My Highland Lover (Highland Hearts)

by Maeve Greyson

  “Come to the outer sitting room. There is a visitor ye need t’meet afore ye go.” Coira nodded to the door behind her with a knowing smile.

  This could not be good, but what choice did she have? Trulie yanked her denim jacket firmly in place and closed the door tightly behind her. Kismet was probably lurking somewhere in the shadows and Trulie wouldn’t put it past the sneaky cat to take off with her carefully written notes of farewell.

  “We won’t keep ye o’erly long,” Coira promised with a toss of her red curls.

  An eerie shiver raced across Trulie’s flesh as Coira led her into the main sitting room shared by the Sinclair women. A young woman sat perched on the edge of the high-backed bench aligned with one side of the hearth. A wild mass of out-of-control ringlets dark as coal tumbled across her shoulders and spilled down her back. But it was the girl’s eyes that stole Trulie’s breath and made her heart thump harder. Trulie had only seen such an icy-blue, lightning-filled shade in one other set of eyes. And it was those unusual blue eyes that had started the undoing of her life. They had taken hold of her heart and soul and refused to let go.

  Gray sat in a broad-backed chair opposite the grinning girl. His hands trembled atop the chair’s wide armrests. He sagged slightly to one side, as though remaining upright was a struggle. What the devil was wrong with him?

  The dark haired girl giggled behind her hand. Mischief glinted in her eyes as she hopped up from the bench and bounced toward Trulie. “I’m so verra glad ye agreed to see me. I feared ye wouldna come.”

  Trulie slid her gaze from the sweet girl’s beaming face to Granny’s smug grin. “I don’t know how long you’ve known these people, but there are times when they’re pretty stubborn. Did they bring you here?” Trulie returned her attention to the animated girl fidgeting in front of her. It wasn’t the child’s fault Granny was up to no good. Trulie didn’t know how Granny had managed to come up with a child—one who looked to be in her early teens—that had Gray’s eyes, but she had to admit, Granny was playing her little game very well.

  The girl winked a dark-fringed eye at Coira as she bubbled, “Oh, I’ve known Coira and m’dear sweet Granny all m’life.” Merriment fairly glowed from the girl as she patted a hand over her mouth and ducked her chin. “Sorry. I wasna supposed t’say that.”

  That was impossible. Trulie looked from Granny to the girl and over at Gray’s intense stare. “Who are you?” Trulie asked. She couldn’t be who they wanted her to believe the girl really was. How in the world had Granny managed to find a girl that looked so much like Gray?

  “M’name is Chloe,” the girl responded with a perfect curtsy.

  Chloe. Trulie almost lost her footing as her heart leapt into her throat. Trulie had always loved that name. One day…if she had ever had a daughter…Trulie shook away the thought and cleared the knot of emotions from her throat. You know who she is. You’ve never told anyone how much you love that name. Trulie shook her head against the taunting inner voice.

  “Are ye all right?” Chloe asked. “Do ye need me t’fetch ye some water?”

  “I’m fine.” Trulie swallowed hard. She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets to hide their trembling. Trulie nodded toward the full moon shining a path of white light through the far window. “Won’t your parents be worried about you being out so late?”

  Chloe’s grin widened into a sparkling smile. “Nah. Da kens for sure where I am and Mother will soon ken it as well.”

  Gray pushed himself up from the chair. An excited shiver coursed through Trulie. Did Gray’s shoulders somehow seem wider? His chest broader? Was the man actually strutting with pride? Trulie took a step back and knotted her hands in her pockets. She hadn’t seen Gray so relaxed, so happy, since…She closed her eyes against the thought.

  “Ye ken who she is,” Gray whispered as he pulled her into his arms. His warm breath tickled against the sensitive skin just beneath her ear. His arms tightened around her waist as he pressed a kiss against her temple.

  “She can’t be,” Trulie rasped in a strained whisper. Yet how could she deny the proof right before her eyes? Trulie turned and opened her eyes to Chloe’s knowing smile. “Why are you here, Chloe?” It felt so strange to say the name, and yet so natural.

  “Ye ken why I’m here,” Chloe murmured as she tugged on her sleeve until Trulie pulled her hand from her pocket. She slipped her small hand into Trulie’s as she glanced toward the window. “But I canna stay verra much longer. They said I mustn’t tarry o’erly long beyond the path of the moon.”

