Page 77 of Single Desire
Before he knew it, he was at the cove where he’d taken her that first day at Gleneden, and climbed over the rocks to where he could sit. He recalled telling her how he and Aidan played at being pirates when they were young.
Never in his life would he have guessed that his lovely bride believed in a pirate called the Black Scotsman—and his ancestor yet!
Never in his life would he have guessed that she had come to Gleneden to seek out a treasure this pirate had claimed.
What was it she had said?
A curse should never be taken lightly, Scotsman.
For a fraction of a moment an eerie tingle danced along his spine.
He shook it off and stared out across the water, listening to waves lap at the shoreline. He watched the sun blaze on the horizon, then plummet beneath. For an instant it was as if he saw something he’d never seen before—a hazy silhouette of a pirate’s vessel, cutting through to the south and west.
To Ireland.
A long time later he got to his feet and mounted his horse for the ride back to Gleneden. He recalled Maura’s face when he told her he had every right to pitch her out.
Her expression had been utterly stricken, her beautiful green eyes shadowed and dark. It was an image that would not leave him.
He searched the stormy seas in his heart. He would help on her foolish quest for her precious Circle. Oblige her until her belief was laid to rest. And then…and then…
He didn’t know.
All he knew was that the very thought of letting her go tore at his heart as nothing had ever done before.
Her room was dark when he let himself in, shortly before midnight. Quietly, he approached the bed.
Maura stirred. “Alec?”
His gut twisted. He silently cursed himself, for her voice carried the thready sound of tears.
He sat. Through the dark, his gaze captured hers. With the back of his fingers, he grazed the softness of his cheek, the merest caress.
“After we search for your Circle, it is your wish to return to Ireland?”
He was careful to keep all trace of emotion from his voice.
Her lashes swept down. “I must,” she said softly.
His thumb brushed across her lips. “Then so be it.”
He rose and started toward the door between their rooms.
“Alec?”
He half turned. “Yes?”
She slipped from beneath the covers and walked to him. Slender arms stole about his neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Alec went very still as she raised herself on tiptoe and kissed his mouth—the contact almost fleeting.
But it was a kiss that seared him to the core of his being.
Maura withdrew her arms. Her bare feet eased to the floor. Alec gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.
He wondered if she would ever know it cost him heaven and earth to walk away.
