A Soldier's Salvation (Highland Heartbeats Book 7)(49)

Her eyes bulged. “I’m not certain I wish to hear anything from you,” was her icy reply.

“Fine, then,” he blustered, throwing his hands into the air. “I give up. I quit entirely. Go back to Alan, back to being his slave or whatever it is he intends to keep ye for. Go on. Be stubborn and foolish and insist on your own destruction when it’s I who loves ye, I who wants nothing more than to be with ye as I’ve always wanted to be with ye!”

His own words shocked him into silence—and they did the same to her. Was that all he needed to do all along? Simply tell her he loved her in order to get a moment’s peace?

Her face softened, her eyes glistened. “You what? Did you say you love me?”

“I believe I did.”

“Because my heart is pounding so, I cannot hear very well.” She placed a hand on her chest.

“I did say it. Because I do love ye,” he explained, his admission emboldening him. “I always have, lass. For as long as I can remember. And we both know our intention was to wed as soon as I returned. I should have made it official with Connor and my father, but I was young and foolish and didn’t think it through. I didn’t know I’d be gone as long as I was, nor that my father would…” He broke off with a sigh, shaking his head. “I simply didn’t know, lass, and look where it got us both.”

Her face turned a deep red—for a moment, he wasn’t certain what she was about to do—before she burst into tears. “Oh, Rodric.” He caught her as she fell against him, holding her tight. She hadn’t lied about the pounding of her heart. He felt it plain against his chest.

“My Caitlin,” he murmured in her ear. “You’ve always been mine.”

“Always,” she whispered, burying her face in his tunic. “Oh, why did it have to be this way?”

“I do not know,” he admitted with a grimace. “I’m not certain why we’re being tested so, lass, but I know I wouldn’t trade this time with you for anything.” His arms tightened around her back, his body claiming her in spite of the protestations of his mind. She wasn’t his by rights, not truly, and he would not compromise her. The lass had already been through enough.

“I’ve loved you my entire life,” she explained, leaning back to look up into his face with a smile of pure joy. “It feels good to be able to say that at last.”

“Aye, it does,” he agreed with a smile of his own. “I suppose I’ve been a bit stubborn, but the situation…”

“I know,” she nodded. “I understand. We aren’t free, really.”

“No. We aren’t.”

“I thought you hated me.”

He laughed. “There have been moments when I have, lass. That’s the nature of us both, I suppose. We go from love to hate and back to love again in a flash.”

They leaned in, their foreheads touching. Her sharp, rapid breaths revealed the longing she felt for him, longing he shared. His entire body ached for her in ways he wouldn’t have believed possible.

“I swear to you,” he whispered, eyes closed, “that I will defend you to my dying breath, Caitlin. I will not see you returned to a man who doesn’t love you, to one you do not love. I’m taking you to safety, and I’ll do everything in my power to have your marriage dissolved.”

She gasped, pulling back so her eyes could search his face. “How can you manage that?”

“I do not know,” he admitted. “I hadn’t thought it through entirely, but I have an idea. If we could get the support of the Duncans and beseech the Church with their backing, we might be able to sway them. The fact that you ran so soon after the ceremony…”

“I know, I know. It was not consummated,” she finished on his behalf, knowing it was indelicate for him to mention it.

“That works in our favor, as well. I believe there’s a good chance, lass. But we have to reach the Duncans first. Everything else can come after that.”

She sighed as she reached up to stroke his hair, letting her hand trail down the side of his face. He turned it slightly, pressing his lips to her palm. “I want so much for this to be true. I want it to not be a dream. I want what you say to be possible.”

“It’s true,” he murmured, resting his face against her hand. “It’s possible. I’m certain of it.”

“I suppose we’d better move along, then,” she smiled. “We’re in a bit of a hurry now, aren’t we?”

Would that they could stay in that moment forever, holding each other as they did. But she had a point, and there was a storm threatening to bear down on them. It would be best to cover as much ground as possible before they were forced to find shelter.





24





It amazed Caitlin how quickly life could change. Just when she’d been most certain of Rodric having forgotten what they had once been to each other—tying her to one of his friends as though she were livestock being led to a pen—he confessed his love and everything seemed fresh and new.

If there was never any other good in her life, if everything went terribly wrong after that, she wouldn’t mind. He loved her. She would never need doubt it again.

It was obvious that Brice understood what had passed between them. The little smile and wink he favored her with said as much. She grinned, too happy to be embarrassed.