He was flying off the back of the horse before it had even stopped. “God, Willa!”
He ran for her.
Willa shouted for him to stop. “There’s a wall, Drust. Be careful!”
She put her hands up against the invisible barrier to show him before he ran headlong into it.
He put his hands against hers and she could feel their heat. She shuddered, both in joy in being found, and anticipation of touching him again.
“Can you get me out of here?”
Drust ran his hand over the barrier, and it shimmered.
“Aye. It’s only a simple containment spell. How did ye… ? Never mind. It can wait till later. Go to the center and get down low. Put yer arms over yer head.”
Completely finished with being trapped, Willa did as he asked, but she looked out from under her arm to watch what he would do. She saw the glint of his sword as he pulled it from the sheath strapped to his back. He held it high over his head, murmuring words that she could not quite make out, but that sounded like an incantation. Then the sword came down in a mighty blow, and the barrier shattered like glass all around her, dissolving into the air as the pieces fell. Before she could even sit up, Drust was pulling her into his arms.
“God! Dinna ever do that to me again! I thought I’d lost ye.”
He buried his face in her hair, and Willa nestled against the steel of his chest.
Oh, yes… home.
He drew back a little to look at her, his eyes taking in every part of her body, his hands sliding over her back, her arms, through her hair.
“Are ye hurt at all? Are ye well?”
“I’m… I’m fine, Drust.”
There must have been a note of uncertainty in her voice because a new panic flared in his eyes, and his lips parted on an indrawn breath. His hands flew over her stomach, coming to a rest just over her womb.
“The child. Is the child all right?”
Willa looked up at him, and she saw something in his eyes that for a moment made her heart soar. Fear…
“I thought… I thought you didn’t want the baby.”
His whole body tensed, and his eyes went cold. “Is it… is it…gone?”
Willa shook her head, her heart sinking back into the pit of her stomach. After all this, after three days of misery for them both, he still wished their child had never happened.
She dropped her gaze to the ground, unwilling to see what her next words would bring. “I’m sorry Drust… but I’m still with child.”
The tension drained out of him in an instant and his eyes slid shut, his head falling back so that his long hair slid down his back.
“Oh, thank God!” he breathed.
Willa’s gaze flew to his face.“What?”
“I canna lose ye. I dinna think I could live.” He drew in a shaky breath. “I canna lose ye, Willa. My whole damn world is here with ye.”
“And… and the baby? Drust I want this child… I… I love it already. Please don’t make me chose between the two of you.”
He reached to cup her face in his palm, drawing his thumb over the fullness of her lower lip. “I… I’m no’ meant to be a father Willa… but I will try, for ye. I will at least keep ye and our child safe and fed. Aye, I want the bairn, if it will make ye happy.”
She looked up at him and tears rolled down her face. He didn’t offer her everything, but what he offered was a start, and no doubt a big leap for him. Damn… Faith was right about the crying thing. There was no stopping it.
Drust pulled her into his arms, and as always, she felt as if she had come home.