  Chloe grinned up at Gray with a teasing glance before she leaned in closer to Trulie. “I had to come. Ye had t’know what ye would miss if ye chose to leave Da and go back to yer modern future.”

  Chloe’s face grew serious as she squeezed Trulie’s hand hard. “But I will warn ye that the world would most likely be a much better place if ye rethought about bringin’ Ian into it.” Chloe’s mouth puckered with an irritated scowl. “Me own lot in life would be a great deal easier without that numpty always pokin’ his nose in things which dinna concern him.”

  Trulie’s mood lightened in spite of the ever-weakening voice of conviction whispering in her head that opportunity was slipping away. If she was going to return to modern-day Kentucky, she needed to leave—now.

  “Who is Ian?” Trulie couldn’t resist asking. Chloe’s bubbling personality chased away the darkness from her soul. How could she not feel happier knowing that at some point in the future, if she chose to stay in the past with Gray, Chloe would join their lives?

  Chloe rolled her eyes and blew out a disgusted huff of air. “Ian is the youngest and by far the biggest pain in the arse of all me brothers.”

  “All yer brothers?” Gray repeated as he pulled Trulie tighter into his embrace.

  “Aye.” Chloe nodded. “Would the two of ye please bear in mind that after bringing four worrisome boys into the world, the chances of gifting me with a little sister are fair slim and ye should set aside the tryin’.” Chloe’s eyes grew wide as she glanced toward the window, then edged into the beam of moonlight. She held up both hands and patted the air as though bidding Trulie and Gray to take care. “Just leave it be, will ye? I canna stomach another brother who thinks he can tell me what t’do.”

  Trulie pressed a hand to her mouth and blew Chloe a kiss. “Thank you, Chloe.” Warm happy tears streamed down both cheeks as she held a shaking hand up in farewell to her daughter.

  Chloe smiled and waved as her image faded into the moonlight. “Bye, Mother! Bye, Da! All m’love to ye both.”

  —

  Gray steadied Trulie as they crunched through the sparkling crust of untouched snow. “ ’Tis just a bit farther.” His breath fogged an eerie blue-white cloud into the air. The shallow drifts of the crystal blanket rolled across the hillside, colored an even icier blue by the in-between time just before dawn.

  “Is anyone else going to be there?” Trulie huffed as she gathered her skirts higher and pushed up the hillside.

  “Only us,” Gray murmured as he brought her gloved hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss against it. All was finally as it should be. At dawn, just as the sun crested the frozen horizon, he and Trulie would voice their union. The vast wildness of the rugged Highlands would serve as their only witness. His soul sang with long-awaited contentment. Finally. He and Trulie would be as one.

  “There.” Gray pointed to the crest of the peak. Majestic pines towered against the ever-lightening blue of the sky. A small clearing glistened amid the dark circle of the trees. A waist-high stone, its edges worn and rounded by centuries of Highland weather, reached toward the sky from the center of the ring of snow.

  “It’s perfect,” Trulie breathed as she pushed her furred hood to her back.

  Even in the low light of pending dawn, Gray’s heart warmed at the happiness shining in Trulie’s face. “The old ones claimed this place to be holy. A place to speak to the gods. What better place to say our vows and become one?”

  �
��I agree,” Trulie said softly as she took Gray’s hand and walked with him to the clearing.

  The top of the stone was bleached white with age, but the unending whorls of the goddess could still be seen across the surface. Gray positioned himself on one side of the pillar and Trulie took her place opposite him. He nodded toward the horizon, squinting against the cold bite of the wind. “The sun comes to us,” he murmured as he scooped Trulie’s now bare hands into his own.

  “It’s time,” Trulie breathed as she smiled toward the golden glow striking the crystals of snow to kiss the world with the first fire of its color.

  “Tha gaol agam ort.” Gray centered their clasped hands above the stone and repeated in English, “I love ye.”

  “I love you too.” Trulie’s hands squeezed his and then she repeated in Gaelic, “Tha gaol agam ort-fhèin.”

