#TimeTravelTues #Birthday #Snippet #HEA - Just Wait For Me by Dawn Marie Hamilton

“So, Keita. I thought we would celebrate your birthday after you’re completely healed,” Jillian said, wanting the child to have something special to look forward to while recovering from her surgery.

“We are changelings,” Duff said. “No one kens when we were born.”

“You are not changelings,” Stephen said. “You are our bairns as is Malcolm.”

 

 

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Birth #Snippet #HEA - Just Wait For Me by Dawn Marie Hamilton

Disappoint him? "Nae, sweetling. Childbearing is risky. I lost my mother to the fever. And then my wee brother also passed. I would understand completely if you are unwilling to go through birthing a bairn."

 

 

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Rise #Snippet - Just Wait For Me by Dawn Marie Hamilton

She taunted, hoping to get a rise from him. She’d be waiting ’til the world and all its realms no longer existed.

He remained behind an impassive facade.

Oonagh scrutinized him through narrowed eyes then grasped a crystal pawn from the ebony and ivory chessboard. “What brings you to the palace, Dugaid? You have not bothered to visit your mother in many a decade, preferring to cavort with those of the earth realm. Perhaps you are more of their ilk than fae.”

 

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Sing #Snippet - Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon by Dawn Marie Hamilton

She took a deep breath and sang, accompanying herself on the lute.

Her voice was that of an angel.

Finn found himself caught in the web she wove with her words, her song a soulful love ballad. Unable to shift his gaze from her, he more than likely smiled like an idiot.

When she finished several enchanting songs, she attempted to coax Archibald to sing along with her. He refused, but Jamie volunteered and together they sang a merrier ditty about four drunken warriors and one sassy wench.

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Fast #Snippet - Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon by Dawn Marie Hamilton

In his anxious state, Munn couldn’t conjure an invisibility glamour. He used the speed spell instead and darted faster than a human eye could see, tripped Elspeth in passing then dashed through the castle gate before Donald reached the couple. He giggled with glee. There was more than one way to bring Elspeth and Finn together. If he must keep tripping one or the other to force them into each other’s arms, so be it. He peeked around the edge of the wall.

They kissed. He howled in delight.

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Heat #Snippet - Just Beyond the Garden Gate by Dawn Marie Hamilton

Patrick closed his eyes and growled deep in his throat as desire pooled in his groin. Their kiss, potent and deep, an intoxicating aphrodisiac, became more and more heated. At first, he’d been shocked by the arc of power, but he couldn’t stop himself from claiming what he sensed belonged to him. What started as an unconscious display of dominance became a much more meaningful symbol of possession.

His forceful kiss demanded surrender.


~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Crazy #Snippet - Just Beyond the Garden Gate by Dawn Marie Hamilton

Laurie rubbed the furrow lining her forehead and slumped into the sofa cushions. Gah, she must be going crazy. She poured herself another glass of wine and took several quick sips.

Was she hallucinating?

Even with the poor lighting, she found the man fabulously attractive. Scrumptious. He could have walked out of the steamiest romance novel. Intense, dark eyes—if only it had been light enough to see the color—set in a face only the Celtic gods could have molded. The sexy cleft in his chin made her mouth go instantly dry. The mere thought of him left her breathless and achy with need.

Had she really reached out to a stranger? How stupid. What if he was a nutcase?

She flicked her gaze to the dark windows then the locked front door. The house was secure.

A psycho? She hoped not. The man seemed familiar. She felt as though she'd met him before. Though where could that have been?

 

 

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Snippet - Just Beyond the Garden Gate by Dawn Marie Hamilton

The only explanation for the insanity was Munn. He was a menace.

Spiraling into another fine rage, she leapt from the chair and marched to the door. She tugged, never expecting to find it unlocked, but this time, the door opened. Hurrying along the passageway, she passed two guardsmen deep in discussion. Although they glanced up and nodded when she passed, they didn’t bother to block her way. Confident no one else would attempt to stop her, she quickly made her way down the circular stair, across the courtyard, and through the castle gate. She ran along the path to the garden, blind to everything save her destination.

She found Elspeth sitting in the midst of the frost-dead plants with Alexander.

“Where is that miserable brownie?” Laurie asked. “How do you call a brownie to you?”

Elspeth and Alexander, as one, flipped wide eyes up from the book they read.

“You dinnae,” Elspeth said after a moment. “They appear only when they wish.”

Laurie glared at the horizon, raised her arm and made a fist. “Damn you, little man. I’ll find a way to keep Patrick close to my heart. You’ll not force us apart.”

Queasiness once again rumbled in Laurie’s stomach. Her vision blurred. She clutched her belly and swayed. Was this magic too? Had Munn put a hex on her?

“Laurie!” Elspeth jumped to her feet “What is it? What has befallen you?”

Laurie didn’t have the breath to answer. She stumbled over the gravel path and threw out an arm, reaching for the wall, but it was too far away and she was too weak. She slid to the ground and lost consciousness.

 

 

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Snippet - Just Beyond the Garden Gate by Dawn Marie Hamilton

Laid out in a geometric grid, the castle garden provided a well at the center for irrigation. Heavy wooden planks held the soil in beds, most containing medicinal and culinary herbs and vegetables edged by lavender and white violets. Strawberry plants filled one bed and a large section dedicated to roses lay to the side. Though not yet in bloom, the roses’ shiny new leaves glistened in the sunlight. At the center of the rose garden grew a bench of living plants.

“’Tis a turf bench of chamomile. ’Twill flower soon,” Elspeth said with pride.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Must be beautiful when in bloom.” Laurie followed Elspeth as they meandered through the garden.

“Most of the seedlings are collected from local fields and woods then planted here. Other plants are brought to me by friends and travelers who visit the castle.”

“What you’ve created here is amazing.”

“Thank you. My love for the garden came from my mother.” Elspeth’s voice saddened. “We spent hours together tending the plants. Since she is gone, I nurture the garden in her memory.”

“What happened to your mother?”

“My father and mother are missing—presumed dead by many—they disappeared three years ago while traveling across our land. After that, Patrick became chief of our clan.”

 

 

~Dawn Marie

#TimeTravelTues #Snippet - Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon by Dawn Marie Hamilton

 

 

A bright light burst behind his eyelids.

He fell. The sensation of weightlessness overcame him. Changing colors swirled around in slow motion, flashing and dulling erratically. His mind separated from his physical body. He watched, as if from another realm.

Falling downward, down…down…down, into a black expanse of nothingness. All color faded from existence. His mind merged with the dark. Blackness surrounded him, enveloping him, frightening him. He thought to scream, but the sound choked on the lump in his throat.

The speed of his descent increased.

Colors erupted. Lights flashed.

“What the—”

He sped toward a narrow opening, and once there was sucked through into a dull gray sky. Still, he fell.

Water flowed below him—a rushing river.

His body took on weight, becoming heavier as he dropped. He slammed hard against the water and plunged into the cold, murky depths.

 

 

~Dawn Marie