Falling for Angels: A Scottish Time Travel Romance Read online

  Falling For Angels

  A Scottish Time Travel Romance

  Hazel Hunter

  Contents

  1. Angels

  2. Patrol Duty

  3. Brothers

  4. Fire and Ice

  5. The Deep End

  6. Jaked

  7. Training Day

  8. Tempted

  9. Grudge Match

  10. Mr. Smith

  11. Wild Horses

  12. Lace and Velvet

  13. Dreamwalker

  14. Scrupulosity

  15. Night Watch

  16. Cornered

  17. Haunted

  18. Unwanted

  19. Bonfire Night

  20. The Trouble with Druids

  21. Topline

  22. Unbound

  23. New Iloren

  24. Chilling

  25. Shamaness

  26. Dark Places

  27. Remembrance

  28. Trapped

  29. Darklight

  30. Sinful

  31. Shown

  32. Besieged

  33. Legacies

  34. Promises to Keep

  35. Cursed

  36. Where Might We Fly?

  From the Author

  HH Online

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Angels

  The pilot got us to Scotland on one engine, but that started to smoke just as we reached the coast. I knew we weren’t going to make it for an emergency landing. Chaos erupted as the flight attendants shouted for everyone to assume the brace position. I heard the girls crying, so I took off my seat belt. I stood up and turned so they could see me, and took off my oxygen mask.

  “Ladies.” Crossing my arms in front of my body, and ducking my head for a moment, I called out, “Let’s go proud, Angels. We’ll have another chance someday.”

  All of my girls fell silent, nodded as one, and assumed the brace position.

  That was when the engine exploded. The cabin wall next to me disappeared along with the wing, and I flew out of the gaping hole.

  Ripping, icy wind tore at me as I plummeted, but I felt a strange peace, too. Beneath me an island shaped like a lobster grew bigger. I’d be the first to go, but I wasn’t afraid. I’d learned something about myself and all the girls I taught last year that had changed everything for me. We’d been drawn together by something stronger than our love of athletics--our shared Scottish ancestry--and that had changed everything.

  I kept my eyes open as forested hills seemed to rush up to catch me. I saw huge oaks all around me for a moment before I flipped over to look up at the plane, and landed on my back. The ground exploded around me, and I’m sure my bones did the same, but I didn’t feel any pain. In my last moment the trees started to whirl around me, and I felt the warmest, gentlest light envelop me, and then nothing at all.

  We’d crashed in the very spot we’d been traveling to get to, but would that make a difference?

  Opening my eyes seemed like a miracle, especially when I saw the huge guy looming over me. Almost seven feet tall, he had long, sandy brown hair, dark eyes, and the kind of muscle that would have made a linebacker weep with envy. When he knelt down beside me he took the green and black plaid from his shoulders and covered me with it. That was when I realized I wasn’t hurt, but my clothes were in shreds.

  “You came back at last, my angel,” he said in his deep, beautiful voice. “I’ve been waiting.”

  He lifted me into his arms, and kissed me breathless before he set me on my feet. I’m six feet tall, and polite people call me big-boned, but he always made me feel little and pretty.

  “Our plane crashed, Gill.” He didn’t know what that was, so I added, “All the girls were on it with me.”

  His expression softened. “Poor lasses. The clan shall wait for them, I promise you.”

  “I don’t think they’ll have to.” I glanced at the sacred oak grove, and saw the ancient stones glowing. We’d stumbled on it last year while the girls and I had been training for an international competition here, and spent a few months as guests of the local clan. That’s a much longer story, but in the end we decided to return to the states to wrap up our lives before we returned. “I hope the whole thing doesn’t come through—Master Flen will have a fit.”

  Last year we’d also had a few battles with the head of the Druid Council, but the fact that we were all blood relatives smoothed things over in the end. Also, as a college athletic coach I don’t take crap from anyone.

  The crippled plane didn’t pop out of the time portal, but after an enormous burst of light all of my girls did. Their scorched, torn clothes told the grim story of what had happened on the other side, but I didn’t see a mark on them.

  Caroline, my squad leader, cartwheeled right on the spot. “You made it, Coach! We made it, my lord! Go team!”

  “And we can’t go back now,” I said as the other girls laughed and started jumping and flipping. “The Highland Angels cheerleading team and their coach are ready to join Clan McGillean,” I said to the immortal laird I loved, “If you’ll have us.”

  Gill chuckled as his men swarmed around us to welcome back their lovers. “With pleasure, my lady.”

  Chapter 2

  Patrol Duty

  You might think I’m crazy to give up everything so I could time-travel back to join the McGillean Clan. Not like anyone picked me to be their sweetie the first time we jumped back, right? But if you knew my situation, you’d understand. Mom is a soap actress, and Dad’s an agent. They loved the whole Beverly Hills Seriously Loaded scene, so nannies raised me. By the time I left for college my parents barely remembered they had a kid.

