My Tempting Highlander (Highland Hearts #3) (18 page)

Mairi turned away from the blowing snow and snuggled tighter against Ronan’s side.
Damnation, it’s cold.
She pulled her fur-lined hood lower over her face and bit her tongue to keep from bitching out loud. The weather wasn’t Ronan’s fault. In fact, he’d been determined she stay at the keep and wait for his return. A sense of satisfaction flickered through her. He’d quickly lost that battle. Ronan Sutherland didn’t realize the stubbornness of a Sinclair woman. After an hour of shouting, cursing, and angry tears, Ronan had finally admitted defeat. Mairi sniffed and shifted on the hard seat of the wagon. She wished her stubbornness could do something about warming her frozen ass.

Her irritation bristled as the wagon lurched into a dip in the frozen road then jerked forward so hard she bounced atop the cold hard wooden plank. Damn him. The weather might not be his fault, but the fact they were traveling across the Highlands at the worst possible time of the year most certainly was. If he’d been honest with her, maybe they could’ve avoided this uncomfortable wallow through the winter wonderland.

“We’ll bed down here and wait out the worst of the storm,” Ronan shouted over the gusting wind.

Mairi didn’t bother answering. He wouldn’t be able to hear her anyway.

The wagon shuddered to a stop. Mairi peeped out from beneath her hood. All she could make out in the world of white were dark hulking figures stomping slowly through the storm. Clutching her cloak tight against her throat, Mairi scooted to the side of the wagon where Ronan waited.

The woolly black fur of his cloak was dusted white, his face red with the wind. Snowflakes caught hold of Ronan’s eyelashes and the beginnings of his silvery beard as though determined to bury him alive. He squinted against the freezing wind as he held up his hands to Mairi.

Mairi’s heart lurched, but she steeled herself against any kind thoughts toward Ronan.
No way. None of that. Never. Again.
She bent and placed her hands on his shoulders as he took hold of her waist and set her on the ground. Damn him straight to hell. Why hadn’t he been the one to tell her about his supposedly short marriage to Kenna? Why hadn’t he told her that to break the curse she’d have to marry him? Omitting the truth had gotten him in hot water before. Hadn’t he learned anything? Why was it so hard for him to be honest? What else had he failed to tell her?

A nagging thought jabbed her heart with an icy claw. Was he lying about his feelings too? Was he just saying he loved her to get her to break the curse? Mairi clenched her teeth and bowed her head, avoiding Ronan’s troubled gaze. Now wasn’t the time. All she needed to concentrate on was surviving this trip, breaking the damn curse, and then jumping back home.

“Are ye unwell?” Ronan bent low, peering up into her hood.

Mairi’s heart thumped at the caring and concern reflected in his eyes.
He’s simply worried about his little curse breaker. Lose me and he’s stuck with the curse.
“I’m fine,” Mairi shouted. She hugged herself against the wind and added, “I’m just cold.” She was cold, all right, but not entirely because of the weather.

Ronan wrapped an arm about Mairi’s shoulders and supported her as they trudged through the ever-deepening snow. Mairi was grateful Trulie had insisted she take her knee-high boots lined with fur. If the drifting snow got much deeper, she’d need thigh-high boots.

Ronan swept the snow off a fallen log and motioned for Mairi to sit. “Ye’ll be out of the wind here. I must go help the lads with the horses.”

Mairi bobbed her head in response; attempting to shout over the storm was too draining. She watched Ronan stomp away until the snow closed a curtain of white around him. Mairi struggled to look around, her multiple layers of clothing hindering much movement.

The air was heavy with the eerie muffled sounds of the storm and the men struggling to set up camp. The thicket of pines clustered about the clearing bowed over with snow, their trunks black and glistening with a coating of ice. The mountain rose sharply to the left, creating a pristine landscape of blinding white dotted with huddled mounds of rocks and shrubs overtaken by the storm.

