Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Declan studied her. Most women simpered or stammered under his gaze. Not her. She showed no interest at all in him, not even a touch that she found him appealing.
He met her gaze squarely. “I’ve told you the truth. It was a wish. A foolish one, and now I live with its curse.”
Aura didn’t flinch under the weight of his stare. “You leave something out.”
Frustration fell across his face. “What more do you want? I made a careless wish, and it came true in the worst possible way. I cannot go near women without them collapsing like puppets with no hands to guide them. I’ve been mocked, feared, and sent away. And now—now you don’t fall, and I have no idea why.”
Aura remained calm. “You told me what happened. But not why. Why did you make the wish? What were you running from? Who were you trying to impress? Curse or not, wishes are born of desire. There’s always a reason behind them.”
Declan went still.
She let the silence stretch, then said softly, “And until I understand that reason, I can’t help you.”
He looked away, jaw clenched, and something unspoken tightened his shoulders. He turned away from her and took a few steps toward the trees, hands clenched.
“I had no reason,” he said finally. “None that I can name.”
Aura stayed silent, giving him time.
“It was after a battle,” he continued, voice lower now, more thoughtful than defensive. “We were bloodied, but victorious. Spirits were high. Ale was plentiful. I threw out the question without thinking. ‘If you could have one wish, what would it be?’” He shook his head. “I said I wished I’d never have to search for a woman again… that they’d simply fall at my feet, the bonniest ones, not that it mattered since all women young and old alike fall when they get too close.” He let out a bitter breath. “We all laughed at our wishes, never thinking…”
He turned back to face her, shaking his head. “I never meant it. I wasn’t angry, or heartbroken, or desperate. It was a jest, nothing more. I don’t even know why that came to mind.”
Aura’s brow furrowed, but she said nothing.
Declan’s gaze drifted to the distance. “But I’ve thought about it since. Why that wish? Of all the things I could have asked for… wealth, peace, glory. Why that?” He looked at her again, eyes sharper now. “Maybe I was tired of pretending to care when I didn’t. Maybe I was too used to women wanting me only for my looks or my name. Maybe I didn’t want to keep searching for something I wasn’t sure even existed.”
Aura studied him closely, the layers behind his words beginning to show.
“You’ve given me more,” she said. “Now I can start thinking about what it means that I didn’t fall… and what that says about the curse.”
Declan tilted his head. “You believe me now?”
“I never said I didn’t believe you,” she said, faint amusement playing at the corners of her mouth. “I just don’t believe you understand your wish just yet. And until you do, we’re only peeling back the first layer.”
He found himself staring at her longer than he meant to, drawn in by her quiet strength and the lack of awe in her gaze. She didn’t fear him and didn’t fawn over him. And oddly, it was a relief.
“I’ll speak the truth as best I can if you will help me,” he said finally.
“I’ll do my best and try,” she said, then added with a wry smile, “But I’m not in the habit of curing curses born of foolish wishes.”
He cringed. “And I am not in the habit of making them and I’ll never make another wish again.”
CHAPTER 4
The fire crackled low in the hearth but not for long. Declan added more logs to it, and it sprang to life casting heat throughout his bedchamber. He stood, the weight of the day pressing on him like a heavy cloak, one soaked through with rain, worn and unwilling to be shed.
He rubbed his hand over his face, frustrated.
Chieftains had arrived throughout the day with their daughters in tow and try as he might, he couldn’t stop the women from getting too close. Repeatedly, they fell at his feet. He’d barely escaped without tripping over flailing limbs and swooning sighs. Hamish had delivered the final blow just before supper.
“More chieftains are on their way,” he’d said grimly. “Word’s spreading fast. The women seek you for a husband, and fathers seek you to benefit themselves, the Clan MacCrone is a respected one and now with you as its laird, they look for an alliance. You’ll be swarmed by fathers and their daughters in no time.”
Declan had laughed at first, a dry, hollow sound. But the truth of it was worse than any jest. There would be no end to it. Not while he remained unwed. Not while this blasted cursed wish made him the most desirable man no sane woman should come near.