  My cheerleading squad became the family I chose. After our first accidental trip to the fourteenth century I also discovered I had two little problems. Now I lived in an honest-to-God castle called Dun Dorchas. Hella old Scotland was super pretty, too. As for the clan, well, think oh my god wow how can they be that big, ripped, and gorgeous? Only for real.

  “Coco can’t do laundry,” Deb said to Coach Jennings at breakfast. We were talking about divvying up chores, and naturally I was getting thrown major shade. “All my undies turned pink last time she did ours.”

  “Remember when she tried to make nachos for the homecoming after-party?” Gayla said, snickering. “She almost set the dorm on fire.”

  “I can do a back handstand and turn it into a pike or a hurdler,” I reminded her. “Also, I’ve never dropped you in the basket toss.”

  Deb scowled at me. “My hands got sweaty.”

  “We know, bae.” I put an arm around her for a reassuring side hug. “Look, there’s got to be some way I can help out.”

  “You can ride, right?” Coach asked, and when I nodded she said, “How about taking patrol duty with Griogair today?”

  “With McGrumpy?” Deb and Gayla said in unison, and groaned.

  I glanced down the table at the clan’s captain of the guard, who glowered 24/7. He looked like he’d been in a lousy mood for all eternity, too, so no one went near him. But the guy was built like a vaulter—a tower of long, sleek muscle—and his black hair had a violet sheen that matched his pretty eyes.

  I was also pretty sure he didn’t deserve the nickname. I mean, I’m a big-chested blonde cheerleader on the outside, but would you guess that I maintained a 4.2 GPA and completed my master’s in sports science in three years?

  “Sure, I’ll go,” I told Coach.

  An hour later I walked a dun mare out of the stables. My ride was a Goldilocks like me, but had black legs, nose and back stripe that made her look fierce. Griogair’s white st
allion gave my girl happy ears, but I got nothing from McGrumpy.

  “Where are we patrolling, Captain?” I asked as I came up alongside him.

  He looked at me, blinked, and then pointed to a faint trail circling around the forest that mostly hid Dun Dorchas from sight. A second later he cantered off.

  The guy wasn’t a grump, I decided. He was shy around girls. When I caught up with him we both heard a kid crying from the woods, so there was no time to discuss his problem. We headed into the trees until he stopped in front of an old stone building.

  “’Tis coming from the shearing shed,” Griogair told me, and put a hand on his sword.

  “Maybe the kid’s lost.” In a louder voice I called, “Hey, where are you, sweetheart?”

  The door to the shed swung open, and a very grimy little girl peeped out before disappearing inside. The captain made an impatient sound and started to go in, but I felt my big little problem start to ramp up.

  “Wait.” I had to make a dash to get in front of him to kick one of the walls, which exploded, causing the roof to collapse.

  Inside a very different scream sounded as beams of sunlight lit up the terrified kid being held on a rope like crab bait. Behind her something was scrambling to stay in the little bit of shadow left.

  “Yours,” I told Griogair as I lunged, grabbed the girl and shielded her with my body. I felt the whoosh as he swung his sword, and the disgusting sound it made beheading the vampire, who burst into a cloud of ash.

  The captain grabbed us both and carried us out into the light. The kid wept against my neck as I smiled at our hero. “Nice work, Captain.”

  Griogair eyed the rubble. “’Tis why you came back, Coco?”

  “Yeah, my druid thing. It was that or blow out the side of a stadium with a back flip.” I looked into his pretty eyes. “Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

  He kissed me. Imagine the hottest kiss you’ve ever gotten, then turn up that heat to nuclear. No lie. We should have set that forest on fire.

  We didn’t. We took the girl to her village, where her grateful parents cried all over us. On the way back to Dun Dorchas, Griogair told me the undead guy had probably stowed away on a supply boat. He’d have the garrison search the woods until they made sure it was just the one.

  “Thank you, my lady,” the captain said once we’d taken care of the horses, and bowed to me. “You saved two lives today.”

  Shy guys could be cute, but Griogair took it to a whole new level. I reached up and pulled him down until we bumped noses.

  “My real name is Gabrielle. I can’t cook, clean or do girl stuff, but I can ride, patrol, and knock down your castle with a couple of high kicks. The other reason I came back was for you.” Then I kissed him until we both gasped. “Now, what are you going to do about that?”

  Well, you can imagine. No, you really can’t. But after we got hitched I made all the girls refer to my husband as McAwesome.

  Chapter 3

  Brothers

  The man I fell in love with in fourteenth century Scotland decided to kick me to the curb the day I got back. The minute we were alone, just as I was ready to pounce on him, he dumped me.

  “You’re a jewel, Caroline,” Raibeart McGillean told me as he stood by the window. The sunlight gilded his bronze hair, and made the green in his hazel eyes glitter. “Yet I cannae take you as my mate.”

  My jaw practically fell off my face. “What? Why not?”

  “’Twould never work.” He turned to regard me. “Forgive me.”