Grumbling nickers and snorts echoed behind her. Mairi struggled to her feet and shuffled around in the snow. Ronan and the three MacKenna brothers appeared out of the swirling whiteness, leading the horses to the edge of the clearing just behind the fallen log.

Mairi watched as they spread furry hides across the horses’ backs then crumbled several loaves of horse bread across the ground. The horses hurried to eat the coarse bread of peas, oats, and beans before the falling snow buried their food.

Daegan MacKenna vaulted over the log, pausing long enough to nod politely as he hurried back toward the wagon. Muffled thumping and stomping, followed by a hand on each shoulder, warned Mairi that Ronan was going to stay with her while the other men finished securing their place for the evening.

“ ’Twill take the lads no time to set up a shelter and start a fire.” Ronan turned her to face him and pulled her close. Mairi closed her eyes and steeled herself against melting into him as he pressed an icy kiss to her forehead.

Ronan’s hands gripped her shoulders tighter and he pulled back. Confusion creased his brow as he searched her face. “Mairi?”

“What?” Mairi did her best to look anywhere but directly at him.

Ronan’s brows drew into a tighter knot over the stormy gray of his eyes. He pulled her closer. “What have I done to cool yer love? Why are ye still angry wi’ me? Yer travelin’ with us. Just as ye wished.”

The raw loneliness in Ronan’s deep voice made Mairi flinch. She looked away and blinked hard against the ache in her own heart.
Dammit. It’s too stinkin’ cold to cry
.

“Mairi?” Ronan gently cupped her chin, forcing her to face him. “I can bear the cold of the storm, but I canna bear the iciness of your disdain.”

“You should’ve thought of that when you failed to tell me you had been married to my sister. You should’ve kept that in mind when you forgot to mention that I’d have to marry you to break the curse.” The words tumbled out of their own volition. Mairi pushed an arm’s length away. “I can’t love a man I can’t trust.”
Now who’s lying?
Mairi took another step back, ignoring the annoying voice in her head.

Ronan closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I didna ken…” Ronan turned away, staring off into the woods as he raked the back of his gloved hand across his mouth.

“You
didna ken
what?” Mairi spit out the words, hating the snarling shrew she heard in her own voice. How could she let him get her so pissed? How could she let him force her to be such a monster?
Because I love him, and he owns me, heart and soul.

Mairi turned and floundered to the edge of the clearing.
Dammit.
She couldn’t even get away from him, thanks to the snow and a good fifty pounds of clothing.

A strong hand clasped her upper arm and spun her back around. Ronan snaked an arm about Mairi’s middle and yanked her close. “Ye will listen to me now and ye willna turn away.”

“Are you going to tell me the truth this time? I’ve given you that opportunity on several occasions and you’ve conveniently omitted details every damn time.” Mairi pushed her hood to her shoulders. If she was going to fight with Ronan, she wanted to look him dead in the eye.

“Aye,” Ronan barked. “I will speak the truth. Will ye grant me the favor of listening?”

“I have always listened.” Mairi thumped him on the chest and pushed her way back out of his embrace. “Now spill it.”

“Ye know of the curse I seek to break.” Ronan waited.

“Supposedly. It depends on what other little details you’ve yet to share.” Mairi wasn’t about to give him an inch. Granted, after the strange phenomenon she’d witnessed in the solar, she believed in the curse, but she was so damned sick and tired of getting the story in bits and pieces she could scream.

Ronan’s jaw tightened. His nostrils flared with a deep intake of air as though he struggled to control his rage. “ ’Tis true yer sister bore my name for a brief time when I thought her to be the one to free me from this fate. But I never loved her, nor did I ever touch her as a man touches a wife.” Ronan turned slightly away as he continued. “This curse has saddled me with solitude and immortality. I have buried two wives and two sons thanks to the damnable wrath of that jealous sorceress. ’Tis nay a blessing to live forever, watching all around ye die while yer forced to live on. I would be done with this existence.”

