“I know.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and needed to tell Lachlan everything. To describe exactly what happened. “When I woke up, I remember sucking dirt into my mouth. It was cold and damp, but thank God, it was a shallow grave. I was able to crawl out of it. I found the shovel and I struck Jack over the head. I killed him, Lachlan, and then I ran.”
“You did the right thing.”
She nodded, though it was not an easy thing to accept. Jack was her husband, and she had loved him once. Or at least she had thought she did.
“That’s when I lost my memories,” she said. “I was found shortly after that, huddled in the farmer’s stable, and taken to the convent.”
For a long time she and Lachlan lay together on the soft feather bed, holding each other close, stroking each other with gentle hands, kissing each other tenderly.
“What will be done about Murdoch?” she carefully asked.
“Your cousin is taking care of that. He called for the magistrate. There will be a report sent to the King about Murdoch’s attempts to raise another rebellion. He tried once before, you know. He was arrested, but later released. Raonaid has agreed to provide any information that will help to keep the peace in our country. I believe the King will reward her for her efforts on his behalf, for she brought down the leader of a new rebellion.”
Catherine snuggled into the corded muscles of Lachlan’s chest and breathed in the intoxicating scent of his clothes and hair and skin. All she wanted was to lie with him forever.
“But Raonaid and Murdoch were lovers,” she said after a time. “She must be grieving, in some ways.”
“Aye, but she’s a survivor, like you are.”
Catherine pondered that. “I suppose we have more in common now than ever before. We will have much to talk about.”
Lachlan nodded and rubbed a hand over her shoulder. She was grateful for the warmth of his arms as he cradled her.
“I am sorry for everything,” he said. “For all the pain I caused you. I never meant to hurt you.”
She tried to rise up on her arm to look into his eyes, but the pain in her side would not permit it. She had no choice but to lie very still against the softness of his tartan. “I can forgive you for anything, Lachlan. All I need to know is that you care for me.”
“Ah, lassie.If you only knew the half of it.”
“Well, Idon’tknow,” she told him, sounding more irate than she intended. But she loved him. She needed to know what he felt. “Please Lachlan, you must tell me.”
He cupped her face in his hand and kissed the top of her head, then sighed heavily. “You have no idea how I suffered when I saw you tumbling down that hill. I knew you were hurt, and when I saw the blood on your gown, a part of me didn’t think I could do this again. But the alternative—to deny my love for you—was worse than anything. In that moment, I knew that a single day spent loving you was worth any price—even the future loss of you. What is the point in living, if I cannot enjoy the passion that exists between us?”
She held back a cry of relief. “What are you saying, Lachlan?”
“That I want to be with you forever. I want to make love to you, make babies with you, give you everything that you could ever desire. I never want to leave your side again. I want all the things you saidyouwanted, when you walked out on me yesterday. You were right to do it. I needed a good kick in the arse.”
He leaned up on an arm and pressed his mouth to hers. It was a warm and tender kiss, filled with affection and desire.
“I’m not doing this right,” he whispered, drawing back. Slipping out of the bed, he dropped down to one knee. “I love you, Catherine Montgomery, and I want you as my wife. I will live anywhere with you, be anything you want me to be. I will give up my sword if you ask me to. I’ve had enough of this wandering warrior’s life. I want to be your lover now. Just yours. No one else’s. You are my angel and my love. Will you have me?”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and she laughed out loud with joy. “Of course I will have you.”
He was beside her again in a heartbeat, holding her close, but gently, so as not to hurt her. His mouth covered hers in a sweet, heady kiss that made her forget all the pain in her heart and body. He belonged to her now, and she would never have to say good-bye to him. He had pulled her from the bleak abyss of her life and shown her who she truly was.
She had a sister now, too.
“Where will we live?” Catherine asked as his soft lips grazed her earlobe and his hand cupped the side of her face.
“Anywhere you want, lass. I’ll go anywhere to be with you.”
“What about John? Do you think he will object?”
Lachlan looked at her. “Will it matter?”
“No,” she replied with a chuckle, ignoring the pain in her arm and her side, so that she could touch him all over. “I am of age. I can do what I want.”
