Page 51 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

“I do,” she said. “Are you happy now? I love you, Eiric. Yes, it’s true. I love you dearly, I love you so much that it hurts, and I know that I can never have you. There . . . now you know.”

“Aye. Noo I do,” Eiric said. Then, he smiled at her, a big, warm grin that seemed to infuriate Marion even more when she saw it. Eiric reached for her, taking her hand in his and pulling her closer, even after she tried to resist. “Marion, I have a story to tell ye.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The look that Marion gave Eiric was one of total bewilderment, and once again, he couldn’t blame her for it. They had just been talking about their feelings, about things that—in Marion’s mind at least—they should never share, and now he wanted to tell her a story.

“Excuse me?” Marion asked.

“I have a story to tell ye,” Eiric repeated, as though it was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. “Please, take a seat and listen to it.”

“I am in no mood for stories, Eiric.” Marion huffed, a loose curl of dark hair bouncing around her face as she began to pace around the room once more. “I don’t wish to listen to any story. Did you not hear what I said?”

“I did,” Eiric assured her. “And I think that this is a story that ye’d like to hear. It might help ye feel better.”

“I’m not a child.”

“Never said that ye are,” Eiric said. “Humour me . . . sit and listen to what I have to say, and if ye dinna like it, then ye are free to leave and never speak to me again.”

Marion regarded him with a mix of curiosity and incredulousness. She did take a seat next to him, but she seemed to do so reluctantly, against her better judgement.

“What is it, then?” she asked. “What’s your story?”

“Weel . . . once upon a time, there was a laird,” Eiric began, “and the laird had everythin’, everythin’ apart from a bairn. He didna ken if it were him who couldna father bairns, or if his wife was the one who couldna bear them, but it didna matter to him. He would never do anythin’ to lose his wife, and she wouldna do anythin’ to lose him. They loved each other verra much, ye see . . . and they still do.”

Marion looked at Eiric, a frown on her face that made him smile. Soon enough, she would know where he was going with it.

“And since they loved each other verra much and they wanted a bairn, but couldna have one, they decided to bring a lad into their home when he was an infant. And they told the laddie that he was adopted when he was old enough to understand, but they didna tell anyone else, and they told him to keep it a secret. Ye can only imagine what a secret like that would do to a laird if the world found out. That is how rumours begin, they told him, and that is how people would refuse to give him the lairdship one day, even if the two of them, his parents, considered him their own.”

“Eiric . . .”

“I’m nae finished,” Eiric said. “But noo . . . even though the lad was bitter for a verra, verra long time, he loved his parents. And he still does. And noo he isna so bitter anymore, because bein’ adopted means that he can marry the lass that he loves.”

Marion stared at Eiric in silence for a while, a perplexed look on her face, as though she could hardly believe what he was saying. Eiric simply gave her all the time she needed to digest the information, hoping that the news would mean that she wouldn’t deny her feelings anymore.

“So . . . I suppose you are that boy?” Marion asked, breaking the silence between them. “Just to, ah . . . just to be clear?”

“Aye, I’m the lad,” Eiric said. “And I am certain that ye can see why I never told anyone. Nay one can ken, Marion. I told ye because I ken that ye were strugglin’ with yer feelings, but there is nay reason to worry. We are nae related, nae by blood.”

“Is it true?” Marion asked. “Is it really true?”

Eiric laughed, shaking his head. “Of course it’s true!” he said. “Do ye think that I’d come up with that story just to make ye stay with me? It’s true, no matter what ye decide to do with it noo. But they’re still me parents. I love them and they love me.”

Marion fell silent once more, blinking a few times, seemingly trying to sort out everything in her head. Eiric watched her, a small smile on his lips as he did, just happy to have her in his chambers once more.

He had missed her, even though it hadn’t been that long since he had last seen her. Even that one day that they had spent apart had been too much for him, and he never wanted to be apart from her for that long again, even if she decided that she would rather they remained friends.

“I don’t know what to say,” Marion mumbled, a small laugh escaping her lips. “I don’t know, I don’t . . . I wasn’t expecting something like this.”

“Aye, I ken,” Eiric said. “And if ye still dinna wish to be with me, I understand. I willna put ye in an awkward position. But if it makes ye feel better, and if ye wish to be with me, then I would want nothin’ more, Marion.”

For a moment, Eiric thought that Marion would reject him once more, that she would rather not pursue a romantic relationship with him.

But before he could say anything else, she looked at him and asked, “Are you in pain?”

“In pain?” he asked with a small frown. “Only a wee bit. I feel much better than I did a few days ago.”

“Good.”