My Tempting Highlander (Highland Hearts #3) Read Online Free
Author: Maeve Greyson
he really was before he was ready to reveal everything to her? What if she couldna stomach all his
truths
?
“Speak it, man.” Granny stamped the end of her stick hard against the ground. “Speak your fears. Control them or let them control you. Which will it be?” Granny’s demanding tone left no room for debate.
“Is Lady Mairi really the one?” Ronan turned back and took a slow step toward Granny. “Is your granddaughter truly the woman who will accept, without batting an eye, a union with a man bearing wolf’s blood? Will she break the damnable curse that has imprisoned my mother and my mentor for centuries? Is she the one to end my unnatural immortality? Tell me, old woman, since ye seem to have all the answers.”
The hint of a smile played at the corners of Granny’s mouth. She shrugged one thin shoulder as she slowly pushed up from the bench and leaned against her staff. “The Fates have strongly hinted at such. Rarely, in fact, hardly ever, do they share so much with me about my very own. But in Mairi’s case, their signs have been quite forthcoming…and persistent.” She hitched forward a step and sternly thumped her knotted fist against the center of Ronan’s chest. “But the only way to know the truth of it is for you to travel to the future and win her.”
“My other wives never knew the truth.”
My truths are best kept to the shadows.
Truth caused pain. Rejection. Isolation. Hiding the truth ensured survival. Ronan strode up the path leading away from the private bench, then paused, turned back, and gallantly extended his arm to Granny. “The kindhearted maids I took to wife never met the dragon Graham nor knew of my mother the wolf. I never told them of the curse—not even as they died.”
Granny didn’t speak, just ambled up to him and slid her hand atop his arm.
Ronan shouldered branches aside from the narrow path.
Dammit. The old woman has cast a spell upon me.
Had he actually spoken of the curse aloud? What was it about Mother Sinclair that severed the ties he kept so tightly knotted around his thoughts? Ronan shook free the internal battle with a shrug. Perhaps ’twas just as well. Considering the Sinclair heritage, if Granny knew as much as she claimed, she would easily take it all in stride. “Not a soul other than Graham and mother knows of the curse that brought me into this life as a wolf, to ensure I survived. Verra few of my closest men know I’m able to revert back to that form whene’er I choose.”
Ronan’s hand tightened atop Granny’s bony fingers clutched in the crook of his arm. “ ’Tis rare now that I ever change—only when I seek reprieve from the memories…the heartache. I find peace in the primal existence of the wolf.”
Granny frowned at the ground as they walked slowly down the path. “Perhaps if you had revealed all to your previous wives, much pain could’ve been avoided. Truth—although difficult at times—is eventually the path to contentment and peace.”
“Doubtful,” Ronan said.
Granny gifted him with a compassionate nod and a gentle pat atop his hand. “I understand more than you know. Some truths are often too unbearable to reveal, but it still must be done—for the good of all concerned. Come. Let us prepare you for your journey.”
—
“Gray has sent word to your keep so Graham and your mother will know what’s become of you. They’ll be watched—and you’ll be alerted if their health shows signs of failing.” Granny motioned Ronan down to her diminutive level. She scowled as she poked and prodded the tensed muscles of his shoulders. “Kneel lower so I can strap this pack across your back. I think I’ve lengthened the bindings enough.”
Ronan knelt to the moss-covered ground just in front of the stone bench. “Why can ye no’ send me forth fully clothed? ’Tis bad enough jumping into the unknown. Must I do it bare? And at night?” He supposed he preferred the cover of darkness to shield him once he reached
truths
?
“Speak it, man.” Granny stamped the end of her stick hard against the ground. “Speak your fears. Control them or let them control you. Which will it be?” Granny’s demanding tone left no room for debate.
“Is Lady Mairi really the one?” Ronan turned back and took a slow step toward Granny. “Is your granddaughter truly the woman who will accept, without batting an eye, a union with a man bearing wolf’s blood? Will she break the damnable curse that has imprisoned my mother and my mentor for centuries? Is she the one to end my unnatural immortality? Tell me, old woman, since ye seem to have all the answers.”
The hint of a smile played at the corners of Granny’s mouth. She shrugged one thin shoulder as she slowly pushed up from the bench and leaned against her staff. “The Fates have strongly hinted at such. Rarely, in fact, hardly ever, do they share so much with me about my very own. But in Mairi’s case, their signs have been quite forthcoming…and persistent.” She hitched forward a step and sternly thumped her knotted fist against the center of Ronan’s chest. “But the only way to know the truth of it is for you to travel to the future and win her.”
“My other wives never knew the truth.”
My truths are best kept to the shadows.
Truth caused pain. Rejection. Isolation. Hiding the truth ensured survival. Ronan strode up the path leading away from the private bench, then paused, turned back, and gallantly extended his arm to Granny. “The kindhearted maids I took to wife never met the dragon Graham nor knew of my mother the wolf. I never told them of the curse—not even as they died.”
Granny didn’t speak, just ambled up to him and slid her hand atop his arm.
Ronan shouldered branches aside from the narrow path.
Dammit. The old woman has cast a spell upon me.
Had he actually spoken of the curse aloud? What was it about Mother Sinclair that severed the ties he kept so tightly knotted around his thoughts? Ronan shook free the internal battle with a shrug. Perhaps ’twas just as well. Considering the Sinclair heritage, if Granny knew as much as she claimed, she would easily take it all in stride. “Not a soul other than Graham and mother knows of the curse that brought me into this life as a wolf, to ensure I survived. Verra few of my closest men know I’m able to revert back to that form whene’er I choose.”
Ronan’s hand tightened atop Granny’s bony fingers clutched in the crook of his arm. “ ’Tis rare now that I ever change—only when I seek reprieve from the memories…the heartache. I find peace in the primal existence of the wolf.”
Granny frowned at the ground as they walked slowly down the path. “Perhaps if you had revealed all to your previous wives, much pain could’ve been avoided. Truth—although difficult at times—is eventually the path to contentment and peace.”
“Doubtful,” Ronan said.
Granny gifted him with a compassionate nod and a gentle pat atop his hand. “I understand more than you know. Some truths are often too unbearable to reveal, but it still must be done—for the good of all concerned. Come. Let us prepare you for your journey.”
—
“Gray has sent word to your keep so Graham and your mother will know what’s become of you. They’ll be watched—and you’ll be alerted if their health shows signs of failing.” Granny motioned Ronan down to her diminutive level. She scowled as she poked and prodded the tensed muscles of his shoulders. “Kneel lower so I can strap this pack across your back. I think I’ve lengthened the bindings enough.”
Ronan knelt to the moss-covered ground just in front of the stone bench. “Why can ye no’ send me forth fully clothed? ’Tis bad enough jumping into the unknown. Must I do it bare? And at night?” He supposed he preferred the cover of darkness to shield him once he reached
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