Highland Magic (47 page)

Just then the chimes began to ring and
everyone walked toward the bonfire. The minstrels were playing a
lively tune and some of the young folk still twirled about, dancing
and enjoying the music.

Branwenn was filled with such joy, such
peace, as she looked about her and saw every member of her foster
family—her heart’s true family—standing close by.

She looked over at Bao and Daniel, who stood
next to each other, and caught their eye. ‘Twas clear, from their
expressions, they were in much the same state of mind as she. For
their journey to this place, this here and now, had not been an
easy one. Each one of them had fought hard to get here, had
struggled, like the intrepid, vigorous roots of some ancient oak to
find purchase in what at first had seemed fallow, fruitless soil.
But now, aye, now they knew that they were here to stay, that the
family, the love, they’d found would keep them nourished, would
make them grow, would keep them in one place. In the bosom of the
family whose one evil member had been the catalyst which had
ultimately brought them all home.

Callum leaned down and whispered in her ear,
“Look you, who’s come.”

She turned her damp eyes in the direction
Callum indicated. “Reys! Alyson! Praise be, praise be.”

“Uncle Robert!” David shouted with glee.

Branwenn saw him then, his satchel slung over
his shoulder and his face a bit drawn, but he’d made it, as they’d
pleaded with him to do. For David needed some time with the only
remaining member of his family-germane.

Callum put his free arm around her waist and
moved towards the new arrivals.

Aye, Branwenn thought with a grin and a sigh
of utter contentment as she looked at the two dark-haired first
footers, ‘twas sure to be a very good year indeed.

THE END

Highland Magic : Book Three : Highlands Trilogy

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Highland Vengeance

Book One in the Highlands Trilogy

By

K.E. Saxon

A Family Saga / Adventure Romance

DANIEL AND MARYN’S STORY

* * *

Highland Grace

Book Two in the Highlands Trilogy

By

K.E. Saxon

A Family Saga / Adventure Romance

BAO AND JESSLYN’S STORY

* * *

DIAMONDS AND TOADS: A MODERN FAIRY TALE

(Erotic Comedy FairyTale Romance)

What readers are saying about it:

~“…just plain old fun reading…A cross between
Bewitched and Cinderella.”~

~ “HOT! HOT! HOT! What a great story! I love the
characters! What a Hot and Sizzling Fairy Tale! I thought my Kindle
would start smoking, it was so steamy!”~

* * * *

Once upon a time, there were two sisters,
one blessed,and one cursed by fairy magic...
So each sister's story begins.

Delilah Perrault is blessed with riches beyond her wildest dreams
and the man she's had her eye on for ages--even though he secretly
has designs on her newfound wealth instead. Delilah's half-sister,
Isadora, is cursed with having her every utterance come out as an
obscene and humiliating quip, just when the gorgeous hunk she
dumped years before under pressure from mama swaggers back into her
life.
If you like Bewitched, Sex and the City and Gossip Girl, if you
like stories with sexual heat, try out this modern girl's fairy
tale.

Excerpt

DIAMONDS AND TOADS: A Modern Fairy Tale

PROLOGUE

Delilah Perrault fanned the perspiration from her
cheeks with the folded
Houston Press
she’d snagged out of
the dispenser and took a bite from her chocolate bar. She was
supposed to meet Chas Regan here in front of the main branch of the
Houston Public Library for lunch, but she was so nervous about it,
she’d run down to its basement and bought the candy from the
machine.

No
, she wasn’t really hungry, and
yes
, she knew she shouldn’t be eating sugar and fat if she
wanted to get that last six pounds off before the gala at the
Crystal Ballroom eight days from now, but her compulsive need to
fill her mouth with food wouldn’t let her be.

An old beggar woman in a faded-to-purple pea
coat with a stained and frayed scarf around her neck pushed her
shopping cart filled with—Delilah was sure—the woman’s life
possessions across the cobbled pavement a few feet from where
Delilah sat.

The poor thing looked as shop-worn as Delilah
felt.

She glanced toward Delilah then dropped a
hungry gaze to the candy bar.

Delilah lifted the cold Coke from the short
marble wall she was sitting on and walked over to the woman.

“Here. You’re welcome to both of these, if
you would like? I haven’t eaten much of the candy yet—Or—would you
like me to buy you something else?” She scanned the area. “I’ll bet
there’s a deli or something in that building over there. I could
get you a sandwich?”

“What a kind girl you are. But no, these will
do just fine.” The old woman captured the fare, captured Delilah’s
gaze. Her eyes, silver blue and bright, were more youthful than
Delilah expected.  Odd. Shivery goose bumps formed on
Delilah’s arms. “I have a sweet tooth, don’t you know,” the woman
continued.

“Oh—” Delilah jerked a nod. “Okay.” She
turned away from her and walked back toward the two-foot-high
granite wall she’d been seated on earlier.

“Bless you, Lila, dear,” the woman said.

Delilah stopped short.

A loud
crack!
split the air and
Delilah whirled around. A sudden scent of patchouli filled her
nostrils. All around her, a rosy watercolor haze washed over the
landscape. A giddy bubble of fear tripped up Delilah’s spine as a
spray of glitter dust drifted in the space where the woman had
been. And in her place, a yellow parrot perched on the handle of
the cart, staring at her from one beady black eye.

