“Marry me,” he said again. “Tomorrow. Today. As soon as we can make the arrangements.”
“Me maither will want a proper ceremony,” Leona said, laughing breathlessly.
“I daenae want to wait.” His voice was rough with need. “I’ve already waited too long. Wasted too much time bein' afraid. I want ye to be me wife. Want to wake up beside ye every mornin' and fall asleep with ye every night. Want to watch Skye grow up with ye beside me. Want?—”
“Aye,” Leona interrupted. “Aye to all of it. We’ll have whatever ceremony ye want, whenever ye want. I daenae care about the details. I just want ye.”
“Ye have me.” Murdock’s eyes blazed with intensity. “All of me. Forever.”
“Then show me,” Leona whispered, her hands sliding up to curl around his neck. “Show me what forever looks like.”
For a moment, Murdock just looked at her, his expression caught between wonder and desire. Then he bent and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her toward the bed with a sureness that made her breath catch.
“Are ye certain?” he asked, even as he lowered her onto the soft bedding. “We can wait until after the ceremony. Until ye’re me wife in truth?—”
“I’m already yers in truth,” Leona said, pulling him down to her. “Have been since the moment ye told me about yer maither. Since ye trusted me with yer pain. Since ye let me see the man beneath the weapon.”
“Leona…” Her name came out reverent, worshipful.
“I love ye,” she said again, because she couldn’t say it enough. Would never tire of saying it. “I love ye, Murdock Lyall. Now, show me that ye love me too.”
His kiss was answer enough. Deep and claiming and full of promise. And as he settled over her, his weight welcome and right, Leona felt something inside her click into place.
This. This was what she’d been missing. Not just desire or passion, though there was plenty of both. But this sense of completeness. Of coming home.
“I love ye,” Murdock whispered against her lips, her throat, her skin. “I love ye so much it terrifies me.”
“Then be terrified,” Leona said, arching into his touch. “Be terrified with me. Be everythin' with me.”
“Everythin',” he agreed, his voice rough with emotion. “Forever.”
And as their lips met again, as his hands began to show her exactly how much he meant those words, Leona felt the last of her doubts fade away.
This was right. This was real.
This was love.
31
Murdock’s hands trembled as he touched her.
Not from uncertainty, but from the sheer overwhelming emotion of finally being allowed to have this. To have her. After weeks of wanting, of restraining himself, of believing he could never deserve something this good.
“Ye’re shaking,” Leona whispered, her fingers threading through his hair.
“Aye.” He pressed his forehead against hers, breathing her in. “I’m terrified I’ll wake up, and this will have been a dream.”
“Then let me prove it’s real.” She pulled his mouth to hers, kissing him with a tenderness that made his chest ache.
Murdock returned the kiss slowly, reverently, pouring everything he couldn’t say into the slide of his lips against hers.His hands moved to the laces of her gown, fingers fumbling slightly in his haste.
“Let me,” Leona said softly, her hands covering his. “We have time. All the time in the world now.”
“Do we?” His voice came out rougher than he had intended. “Because I’ve already wasted so much of it being a fool.”
“Then stop wastin' more.” She guided his hands to her shoulders, holding his gaze as she spoke. “Touch me, Murdock. Love me. Show me what ye’ve been too afraid to say.”
Something in him broke at those words, or perhaps it was something finally healing. Years of careful control, of holding himself back, of believing he wasn’t allowed to want this much.
