Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

Author:Karen Marie Moning
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780440335580
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2009-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

16

Scotland: bounded by the Atlantic, the North Sea, and England; approximately half the size of its neighbor; comprised primarily of moors, mountains, and seven hundred and eighty-seven major islands, including the Shetlands, Orkneys, and the Inner and Outer Hebrides.

Jessi’s sticky memory made her a lint brush for facts.

She knew that if one were to draw a straight line from the far south of the rugged country to the far north of it, it was a mere 275 miles, although its coastline covered a scenic 6,200 miles.

She also knew that the true collision of England and Scotland had predated the clash of politics and hot tempers by some 425 million years, when continental drift had caused Scotland—previously part of a landmass that had included North America—and England—previously part of Gondwana—to collide into each other, not far from the current political boundary.

A historical treasure trove, Scotland was close to the top of a lengthy list of places Jessi had long wanted to see, along with Ireland, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and all of what had once been part of ancient Gaul where the P-Celts had so passionately lived and loved and warred.

Still, she reflected, swerving to avoid a pothole in the meandering, single-lane dirt road, she’d never imagined she’d make it to Great Britain so soon.

And certainly not as a hunted fugitive, in the company of a ninth-century Highlander, driving a big black stolen SUV into the Highlands.

Cian was back in the mirror now, and being downright pissy about it.

She wasn’t. She was relieved that it had sucked him back in so soon after he’d used Voice to escape the airport and commandeered their “rental” vehicle.

Twice now, she’d nearly given him her virginity. In fact, had they not been interrupted, she would have either time.

She didn’t understand it. She was a woman who did nothing without a solid, well-thought-out reason. She knew the largest part of why she hadn’t slept with a man yet was because she’d watched her mother go through four husbands. She had three sisters, fourteen stepsiblings (some of them step-steps from the man’s earlier marriage), a bad case of cynicism, and an intense need for commitment as a result.

She adored her mother, and if anyone dared criticize Lilly St. James, Jessi would slice and dice ’em. Nobody put down her mom.

She even liked all of her stepsiblings.

But she hated having such a complicated family; it was one of the reasons she’d left Maine for Chicago and stayed there, preferring long talks on the phone every Sunday with Lilly to being fully consumed by the chaos that was the St. James household. Though not currently married, her mom was dating again, and sometimes that was worse than suddenly getting a few extra brothers and sisters who borrowed clothing and car keys with teenage impunity.

Birthday dinners and graduations inevitably turned into scheduling disasters. Holidays were a nightmare. Jessi would never be able to fathom her mom’s idea of marital commitment. A commercial realtor, Lilly treated the sacred vows of matrimony

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