Her eyes remained downcast. “Yer friends are righ—”
“They’re no longer my friends.”
She made a sound that could have been a giggle. “Regardless…they are correct. ’Tis just protection I need. Surely, the church will provide that for me.”
“But ye deserve better.” He tugged one hand free to kiss her open palm. “My love, ye need look no further than me.”
“Ye are a good man, Lachlann.” When she finally looked up at him, her eyes were filled with tears. “Ye would be honor bound for what we have shared, but I will not have it. I would not have ye give up not only the treasured link to yer past, but yer life for me.”
And there it was. The guilt she was feeling over the loss of his father’s medallion. He would not deny the loss was heavy on his heart. Nor would he deny the price he paid for her life was well worth it.
“I would be honored to give up my life for ye. And if that is all ye want from me?” He shrugged, unsuccessfully ignoring the sudden tightness in his chest that had nothing to do with his beating.“I will accept it, but I will not go on with my life as if I’d not found the lass I want to spend that life with.”
Her face tight. “Lachlann, do not—”
“Ach, but Iwill.”
He wrapped her in an embrace and held her close before taking her lips in a most persuasive kiss. A gentle kiss meant to stir her heart and set afire her passionate core. To hell with anyone else watching. To hell with anyone else deciding what should be done. To hell with never being able to make love to her again. All these things he put into the gentlest of kisses and prayed it would be enough.
When he broke the kiss, he waited for her passion-drunk vision to clear before he spoke again, still holding her close. “My past matters little now.Yeare my present andyeare my future.”
Ethne blinked. He held her gaze steady, reading every emotion she wrestled with until he was certain she knew that he meant every word.
Aldred coughed behind them. “Well, we could see if they have room for us in the castle. ’Tis getting quite late.”
“We can find Cull. Mayhap he can help find us a place to sleep.” Niall’s voice held that same uncertain tone, but Lachlann refused to look away from Ethne.
“Are ye two coming?” Niall asked.
“Are ye ready?” Lachlann asked. “Or would ye prefer to stay under the stars again tonight?”
Ethne said, “The castle will be a fine change from the loud caves.”
Niall and Aldred got on their horses, but when he began to put all of his weight on one foot to mount, Lachlann moaned.
Ethne pulled back on his hand. “Mayhap we can follow on foot?”
He turned to the other two. “We will be close behind.”
They must have had some reaction, but he only had eyes for her.
“Will yer friends ever forgive me?” she asked. “For taking ye from them?"
He grinned, understanding her concerns, but not certain if she referred to tonight or the rest of his life.
He shrugged. “It matters not how they feel about it. Only that I dinna choose to be without ye.”
With his courser trailing behind, its long reins dragging along the ground, and their joined hands swaying between them, they continued to the castle.
* * *
Ethne knew walking would lessen the pain in Lachlann’s body so she forced him to take it slowly. They arrived at the castle just as the gates were closing. He stopped several times to share greetings with people he’d met earlier and to be welcomed back. The meal in the Great Hall was about to begin, but she felt compelled to follow her heart and seek out the priest.
When she came with Malcolm and Domelch, she’d always been afraid to approach the priest. With Finn at her side, it would have been difficult to keep the visit from them, and she wasn’t sure what they might do to her had they learned of it.
Lachlann strode past the Great Hall, leading the way to the chapel with a tight grip of her hand as if afraid he might lose her. That warmed her heart as much as the way he blocked the masses from smashing into her. Those people were hurrying by, paying little heed to anyone they bumped into in their attempt to make it to the Great Hall.
Ethne paused in the doorway of the small, stone chapel to breathe in the pleasing aroma with closed eyes. The interior was brightly lit with several candles and smelled of incense. “Mmm, it seems a peaceful place.” She opened her eyes.
