by
A disgraced Scot...a misplaced Quaker
(The Renegade and the Runaway 2)
This sequel to Unkilted finds a young Quaker-trained man and a bitter Highland outlaw together again, and not by their own design. They meet again on a Dutch trader sailing to the king’s colonies—uncharted land even more wild than Scotland’s daunting Highlands.
David is on a mission to the British-occupied colonies to find his true father, a well-known frontiersman. Grier is searching for his aunt, abducted twelve years earlier, held somewhere on the coast of North Carolina. Back in Edinburgh, Iain spins his quiet web to reunite with his beloved wife.
More than seeking family members, the two younger men are searching for something they may find only when they finally understand themselves, and each other.
Can a naive, scholarly youth cope with life on the high seas—and become a force against a killer? Will a deeply angry man ever forget that the man he most desires bears the name of his sworn enemy?
Slow-burn romance ~ Slow reveal ~ Family secrets ~ Action and Adventure ~ Humor
- 1 To Be Read list
- 1 Read list
Publisher: New Dawn Press
Editors:
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 4
Romantic Content: 4
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: 26-35
Protagonist 2 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 3 Age: 36-45
Tropes: Adopted Child, Age Difference, Coming of Age, Criminals & Outlaws, Death of Parent, Enemies to Lovers, First Time, Hurt / Comfort, Lost Heir, Slow Burning Love
Word Count: 66932
Setting: Atlantic Ocean, Shipboard (age of sail)
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
[Grier Black has been stabbed by an unknown assailant on board ship. He's been under the care of the ship's surgeon for a week, but David has now taken him to his own room to recover.]
An hour later, Grier was still an invalid, but he’d claimed a bed he could tolerate. It was the floor of David’s room, a cubby-hole the sailors called a “cabin” where David changed his bandage. He noted with a wry expression that the lad kept his eyes averted from his groin; but he said nothing. He could wait.
He clenched his jaw but didnae resist when his host sent him into a corner carrying a privy—a large chipped basin—and had stood like a soldier while the lad cleaned his verra personal places with a cloth dipped in water.
Well, he bore it not so muckle like a soldier. More like a wounded bear, back turned, leaning against a wall, his thigh throbbing and his cock too, cursing under his breath.
“Am I clean now, lad?”
READ MORE“Shush, Grier. Spread your legs a little. Careful of that wound.”
“I’ve never spread my legs for any man.”
David was kneeling behind him, gently cleansing his buttocks.
“I need you to be still.”
“And I need you, David. Still—or any way at all. Kiss my arse, lad, and use your tongue…”
David’s hand stopped, but he did not remove it.
“What…did you say?”
“You heard me. The training you wanted, ’tis trembling before you. My arse is on fire for you. Lick my crack, lift me to the sky.”
A hesitation, a soft touch. A finger…or a tongue…something stroked his cleft, and his hungry cock shook, heavy with desire.
He moaned like a bairn and spread wider.
“More, David. More. Put it inside…”
“Put…what, Grier?”
“Your finger, or ten of them, your tongue, your cock. I want it all…”
David gripped his buttocks, hard…and now he could feel the heat of the man’s breath and the scalding sucks first next to his hole, then almost on the balls, a back-and-forth, an in-and-out, a flaring of the muscles deep inside his core, a rush of his own hot fluids.
He let it go on forever, shaking and crying, loving the release, hating the end, wanting more.
COLLAPSELove and Sweet Revenge [5 stars]
Erin O'Quinn has done it again--taken us back in time to a period of history we do not know very well and has woven a tale of carnal and spiritual love, intrigue and revenge in the 1770s on the high seas, in Edinburgh, and also on the outer banks of North Carolina that will delight and tickle you from the beginning to end.
You must, of course, read the first book in the coupling [Unkilted] to get your bearings about Highlander Grier (aka Gregory) and American Quaker David as well as Grier's cousin Duncan and his father Iain, who is Grier's deliciously scheming uncle. Grier and David continue their on-and-off-again tryst that began in the first book when they and Duncan set sail for the Colonies. ..
Well, this one is a rocker from start to finish, and even though almost half the book is a sea voyage, it's a deeply affecting love story with intellectual overtones that will surprise and delight you every page along the way.
The way matters come down in the last quarter of the book is quite ingenious and a bit heart stopping at times, and the manner in which all concerned find their HEA was a surprise and a vastly satisfying tickler.
Bravo, Ms. Quinn, once again!
The setting shifts from Scotland, to the Atlantic Ocean, and finally to the colony of North Carolina. In this novel and its predecessor UNKILTED, the story is told from the pov of three characters, two of whom are would-be lovers and finally lovers.
