Bound by Wish and Mistletoe (Highland Legends #1.5)(49)

He moved, blocking her view. “Nay, Susanna. They’ll not bother you again. I killed Broc. Dougal had already been felled by a dagger plunged into his throat.”

She raised her hand, covering her mouth. “What of the monk?”

“Doona worry about any of them. The monk killed the others and is removin’ the mess your father and his men created.

As he scanned her features, concern etched into his face, his brows furrowing. “Susanna, you’re blackened. Are you harmed?” He stepped back, pulling her arms wide.

“Nay, Robert. I’m hale and whole.”

A hand touched her face with the gentleness of a feather. His dark eyes bored down into hers. The handsome face she’d imagined, the last memory she wanted to hold onto when she left this world, now stood before her...had saved her.

His face softened. “Aye, that you are. Us...together...makes me whole too.”





CHAPTER FIFTEEN





The moment Susanna had smiled up at him, Robert’s upside-down world had been set right again. With glistening tear tracks across the cheeks of a soot-covered face, her hair a tangled mess, and a gown ripped and torn, she looked up at him as if he’d delivered an entire world of hope to her...and he’d never seen a more beautiful sight.

“Lass, I nearly died when I found you’d gone.”

Her head tilted downward, fresh tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. “Robert, I’m so sorry. I dinna feel I had any other choice. It pains me greatly to know I hurt you.”

He tucked a finger under her chin, lifting her face. “Nay, Susanna. ’Tis I who failed you. We’ve much to discuss. When we’re through, you’ll have a choice of where you go. You shall always have the choice. Know this, though. I’ll never take a solid breath in this world unless I know you are safe. I hope you’ll want that safety with me, under all the love and protection I’m able to provide.”

“What if I canna stay there, Robert? I tried. Everythin’ closed in...’til I could no longer breathe.”

“My place is with you now, Susanna. I go where you go. We can live under the blanket of the stars if you like, the sun our only daytime family. But if we talk about everythin’—if you give me the chance to explain the unbelievable things you witnessed back at the castle—I think you’ll decide to go back and try again.”

She sighed. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I do like Isobel and Brigid.”

“Better friends you’ll never find,” he said, pulling her gently into his embrace.

“You have a cottage. But what if I’d rather live in the bedchamber they’d given me?”

He snorted. “Lass, I would clear out every room in Iain’s castle for you if doin’ so would make you happy, and I’d gladly suffer the severe repercussions of such a feat. I only hope you’d want me there with you to warm your bed.”

She laughed, and the sound calmed him to a degree. Overwhelming panic at losing her had nearly stopped his heart, but now that he held his entire world in his arms, anything was possible.

“Come, lass.” He turned her back into the stable toward Lady Isobel’s mare, needing to lead her far away from the place that she’d run to and begin her on the journey where she belonged. By his side.

Susanna paused after they took a few steps, and he wondered at her hesitation. His heart had nearly burst from his chest at the sight of her alive and safe; but being with her alone washed a peace and happiness through him like nothing he’d ever imagined.

Overcome by raw emotion, he lifted the red ribbon from behind the folds in his tartan. “I found this—” his voice broke “—it was lyin’ on the ice.” He held it out to her.

Her gaze drifted to the ribbon, and Susanna pulled the silken fabric into her hand. She stared down at it, motionless.

Robert waited as the silence stretched out, but he began to grow concerned that he’d upset her.

“I choose you, Robert,” she whispered.

The soft-spoken words resonated into his ears like a God-given gift.

“You do?”

“Aye.” She turned around, gazing up at him. “Help me deal with the demons in my mind...and I promise never to run from you again.”

He blew out a held breath and smiled down at her. “And I vow: if you panic and break your promise, I’ll chase after you.”

“And convince me to return with you?” She raised her delicate eyebrows, those mesmerizing blue eyes sparkling beneath them.

“Nay, my love. I’ll be wherever you are. I’ll protect you. I’ll offer all that I am to you. Wherever you are—”

Susanna raised a finger and placed it over his lips, silencing him. Her smile grew wider.

“Wherever you are...I am found. You’re the one I wished for. I prayed for you long before I met you.” She cupped her hand over his cheek, fresh tears brimming in her eyes.

“Susanna, I wished for us under that mistletoe.”

She leaned up against him, entwining her hands around his neck as he dipped his head down. She placed the softest kiss on his lips. As he closed his eyes, losing himself in their tender connection, drifting as close to Heaven as God allowed a man to get, he felt her lips curved into a smile.

Sweet words drifted from her lips, branding his heart.