  “I pledge ye m’life. I pledge ye m’heart. I pledge ye nothing less than m’soul.” Gray took a deep breath and swallowed hard against the wave of emotions crashing through him as the fiery rays of the morning light illuminated the clearing.

  As the sunlight flooded full against the east side of the stone monument beneath their clasped hands, the rays shot up through a well-placed channel bored up through the center of the stone. The blinding white beam of light exploded up through their clasped fingers. Their hands glowed. Their flesh appeared illuminated and melded into one.

  Trulie gasped as she stared down at the glowing mass between them. She lifted a tear-streaked face to Gray, blinking back the threat of more tears as she spoke. “I give you my life. My heart is yours. Our souls are joined as one. I’ll walk with you through eternity—”

  “So let it be spoken,” Gray whispered as he leaned forward and sought the softness of Trulie’s mouth.

  “So let it be done,” Trulie breathed as she sealed the joining with a kiss.

  Epilogue

  TWO YEARS LATER (APPROXIMATELY)

  The soft weight of her head beneath his chin lured him into wakefulness. He drew in a deep, satisfied breath. Was there any better way to awaken then with the feel of yer woman in yer arms? Without opening his eyes, Gray slid an arm closer about her. The loose weave of soft linen rippled beneath his fingertips. Gray nuzzled a kiss against her forehead, reveling in the delicious, sweet scent of her. “Why have ye donned yer shift? Ye know I love the feel of ye bare against me.”

  Trulie nestled more snugly into the dip of his shoulder and tickled a finger down through the hair curling toward his stomach. “I’m the size of a beached whale and putting off enough heat to melt the polar ice cap. You should thank me for sparing you.”

  Gray chuckled and shifted higher in the pillows, pulling her more comfortably across him. His love e’er had the way with words. Would he e’er completely understand her? “Yer m’fine beauty and I’ll ne’er get me fill o’ ye.”

  His heart swelled near to bursting as he gently caressed a hand over her swollen belly. His poor lass. So large with his child she must surely be miserable. Aye, she’d grown large, but she was also the most beautiful sight he’d e’er beheld in all his days. He pressed another kiss atop her head. “And how is our fine, strong bairn today?”

  As if to answer, the babe rolled, shifting Trulie’s stomach beneath his palm, then bumped a strong thump against his hand. Trulie arched her back and pressed firmly against her side. “Trying to find more room. He seems to enjoy hooking his toes on my ribcage and stretching.”

  A surge of pride flashed through Gray. A chuckle rumbled from him as he pulled free the laces of Trulie’s shift and slid his hand in slow circles down around her silky belly. “Aye. He’ll be a braw laddie and need a good strong name. A name befitting a future chieftain.”

  A sense of awe silenced him as he enjoyed the magic of life slowly shifting beneath his hand. What a wondrous gift they’d been given. A fine, precious gift. Thank the gods Trulie had chosen to stay with him. Remembering the moment she’d decided to stay in the past, Gray gently traced a fingertip around what seemed to be the outline of a small foot, or maybe part of a wee arm stretching Trulie’s belly. “Do ye reckon this one is our Chloe?”

  Trulie propped herself higher in the bed and shoved more pillows behind the small of her back. She settled her hand atop his and peered down at her middle, frowning as she studied her belly. “I’m not sure. She mentioned four brothers but she didn’t say if they were older or younger.” Trulie’s gaze shifted up to him. Something in the depths of her green eyes warned him her mood had just changed.

  Lore a’mercy. May the gods be wi’ me and no’ let me say the wrong thing. Ofttimes of late, retreat was the better part of valor. Gray draped an arm back over his eyes and burrowed back into the depths of the plump bed. As the birthing day drew nearer, his love’s moods shifted faster than a storm at sea and could oft be as deadly. “Colum’s seein’ to the hunt today.” Gray patted the bed beside him. “Come, m’dearest. Let me hold ye while we both rest a bit longer.”

  “About Colum.”

  A huffing groan escaped him before he could stop it. Gray kept his arm over his eyes and prayed he could avoid another discussion, as his wife so dearly loved to call them, about Colum and his penchant for dallying with the maids. He knew that tone. He’d best tread lightly. “I’ve spoken to him about his ways, just as ye asked.” Dammit, Colum, ye wanderin’ bastard. I’ll wring yer wenchin’ neck the next I see ye. Gray shifted his arm slightly and stole a peek at Trulie.

