Page 79 of Highlander's Captive Bride
Daisy drew back a little to look at his dear face. She saw him looking suspiciously over her shoulder at Bellamy, but he did not try to approach him or speak to him.
“Nay, ’tis just so wonderful to see ye. I’ve missed ye so much!”
“I’ve missed ye, too. Are ye ready to go home?”
“Aye, I suppose so,” she said.
“Ye dinnae sound too sure,” Dominic observed with his usual dry manner.
“I do want to go home,” she told him, feeling as if her heart was being torn in two. She bit her lip as Dominic went over and opened the carriage door for her and stood holding it.
“Come on, then,” he said.
Daisy hesitated, looking back at Bellamy, who was now standing alone by the gate. Beyond him, she could see one of the guards carrying Elodie back to the keep.
“Wait a minute, please,” she told Dominic, feeling compelled to go back and say goodbye to Bellamy.
When she reached him, she searched his face, looking for any sign that he cared she was leaving. To her shock, his handsome features were marked by deep sorrow as he stepped closer to her. When they stood mere inches apart, he suddenly lifted his hand and caressed her cheek, gazing at her. Pain stabbed her poor heart like a spear, and she could not stop crying, staring into his beautiful gray eyes.
“Oi, stop touching me sister like that!” came an annoyed shout from Dominic.
But Bellamy ignored him. His gaze was fixed on Daisy, making her feel as if she was the only thing in the world.
“Goodbye, Bellamy,” Daisy said through her tears.
“Goodbye, Daisy, and thank ye again for everything,” Bellamy murmured, his voice deep and hoarse.
There was something very raw and passionate in his eyes and voice as he spoke the words.
“Daisy. Are ye coming?” Dominic called.
With a huge force of will, Daisy forced herself to turn away from Bellamy for the last time and went over to her brother. She had her foot on the carriage step when she suddenly remembered something important.
“How is Violet?” she asked, anxious for news about her sister-in-law.
“Och, she’s fine and bonny now. She healed herself,” Dominic told her, his lips curling into a smile.
“Oh,” Daisy said, freezing.
She was suddenly filled with elation at the wonderful news. The guilt and anxiety that had dogged her for such a long time at last fell away, leaving her feeling light as air.
She turned her head and looked back at Bellamy again, her mind suddenly racing. The tall, handsome warrior was watching them, his expression taut with barely concealed grief.
Picking up her skirts, Daisy turned on her heel, a huge smile breaking out on her lips as she ran towards him. With a look of stunned surprise that soon turned to a wide grin, Bellamy opened his arms and caught her as she flung herself at him.
“Violet is better,” she breathed in excitement, hugging his neck tightly. “I can stay! I can stay with ye, Bellamy. Bellamy?”
“Aye, lass,” Bellamy mumbled into her hair, and she could feel him smiling.
“I love ye.”
She felt the deep, rumbling laugh that began in his chest and traveled upwards to burst from his lips, rich, melodious, and filled with happiness. Her joyful heart overflowed as he whirled her around in his arms.
“I’m glad ye said that… because I have to tell ye, I love ye, too!”
Unable to keep apart any longer, their lips met in a kiss of pure euphoria.
Neither of them heard the low curse that Dominic let out just then, just before he sighed and told his men to stand down.
