Page 15 of The Defiance of a Scottish Heart
“But what?” He stepped closer, a mistake because he took in her scent, the one he called the gift of the pines with a touch of lavender. His Sheona.
“Tell me the truth, Taskill,” Sheona’s voice cracked. “Why did the denial come so easily to you? We were such good friends for so long. Until that day in the sound. We’d always spent so much time together and it just ended.”
“Sheona, you deserve someone better than me. You’ll find someone and live a wonderful life.”
She put her hand up to stop him. “Taskill. Stop hiding behind excuses—”
“I’m not hiding behind excuses.” He cursed. “I’m protecting you!”
“From what?”
“From me!” The words tore out of him. “From what I am. From what I’ll become.” She stepped closer, her eyes fierce.
“You’re not making sense.”
“I’m my father’s son, Sheona.” His voice dropped to barely a whisper. “In every way.”
“Your father was a good man—”
“No.” The word came out harsh. “He wasn’t. To everyone else, aye, he was the perfect chieftain, the devoted husband. But I saw the truth. The day we stopped swimming, the morning before—I learned something about him that I’ve never shared with anyone, but he was not the man everyone thinks he was. I caught him in a lie.” Sheona’s face went white. “And do you know what he said after that? He said, ‘This changes nothing. You’ll tell no one.’ I haven’t been the same since then.”
“Taskill—”
“I have his blood, Sheona. His weakness. Every day I fight it, but what if I can’t? What if I marry you and then—” His voice broke. “I’d rather cut out my own heart out than hurt you. I’d rather die alone than become the man who destroys you with lies.”
Sheona fell into a chair, her shoulders slumped. “You are not your father, but you’ve made your wishes clear. My thanks for taking the time to let me know. Sloan will see you out.”
His heart was totally ripped in half now.
Chapter Five
Sheona
Sheona hadn’t moved inside yet from the parapets after Taskill had left. True, it was getting chilly, but she didn’t mind. She knew she was in a bind. A true bind that she had no way of getting out of if she knew her sire well enough.
She’d escaped everyone’s mind for long enough, and in that, she’d been fortunate. They’d lost their dear mother, Ailis, over a year ago. Her father still hadn’t adjusted to her loss because Ailis had done so much for their clan.
Then Lennox fell in love with Meg, and Sloan married Eva. Her father had been so involved with Sloan and Eva. Then he’d had to deal with losing his son, something Sheona still didn’t think he was over, even though he’d declared that he no longer had a son named Rinaldo. He’d denied him, put a blade in his own son’s heart, and was so upset, no one was allowed to mention her dead brother’s name. Dermot had disinherited his own son.
Then there was Marta and Gideon’s loss of two bairns in the past couple of years. Everyone had taken it hard because Marta had suffered so. And when she’d finally kept the last pregnancy for so long, everyone had been on tiptoes praying the bairn would survive.
And Margret Ailis did survive. Like a wee warrior, she’d been born with a cry that had echoed to the rafters in the middle of the night, and everyone had cheered. Marta had named her after their dear mother, and their father had cried for an entire day.
Then there were the constant attacks on the different clans on Mull and the addition of the Granthams at Duart Castle. The isle had been in such turmoil with the assault on the differentclans, the missing bairns, that they’d had to gather together to fight off the evil one named Kelvan.
But they had, and everything had returned to a usual pace. Except her father had to have something to focus on.
And Sheona was the something he’d chosen.
Damn it all to hell and up to the tip of Ben Buie.
Now everything had quieted down, and winter was nearly upon them. The cold had come along, with the snowflakes due to be here soon. Yuletide would be here before they knew it. Sloan and Eva were ecstatically happy, as were Gideon and Marta, and Lennox and Meg.
That left all the attention on Sheona, something she’d dreaded. She wouldn’t tell anyone the truth—that the thought of mating with a man made her ill. So she had to come up with a good reason to stay single.
She appreciated that Taskill had come to explain his reasons, even though they were foolish. But actually, he’d given her another reason not to marry. She couldn’t imagine being in love and finding out your husband was with another. That confirmed everything.
She would not marry anyone.
