“I would never have let that happen,” he murmured, thumbing along her bare shoulder.
He had never been the finest with his words, but he needed her to know how he felt—some part of it, at least, of the way she made him feel, so comforted and accepted for who he was.
“Did you mean what you said to her?” she asked softly, her eyes red-rimmed as she turned to look at him. The shivering seemed to have stopped now, some of the color returning to her cheeks at last.
“About what?”
“About… about me.”
He smiled slightly. He had almost forgotten what he had said to Isobel about Innes; those words had come from so deep inside of him that they felt like common sense, but her hopeful gaze told him that she still needed assurance.
“Aye,” he murmured. “Aye, I did. Every word. When I was pursuing Isobel, it was only for the sake of appearances. And she knew it, too. She knew that I performed the version of myself that would have been suitable fer a woman like her. But you…”
He gazed at her, for a moment so overwhelmed by emotion that he struggled to get the words out.
“I ken that you dinnae expect anything from me but to be the man I am,” he finished up, voice slightly gruff. “And I will never stop being glad fer that. For you, Innes.”
She smiled at him, but he could tell her mind was somewhere else.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Aye, I’m fine,” she answered, shaking her head. “I just couldnae help but think of what I saw when I was… when I thought that the river would take me.”
He frowned.
“What did you see?”
“I saw… you,” she admitted. “Our family. I ken that we dinnae have one yet, but my mind was giving me what I needed to go in peace. You and I, dancing at a feast, our little ones watching, sitting wi’ my brother. A life together, Lachlan. And I almost lost it.”
“Aye, but you didnae,” he kissed her brow. “All of that is still waiting fer us, Innes. We’ve no rush to get there, but if you think that I willnae make that come true.”
He shook his head.
“Ye’re mad.”
Her happiness finally reached her eyes. Whatever tension had been lying there lifted.
“My Laird, I must say, you have quite a way with words,” she chided.
“Strange, what the thought of losing yer love can bring out in a person,” he simply stated.
He clasped her a little closer. It struck him, then, just how close he had been to seeing her slip away in front of him. Had he arrived a few moments later, waited a second longer to dive into the river…
“I love you, Lachlan,” she told him, drawing him back to the moment before he could sink too deeply into those painful what-ifs. “And I’ll love our family just as dearly.”
He locked his eyes on hers once more.
“And I love you too, Innes.”
He kissed her—there was no need behind it, no expectation of more, just the soft certainty that she was finally safe. Her fingers interlinked with his where they lay against her belly, and she held him tight, a silent promise that she felt exactly as he did.
But when he pulled back, there was a slight furrow in her brow. Something was bothering her. He lifted his chin.
“What is it?”
“What’s going to happen to her?”
“What do you want to happen to her?”