Ronan’s words hit Mairi harder than the gusting wind. Pain and fury filled his face. Ronan wasn’t lying this time. These words came from his heart. She turned away, hugging her cloak tighter about her shoulders as she floundered through the snow.
Two wives. Two sons.
Mairi stopped walking and closed her eyes. And her sister Kenna. The more she knew about Ronan, the more confused she became.
And the more I love him. He’s suffered. He needs me.

“How old were your sons when they died?” Mairi didn’t know why that mattered but somehow it did.

“Neither lived past the day of their birth. I held them as they drew their last breath.”

“And your wives?” Mairi’s cheeks burned with hot tears she no longer struggled to hold back.

“They died bringing forth my sons.”

Ronan’s rasping voice told Mairi so much more than his words. “So then you married my sister, hoping she was the one to make you mortal and enable you to have a family?” Family meant everything to a Scot. Clans were a Scotsman’s strength.

“Aye.” Ronan cleared his throat. “But to be perfectly clear, we didna exactly wed. ’Twas more of a…kidnapping.”

Mairi slowly turned and faced Ronan to find him sheepishly pawing at the snow with the toe of his boot. “You kidnapped my sister and she automatically became your wife?” Mairi vaguely remembered reading about such things while studying Scotland’s history. “She said she married you so you’d save Colum from some sort of accident.”

Ronan bobbed his head up and down, a glimmer of hope brightening his face. “Aye. ’Tis true. She nay wanted to marry me either. Fought me like a hellcat the entire time.”

“I can just imagine.” And Mairi could. Kenna had no trouble tapping into her inner bitch when adequately provoked.

“Will ye forgive me?” Ronan eased forward, hands held out, palms up.

“I do not appreciate finding out these truths from my sisters. You should’ve been the one to tell me.” Mairi wanted to grab Ronan by the shoulders and shake him until his teeth rattled. When the devil was he going to learn to open up and let her in?

Ronan took another step forward then went down on one knee. He held his arms out wide, a pleading look on his face. “I beg ye,” he whispered. “Find it in yer heart to forgive me.”

“Damn you.” Mairi set her boot to the center of his chest and shoved.

Ronan wobbled off balance and rolled back on his ass. He smiled up from his spread-eagled position across the snow. “Does this mean ye forgive me?”

Mairi glared down at him. “No. This means I’m watching you even closer.”

Before Mairi realized what Ronan was about, he snagged hold of her skirts and pulled her down to the ground with him. He rolled with her in the snow until she lay beneath him. He brought his face close, his lips brushing hers as he whispered, “As long as ye watch me forever, ye ken? Ye own me, heart and soul,
mo bheatha, mo ghaol.
”

“What does that mean?” Mairi whispered against Ronan’s mouth. She gave up fighting Ronan’s hold, willing her heart to stay wary as he pulled her closer.

“My life,” Ronan breathed as he gently nibbled at her mouth. “My love,” he whispered as he silenced further discussion with a deeper kiss.

Dammit.
Mairi shored up all her accusations like a wall around her heart.
Keep friends close. Keep enemies closer.
She chanted the saying over and over as the taste and touch of him coursed through her like a welcomed addictive drug.
Wonder where lying lovers fall in that mix?

Máthair
was close. Ronan’s wolf sense picked out the rest of the pack scattered throughout the rough-cut land as well. He scanned the frozen landscape. The faint trickling of dripping water pulled his attention farther down the mountainside. A heavy mist crawled along the jagged edge of the cliff bordering a deep ravine.

A treacherous river twisting with unseen shallows and swirling depths sliced through this area—a river that dumped into the sea. ’Twas much too cold for the ice and snow to thaw at this point upon the mountain. Graham must be in the river. Even if the dragon contained his flame, his scaled body emitted more heat than a blacksmith’s forge.

Mairi squirmed beside him on the seat then tugged on his cloak. “We need to stop up ahead.” She wriggled again before pointing to a line of snow-covered scrub clustered along the edge of the steep-sided ravine. “Up there. By those bushes.”

