Maybe that was her thought as well, for she led him straight to the opening. Memory returned to him just before he stepped through, and he stopped.
Brielle turned to look at him, her brows raised in question.
He nodded toward the gate. “I’m not supposed to leave Laurent, am I?” No matter how much he wanted time alone with Brielle, he wouldn’t compromise the trust these people had placed in him.
She glanced at the stone wall beside her, then turned back to him with a twinkle. “Consider yourself under guard while we’re outside of village walls.” Then she reached for his hand.
His heart picked up speed as he placed his hand in hers and they stepped forward together.
Outside the wall, she turned to him again, the sass falling away from her expression. Every part of her seemed fragile, and when he opened his arms, she stepped into him. She seemed to sink into his hold, and he wrapped himself around her, cradling her.Be her strength, Father. Renew her.
She stayed in his arms for long minutes, and he breathed in her scent, relishing the solid feel of her.
Whole. Alive.
She fit perfectly in his arms, her height exactly right for her cheek to rest on his shoulder. Her breath warmed his neck, tempting him.
But that would come later. For now, having Brielle in his arms was more than enough.
31
Brielle had never imagined being held by a man would make her feel so secure. So renewed.
The Lord had brought her through more hazards than she cared to remember, both these last few days and in the past. He was her Sustainer, the One who completed her. And now He’d sent this man to fill the place she’d not even known was void.
She drew one more deep breath of Evan, then pulled back. She managed a smile for him, and the way he was looking at her made her heart beat faster. The earnestness in his gaze showed his concern for her, but the love in his eyes was what really stirred her insides.
She slid her hands up the front of his coat and cradled his cheeks. Even though the weather was much warmer than yesterday’s blizzard, his cheeks still bore chilly pink circles, and his skin was cold to the touch. They would both be warm in a minute.
He met her kiss with the same fire he had before, yet with a tenderness that nearly stole the strength from her legs. Hisarms wrapped around her waist, seeming to know she might need extra support.
They still had much to talk about, but she’d seen the strength of this man’s character in all his actions for weeks now. If she had anything to say about it, she’d love to continue at his side for the rest of their days.
Far too soon, Evan eased back. But with one hand holding her close and the other brushing her jaw, he didn’t let her go far. Instead, he rested his forehead on hers, warming her face with their mingled breaths. Soothing her soul with his nearness.
“I love you, Brielle. You’ve taken root in my heart. I didn’t think it was possible that another person could be such a perfect match. Could make me so much better.” He pulled back a little, enough to study her. His gaze turned troubled. “There’s much I need to tell you.”
He glanced around, then led her to a fallen tree. She almost smiled at the fact that this was the exact place where they’d tussled that first day, after she shot him with the arrow.
But the swirl of emotions churning inside kept her from speaking. She’d wanted him to tell all, but now that he was about to, what if he shared something she didn’t want to hear?
He kicked snow off a log, then motioned for her to sit. After settling beside her, he took her hand in his, and the warmth of his touch seeped through their gloves. His gaze grew earnest. “You know some of this, but I’d better start at the beginning so I don’t miss anything.”
She prepared herself not to react to whatever he would say. But as he poured out the details of his life since coming to America, her heart ached for the troubled story.
He’d been seeking for so long, although maybe he didn’t realize what he was trying to find. She couldn’t help comparing his story to her own. He lost his family in Scotland and had been trying to re-create that belonging ever since. First in the army, then with his wife.
And then he’d given up.
She knew what it was to lose a parent—that heartrending pain. But she’d never lost her belonging, her family, her people. With everything in her, she wanted to pull Evan to her. To share her people with him. To give him the home and family he needed. But as he told of the mission where he was assigned to find pitchblende, a new thread of fear wove through her.
She leaned closer, worry and frustration twisting inside her. “Why didn’t you just tell us that was the reason you’d come?” So much could have been different between them. Her people would have been reasonable, surely. Maybe some of them had even seen the mineral he sought on nearby mountains.
Pain seemed to consume him. “I wanted to, but I’d promised my superiors I would keep the mission secret. They didn’t want the British to learn of it. But by the time I realized you seemed to share the same ... attraction that consumes me ...” His eyes softened into a look so full of love it made her throat burn. “I decided I had to tell you everything. If you and your people agreed, I would leave Laurent and hurry through the rest of my mission, hopefully finding pitchblende farther north. Then get the mineral back to the States, resign my commission, and come back to you here.”
Hearing his intentions to come back to her sent a warmth through her that raised gooseflesh on her arms. Yet the knotof dread only tightened in her belly. She pulled her hand back from his. “You said that was once your intention. What changed?”
Misery slipped over his features, coiling the knot in her belly tighter. “During the feast, I discovered what looked to be pitchblende in the walls of the assembly room.”
