Book excerpt: Highlander Unchained An infamous Highlander. A peasant woman without a voice. An undeniable love. The infamous warrior Cree is paraded before the village Dowell and though shackled and wounded he walks with arrogant pride, meeting all the curious and fearful stares of the villagers with a fierceness that has them quickly turning their heads away, all but one woman. Dawn cannot keep her eyes off the captured warrior, though tales of his exploits suggests he’s more devil than man. When his eyes meet hers, she wonders if the notorious tales are true for only the devil himself could be that sinfully handsome. Dawn is summoned by the liege lord Colum and ordered to tend Cree, in all ways possible, while he awaits his fate, and please him she must or suffer the consequences. Colum laughs when he issues his orders. He’s sending not only a plain woman to please the mighty warrior in his final days, but one he’ll find no pleasure with. After all, what man wants a woman who cannot utter a sound. But no shackles can hold Cree and when he breaks free, he returns to claim the voiceless woman who found a way into his silent heart. Forbidden Highlander Dawn struggles to accept her future as Cree’s mistress while his future bride Lucerne Gerwan arrives in the village. But there is more for her to worry over. The attempts on her life continue and she fears Cree’s reaction when he learns that she carries his child. The situation grows worse when warriors from the McClusky clan arrive in the village and the laird Kirk McClusky claims that Dawn is his daughter. Dawn wonders if it can be true and though her father insists, she returns home with him, she knows her love for Cree will never allow her to leave him. She cannot envision life without him. Cree faces many obstacles in ensuring Dawn will be his, the hardest being his own failure to tell Dawn how he truly feels about her. But when she is taken from him, his temper rages and nothing stops him from bringing her home. He cannot think of life without her. Cree and Dawn battle old secrets that finally surface and threaten to tear them apart. And it is with strength and courage that they fight for their love and a future together.