Page 84 of Bound to a Scot
“So, Burchard died,” Maddox said but couldn’t muster any sympathy for the man.
“Aye. He’s gone,” she replied. “And his creature Laith is in the king’s dark cell’s waitin’ fer royal justice tae be done.”
“Good.”
Maddox struggled to recall large parts of what had happened. He remembered the battle. The chaos. But he couldn’t seem to remember some of the specifics. Maddox leaned back against his pillows and closed his eyes, racking his brain. Slowly, bits and pieces started to drift back to him. There was one memory that stood out to him, clearer than the rest. He turned to Emmeline, his eyes wide.
“Ye jumped intae the water,” he said. “Ye pulled me out.”
A gentle smile touched Emmeline’s lips. “Aye. I suppose I did.”
That she had confronted her fear of water so boldly—to save him—was not lost on Maddox.
“But ye were stabbed tryin’ tae save me. Twice,” she said. “I suppose I felt like I owed ye.”
Her dazzling green eyes sparkled, and a smile touched her lips, making Maddox’s heart beat a staccato rhythm in his chest. She gazed at him with an expression of unrestrained love, the emotion he saw in her warming him from the inside out. He would have gladly been run through a dozen times just to see that exact look on her face.
“Thank ye,” Maddox said. “Thank ye fer savin’ me.”
She reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Ye saved me, Maddox. In more ways than one.”
A slow smile spread across his lips as he heard the truth in her words. She too, had saved him in a multitude of ways. She had opened his heart once more and allowed him to feel what it was to love and to be loved in return. She had brought him a happiness he never thought he would ever feel again in his life. He returned his gaze to her and found Emmeline staring at him with a strange look he couldn’t interpret on her face.
“What is it?” he asked.
She lowered her gaze, turning away from him for a moment and it was as if clouds had rolled in and denied him the sunlightof her eyes. The corners of her mouth quirked upward as she turned back to him, and she bit her lower lip.
“Before ye… well… after ye were wounded, ye asked me a question,” she said. “I ken ye were wounded and probably thought ye were dyin’, so I’ll nae hold ye tae anything ye said. Ye were clearly out of yer head and?—”
“Of course I meant it,” he said, recalling exactly what she was referring to. “I want tae marry ye, Emmeline. I want tae spend the rest of me life with ye. I was nae out of me head when I asked. Ye make me happier than I ever thought I could be again. Ye’re a light in the darkness fer me and I want tae be with ye forever. If ye’ll have me.”
Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks and she laughed. “I want tae be with ye forever tae, Maddox. Of course, I’ll marry ye.”
She leaned forward and threw her arms around him as she jumped onto the bed, joy etched into her features. Maddox cried out and winced, making her draw back, her face ashen.
“Oh, bleedin’ hell,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
He laughed. “’Tis all right. But maybe we could wait tae be married until I’m healed?”
She lay down next to him, moving slowly and gently, and laid her head softly upon his chest. Together, they laughed andexchanged gentle kisses. And in that moment, Maddox knew what it meant to be genuinely happy.
To feel complete.
Whole.
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER…
Emmeline stood at the window and smiled as she watched the sun crest the horizon, casting the patches of clouds in the sky above in vivid shades of red and gold, as it began its ascent heavenward. It looked as if it would be a beautiful day. It had been six months since the battle on the birlinn and the official mourning period the king had instituted in its wake expired that morning. She turned to the bed behind her.
“Are ye goin’ tae sleep the mornin’ away?” she asked.
The form beneath the bed covers stirred and groaned. Laughing, Emmeline jumped onto the bed and pulled the blanket back and looked into Maddox’s dazzling green eyes. She leaned down and planted a quick kiss on his lips. She had come so close to losing him that even thinking about it now put a stitch in her heart.It had been a long road back to healing from his wounds, but he grew stronger each and every day. For that, she thanked God daily.
“Get up, ye donkey.”
“’Tis barely mornin’,” he said.
