Val stared at her a moment longer before pulling her against him, his big arms around her slender body as he hugged her fiercely. “As I love you,” he whispered. “I know it seems foolish that we should find love after hardly knowing one another, but I cannot help how I feel. Something brought us together, Vesper. I do not believe in coincidences. I believe that I was in Whitehillchasing that fugitive on the very day you were there because we were meant to meet. We were meant to be together, you and I.”
Vesper had her arms wrapped around his neck, her face buried in his hair. “It was a violent day,” she giggled softly. “Do you recall? There was an enormous fight going on with you in the middle of it. I will admit that you impressed me that day. I’d never really seen a fight before and you took to it so easily.”
He grinned, pulling back to look at her but not releasing her from his arms. “I have been doing it for many years,” he said. “A battle draws me like water draws a duck. But trouble does not usually follow me as it has as of late. It seems that you and I have had our share of misfortune in the short time we’ve known one another.”
“That would be a fair statement.”
“In speaking of misfortune, whyisyour father here?”
The conversation shifted focus and Vesper thought on her father, of the conversation over the past couple of days that she had shared with him. “He came to Eynsford a few days ago and begged for my forgiveness,” she said. “He says that he realizes the error of his ways and that, with my brother gone, I am all that he has left.”
Val wasn’t so willing to believe McCloud after what he’d been through with the man. “How do you feel about his change of heart?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I cannot say that I am willing to trust him just yet, but it seems as if he is sincere. He was with me when the soldiers from Canterbury came bearing news of the archbishop’s murder and he came with me to Selborne because he would not let me travel alone.” She sat up so she could look him in the face. “You have known my father for many years and he was a good friend to you. There is no doubt that you know him far better than I do. Do you believe me means what he says? That he is truly sorry for his behavior?”
Val didn’t want to completely discount McCloud but he wasn’t going to let the man fool him twice. “I do not know,” he said honestly. “The man I knew in France was a different man than the one you see today. The man I knew then was truthful to a fault and would risk his life for his comrades. He was not subversive in any way. But your father has changed a great deal since then, as I have come to see. My mother saw it first but I refused to believe her and now I feel foolish because of it. Is your father sincere? I suppose only time will tell. But I will say this– I will be very careful before trusting him again completely.”
Vesper considered his advice carefully. “As will I,” she said. “I do not want to be associated with the man he has become but I cannot completely walk away from him. Isn’t everyone worthy of forgiveness once?”
Val nodded faintly. “Once, aye,” he said. “But I am under the opinion that men who have tasted darkness never really do change, so if you decide to forgive him, I will support you. But my relationship with him will be different.”
Vesper nodded. “I know. I realize what he has done to make you leery of him and I do not blame you.”
Val put a hand on her head, an affectionate gesture, and ended up toying with her silken dark hair. “Then let us speak of him no more. I would rather speak of us. A man asked you to marry him only a few moments ago and he has not received an answer yet.”
Vesper’s grin was back and she averted her gazes, shyly. “I thought it was assumed that I had agreed. I did not tell you I loved you as a jest, you know.”
He snorted, leaning forward to kiss her on the temple. “I do not wish to assume. Give me your answer so that I may hold it against my heart.”
Vesper gazed at him, into that handsome face that she was coming to love so well. “I will marry you, Valor de Nerra,” shewhispered. “The question is whether or not your mother will let me.”
Val laughed softly. His heart was light with her acceptance, delight filling his soul that he’d never experienced before. Now, officially, she belonged to him and nothing would ever separate them save death. He felt as if he could walk on air.
“She will be thrilled that I have finally chosen a bride. But you should know that she will demand grandchildren right away,” he said. “Only this evening did I hear her lamenting her lack of grandchildren to an old friend of mine. She will spout off at anyone who listens that she has no grandchildren and that I am to blame.”
Vesper eyed him with feigned suspicion. “Is that why you have asked me to marry you? To appease your mother?”
He grinned, shaking his head. “I have asked you to marry me because it would be the greatest honor of my life to call you my wife and for no other reason than that.”
It was such a sweet thing to say and Vesper’s heart was leaping for joy within her chest. “I shall endeavor to be worthy of you, my lord.”
He grasped her by both arms, pulling her against him. “Not ‘my lord’. Say my name. Say it and mean it.”
His mouth was hovering above hers, his heated breath on her face. It was enough to melt Vesper completely. “Val,” she whispered. “My darling Val.”
His mouth slanted over hers again, sucking the breath right out of her. Vesper collapsed against him, feeling so small and insignificant against the power of his arms. The more he held her, the more she liked it, and soon her arms went around his neck again, holding him tightly against her as their lips melded. It was a kiss that turned her body to liquid fire, coursing through her, building into something that made her heart race like mad. All she knew was that Val’s lips were stoking a fire inher that she’d never known before, something that begged to be quenched in a way she’d not yet experienced.
But Val knew how to sate it. He was experiencing the same fire.
As the noise of the hall went on down below, Val and Vesper engaged in a heated kiss, hidden by the clutter that had built up in the loft. No one could see them where they were; Val knew that. He also knew that his feelings for Vesper were stronger than he could control.
Facing an unknown future, he was not in command of his emotions as he usually was. He began to think about tomorrow and facing Henry. What if Henry did, indeed, throw him in the vault, or worse? What if he ordered him executed for having a part in Canterbury’s death? There would be nothing left of him, no wife or children or family left behind other than his mother, who would surely curse him for not giving her grandchildren to carry on the de Nerra name. He could easily see his mother going mad because of it, living with terrible regrets.
He didn’t want to live with any regrets, either.
And Vesper… this sweet, beautiful woman he found himself so enamored with. What about her? She could marry him tomorrow before he left for Winchester. Or, she could go with him to Winchester and they could be married at the cathedral. But would he have time to consummate the marriage, to spend a few precious minutes with her to demonstrate how much he adored her? He couldn’t be sure that there would be time at all, at least not like they had at this moment. Right now, the timing was perfect to do precisely that– make her his own, forever.
God, he had such need of her. In her, he saw his salvation.