“Aye, lass.” Ronan chuckled. “Just take care and dinna dip yer sweet arse in the snow.”

Mairi’s deep green eyes flashed from the depths of her fur hood.
Lore a’mighty.
How had he survived so many centuries without Mairi’s fire? Ronan leapt down from the wagon then gently helped her to the ground. His heart twitched with a hint of sadness as she looked away, pointedly avoiding his gaze. She’d grudgingly slept in his arms last night but ’twas painfully evident she still bore him ill will for all his untold truths.

“And yet and still ye hide even more of yer life and ways from the lass. Me thinks I raised a son with so little sense he can barely find his arse to scratch it when it itches.”

“Máthair,
why did ye no’ stay at MacKenna Keep as we planned?” Ronan whispered, turning to face the silver gray wolf silently standing among a cluster of like-colored saplings.

“
The darkness is stronger there. I felt the truth of it in my bones.”

“Are ye certain ’tis the wickedness of the curse?”

“Aye—’tis an evil I ken all too well.”

Máthair
ne’er wasted words. Ronan glanced back up to the spot where Mairi had disappeared into the snow-covered scrub to tend to her needs. Good. The lass was still busy addressin’ her own business. “The wicked one is dead. Drowned long ago. Graham witnessed it with his own eyes. How could her evil have escaped whatever hell imprisoned her poisoned soul?” Mistress Eliza had spoken of the evil’s lifeline, its tenuous hold on this world as long as the curse held, but Mother Sinclair had ne’er hinted at such.

His mother flicked an ear and shifted to look behind him. She immediately melted into the landscape and disappeared from view. Although he could no longer see her standing in front of him, her thoughts still echoed loud and clear in his mind.
“Who’s ta know the ways of evil but evil itself? Take care, my son, and take care of yon wee lass that we’ve needed for so verra long.”

Snow crunched behind him. “Who are you talking to? The MacKenna boys aren’t back yet.”

Ronan ignored Mairi’s question. He couldna verra well answer, especially when he’d yet to sort out how he was going to get his mother and Graham back to the keep without Mairi seeing them. The tiniest kernel of a plan took root and grew as Mairi’s red wind-chapped cheeks set her face aglow. “Ye look unwell. I fear the harshness of the air is too much for ye.”

Mairi sniffed and pressed her gloved hands to her cheeks. “I’m fine. I’m just not used to the cold.”

Aye, m’dear sweet lass. That’s exactly what I wished ye to say.
Ronan slid a finger beneath Mairi’s chin and gently lifted her face. “I dinna like the high color upon yer cheeks and yer eyes are overly bright. I worry for yer health.”

Mairi made a face and stepped back. “I said I’m fine. Stop trying to talk me into being sick.”

Ronan angled a glance toward the last place
Máthair
had been standing. He prayed she would listen close and carry the message to Graham. “As soon as the lads return from the woods, yerself and I will be headin’ back to the keep. This journey is too ill timed. I’ll no’ take a step farther into the harshness of these mountains and risk losin’ ye.”

Mairi stared at him as though he’d lost his mind. “And what about your mother and Graham?” She rolled her eyes as she shrugged deeper into her fur-lined hood. “We can’t break the stupid curse without them. Remember?”

Ronan ignored Mairi’s tone.
May the gods be with me—she holds tight to her ire
. ’Twould take him the rest of their lives to win her forgiveness, and he looked forward to the task. He raised his voice and prayed again that
Máthair
and Graham were listening, since they’d finally seen fit to let him know he’d found them. “I’ll send the lads on ahead to seek them out and bring them back to the keep. They’ll travel much faster without the wagon. ’Twill only take them a few days to fetch them and then we’ll see to the wedding.”

Mairi’s eyes narrowed into a murderous glare. “You’re up to something. Have you learned nothing about the benefits of honesty?” She took a slow step forward, her dark woolen skirts sweeping across the snow. “Spill it, Ronan. Now.”

