it, but Tor just stood back and laughed with pure joy. Their aunt stepped forward and placed her hand on Katarina’s belly, moving the other girls out of the way. She murmured something in the Romani language that Katherine did not understand.

“What is happening?” Katherine asked, confused.

Katarina smiled and explained, “She is blessing yer child. It is the way of our people.”

“Our people,” Katherine murmured. She looked into their aunt’s eyes. “Please, tell me of my father.”

Smiling, her aunt laced her arm through Katherine’s and they walked together along the shore, speaking of many heartfelt memories.

Later that night, Tor and Katherine were lying in bed together thinking about the events of the day. It had been a bittersweet time, and neither of them would have traded it. Tor laid his hand on her belly, rubbing it in soothing circles. “I told Dunn that we wished for him and Katarina tae be the bairn’s godparents,” he said.

“Did he agree?” asked Katherine.

“He said that they would be honored,” answered Tor.

Katherine nodded, smiling softly. “What did auntie say to ye before she went tae bed that made ye laugh so much?” she asked him.
Tor chuckled in amusement. “She said that had she kent that there were so many handsome men in Scotland who loved Romani women, she might have waited tae wed until now,” he said.

Katherine laughed. “She didnae mean it. Katarina said that she is very much in love with her husband,” she said.

“Aye, I ken that. I didnae take her seriously. She just amuses me,” Tor said.

Katherine smiled. “I like her,” she said.

“As do I. She loves ye and that is enough for me,” said Tor.

Katherine nestled into his side, laying her head on his chest. “Ye ken, I was thinking that we have come a long way from hating one another,” she said.

“Aye, that is true. But I cannae imagine hating ye now, my pretty wife,” he said.

“Neither do I, my loving husband,” said Katherine and traced her fingers through his chest hair. “What we have is a blessed miracle, given how it started.”

Tor pulled her tight against his side. “We have accomplished much with yer people. They have come tae trust my judgment and yer tender care. By the time that the bairn comes, we will be ready tae provide him with a safe secure home,” Tor said.

“Supposing that Alistair Morgan does nae return,” said Katherine.

Tor kissed the top of her head. “He cannae harm ye now. Dead or alive, he is beyond this place and willnae be allowed tae return, whether by God’s edict or the king’s. Ye can rest in the knowledge of that,” he reassured her.

Sighing, Katherine let her fears go and settled back against his side. He was right. She had to trust that he would keep her safe and that the life they were building together could not and would not be destroyed by the life of one man. “May God forgive him, for I surely willnae,” she said.

Tor smiled against her skin. “And ye should nae, love.” He leaned down and kissed her lips softly. “I love ye more than life itself,” he breathed against her skin.

“And I ye,” she whispered.

“Remain with me always,” he said and kissed her again.

“Always and forever,” she promised.

He kissed her once more, this time with passion. He gently moved to hover above her. He slid his hand beneath her nightdress as he kissed her deeply, fingering the nub beneath her nether curls. His lips moved down her throat, across her shoulders, and down to the top of her breasts. Pulling her nightdress up and over her head, he exposed the delicious mounds of her breasts. Leaning down, he took each breast into his mouth in turn and suckled gently at first, then harder, as she weaved her fingers through his hair pressing him closer.

“Tor,” she moaned his name and he smiled against the smooth white flesh of her tender breasts. He moved his hand back down her body, caressing every inch until he once again reached the sensitive bud. He massaged the bud beneath her nether curls until she began to thrash about in a frenzy of need.

“Tor,” she whispered his name in ecstasy as she crashed over the edge of bliss.

“Katherine,” Tor growled with the fierceness of his own need.

Katherine ripped at the ties of his trews and shoved them down out of the way spreading her legs to receive him. Coming back up to reclaim her lips, he buried himself deep inside her with a single thrust all the way to the hilt.

“My love,” Katherine cried out as he sank his full length into her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“My love,” Tor whispered back. “My heart, my soul, my life…”

“Yer wife,” Katherine murmured, as they two became one.

The End.

If you want to know what lies ahead in our story, you may want to get the sequel…

Bran McLeod, believed to be dead, is compelled to obey his enemy’s orders to protect his daughter. However, he plans their escape after one final mission: kidnapping a lass. Little does he know that their paths have crossed before and he has exchanged his own life to rescue hers. As he wrestles with his feelings for her and the risks involved, Bran faces a challenging decision: save the woman he loves or risk his daughter’s life. Because he knows there’s no way to spare them both…

The Highlander's Gypsy Temptation