My Tempting Highlander (Highland Hearts #3) (6 page)

Ronan sank down into the chair as though he owned it. His large hands draped comfortably over the ends of the rolled arms as he settled back and crossed his boots at the ankle. The man looked every bit the chieftain of a powerful clan. “I believe Mistress Eliza might ha’ stretched the truth a wee bit when she called us distant relatives. We have no shared bloodline, but she was quite correct when she said I had traveled quite a ways t’meet wi’ ye.”

“Why?” Mairi wasn’t in the mood for polite conversation no matter how deliciously lickable the man looked. She needed to be out in the streets of Edinburgh locating her lost dog. She felt sure Eliza had ousted the poor stray. It didn’t matter if she confessed it or not.

“Why?” Ronan repeated. He uncrossed his boots and leaned forward as though ready to spring from the chair. Did the man sense she was about to make a quick getaway?

“Yes. Why did you want to meet with us?” Damn, the man was sexy as hell, but she didn’t have time for sexy as hell—especially without any pertinent details, like who the devil he really was. She struggled against the strange pull of the chieftain. She had to find her dog before the authorities picked him up and sealed his fate with an ending she’d rather not think about.

“Look. I’m really sorry to cut this short, but I just don’t have time for polite chitchat right now.” Mairi jumped to her feet and hurried to the door. “Enjoy your tea with Eliza. I’m sorry. But I really have to go. If you’re still here when I get back, maybe we can visit then.”

Without looking back, Mairi bolted down the hallway, grabbed her jacket, and headed outside. Eliza was going to be pissed, but she’d have to get over it. Mairi had to find that poor dog before he met a terrible end.

She was gone? Just like that she was gone?

Ronan stared at the open doorway of the parlor, dazed and perplexed. What the blazes had happened? The quiet thud of the front door closing promptly ended his paralysis of disbelief.

“By the verra gods themselves!” He launched out of the chair and stormed down the hallway. Throwing the door open wide, Ronan bolted down the steps, stopped in the center of the smooth stone path running in front of the house, and searched up and down the busy street. How the hell could she have disappeared so quickly? The urge to shift into the wolf was strong. He could cover so much more ground in that form.

“Dinna be rash,” Eliza warned from the top step. “Ye best find her as a man and deal with her as a man would. ’Tis the only way and ye know it. She must love ye as a man before she knows the truth of yer history. Look what trouble the curse has already laid at yer feet by having her love yer wolf first.”

Damn, but the woman was right. Ronan sucked in a deep breath and lifted his face to the icy sleet raining down from the muddy sky. The stinging chill helped cool his need to release his beast. “I will find her. I dinna ken how t’make her forget the wolf. But somehow, I will bring her home.”

“Animals have always been dearer to Mairi than people ever could be. She trusts animals. She never trusts people anymore. Lies and cruelties have scarred her and she’s incapable of moving past them. Bear that in mind when ye find the wee gal.” Eliza backed into the house, closing the odd bright purple canvas shielding her from the rain and propping it beneath the shelter of the eaves. “Off wi’ ye now. Find our Mairi and make it right.”

“Aye.” Ronan accepted the quest with a nod. Icy rain streamed down the sides of his face and trickled down the back of his neck. He shook free the dark folded plaid tucked over one shoulder and hooded it over his head.

Once more he glanced first to the right then to the left. Men and women clutching the round cloth shields over their heads splashed about, backs bent against the weather as they went along their way. Ronan squinted against the rising wind and rain, weaving in and out among the crowd bustling down the walkway. How the devil was he to find the woman? Was he even going in the right direction? He edged his way to the side of the path, imperceptibly lifted his chin, and snuffed in several deep breaths.
Damn this blasted weather
. He’d play hell picking up her scent in all this rain.

A waist-high wall made of the smoothest stone Ronan had ever seen caught his eye.
Higher ground. Aye
. He stood a better chance of spotting Mairi from higher ground. Slinging the wet plaid back over one shoulder, Ronan hoisted himself to the top of the wall.
Much better
. Now he could see well over the throng of busy people.
Och and be damned.
Why the hell were there so many milling about? He nay remembered so many people bein’ in the streets the previous night.

Ronan slowly edged along the top of the wall while scanning the area. Mairi was searching for her lost wolf. Ronan shook with a bitter chuckle. Little did the woman know, her lost wolf searched for her as well. Shrubbery. A thicket of trees. A bit of meadow. If Mairi kept her search focused on where an animal might hide, she’d seek those places first. Ronan stretched taller and looked for just such places.

Aye. There she is
. A dark blue behind and the bottoms of a pair of muddy shoes protruded out from under a canopy of glossy dripping leaves. Ronan squinted through the rain.
Aye and for sure.
He was certain of it. He’d know that sweet arse from any distance.

Ronan hopped down from the wall. Uncertainty stopped his steps. How could he convince her to come home? He slicked the rain from his eyes and looked up and down the street again. Eliza said Mairi didna trust people nor allow them too close. What would make her trust him?

