“Aye.” He placed one hand over her heart, the other over his own. “Place your hands atop mine, lass.”

When she complied, he kissed her again, this time slow and sweet, holding her lower lip hostage for a long, delicious moment. Then he said, “Repeat after me, love.”

She nodded, her eyes sparkling.

“If aught must be lost, ’twill be my honor for yours . . .”

“I am Given,” Nellie said, blinking back tears. Emotion swelled inside her, crashing through her like an ocean wave, and she might have fallen to her knees had Silvan not caught her in his arms.

“Aye, lass, now you’re truly mine,” he said fiercely. “Forever.”

“You married me that day in the heather?” Chloe shouted. “And you didn’t tell me? Ooh! We are going to have to have a serious talk about how we communicate!” She scowled up at him. “And while we’re on that subject, we still haven’t discussed you leaving that night without telling me!”

“After the loving, lass,” Dageus purred, lowering his dark head to hers. “There will be plenty of time to speak of such things then.”

And the loving, he vowed, as he slipped her sweater over her head, was going to take a very, very long time.

He was no longer dark; time was no longer his enemy. He’d claimed his mate, and the future loomed ahead of them, resplendent with promise.

Sources

SOURCES

The Celts, Juliette Wood, Duncan Baird Publishers

Heroes of the Dawn, Fleming, Husain, Littleton and Malcor, Duncan Baird Publishers

The Book Before Printing, David Diringer, Dover Publications

The Alphabet, David Diringer, The Philosophical Library, Inc.

Illuminated Manuscripts, Christopher De Hamel, Phaidon Press Ltd.

The World of the Druids, Miranda J. Green, Thames and Hudson, Ltd. London

Caesar Against the Celts, Ramon Jiménez, Castle Books

Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, James MacKillop, Oxford University Press

How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill, Doubleday

Irish Legends, Iain Zaczek, Collins & Brown, Ltd.

Dear Reader

Dear Reader:

Many of you have written to ask me if there is a particular order in which one should read my Highlander novels, and how they are connected. I’ve written each of them to stand alone, yet I suspect the reading experience is richer if they are read in the following order: Beyond the Highland Mist, To Tame A Highland Warrior, The Highlander’s Touch, Kiss of the Highlander, and Dark Highlander.

The novels are all connected to varying degrees. Adam Black, of the Tuatha Dé Danaan (pronounced “tua day dhanna” *1 ), appears in Beyond the Highland Mist, The Highlander’s Touch, and The Dark Highlander. Dageus’s twin brother, Drustan, is the hero of Kiss of the Highlander.

The hero of To Tame A Highland Warrior, Grimm (Gavrael Roderick), is the best friend of the hero in Beyond the Highland Mist, Hawk Douglas. Adam Black knows there’s more of a connection than that, but Adam’s not talking.