Page 99 of Wedded to the Twisted Highlander
Thomas studied her for a moment. This beautiful, courageous woman had upended his entire world. As he untied her from the tree, his heart swelled.
“I dinnae ken what I would have done had I lost ye,” he whispered, refusing to look her in the eye.
“Aye, ye would have married another because the council would demand an heir,” Astrid said as her arms fell over his shoulders. “But I’m glad that ye came for me.”
“Ye’ll nae do this again, do ye understand? I dinnae want ye to make it into a habit. I hate the bog and the moors.”
“Take it back,” Astrid breathed as he held her.
A wicked grin tugged at his lips as he brushed aside her hair and kissed her tenderly on the forehead.
“I take it back. I dinnae hate them. Merely despite, loathe, detest,” Thomas teased as he took her lips in a searing kiss.
EPILOGUE
Alonely hoot from a distant owl lingered on the breeze as Astrid leaned on the balustrade. The day had been tumultuous and brutal. As much as she wanted to be able to put everything aside and move on, she couldn’t. That moment had been far too raw, far too painful for her to just set it aside.
Running her fingers through her hair, she stood straight and kept her eye on the torch light burning atop the watch tower. It was a faint, little light that gave her hope that maybe she’d find her way back, even though things seemed bleak.
“Ye look like ye’re carryin’ the weight of the world on yer shoulders,” Thomas noted from behind her. “I have been told that a man was given broad shoulders to carry the load of his family.”
Astrid barely glanced over her shoulder at him, but she enjoyed the fact that he had come outside. She didn’t know if she wantedthe company or not, but until she made up her mind, he was welcome to stay.
“What’s troublin’ ye, lass? One would think we lost,” he said as he draped his blanket over her shoulders.
Astrid pulled it closer around her and breathed in his musky scent.
“For a moment there, I thought I did,” she admitted, turning to face him.
Her heart pounded as she dared to look into his eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was going to find lurking in the depths of his gaze, but she had to look.
“Ye shouldnae have worried so,” he said as she curled her fingers into his shirt and clung to it as if it were her lifeline. “Is that why ye barely ate at dinner? Och, lass, I told ye that I could handle yer troubles, did I nae? Have I nae told ye time and again that I’m here for ye always? Ye’re me wife.”
“Aye, and ye’re me husband. But…”
Astrid dropped her gaze as visions of Thomas sinking into the bog flashed before her eyes. Her heart sank as fast as he did under the icy current. She trembled as the memory replayed in her mind.
“I thought I lost ye. One minute ye were there, and the next… When ye didnae come back up… Ye cannae do that to me.”
“Hush, me love,” Thomas soothed as he wrapped his arms around her and cradled her to his chest.
The steady drum of his heart eased her worries, but it failed to chase away the turbulent thoughts plaguing her.
“Nay, why did ye do that? Out of all the ways ye could have killed him, why did ye choose that?” Astrid gasped as she pounded her fists against his chest. Tears pooled in her eyes, the thought of losing him crippling her.
“It was the only way to ensure ye would be safe,” Thomas murmured. “I saw how close he was to ye, and there was nay way he’d have been able to use ye for support. If I went down, he’d have gone down.”
She pressed her forehead to his chest, trying to black out the horrors she had seen. Thomas tightened his grip on her as if it was by his sheer will alone that she didn’t shatter into a million pieces.
“Did he hurt ye?” he asked through gritted teeth.
It was the question that had lingered between them.
Astrid pressed her lips into a tight line and shook her head. “Ye did more harm to me than he ever could,” she mumbled against his chest.
His fingers raked through her hair, sending a shiver down her spine.
“I’m sorry, truly. All I could think about was keepin’ ye safe. If that meant takin’ out Chalium in the process, then that was what I was goin’ to do.”
