“I do not appreciate finding out these truths from my sisters. You should’ve been the one to tell me.” She wanted to grab him 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?
He took another step forward then went down on one knee, holding 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.” She set her boot to the center of his chest and shoved.
Ronan wobbled off balance and rolled back on his ass. He smiled up at her from his spread-eagled position across the snow. “Does this mean ye forgive me?”
She glared down at him. “No. This means I’m watching you even closer.”
Before she realized what he was doing, 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 and 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?” she whispered against his mouth. She gave up fighting his hold, willing her heart to stay wary as he pulled her closer.
“My life,” Ronan breathed as he gently nibbled across her lips. “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?
CHAPTER24
Máthairwas 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. It was much too cold for the ice and snow to thaw at this point on 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 on the seat beside him, 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.”
Her 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? He 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 it was 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 not 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 it is the wickedness of the curse?”
“Aye—It is an evil I ken all too well.”
Máthairnever 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 addressing 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 never 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 have 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 couldn’t very well answer, especially when he had 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, that was exactly what he wished for her to say.Ronan slid a finger beneath her 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.”
He angled a glance toward the last placeMáthairhad been standing, praying she would listen close and carry the message to Graham. “As soon as the lads return from the woods, yerself and I will be heading back to the keep. This journey is too ill-timed. I will not take a step farther into the harshness of these mountains and risk losing ye.”
Mairi stared at him as though he had 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?”
He ignored her tone. May the gods be with him—she held tight to her ire.It would 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 thatMáthairand Graham were listening since they had finally seen fit to let him know he had 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. It will only take them a few days to fetch them and then we will see to the wedding.”