A cacophony of high-pitched yapping interrupted Ronan’s plotting. The insistent
yap-yap-yap
hammered a simple plan of attack into place. What better way to win Mairi over and make her forget the wolf than by giving her another dog? Ronan pushed through the ornate black metal gate to the tiny enclosed yard and strode up the path. A trio of hopping fuzz balls, ridiculous puffs of gray black fur dotted with beady eyes, glistening noses, and pink tongues pawed and bit at the glass separating them from Ronan.

Ronan eyed the pups. A bit on the small side, but perhaps a wee beastie would melt Mairi’s heart even quicker. Ronan rapped on the glass, shielding his eyes as he strained to see deeper into the house.

A sour-faced woman of advanced years wobbled into view. A pair of bigger mops of yipping fur bounced around the woman’s feet and the base of her cane as she hitched her way to the door. Her eyes narrowed behind a smudged pair of wire-rimmed spectacles cocked at an angle on the bridge of her nose. She glared at Ronan through the glass, her scowl deepening as she eased the door open the barest bit. “Aye?”

Ronan pointed to the smaller dogs still yapping and ricocheting off the glass. “The wee dogs.” Ronan tapped on the glass in front of the darkest, fiercest pup. “Would ye consider partin’ with one o’ them?”

The woman frowned and thumped the handle of her cane against a white square of parchment stuck at the top of the glass. “Is that no’ what the sign says? Can ye no’ read?”

Irritation prickled hot against the cold damp hairs at the base of his neck. Of course he couldna read. He had scribes and monks for such menial tasks. Ronan rapped on the glass in front of the bright-eyed little dog’s face. “How much?” He had no time for the cross old woman. Mairi wouldna stay in one place verra long. He worked open the leather pouch slung against his hip and pulled free the small clutch of gold pieces Granny Sinclair had sent for him through the fire portal.

“The sign says
fiddy quid
.” The scowling matron rapped her cane against the bit of parchment again. “I’ll no’ take a bit less for one o’ these fine lads. Ye’ll find none nearly as grand in all Scotland.”

Ronan wasna sure how much
fiddy quid
was but he felt certain a couple of gold pieces would properly take care of the old woman’s troubles.
Lore a’mighty—’tisn’t as though I’m buyin’ a horse.
He clicked two shining gold pieces against the glass. “For the wee dark one still biting at the door. Aye?”

The elderly woman’s face lit up as she pulled the door open wider and plucked the gold pieces out from between Ronan’s fingers then closed the door again before any of the dogs could escape. She adjusted her spectacles, held the coins up close, and squinted as she slowly rotated the money in her hand. Her thin lips moved as she stared at the gold, as though muttering a silent curse.

She stole a quick glance through the glass at Ronan then placed one of the coins between the only two teeth she still possessed and bit down hard. She cackled out a happy chortle and stuffed the payment down the neck of her oversize shirt then patted the spot between her sagging breasts. She scooped up the dog, opened the door, and shoved him into Ronan’s arms. “The wee bastard is all yers. All sales final.” She slammed the door shut and yanked down the shade. Her delighted cackle echoing from the other side of the door until it gradually faded away.

Ronan looked down at the alert little dog trembling in his hands. “So yer a wee bastard, are ye?”

The pup promptly rumbled with a ferocious growl and sank its needlelike teeth deep into Ronan’s thumb.

“Son of a bitch!” Ronan passed the snarling buzz saw between his hands as though palming a red-hot coal. He finally pulled his plaid from about his shoulders and immobilized the snapping little demon. “Come, ye vicious wee bastard. Ye have a task at hand far more important than eatin’ me alive.”

Tucking the growling bundle under one arm, Ronan headed for the last place he’d seen Mairi. Just as he’d feared, she was gone. Ronan loped across the stretch of rolling green to higher ground. It hadna been that long. Surely Mairi would keep to this place with trees and greenery, hoping to find the wolf. And he was right. There she was just up ahead.

If he doubted it before, he doubted it no longer. The mere sight of her soothed him to the deepest level of his soul. Mairi was the one he’d needed all these years. She already possessed him. Completely.

Her soaked, bedraggled curls framing her pale face made her eyes seem even larger. His heart hitched as Mairi stumbled, hugging her jacket tighter around her slight waist while chewing on her bottom lip. She’d been crying. The tip of her nose was bright red and the deep green of her eyes was rimmed in red as well. The poor lass. All because of the wolf. Ronan’s heart swelled. He had to win her. He could nay imagine anything less.

Before Mairi spotted him, Ronan unwrapped the still grumbling pup and held him up to the cold rain. The snarling puff of gray black fur melted down into a shivering rain-slicked creature. Ronan chuckled. “Yer a sight now, wee bastard. Ye look t’be more rat than dog.”

The puppy flattened its tiny ears against its bobble head, bared his teeth, and growled even louder.

