Keeper of my Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

soft voice spoke from behind him.
    He released a long, hostile breath filled with rage. “I did na mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”
    She stepped close to him until he could smell the clean scent of the roses and heather from her bath tonight. It was not safe for her to be this close. His blindness was such a lonely curse. He wanted her gone before it was too late.
    “Go.”
    She stepped closer. “When I was a small child my mother told me the tale of a wee fairy who granted wishes. She gathered dust from the moon each night when it was full and bright and saved her magical powder in a leather pouch. According to the tale, she would roam the earth in search of little boys and girls who had been very good and sprinkle them with her magic dust. Whatever that child wished for hard enough would be granted.
    “On nights like this when the moon was full and bright, I would pretend to fall asleep quickly. As soon as my mother left the room I would fling open the window and sit on the ledge so the fairy could find me.”
    “What was your wish, sweet Agatha? Did you wish for riches and fine clothes? Or a gallant warrior to marry you so you could live happily ever after?”
    “Nay. I did na wish for anything so noble.”
    The far-away sound of her voice held a hint of longing he could not understand. Suddenly, he wanted the power to grant her wish. “Did you ever get your wish?”
    “It was only a tale and I have long since grown from a child. The wish is na longer important. But I remember it every time I look at the moon.” She sighed. “You had best go to bed. You need the rest.”
    “Is there a moon tonight?”
    “Aye. ’Tis a full moon in the sky.”
    “Where is it? Come stand in front of me and point to it.”
    Iain stepped back from the window and she stepped in front of him.
    “Give me your hand,” she said, reaching behind her for his hand.
    Iain stepped close until her back was pressed flat against him. She fit so perfectly, as if she belonged. He breathed a ragged sigh. It had been so long since he’d been this close to a woman. So long since he’d felt this much at peace.
    She lifted his hand in hers and pointed upward. “Right there, milord. It’s lighting our faces as if it were a huge candle in the sky. There will be much moon dust gathered tonight.”
    Iain lifted his face to the same spot where he pointed and sighed. She moved to step away from him. “Nay. Please stay with me.”
    When she walked no further, he held her by the shoulders and pulled her back against him, wrapping his arm around her waist. They stood in each other’s arms for a long time before he dared to break the silence. “It’s hard to believe I will never see the moon again.”
    “You canna believe you will always be blind,” she said, lowering her hands to rest on his arms. “You could wake up tomorrow and be able to see.”
    A slight smile lifted the corners of his lips. “Is that what I should wish for? At times I am so desperate to believe your words that I imagine the darkness is not so black but a dark gray instead. It’s amazing the tricks your mind plays when you want something so much.”
    “Perhaps it’s not a trick. Perhaps your sight is struggling to return.”
    “I think I would have better luck waiting for your fairy to sprinkle me with moon dust.”
    “There was na injury to your eyes, milord. It’s as if your head received such a blow it has shrouded itself in darkness.”
    “A darkness that may never leave me.”
    “A darkness that may be gone tomorrow.”
    Iain laughed. “You are good for me, sweet Aggie. Are you sure you canna come with me to MacAlister Castle and be my eyes?”
    She moved and he put his hands out to stop her.
    “I must go, milord. It is na right for you to hold me thus.”
    “Not tonight. Please. For tonight be my eyes. Tell me what I canna see.”
    He heard her sigh of resignation, then she ceased her struggle to get away and turned to face him.
    “What would you like