Free Haunted by the Highlander: A BDSM Story by J.A. Bailey Page A

on its wheels. Her chest became heavy as
the four of them approached the large double doors of Inverrock Castle. Yeah,
just what I need , she thought with a smirk, another reason not to sleep.
    The doors groaned - of course -
open and a small, plump woman with short grey hair greeted them. “Welcome,
welcome,” she said as she ushered them into the hall.
    Samantha gazed around, aware her jaw
had dropped. The inside of the castle was rustically beautiful. The walls were
still bare stone and iron chandeliers hung from the ceiling. A dark carved
staircase curled around to the next floor. Animal horns and swords and heraldic
crests hung from the walls.
    “Wow,” Lucy breathed.
    The old woman smiled. “Welcome to
Inverrock Castle. I’m Aileen and I’ll be looking after you during your stay.”
    Annie stepped forwards, taking
charge as usual. “Hi, I’m Annie, we spoke on the phone. Thanks for having us,
it’s just beautiful.”
    Aileen nodded and grabbed some keys
off the reception desk. “We’re keen to see what you think of our haunted tours.
If all goes well, then we’ll be doing them regularly.”
    Samantha lips twisted. “Well, the
setting is right for it.”
    Aileen nodded with a grin. “Yes,
and it does help that we do have our own ghosts here at Inverrock.”
    The smile dropped from her lips
and Samantha clutched tightly to her suitcase. “Oh.”
    “Not to worry,” Aileen reassured
her as her eyes twinkled. “They’re very friendly.”
    Why did that not make her feel
any better? Bloody Annie. She should never have agreed to come along. Annie worked
for the company that were helping Inverrock with their publicity and had jumped
at the chance to try out their ghost hunt experience. How the hell Samantha got
roped into it too, she couldn’t exactly remember. She was pretty sure someone
mentioned a four-poster bed. With her insomnia, it was probably the only
enticement she needed. It was only when they had piled into the car, did she
remember the part about hunting for ghosts.
    “Well, here’s your room keys.”
Aileen distributed them between them. “Just go up the stairs and turn left.
You’re not all together I’m afraid, but you are all in the east wing. Dinner is
at seven and then the tour will start at ten.”
    Thanking Aileen, they all dragged
their suitcases up the wide stairs and set out to find their rooms. The east
wing was divided by a long corridor, lined with family portraits. The squeaking
of their suitcase wheels echoed against the wood panelled walls. Samantha found
her room and stopped in front of it. Room thirteen. She rolled her eyes .
Naturally.
    Slotting the iron key into the
heavy oak door, she froze as a strange sound reached her ears. Her pulse thudding
erratically as she listened intently. She jolted. There it was again, an odd
moaning sound.
    “Found it!” Lucy called out from
the other end of the corridor as she fumbled with her keys. “Sam, what’s
wrong?”
    Straightening, she shook her
head. “Nothing,” she said brightly. “Nothing,” she muttered again. Bloody
idiot, your imagination is on overdrive . Damn that Aileen and her ghost
stories. They may be hunting for ghosts tonight but she sure as hell didn’t
want to find any.
    Pushing open the door, Samantha
released a breath. A four-poster bed. Yes! Hopefully she’d sleep well in
a bed like this. Wheeling her suitcase to one side, she threw herself down on
the bed, and the heavy satin throw and decorative pillow enveloped her. She stroked
over the luxurious fabric and sighed. Once, many years ago, on a trip to Italy,
she’d had a night of mind-blowing sex in a four-poster bed. Marcello had
introduced her to the delights of a firm hand and some carefully tied
restraints. They had messaged back and forth for a while when she returned to
England but life took over and Marcello soon became a distant memory.
    Her room, unlike the rest of the
castle, had a cosy feeling to it, its thick velvet curtains and dark