She laughed again. “What of your faults?”
“It’s rare that I’m wrong.”
She continued laughing as she pulled her hands free of his and slipped them around his neck.
Burke wrapped his arms around her, kissing her with an intense passion that let her know just how very much he loved her, wanted her, ached for her.
“I wish we were in my cabin on my ship sailing home,” he whispered in her ear.
“We will be soon enough.”
He brushed his lips faintly across hers. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear you say that. I didn’t know how I was going to convince you. I only knew that I couldn’t—wouldn’t—leave Scotland without you.”
“I seemed to have made it easy for you.”
He nodded. “You certainly have. You’ve finally admitted you love me. That was all I needed to hear.”
“And if I hadn’t?”
He laughed solid and strong. “I knew you loved me. I was just waiting for you to realize it.”
“You are incorrigible.”
“But I’m right.”
“That’s right, you’re rarely wrong,” she said teasingly.
He patted her hand. “You know your future husband already.”
“Do you know your future wife?” she challenged.
“I know her very well,” he murmured and nuzzled her neck.
She giggled softly and scrunched her neck. “Tell me what you know.”
“She is an extraordinarily brave warrior.” He nibbled at her ear. “A skilled swordsman.” He tickled her neck with his lips. “A woman of deep conviction.” He brushed his lips along her warm cheek. “A woman of honor.” He kissed her lips lightly. “A beautiful, loving woman whom I shall cherish forever.”
A tear lingered in the corner of her eye and Burke caught it on his finger.
“I had hoped for a smile, not tears.”
She smiled while another tear slipped out. “I have never heard love spoken of so eloquently.”
“I promise you will hear it often from me. Not a day will go by that I won’t express how I feel about you or show you. Who knows, you may even grow tired of hearing it.”
“Never,” she said. “Never will I grow tired of hearing it.”
He rested his forehead on hers. “How lucky I am to have found you. I never would have suspected from our first meeting that a pint-sized woman dressed as a lad and wielding a sword would work her way into my heart. I do believe fate had a heavy hand in it.”
“It had to have been fate for I would never have thought that I could fall in love with a brash, stubborn American, let alone marry him. And go to America?” She shook her head. “That was simply impossible and it was the furthest thought from my mind.”
“I warned you about fate,” Burke reminded with a smile.
“I stubbornly refused to listen, but what difference does it make,” she said with a shrug. “Fate won out as you warned me it would. Let us hope fate once again is on our side when we enter Weighton prison.”
“It has to be,” Burke said, drawing her close in his arms. “Fate couldn’t possibly bring us together only to tear us apart.”
Storm cuddled closer in Burke’s arms, and he knew her thoughts, for he was certain they mirrored his. Fate couldn’t be that cruel.
