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Douglas was in awe of Lyndsay’s beauty. Every inch of her was absolutely perfect, and it took his breath away. To feel her writhing and squirming in response to his touch was a wonderful feeling. He leaned down to kiss her and felt the warm ripples of breath drifting across his cheeks. When their eyes met, he knew that she wasn’t doing this because she felt obligated or scared, but because she wanted to. She saw him in a different light from everyone else. She saw the man he could become rather than the man he was.

She was his wife, and even though their marriage had been made in haste and desperation, there was something about it that simply felt right. Douglas smiled as he kissed her and listened to the natural urges of his body. He cradled her petite form and rolled over her, sliding his massive frame against her. He burned with arousal, and his entire body was tight. He knew that she had never done anything like this before, nor had she likely dreamed of losing her virtue in the middle of a forest with a Highland warrior. He had definitely not dreamed of getting married to a noble English girl, but there were so many things in this world that didn’t make sense, but when he was with Lyndsay, everything seemed at peace, even the raging sea within him.

Their kisses deepened as their bodies pressed against each other. Their breath swirled together, and their tongues danced. Douglas thrust into her gently and felt her body yield to him. Her hands clung tightly to his skin, and her breaths became more rapid as they made love. He moved slow and gently at first, trying to be as tender as he could with her, feeling all the rhythm of their lust. His muscles swelled, and he burned as hot as any fire as it surged through him in a lancing motion, focusing on one central part of his body. He lost himself in her, in the scent of her hair and the softness of her skin. He felt her flesh pressing tightly against his, and it became impossible to tell where one of them ended and the other began. He lost all sense of the world when he was with her.

There was nothing but her, and his soul screamed with passion as their bodies came together.

The pleasure was rampant within, as though a storm raged. It was different from the times when he had been filled with anger, though. This was pure and sweet and a gift from the gods. Their bodies were entwined; his hands ran through her hair. Their lips were pressed tightly against each other, and her fingers were being dragged down the length of his back. It was sweaty and hot and vibrant, and he was overwhelmed with this power that must have always been in him but had taken her presence to unlock.

The desire came out of him in a shuddering burst, careening through his body with all the power that was held within him. His grip tightened on her while she was completely subsumed. It poured from him like liquid fire, and for a moment, they both gazed up at the stars in awe, breathing heavily, their skin glistening with sweat. The cloaks were idly draped upon their naked bodies, covering their immodesty, and Douglas almost felt as though he had had a religious experience.

Lyndsay rested her head against his shoulder. Her hair was damp with sweat, and it curled gently. This time it was she who pulled herself closer to him as they lay together.

“I’m sorry, lass,” he said, almost choking on his emotion.

Lyndsay gazed at him with confusion. “What are you sorry for?”

“I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for burning yer home, for slaying yer kin, for turning yer life upside down. I wouldnae want anything tae take ye away from me, but as I lie here, I hae tae wonder how ye can stay with a monster like me. I hae ruined yer life,” he said, clarity coming to him after they had made love. She was so perfect and so gentle, while he was the complete opposite.

“You have done many things, Douglas, and there are some that I struggle with, but you have most certainly not ruined my life. I keep thinking about what would have happened had you not attacked my home. I would have been sent away to marry a man I did not love, to bear his children and live a life where I would always be a prisoner. I would never have been free to make my own choices or become my own woman. I am not here because I feel forced to be with you.” She smiled a sheepish smile. “And I did not just do…that because I had no other choice. It’s strange because even though I have been locked in a room by you, I still feel more able to make my own choice than I was when I was free. I can’t forget those who died, but I feel like I’m my own woman, which is perhaps the first time I have ever been able to say that. I don’t know if freeing me is enough to make up for everything else you’ve done, but I can’t judge you for that. You have been clouded by what happened to you as a child. But the fact that you’ve saved me shows that you have the ability to grow, to look beyond your hatred, to be a better man.”

Douglas nodded. “Aye, lass. That’s exactly how I feel when I’m with ye. There were sae many things I thought I wanted before I met ye, and now they all seem foolish. I hae always been searching for something in my life, and in ye, I believe I hae found it. What that means for the future…I dinnae know.”

“Are we going back to your clan?” Lyndsay asked.

He noticed how tension ran through her body as she asked this.

“I dinnae know,” he said in one long breath. “If Fergus haes his way, he’d likely see me banished. I always thought that would be the worst fate tae befall me, but now I wonder if it wouldnae be for the best. I was never given a chance tae try and forgive the English before this, and I dinnae want my entire life tae be a war.”

“No, there are far greater things for a man to do than to fight all the time,” Lyndsay said, her words slurring slightly as her eyelids drooped.

“Ye dinnae hae tae worry about it, lass. I will nae let anything bad happen tae ye. Ye just get some rest, and I’ll think about what tae dae next,” he said.

Lyndsay made a gesture of protest, but she breathed heavily and sank into his body, allowing herself to fall into the embrace of slumber.

Douglas was awake with thoughts for a while longer, though. The last thing he wanted was to be caught between the English and the Highlanders. When dawn arrived, he would have to ride hard back to Highland territory and hope that he could persuade his uncle that having Lyndsay was not something to punish him for. He knew how his uncle could be, though, and worried that the laird would see this as a sign of weakness. But Douglas had not been lying when he told Lyndsay that he wanted something better for himself. There was more to life than fighting, more to life than hatred, and it had taken a wisp of an English girl to teach him that.

But now, he was ready to heed the lesson and change his life for the better. Tomorrow was going to be a new dawn for his life, and he was going to make sure that both he and Lyndsay were free to follow whatever their hearts desired.

Comforting thoughts entered his mind as he relaxed into the moss with his wife in his arms. Love had crept up on him like a hunter and stolen his heart, and he was more than grateful for it. His thoughts turned to dreams about the future, about a settled home and a family surrounding him. It was a loving, comfortable image that soothed his soul and made him think that a man like him could have a place in the world.

But his days of fighting were not over yet, for when Douglas awoke, he was faced with the glint of a sword and a scream from his beloved.