Free Beneath a Midnight Moon by Amanda Ashley Page A

it lost its flavor and she knew she was only deceiving herself. Hardane was the only man she wanted, the only man she would ever want, and he was betrothed to another, just as she was betrothed to the church.
    Saddened, she turned away from him and walked toward the sound of rushing water.
    Frowning, Hardane stared after her, wondering at the play of emotions that had flitted across her face. Her hips swayed seductively as she walked. In any other woman, he would have said it was a deliberate ploy to entice him, a feminine art well practiced, but not in Kylene. She was artlessly seductive, completely unaware of her beauty.
    Muttering an oath, he followed her down the path that led to the waterfall.
    He found her a short time later, sitting on a large boulder that overlooked the river. The sound of the falls was like thunder as the water rushed over the edge of a high rock-faced mountain to crash into the river below.
    “It’s lovely,” Kylene murmured. “So powerful.”
    Hardane nodded. “It’s said that a Wolffan warrior once fell over the edge in the dark of night. He was riding to save his beloved from marrying another man and in his haste, he misjudged his distance from the edge. Unable to stop, he plunged to his death. When his beloved learned of his fate, she donned her wedding gown and rode her horse over the edge and joined him there at the bottom of the falls. You can see them sometimes, sitting together on that rock below.”
    Kylene stared at the rock he indicated and then gazed up at Hardane. Her mind told her such a thing was impossible, but her heart wanted desperately to believe that the lovers had been reunited.
    Hardane smiled down at her, mesmerized by the faint gleam of tears in her eyes, by the way the sunlight shimmered in her hair.
    He had a sudden, strong urge to sweep her into his arms. Instead, he used his forefinger to brush a tear from the corner of her eye.
    “You needn’t weep for them,” he said, his voice low and husky. “They’re quite happy.”
    “You’ve seen them?”
    Hardane nodded. “Often, on cold winter evenings when the moon is full and the night is quiet.”
    “Is it another of your gifts, to be able to see ghosts?”
    He shrugged. “Perhaps. Perhaps it’s only because I believe.”
    He bent toward her, his face filling her gaze, his scent surrounding her. “What do you believe, lady?”
    “I . . . what do you mean?”
    “Do you believe in the Sisterhood? Do you truly wish to take your final vows, to lock yourself behind cold stone walls, to grow old there, alone and unloved?”
    “You have no right to ask me such questions.”
    “I saved your life,” he reminded her quietly. “I have every right.”
    “I gave my word to abide by their rules. I’ll take my final vows when I return.”
    “If you return.”
    “When I return,” she said firmly, and knew a sudden need to return to the safety of the Motherhouse, to be away from dark, probing eyes and a voice that ensnared her like a silken web, urging her to turn her back on all that she was, all that she had promised to be.
    Hardane looked deep into her eyes for a full minute and then, with a muttered oath, he stood up and walked away, away from tantalizing rose pink lips and golden brown eyes that silently begged for his touch even though her words pushed him away.
    Kylene watched him go, aware of a sudden emptiness that seemed to creep into every part of her heart and soul. She had to find her way back to Mouldour, she thought desperately; she had to get away from this man who played havoc with her heart. Once she returned to the Motherhouse, she would find the security she had once known, the inner peace she craved. She didn’t want to be tormented by dreams of strong brown arms and stormy gray eyes. She wanted only to be left alone to pray and serve others. Didn’t she?
    For a long while, she sat on the boulder, gazing at the waterfall as it rushed down the mountainside, wondering at the woman who had