Lore a’mighty—give me the words to convince her
. He knew the woman had the gift of healin’, but was she growin’ better at ferretin’ out half-truths too? He best choose his next words with care. “I worry for ye. I’d never forgive m’self if ye became ill.” There, that was a truth. Surely the sharp minx couldna find a falsehood in that.

Mairi didn’t respond, just glared at him with one gloved finger tapping impatiently atop her crossed arms.

“I had planned to travel alone. Ye ken that well enough.”

Mairi nodded but still didna speak.

Frustration goaded him on. “I weakened against yer infernal caterwauling at the keep. I’m ashamed I allowed ye to force m’hand. Ye shouldna be here. I shouldha ne’er allowed it.” There. That was a truth too.

“So now you want to turn around and return to the keep and send the terrible threesome on ahead without us?” Mairi sniffed again.

“Aye.”

“Why didn’t you do that in the first place?”

Hell’s demons. Now what do I say?
Ronan sent up a silent plea for guidance. The guidance came in the form of his mother’s whisper in his mind.

Ye didna ken the lads’ hearts. Ye were nay certain of their capabilities ’til ye’d had a chance to travel with them for a bit and learn they could be trusted.

“I couldna trust them with such an undertakin’ ’til I knew them better. I needed to see their actions wi’ me own eyes.” And that was no’ a lie either. Just because their chieftain vouched for them didna mean a damn thing. Gray had also mentioned the men loved to dally with other men’s wives and drink until they fell into a stupor. Those traits were no’ the best of recommendations.

Mairi’s expression softened the barest bit.

Aye. Well done
. Ronan’s spirits lightened. “So are ye willin’, then?” Ronan raised his voice. “Are ye willin’ to return to the keep and wait for
Máthair
and Graham’s arrival?”

Mairi kicked a clump of snow with the toe of one boot. “I can’t say I wouldn’t mind heading back to a warm fire and a soft bed.”

And he wouldna mind sharing both of them with her. Ronan forced himself to remain focused on the task at hand. “There, then. ’Tis more than settled. We’ll turn the wagon round and go back to the keep and the lads will go on ahead.” Ronan waved a hand toward the wagon as the three MacKenna brothers came stomping out of the woods. “Go, lass. Hie to the wagon and get thee ’neath the lap robe. I’ll tell the MacKennas of our decision and then we’ll be on our way.”

Mairi looked to the men then back to Ronan.

Ronan held his breath and begged the gods to make the woman do this one thing without arguing. Mairi finally fisted her heavy skirts above the snow and tromped across the clearing to the wagon. Ronan deflated with a relieved exhale and motioned the MacKenna lads over.

“Aye?” Daegan scrubbed his hands together then blew into them.

Ronan stole one last glance back at the wagon. Good. Mairi was huddled beneath the heavy blanket, waiting for his return. Ronan turned and motioned toward the narrow path disappearing into the woods. “I’m takin’ Mistress Mairi back to the keep where she belongs. Travel east along this road ’til ye descend to a glen filled with mist.” Ronan pulled free the crest clamping his heavy fur cloak to his shoulder. He held it out to Daegan, his thumb tracing across the engraved words. “Stand at the cairn at the head of the glen and speak these words: a
mundo ultra.”

“A mundo ultra,”
Daegan repeated. He took the pin and turned it in his hand. “What does it mean?”

“A world beyond.” Ronan tapped the front of the pin. “When ye say those words the mist will part and lead ye to Draegonmare Keep. Rest there ’til the spring. Then do what ye will. All will know ye as my personal guests and will treat ye wi’ the utmost respect. Keep the pin close. ’Tis how they shall know I sent ye.”

“But what of yer mother?” Daegan scowled down at his chest as he fastened the pin to his shoulder. “What of yer friend? Have ye no’ decided to bring them back to MacKenna Keep at this time? Do they no’ need to be healed before the spring?”

“Dinna fash.” Ronan smiled as he glanced toward the wagon again. “All will be healed in but a few days’ time.”