He angled his body so that they were facing each other and bent his head to hers, their foreheads lightly touching as their hands linked together. “What answers did ye find?”
“That I love you, Lachlan Campbell. That I’ve always loved you. You’re the boy who showed me the stars. The man who gave me my first kiss. The husband who broke my heart…and mended it back together again, stronger than it ever was before. I am yours, and you are mine.” She hesitated, and her gaze lowered. “If you’ll have me, that is.”
For a second, he could only stare and wonder if this was a dream. If it was, he never wanted to wake up. But it wasn’t a dream. It was life. Hard, and messy, and imperfect. With swells and rough water aplenty. But through each storm, he and Brynne had managed to find their way back to each other. And while the only thing certain about the future was that it wouldn’t be easy, there was no one he’d rather navigate those rough seas with than the woman sitting in front of him.
“IfI’ll have ye?” he said, near bursting with love as he cupped her face between his hands and gently coaxed her to look into his eyes. “Bry, I never let ye go.” Then he frowned as a cloud slipped across their bright, beaming sun. “But the judicial separation–”
“I never signed them,” she said on a breathless laugh. “My papers. I never signed them.”
Four of the most beautiful words he’d ever heard.
But not as beautiful as these.
“Kiss me, little bird.”
And so she did.
Brynne didn’t knowfor how long she and Lachlan lost themselves in each other. In soft caresses. Slow, lingering kisses. Whispered words of love and devotion and just a little wickedness.
Long enough for her dress to find its way onto the floor, leaving her clad only in her chemise and drawers and partially unbuttoned corset.
Long enough for the stars to light up the night sky.
And long enough for Weston to come searching for her.
A loud knock on the door, and then it opened as she and Lachlan broke apart and she frantically reached for her dress to cover herself.
“Brynne, are you in here? I…” Weston froze in the doorway. Surprise was the first emotion to register, followed by a wave of rage so strong that it knocked Brynne back a step even before he stormed across the library and grabbed hold of Lachlan by the lapels of his jacket.
“You son of a bitch,” he snarled, his countenance taut with fury. “How dare you lay a single bloodyfingeron my sister!”
“Wait, you don’t understand,” Brynne said desperately. But when she tried to tug on her brother’s arm, he didn’t spare her so much as a glance, such was his focus on Lachlan.
Who, devil take him, wasn’t exactly helping matters.
“I’ve laid a lot more on her than that,” he smirked, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that Weston’s hands wereliterallyat his throat. “Isna that right, Bry?”
“Lachlan,” she groaned. “What are youdoing?”
“Having a bit of a laugh.”
Weston’s face reddened. “You won’t be laughing when you’re dead on the floor.”
“You can’t kill him!” she exclaimed.
“Why the hell not?” her twin demanded.
“Because–because he’s myhusband.”
Triumph gleamed in Lachlan’s eyes.
Confusion glimmered in Weston’s. “You…and Campbell…are…?”
“Married, yes! For more than a year and a half. It’s a very long story, and if you release him unharmed, I’d be more than happy to share it with you.”
“Lachlan Campbell is your husband,” Weston said slowly.
“Yes.”