  Trulie quietly folded her hands atop the mound of her enormous midriff. “Your lectures have not been effective. Just last night, I caught him behind the tapestries with not one, but two of Cook’s kitchen maids.” Trulie glared off into space, slowly tapping a finger atop her belly. “Granny and I have seen good things regarding Colum. It’s time he settled down.” Her lips curled into the beautiful plotting smile Gray had learned meant trouble. She awkwardly moved to the edge of the bed and wobbled to her feet. “Could you please let Coira know I’m ready to get dressed?”

  “Aye.” Gray rolled from the bed, snatched his plaid off the hook, and wrapped it around his waist. He’d gladly fetch the maid if it meant he could avoid what looked to be a treacherous mornin’ in the bedchamber.

  “And don’t go far,” Trulie warned, as though she’d read his thoughts.

  Gray paused, his hand on the latch and his breath held as he waited. Lore a’mighty. What mischief is she about to stir?

  Trulie smiled as she draped a light arisaid about her shoulders. “Once I’m dressed, we’ll all meet in the solar.”

  “We?”

  Trulie nodded. “You, me, Granny, and Colum.”

  Gray let out a heavy sigh and asked, “And we are meeting because?”

  “Because Colum is perfect for Kenna.”

  This book is dedicated to my family for unconditionally embracing all my quirks and fully supporting my kind of crazy with a smile. This book is also dedicated to my God for pulling me back from the darkness and showing me the way to the light.

  BY MAEVE GREYSON

  Highland Hearts

  My Highland Lover

  My Highland Bride (coming soon)

  PHOTO: CHRISTA SULLIVAN

  MAEVE GREYSON is an author of paranormal romance whose stories are filled with the mysteries of time travel and Celtic legends. A lifelong dreamer, Greyson started writing to help her mother escape during an overwhelming health crisis. Though her mother is gone now, the joy of releasing her dreams to the page remains. Maeve Greyson lives with her husband of more than thirty years in Western Kentucky.

  www.maevegreyson.com

  Facebook.com/maeve.greyson

  @maevegreyson

  The Editor’s Corner

  March into romance this month with Loveswept—our authors are savvy, and their hot books will warm up the cool winter evenings.

  Jennifer Chance’s Rule Breakers series turns up the heat in Risk It as a wealthy playboy and a beautiful con artist engage in a high-stakes game of seduction. USA Today best
selling author Lauren Layne revisits her salacious Sex, Love & Stiletto series with The Trouble with Love, where a jaded columnist discovers a steamy way to get over an old flame: falling for him all over again. USA Today bestselling author Stacey Kennedy returns to the tantalizing world of Club Sin with Tamed. In Cecy Robson’s latest urban-fantasy romance, A Curse Unbroken, the search is on for an unholy grail, while evil is licking its wounds—and looking for revenge. Another of our Loveswept USA Today bestsellers, Jamie K. Schmidt, revisits Club Inferno, the erotic playground where glitz and glamour mix with leather and whips in Fever. Seduction returns to Violetta Rand’s Devil’s Den, a Texas strip club where hearts can’t hide when the chemistry is right. In the latest Disgraced Lords novel from USA Today bestselling author Bronwen Evans, A Touch of Passion, a vivacious thrill seeker clashes with her dutiful defender—causing irresistible sparks to fly. Then Maeve Greyson unleashes a thrilling tale of magic in My Highland Lover, as a feisty Southern gal falls into the arms of a rough-hewn Highland chieftain. And in Sharon Cullen’s steamy historical romance Sebastian’s Lady Spy, love is a hazard best avoided—until an unforgettable affair exposes their undercover hearts.

  But there’s more!

  Come Flirt with us—Saying yes has always come easy for Fallon. Now, as Renita Pizzitola’s steamy, poignant Crush series continues in Just a Little Flirt, winning her dream job means Fallon must say no to the guy she wants the most. And in the new Extreme Risk novel, Slashed, from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff, a burned-out underdog and a vulnerable tomboy defy the pressure to be perfect and go after what they really want.

  Until next month ~Happy Romance!

  Gina Wachtel