Delilah hawked a reflexive cough and
something small, hard, and cold fell from her mouth into her palm.
“Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”
A diamond.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

Chas Regan slammed the phone down.
Fuck!
What the hell was he supposed to do now? He leaned
back in his executive chair, allowing the front rollers to lift off
the floor, and dug the base of his palms into his eyelids. His
heart still raced so fast that it caused a shot of stomach bile to
blast into his throat.

The company was lost. Gone. No more. His
entire family’s empire, a glimmering speck of its former glory lost
in the vast abyss of others that had gone before it.

He could have saved it, too, he knew, if only
he’d been able to come up with that measly five million in time.
But he hadn’t been able to liquidate enough capital before
tonight’s deadline. If only that blasted prospective buyer would
loosen her grip on her cash, he’d have had his two-year-old
thoroughbred sold a month ago and his problems would be solved.

He needed more time. More money and time.

The intercom on his phone buzzed, followed by
his assistant’s voice saying,
“Chas, Delilah Perrault is here to
see you. Should I show her in?”

His churning stomach sank to his toes, but he
couldn’t see a way out of meeting with her right now. He sprang
into an upright position and did a quick finger-comb through his
hair. “Yes. That’s fine, Sharon.”

* * *

Delilah walked into the office with a big
grin on her face. She couldn’t wait to tell Chas all that had
happened this morning. He’d been a sage advisor these past few
months since they’d begun working on the charity together and she
hoped he wouldn’t mind giving her a little more now.

After the strange encounter with the beggar
woman two days ago—and the ‘found’ diamond—Delilah had called Chas
and canceled their lunch. To tell the truth, if it weren’t for the
diamond that rested in the bottom of her coin purse, she’d have
tossed the whole thing off as a lucid dream.

She hadn’t told a soul about the encounter,
either, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to.

“Hi,” she said, noticing immediately the sexy
contrast between his slightly rumpled blond hair and his crisp,
tailor-made suit. Her already jangled nerves started to tap dance
across their endings the closer she came to him.
Breathe in,
breathe out.
Thankfully, she’d managed to keep her deeper
feelings for him to herself, thus far. She could just imagine how
awkward their friendship would become if he ever realized what she
felt. He probably wouldn’t want to work with her anymore.

It wasn’t until she’d taken a seat on his
leather couch that she picked up on the tension lines around his
eyes and mouth. “Is this a bad time? Am I interrupting something?”
She shot to her feet. “I’ll just leave now. I-I shouldn’t have come
without calling first. But I
have
got some exciting news to
tell you, so maybe—could we meet for dinner?” She took a step
toward the door.

Chas jumped up and waved her back to her
seat. “No, no, no. Sit. Tell me the good news.”

She hesitated and then shrugged. “Well, if
you’re sure?” She sat down and beamed at him. “Guess what?” She was
so excited and proud of herself, she wanted to do a jig. Instead,
she clasped her hands in her lap and said, “I’m a
multi-millionairess as of ten-thirty-two this morning.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“How many? Two? Three?”

“More.” She sat forward. “It’s like all my
years of training as a gemologist have finally paid off.” She bit
her lip to keep from grinning like a buffoon and glanced down.
Lifting her gaze to his, she said, “A couple of days ago, I got it
in my head to put some of my savings in diamond stocks—not a
lot—just enough to get my feet wet.”

Chas’s brows shot into his hairline. “A
couple of
days
ago?”

“I know. Amazing. Anyway, today I made—I made
a hundred million! Dollars.”

Chas jackknifed forward in his chair. “A
hundred
million? That’s—that’s near to impossible.”

She laughed. “Exactly! I feel like crowing!
You were the first person I thought to tell because you’re so—so
good with money. Will you help me to invest it?”

A strange look flashed in his baby blues as
he studied her for a moment. It unnerved her. Maybe she’d
overstepped their friendship with the request? She was about to
apologize to him and tell him she’d find someone else to help her
when he laughed and the look changed. Brightened. Became
recognizable. Comfortable. Compelling. For the first time since
she’d entered his office, his face relaxed into the boyish grin
that had become so familiar to her since they’d started working
together on the charity event months ago. “Well, I guess I can’t
propose to you now. You’ll think I’m only doing it for your
money.”

Her heart tripped, then hammered against her
ribcage. It took every ounce of her willpower not to let on with
her eyes, her hands, or any other part of her body that he’d just
spoken her deepest wish, made it a joke. She hoped the grin she
gave him was less hungry than friendly. “Hey, women do it all the
time—why not a guy?” She linked the fingers of her hands together
and did a little stretch. Did her voice sound as out of breath,
wobbly, to him as it did to her? “Besides, I could use a financial
wizard for a husband, now that I’m worth loads of dough.”

Chas’s expression grew serious. He swiveled
around and pulled something from his desk drawer then rose to his
feet and came toward her. Instead of sitting next to her, as she
expected, he knelt down in front of her.

“What’s this?” A nervous chuckle escaped her
throat. “What are you doing?” Against her will, his close proximity
brought on a fiery blush.

He lifted both of her hands. When her fingers
twitched over the velvet box in his palm, her breath caught in her
lungs. “I know you think I wasn’t serious,” he said. “But I was.
I’d been planning to ask you to be my wife on Valentine’s Day, but
if I wait any longer, you’ll be suspicious of my motives.”