By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Sky MacKinnon

An alien mercenary in Scotland

Thorrn only travelled to Earth to find women compatible with his species, even though he expects to stay alone for the rest of his cursed life. Broken inside and out, he’s sure no female could ever want him. But that all changes when he sets his eyes on a sassy Earth woman with fiery red hair and a temper to match. With his mating instincts running wild, he will have to decide whether to claim her or return her to his planet to be studied by scientists.

A human businesswoman in search of love

Jenny has finally managed to leave her abusive boyfriend and is ready to start a new life. Promoting a new dating agency seems like just the project to distract herself with. While meeting an alien who looks like a hot Highlander wasn’t part of her plan, when he offers to protect her from her crazy ex, she’s tempted to take him up on his offer. Besides, she really needs to know what he hides beneath his kilt.

But when she finds out that his people intent to study her like a lab rat, can she trust him any more than her ex?

Jenny is putting her life together now that she’s left her abusive ex-boyfriend. Her new client Hot Tatties, a dating agency, is the perfect distraction. Pam, the owner, is happily married and she wants others to find that happiness too. Their initial meeting has Pam inviting her to meet with her prospective partners with an abundance of males in their database. They are looking for Scottish females, born and bred in Scotland. Pam also has Jenny add herself to the database to get a feel of the process.

Cyle his co-worker Jafar, and Thorrn his brother are on route to Peritus, Earth, as Pam and Jenny are meeting. They are excited to get started so while Cyle and Jafar talk contracts and methods with Pam, Thorrn and Jenny go for coffee to discuss marketing. Thorrn couldn’t explain why he wanted to get out of that office, but he was having trouble breathing in his C-suit that makes him appear totally human. His antennae was also itching, something that has never happened before. He incredibly attracted to her and doesn’t understand what’s happening. He only has a bent antennae and as such is considered broken and unworthy of a mate. Yet when their hands touch there is no mistaking that Jenny is his mate, but they can’t just jump into this.

As he tries to explain Jenny freaks out, no surprise there, and runs. Instead of going back to Pam’s office. A call from her brother lets her know her ex is looking for her. She reassures him she’d go elsewhere to work for a bit before returning to his home. Instead there’s a most interesting turn of events.

This is a favorite scene.

My commstick beeped. “Almost there,” Vaxx’s voice crackled. “I can see you now. I take it you’re pursuing that white rolling craft?”

“Yes. Stop it but don’t shoot it. My mate’s inside.”

“Your…” He was silent for a moment. “I’ll do whatever I can. You can stop running now; I’ve got a hold on it.”

Before my eyes, the vehicle started to slow down while shaking from side to side. I hoped Jenny was safely secured so she didn’t get hurt. The only people who’d get hurt today were those who’d abducted my mate.

Suddenly, the vehicle vanished. Vaxx must have extended the chameleon shield to hide it from Peritan eyes.

“I’ll send you coordinates where I’ll land,” he told me through the commstick. “I’ve got the vehicle secured and will keep it locked until you arrive.”

A map appeared on the device with a blinking dot not far from my location. Thank Lady Beyra. My ribs hurt and I was having trouble breathing. Not to mention the pain in my legs and feet. I couldn’t wait to get out of the C-suit to stretch out and extend my secondary arms. Having them pressed against my ribcage restricted my breathing more than I’d realised.

Still, I didn’t slow my pace until I reached a small green space. A metal bench was bent at one end, giving me an indication where Vaxx had parked the ship. I ran to the bench and the ship appeared as soon as I stepped into the chameleon field. Next to the ship was the vehicle. Someone was banging against the metal doors from the inside.

“Need help?” Vaxx asked.

“No. I’ll deal with this myself.” I put away the commstick, freeing up my hands. I was going to kill whoever had abducted Jenny.

The driver’s seat of the vehicle was empty. Vaxx had said that he’d locked the doors, so they still had to be inside. The large sliding door Jenny had been pulled through was closed. I grabbed the handle and took one deep breath. I was scared of what I might find. It was a strange sensation. I was never scared. I didn’t like this cold, clammy feeling at all.

With one forceful pull, I ripped the door off the vehicle, flinging it to the side. Three humans stared at me, two with fear and shock, one with surprise. Jenny was flanked by two males, her hands bound with rope, a piece of cloth tied around her neck. The front of it was wet; they must have used it to gag her. Fury boiled up in me.

“Are you hurt?” I growled, ignoring the males for now. She shook her head, but she was shaking all over. I reached out and pulled her from the vehicle. The males made no attempt to stop me. Good. Not that it would save them.

