“We must get ye back to the Keep,” Lachlan told her, as the trembling began to settle in through her body. “If this cold reaches yer bones…”
“I’ll be alright, Lachlan,” she promised him as she leaned up to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Just as long as I’m wi’ you.”
He brushed his lips along her forehead, lifting her into his arms as though she weighed nothing at all.
“I love you, Innes," he told her gruffly. “More than anything in the world. I shouldnae have raised my voice to you. I should have listened. I should have…”
She shook her head.
“I should have been more understanding myself. I was harsh to you. Ye just wanted to protect me. And ye did. Ye almost gave up yer life fer me…”
“And I would do it again. You know why?”
He stopped near his horse and looked at her in the eye. Her already labored breathing came harder as his eyes shone with unconditional love.
“Tell me,” she whispered.
“There is no world without ye. Ye are the very reason I’m breathing now, Innes. My heart, my soul is yers.”
“And my heart is yers, Lachlan.”
“Ye promise?”
She smiled weakly. “Always.”
“I will hold ye on that promise. Especially when I become unbearable again,” he joked.
“In those moments I’ll love ye a little more, my husband,” she vowed.
His eyes closed, savoring her words like he tried to mark them on his soul. She knew that he would do whatever it took to keep her safe, whatever it took to ensure that she never had to fear again.
Isobel might have tried her best to keep her from the man she loved, but he had proved himself to her in all the ways that mattered.
And there was nothing in the world she would have changed about it.
Lachlan carefully climbed down from his steed as he came to a halt in the courtyard of the Keep once more, reaching to draw an exhausted Innes into his arms again. Her eyes were heavy as she lifted her hands to rest on his shoulders, and he could feel her shivering unstoppably beneath her dress.
“Draw some hot water for a bath!” he called to the maids who had assembled to see the returning guardsmen. “Hurry! In my chambers!”
They sprang into action as Innes lifted her gaze blearily to his.
“I think I just need to rest.”
“You cannae sleep with so much chill in yer bones,” he pointed firmly, as he strode towards the entrance, taking the stairs two at a time. “You must warm up. That river has taken many a life, and I willnae let it take yours, too.”
She did not protest, either because she knew he was right or because she was too exhausted to muster the energy for it. He knew there was more to think of than her well-being; whathe was going to do with Isobel, for one, now that she had been exposed as the conniving witch she really was.
But that could wait. All he could think of was making sure that his wife was comfortable, and, after everything she had been through at his expense, he knew it was the least he could do.
The maids rushed to and fro to bring hot water to the room, filling a tub till the room was cloaked in steam. Lachlan dismissed them and carefully undressed Innes on the bed, drawing the sopping fabric from her shoulders and her back. He grimaced when he saw the mottling on her skin, the bruises where she had struck rocks on her way into the river. They would be worse tomorrow and would take some time to heal, but at least she had a chance to heal them at all.
He gently eased her into the tub, the warm water enveloping her delicate form as she let out a sigh of relief. He had imagined himself washing her carefully as he knelt at her side, but he could not stand to be so far from her. He stripped down himself, sliding beneath the water, and wrapped his arms around her so that he could pull her against his chest.
And it was there that something seemed to unfurl within her, some of the tension she had been carrying undone. She half-turned her head, letting her cheek rest against him softly.
“I… I never thought I would see you again, Lachlan.”
The tears began to fall at last, that pain of all she had been through rising to consume her at once. The drops fell into the water, sending ripples of fear and relief alike across the surface as he pulled her close to him.
