Loving A Highlander Read Online Free

grown up with the wolf at the door.  Sometimes it was a little further away.  Sometimes it pressed so close to the door that it’s mournful howls drowned out the conversation inside.  But always it was there, the fear that one poor harvest, one illness, would send her world tumbling to the ground around her until the pieces lay shattered at her feet and broken beyond repair.
    Hunger was a constant reminder to people like her, that their grasp on this life was tenuous at best.  Most of them feared the dark and cold months, a time when the sun’s rays were weak and the days were short.  Even though the majority of the nobility were Christian, the poor people still clung to the old ways, celebrating the Winter Solstice and Imbolc.  A time to rejoice and welcome back the sun and its warm light.  Grateful that the sun’s rays would be returning to warm the land and give life to the forest once again.
    Isabella turned back to him and noted the look of sympathy that shown from his eyes.  He was sorry for her and that was something she wouldn’t tolerate.  She didn’t need the pity of a man she had only known for a matter of hours.
    She straightened and nodded toward the open window.  “Your horse looks restless.  Perhaps it is time for you to continue your journey.”  She brushed passed him, but was stopped by a firm grip on her arm.
    Gerard turned her to face him.  “I have hurt you,” he said in a husky voice.
    “You haven’t,” she said firmly. 
    He arched a brow in disbelief.  “Why else would you be in such a hurry to be rid of me?”
    Isabella ignored the spark of attraction she felt as their bodies connected.  What would it feel like to take a step forward into his arms?  To feel them close around her and offer her comfort that only a man could give.
    She was treading on dangerous ground.  If she wasn’t careful, she would lose her heart and that was something she wasn’t prepared to give.  There was something about this man that was special.  He possessed a quiet strength and she somehow knew that he took care of his own. 
    “I don’t wish to be rid of you,” she lied.  “But the sun travels higher in the sky and I imagine your family is worried about you.  Your wife must be pacing the floor.”
    Gerard’s jaw clenched and he hesitated.  When he finally did speak, his voice was thick with emotion.  “I have no wife,” he said, as a shadow clouded his eyes.
    In her mind’s eye, Isabella saw a flash of a beautiful woman with chestnut colored hair and brown eyes.  She was snuggled in Gerard’s arms and the two of them looked quite happy.  Just as quickly, the vision faded and she was left searching for the truth, finding it hard to ignore the lie behind his words.
    “There is no one?”  Her gaze met his and held.  “No special woman who has captured your heart?  I find it hard to believe you are not married.”
    Gerard crossed his arms and returned her stare.  “I was married, aye, but she is no longer among the living.”  A look of pain entered his eyes, but was gone just as quickly.  He wouldn’t let himself dwell on the past, on what might have been.  The present was all that mattered.  The past was just a memory and the future promised to no man.
    Isabella winced at the bleak look in his eyes and shivered as a wave of sadness crashed over her.  He had caused her pain and it appeared as if she had paid him back in kind.  It wasn’t her way.  She believed in the law of do what you will, but harm none.  It was something she had been taught at her grandmother’s knee.  One of the old teachings, a truth about life that she would be wise to heed or pay the consequences.
    And here she was ignoring her grandmother’s advice.  Dredging up memories of the past.  Memories that should have been left buried and forgotten.
    She took a step back.  Away from the sadness that wrapped him in its smothering embrace.  “It appears as if it is my turn to apologize.  I