I pressed her against my chest, breathing in her scent. Mate. My antenna stopped burning and I only now realised that it had been hot the entire time. The itching reduced to a gentle tingling that almost felt pleasant.

“Are you hurt?” I repeated, this time as a whisper. I rubbed my cheek against hers. Her skin was so soft.

“I’m fine,” she muttered. “My wrists are sore, but that’s just because of the rope. You can let go of me now.”

Never. I was going to hold her for the rest of my life. Never let her go. She’d almost been taken from me. I couldn’t let that happen again.

“Mine,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “Safe.”

“You’d make a great caveman.” A small laugh tumbled from her pink lips. How could she laugh after what she’d been through? My mate was stronger than I’d thought. Pride at her resilience filled me. Other females would cower in fear, traumatised, but not my Jenny.

A sound behind her made me turn just in time to see one of the males climb out of the vehicle. I almost laughed at his desperate escape attempt. He wouldn’t get far. Even if I didn’t pursue him, Vaxx likely had a lock on him. He’d shoot him before he left the confines of the chameleon shield.

“Who are they?” I asked Jenny before letting go of her. Just for a moment, just until I’d killed her kidnappers. Then she’d be in my arms again.

“One of them is my ex. I don’t know the other.”

“Ex?”

“He was my boyfriend until I left him.”

Boyfriend. I didn’t like that word at all. A former mate. When I’d asked her at the eating place, she’d told me she was unmated. She hadn’t mentioned this ex.

I grabbed the one trying to escape with one hand while dragging the other out of the vehicle with the other. They struggled, but they were weak. I lifted them by their necks until their legs dangled above the ground. They squirmed and squealed like prey. Disgusting.

“We didn’t mean it!” the pale-haired one whimpered. “I just wanted to bring Jenny home. She’s my girlfriend. She-“

“Girlfriend,” I roared. “You call her your friend, but you harmed her. You took her against her will. I will make you pay for injuring my mate.”

“Don’t hurt them,” Jenny pleaded. I turned to her in surprise.

“They harmed you.” “They tried to, but they didn’t succeed. And yes, Jason broke my arm and-“

I roared with fury. I hadn’t realised someone had caused my mate’s injuries. I’d assumed she’d been in an accident, not the victim of a male’s aggression. It made me even angrier. I may have let him live for kidnapping her. Maimed, mutilated, but alive. But he’d broken her bones. Caused her pain. That was unforgivable. I looked into their eyes, searching for any sign of regret. Only fear stared back at me. The acrid odour of urine reached my nose. One of them had pissed himself. I despised them. They had no honour. They deserved no honourable death.

“She’s mine,” the ex spat, giving me a defiant look.

There was no holding back. Without thinking, I snapped both males’ necks – regretted it immediately. That had been too quick. I shook their corpses, willing them to return to life so I could kill them all over again.

Jenny screamed and I stopped shaking them for a moment. She stared at me in shock, her eyes wide.

“You killed them,” she whispered.

“I did. They hurt you.”

There wasn’t more to say about the matter. A male who hurt a female didn’t deserve to live. That was the law. Once, before the Sleep, there had been other rules. Males would have been put to trial. Now, females were so precious that harming them was an automatic death sentence that could be carried out by anyone who witnessed the crime. I wasn’t a murderer. I was an executioner.

I let the bodies fall to the ground before picking up Jenny. She squealed and tried to wriggle her way from my grasp, but there was no way I’d let her go.

My crooked antenna tingled with approval as I carried my squirming mate into the ship.
Skye MacKinnon. Thorrn: Starlight Highlander Mail Order Brides 1 (Kindle Locations 693-750). Peryton Press.

From one abduction to kind of another, Jenny becomes a victim of sorts with an accident with a med pod.

This book was a lot of fun as Thorrn and his brother try to explain what happened to her, and also keep Pam in the loop so her brother wouldn’t worry. Then there’s that overwhelming attraction and heat between Thorrn and Jenny.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

5 Contented Purrs for Skye!

Skye MacKinnon

Skye MacKinnon is a USA Today & International Bestselling Author whose books are filled with strong heroines who don’t have to choose.

She embraces her Scottishness with fantastical Scottish settings and a dash of mythology, no matter if she’s writing about Celtic gods, cat shifters, or the streets of Edinburgh.

When she’s not typing away at her favourite cafe, Skye loves dried mango, as much exotic tea as she can squeeze into her cupboards, and being covered in pet hair by her two bunnies, Emma and Darwin.