“Mind yer manners now. Yer about t’meet a verra special woman. Ye must win her heart for me.” Ronan reached down, raked his fingers through the wet grass, then smeared bits of dried leaves and debris all over the little dog. There. Now the wee beastie truly looked to be a stray.

“Mistress Mairi.” Ronan hurried to catch up with Mairi before she wormed her way between the slick gray trunks of a cluster of knotted saplings.

Mairi turned. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she slicked the back of her hand across her forehead and pushed back her rain-soaked curls. “You followed me?”

Ronan sucked in a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer. He’d never been good at the telling of tales.
Máthair
was proud he couldna lie, but Ronan was none too sure the ability would no’ be a bit handy to have once in a while. “Mistress Eliza told me about yer lost animal. Yer wolf.” There, that part was no’ a lie. “I wish t’help ye.” He held out the bedraggled puppy toward her. “I found this wee mite. He’s no’ a wolf, but he looks t’be needed.” Ronan held his breath and silently begged the vicious wee bugger to turn on whatever charm he possessed in his scrawny body.

The shivering puppy obliged with a pitiful whine.

Mairi’s lower lip quivered as she rushed forward and scooped the whimpering bit of wet dog out of Ronan’s hands. “Poor thing. He’s soaked to the skin.” She cuddled him against the curve of her throat and cupped her hands over him. “I know you’re cold. It’s gonna be all right. I promise.” Mairi gently held the pup close as she yanked the hemline of her shirt up over his shivering little body. She seemed oblivious to the fact that the motion exposed a tempting expanse of her creamy stomach above her low-riding jeans.

Ronan nearly groaned aloud. By the gods, he needed this woman. “Here.” Ronan shook out his plaid and cocooned it around Mairi and the little dog. He breathed in her warm sweetness as he hugged the wrap around her, pausing to enjoy her closeness as long as she allowed. “I dinna wish either of ye to take chill.” His spirit soared as Mairi barely leaned into him and nodded.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She pecked a quick kiss atop the puppy’s head. “That’s much better, isn’t it?”

Ronan wasna sure if Mairi was speaking to him or the dog. He best stay silent. If he spoke, he risked breaking the fragile spell keeping Mairi in his arms.

The puppy made happy grunting sounds as he rooted tighter into the curve of Mairi’s neck. Mairi smiled up at Ronan. “Thank you.”

Her smile quivered at the corners then disappeared. Ronan’s heart sank as her red-rimmed eyes blinked hard against fast-forming tears. “But what am I going to do? I can’t find
my
dog. I’ve already called the authorities and they swear they don’t have him—yet.” The tears spilled over, rolling crystal drops of sorrow down her pale cheeks. She hiccupped a pitiful squeaking sound and ducked her head. “I can’t find my dog and I’m afraid what might happen to him if I don’t get him back home.”

May the gods forgive me for causing her this pain.
Ronan gently pulled her closer, closing his eyes as he rested his cheek atop Mairi’s bowed head. “There now.” Ronan smoothed his fingers across her wet curls.
Damnation, I am such a fool
. Why the hell had he no’ stayed hidden until he’d resumed his human form? “Perhaps yer dog wasna meant t’stay longer.” Ronan struggled, searching for the right words to bring her comfort. “Souls come and go in our lives. They stay ’til they’ve served their purpose. Then they move on.”

Mairi sniffed and gently pulled away as she looked up at him. “What
purpose
could he have served in the short time he was with me? I was just beginning to get to know him…to get attached to him.” Her voice echoed with bitterness, warning Ronan he best choose his answer carefully.

Moving ever so slowly, Ronan slid a crooked finger under Mairi’s chin and eased his arm back around her. “Perhaps the dog was sent to tell ye ’tis no’ such a bad thing to open yer heart to another. Perhaps he was a messenger of sorts…to tell ye that yer no’ meant to be alone.”

Mairi hitched in a quick intake of breath as Ronan leaned closer. He must taste her, must seal this tenuous connection with a kiss. He bit back a groan as Mairi ducked her head and rolled out of his embrace.

Keeping her head tucked against the tiny dog cuddled to the crook of her neck, Mairi turned back toward the drenched rolling green of the park dotted with benches, statues, and carefully tended shrubs. “I haven’t covered half the garden. I could still find him. Princes Street Gardens is huge and has lots of hidey-holes he could find.”

Frustration pricked at Ronan, heating him against the cold, freezing rain. How the hell could he convince the woman she’d no’ find the wolf because he stood before her as a man? ’Twas no’ the time to confess all. That certainty settled like a stone in the center of Ronan’s gut. He had no choice. At least while he helped her search for the wolf she’d never find, she might grow a bit closer to him.

Ronan scanned their surroundings then pointed to a bedraggled grove of trees bent low with the freezing rain. If he were still the wolf, he’d take shelter there. “In weather such as this, there be but two reasons an animal would no’ be hunkered down within a shelter such as those trees or perhaps a cave.”