The Hawk (Highland Guard #2)(117)

“I’m sorry, love. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing. I wanted to ask you to stay, but how could I when we were one battle away from defeat? I was trying to protect you.”

Ellie looked at him with disbelief. “By breaking my heart? Do you know what it’s been like these past few months?” Her voice grew higher pitched, racing toward hysteria. She wasn’t prone to violence, but she felt an urge for it now. “And now, just as I’ve gotten my life back together, you show up to tell me, ‘So sorry, it was all a mistake.’ That despite all indications to the contrary, you actually love me and broke my heart to keep me safe in misery. And now that things are looking up, you realize you were wrong and decided to abduct me on what was to be my wedding day to apologize, is that it?”

He winced, looking to Domnall, who shrugged unhelpfully. “Sounds about right to me, Captain.”

Erik raked his fingers through his windblown hair. “When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound quite as romantic as I’d planned.”

She made a sharp sound through her nose.

He shot her a look. “I couldn’t take the chance that you wouldn’t listen to me.”

“So you decided to give me no choice in the matter.”

He grinned unrepentantly. “Of course you have a choice; I just decided to ensure you picked me.”

She met his gaze unflinchingly. “What if I no longer want you?”

His eyes flickered as if she’d struck him. The sudden look of uncertainty on that too-handsome, cocky face almost made up for the months of torture he’d put her through. Almost.

He knelt down beside her and lifted her hand to his mouth. “Please, love, give me a chance to make it up to you.”

Emotion swelled in her throat, making her voice raw. “Why should I believe you?”

He looked into her eyes. “Because in your heart you know it’s the truth. I was the one too blind to see it. But I swear I’ll never give you a reason to doubt me again.”

He sounded so sincere and looked so sorry, it made her heart soften—just a little.

“Come on, lass,” Domnall interjected. “Show a little compassion for the rest of us and forgive the man. He’s been unbearable since you left.”

She frowned at the older man. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be listening.”

“And miss this?” Domnall chortled. “Lass, I’ve been waiting twenty years to see him grovel for a woman; I intend on enjoying every bloody minute of it.”

“Grovel?” Erik said, horrified. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not groveling.”

Ellie lifted one delicately arched brow, challenging his assessment of the situation.

He frowned, shooting a scowl at Domnall. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side.”

“I am, laddie,” the other man laughed, “I am.”

Ignoring their audience, Erik turned back to her. “Can you forgive me?”

Ellie gave him a hard stare. Truth be told, she was already halfway to doing so, but she intended to let him suffer just a little longer. A few hours, after all, was nothing compared to four months.

She lifted her chin, giving him her best nursemaid stare. “I haven’t decided. Perhaps you should take me home and let me think about it for a while.”

He sighed and shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, lass, but you’ve left me no choice.” He looked over to Domnall. “I told you she wouldn’t be reasonable.”

“That you did, laddie. That you did.”

Ellie looked back and forth between the two men, wondering what devilry he was up to now. He had that wicked gleam in his eye that boded mischief. “What do you intend to do with me?”

He leaned closer to her, brushing his mouth against her ear. She trembled, heat shivering down her spine. “I intend to take you home and prove it to you. Over and over again, until you believe me.”

Ellie gasped, understanding his meaning. The sensual promise in his voice sent a flood of heated awareness tingling between her legs. “So you intend to ravish me?”

“Over and over.”

“I got that part.” She tried to bite back a smile. Once a Viking, always a Viking. But he intended to take her home? “I don’t think my father will approve of your methods.”

He winked, knowing he had her. “Fortunately for me, he’ll be a long way away.”

Ellie lay sprawled across his chest, her soft, naked body pressed to his in a tangle of limbs and bed linens. Filled with a happiness that humbled him, Erik didn’t want to think about how close he’d come to losing her.

He twirled a dark silken lock around his finger, thinking that this must be as close to heaven as any living man would want to come.

“So I was right,” she said. “This is your home.”

He’d brought her back to Spoon Isle, to the great house that had belonged to his father. As promised, the king had returned his lands to him. John of Lorn might disagree, but they would deal with him soon enough.

“I’ve come to think of it as home, although I’ve many others.”

She smiled up at him, and his chest twisted. As a man who fortune had favored most of his life, he’d never truly understood how lucky he was until now.