The Raider (A Highland Guard Novel) Read online

  Their eyes met. Something passed between them. Something that stopped his breath, stopped his heart, and made the floor shift under his feet.

  He was hot, hard, and poised on the edge of a precipice, struggling to hold on. Struggling not to touch her. But this might be a battle he could not win.

  His heart pounded, restraint making his muscles flex. The weight of inevitability came crushing down on top of him, a weight too heavy for even him to hold off. He wanted her so intensely he could taste her on his tongue.

  Her eyes fell to his mouth. Her lips parted. She leaned closer.

  The subtle invitation was too much to resist; the battle was lost. His mouth fell on hers with a deep groan. For a moment it was just like the first time he’d kissed her. He felt the same unexpected ripple of shock at how good she tasted. How soft her lips were. How the innocent tremble of her mouth under his made him ache to be the one to teach her about passion.

  But then it changed, because this time he didn’t pull back. This time he didn’t fight the urge to deepen the kiss. This time he slid his arm around her waist, dragged her up against him, and let himself sink into the honey softness of her mouth to taste her fully. This time he caught the tremble of her lips with his and showed her how to open for him, how to take his tongue in her mouth and let him stroke her.

  Aye, he stroked her. With long, slow pulls of his tongue until she stroked him back. The first flick of her tongue against his made him groan. His knees almost buckled.

  It was incredible.

  Bone melting.

  Blood heating.

  Mind blowing.

  The Raider is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A Ballantine Books Mass Market Original

  Copyright © 2014 by Monica McCarty

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

  BALLANTINE and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

  ISBN 9780345543936

  eBook ISBN: 9780345543943

  Cover design: Lynn Andreozzi

  Cover illustration: Franco Accornero

  www.ballantinebooks.com

  Ballantine mass market edition: March 2014

  ep_v4.0

  THE HIGHLAND GUARD

  Tor “Chief” MacLeod: Team Leader and Expert Swordsman

  Erik “Hawk” MacSorley: Seafarer and Swimmer

  Lachlan “Viper” MacRuairi: Stealth, Infiltration, and Extraction

  Arthur “Ranger” Campbell: Scouting and Reconnaissance

  Gregor “Arrow” MacGregor: Marksman and Archer

  Magnus “Saint” MacKay: Survivalist and Weapon Forging

  Kenneth “Ice” Sutherland: Explosives and Versatility

  Eoin “Striker” MacLean: Strategist in “Pirate” Warfare

  Ewen “Hunter” Lamont: Tracker and Hunter of Men

  Robert “Raider” Boyd: Physical Strength and Hand-to-Hand Combat

  Alex “Dragon” Seton: Dirk and Close Combat

  Also:

  Helen “Angel” MacKay (née Sutherland): Healer

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  The Highland Guard

  Foreword

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Dedication

  By Monica McCarty

  FOREWORD

  The year of our lord thirteen hundred and twelve. Since Robert the Bruce first made his bid for the crown six years ago, he has defeated not only the English but also the powerful Scottish noblemen who stood against him. After a much-needed reprieve from warfare for Bruce and his men, in late summer 1310 the English marched north to invade Scotland, this time under the leadership of Edward II.

  But the second Edward is nothing like his “Hammer of the Scots” father, and the English campaign was a disaster. Bruce refused to take the field in pitched battle. Instead, with the help of the elite warriors of the legendary Highland Guard, Bruce waged a “secret war,” using the pirate tactics he had perfected, harrying the English with surprise attacks and skirmishes, and wreaking havoc on the soldiers’ morale.

  After unsuccessfully attempting to track down Bruce, Edward and his army withdrew to the English Marches to wait out the winter in Berwick-upon-Tweed before marching on the rebels again. But the English king’s second campaign was delayed when in the summer of 1311, after ten months in Scotland and the Borders, trouble with his barons required him to return to London.

  Bruce immediately took advantage of Edward’s withdrawal and went on the offensive, for the first time taking his war deep into the English countryside. Like the Vikings before them, the fierce Scot raiders struck terror in the heart of the enemy. The names of their leaders will go down in history. Men like Thomas Randolph, James “The Black” Douglas, Edward Bruce, and Robbie Boyd will earn both fame and fortune, beginning the fierce campaign that will eventually bring about the end of the war.

  Prologue

  Gud Robert Boyd, that worthi was and wicht

  (Good Robert Boyd that worthy wise and strong)

  —Blind Harry, The Wallace

  Kildrummy Castle, Scottish Highlands, October 1306

  Killed? Rosalin nearly choked on a bit of beef.

  “Are you all right?” her brother asked, leaning over to pat her on the back.

  After a burst of coughing, she took a sip of sweetened wine and nodded. “I’m fine.” Seeing his concern, she managed a smile. “Really. I’m sorry for the disturbance. You were saying something about the prisoners?”

  Her attempt at nonchalance didn’t fool him. He frowned. He’d been speaking in a low voice to her guardian, Sir Humphrey, on his other side, and the conversation obviously hadn’t been meant for her ears. She blinked up at him innocently, but Robert, the first Baron de Clifford, hadn’t become one of the most important commanders in the war against the rebel Scots because of his rank and handsome face—although he certainly possessed both. Nay, he’d risen so high in King Edward’s estimation because he was smart, loyal, and determined. He was also one of the greatest knights in England, and she was fiercely proud of him.

  Even if he was entirely too perceptive.

  “An unfortunate accident, that is all. Part of the wall collapsed when the prisoners were dismantling it. Two of the rebels were crushed by the stone and killed.”

  Her heart jumped to her throat and a small cry of distress escaped before she could help it. Oh God, please don’t let it be him!

  Aware of her brother’s watchful gaze,