  “Have you ever been in a plane crash?” I walked right up to him, which put me on eye level with his chest (there’s a reason he’s called Bear, and it’s not because he’s teddy-size.) “I was. If I go back to my time, I’ll end up a nice big smear on future Scotland.”

  “You neednae.” He looked like he wanted to say something else, and then shook his head. “I’ve guard duty.”

  I watched him practically run out of the chamber. Bear had been crazy about me when I’d left. Now he was acting like I might give him an STD. Not that it would matter if I did; among other things the McGilleans never got sick.

  Maybe it was the aging thing.

  I’d grow older and eventually die; as an immortal he never would. But thanks to my druid blood I’d be reborn and come back to him, right? So, it couldn’t be that. The only other problem we’d had was his slightly bipolar personality, and him forgetting things I’d told him, but I’d gotten used to that.

  I left the castle and went for a walk. It started to rain, of course, so I had to duck under a huge oak. I sat down between its roots and watched the sun set. As tears blurred everything I wondered if I could cry myself blind, so I’d never have to see Bear again. Only problem with that was I saw him even now, staring at me.

  “I can’t even,” I told him.

  “I’m Ruiseart,” he said, not in my ex-boyfriend’s voice. The way he moved as he walked toward me was also different from Bear. “Raibeart’s brother.”

  An identical twin brother. Great. Now I’d have two reminders of how much my life sucked.

  He reached out to help me up before I could dodge his hand, and I found myself standing in a torchlit meadow with a bunch of half-naked teenage boys and this tat-covered ancient dude. Two of the boys stepped up to a big rock, and I realized they were younger versions of Bear and his bro. They each had a bloody, decorated circle carved into their chest.

  “The Brothers choose well,” the old guy said, and touched their wounds. Light came from under his palms. “Never can ye be parted from the other now.”

  The boys began to glow, and then the shimmering sort of melted together.

  I blinked, and I was staring at Ruiseart. “Bear dumped me because of your spirit deal? I can share him.”

  “’Tis how that changed after the druids awakened him,” Ruiseart said. “Raibeart forbade me tell you. Only ken ’tis our bond to blame, my lady.”

  He walked off, and I marched back to the castle. Of course, I couldn’t find Bear to tell him to quit sending his brother after me. No one seemed to know what he was guarding, so I went to talk to Coach Jennings. She was sitting with the laird in the great hall, the two of them snuggling in his big chair.

  “Hey, Caroline.” She smiled, but I could see the concern in her eyes. “Everything all right?”

  “Bear broke up with me, I met his brother, and then I went psych.” I glanced at the laird. “When people touch me, I see stuff about them. You know, visions.”

  Now Gill looked worried. “’Twas naught that disturbed you, I hope?”

  “Just their Choosing Tat Night.” I watched them give each other a funny look. “What?”

  “Ruiseart’s on guard duty in the battlements,” the laird told me. “Go to him just before sunrise, and you’ll ken why you had your vision.”

  I felt tired and heartsick, but the way he was looking at me made me think I should do exactly that. After a little nap in the guest quarters, I dragged myself out of bed to head upstairs.

  Ruiseart and two other guys stood watch, but as soon as he saw me he freaked out a little, and hurried over. “My lady, you shouldnae be here.”

  No way was I leaving now. “Why not? Scotland’s a free country.” I glanced past him as the first glimmer of dawn lit up the horizon. “So why can’t I be with Bear? What difference does it make that you’re double-bonded or whatever?”

  As the sunlight enveloped us, Ruiseart smiled sadly. His face shimmered and altered slightly. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them he staggered back.

  “I told him no’ to permit you see,” he said, sounding and looking exactly like Bear—because he was Bear now.

  I recalled the merging of their glows in the vision, and the way Bear had always tried to dodge me at night during my first time-travel trip. “The druids didn’t bring your brother back, did they?”

  Bear shook his head. “He left the clan and died fighting Romans in Britannia. When they awoke me, our battle spirit brought
his soul back to me. We share one body.”

  This was a problem? “Okay, then why can’t we be together?”

  “Ruiseart fell in love with you as well, yet he agreed to surrender our body so I could be with you,” he said. “I’ve since learned ’tis impossible to separate us. I couldnae ask you to mate with two men.”

  Having two gorgeous men in love with me made me smile. The other girls were going to be so jealous. “Try asking.”

  Chapter 4

  Fire and Ice

  I’m a sports medicine physician, or I would have been if I’d stayed in the twenty-first century. I needed a CAQ to finish out my residency, so I landed a fellowship working with the Highland Angels Cheerleaders. My colleagues snickered, but I recognized hardcore athletes when I saw them. It turned out to be a great educational opportunity, too. I got more experience treating dislocations, sprains, strains, and stress fractures during my first week as their team doc than I would have in three months of clinical rotation.

  When Coach Jennings told me what she and the girls intended to do, I was all in. If nothing else they would need a doctor in the fourteenth century, and I could always come back if it didn’t work out. Then our plane crashed on the way here. I was stuck in medieval Scotland for the duration, and seven hundred years of reincarnations before I could get my old life back.