Page 47 of Bound to a Highland Beast
Tiernan shook his head. The truth settled like lead in his stomach, his fear of the future burning at the back of his throat.
“Tell me,” Isabeau insisted. “Tell me what ye fear will happen.”
Drawing in a deep, shaky breath, Tiernan dared to look at Isabeau, though even it was almost too painful in that moment.
“I love ye,” he told her. “I love ye more than I have ever loved anythin’. More than I ever thought possible. I wish tae marry ye and spend me life with ye.”
With a small smile, Isabeau cupped his cheek, but Tiernan was quick to pull back from her, swallowing around the knot in his throat with great difficulty.
“I love ye too, Tiernan,” she said. “I really dae. And I want tae be with ye. What is so terrible about that?”
“The fact that we cannae be together.”
The words were like glass shards in his throat, but they needed to be spoken, regardless of the pain they caused. Tiernan knew them to be true. They could hope for it, they could pray for it, but in the end, he knew their love was forbidden and he suspected that Isabeau, too, knew it, despite her best efforts to deny it.
Once again, Isabeau reached for him, not letting him pull away this time. “Why dae ye say that? We’re together now, are we nae?”
Instead of trying to pull back this time, Tiernan laid his hand over hers and leaned into her touch, letting his eyes fall shut. “Yer braithers will never accept this. Ye ken this as well as I dae. They’ll never allow us tae be together.”
“Ye dinnae ken me braithers like I dae,” Isabeau said. “They willnae care that ye’re nae noble-born. They’ll only care that ye love me an’ I love ye.”
“I’m nae only a peasant,” Tiernan reminded her, opening his eyes once more to stare into the green of her own. “And I was a brigand, dinnae forget that. I have nay honor. I have nay wealth, nay title, naethin’ I can offer ye. Why would they ever agree?”
“Because we love each other,” Isabeau insisted. “They care more about me than pleasing the council. Lucia was a brigand too, but Alaric wedded her an’ Ewan had nay issues with it. He kent they love each other an’ all he wanted was tae see Alaric happy. Why should it be any different fer us?”
“I’ve done bad things,” Tiernan pointed out.
“So has Lucia,” Isabeau reminded him.
It was true. Although he was the one with the reputation, even if Lucia may have been even more ruthless than him sometimes.
But Isabeau was a woman. She didn’t have the same freedoms as her brothers.
“I dinnae think yer braithers will see it this way.”
“They will listen tae me. And if they dinnae, I dinnae care what me braithers think,” Isabeau said, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Why dae ye? Why should anyone? It’s our life, Tiernan. I willnae let anyone tell me what I can an’ cannae dae.”
As she spoke, Isabeau dragged Tiernan closer, pulling him into a heated kiss. He didn’t have the chance to argue with her any further and the moment their lips touched, he realized he didn’t want to. All he wanted was to lose himself in that kiss, in Isabeau, to let the passion that coursed through them both erase every other thought from his mind.
Perhaps it was wrong. Perhaps he should be insisting on this, trying to make her see reason. But it was so easy to believe her when she promised she didn’t care what anyone else thought. It was so easy to let himself be lulled into a false sense of security, to ignore every warning sign and believe, even for a moment, that what Isabeau was saying could truly happen.
There was a good chance he would be dead soon, after all. He would rather spend his remaining hours thinking that he could have everything he could ever want—Isabeau, a marriage with her, a life with her, children with her. And if, by some miracle, he managed to survive both Constantine and Beag, then perhaps he would also be lucky enough to have this life he dreamed of with her.
For now, his reality could be that he belonged to her and she belonged to him. For now, he could let himself believe it; if nothing else, he could promise her that he would do anything for her. He was prepared to fight for them, just as he was prepared to fight for his life, just so that he could share it with Isabeau.
With gentle hands, Tiernan pulled Isabeau on top of him as he lay down on the bed, comforted by her presence, the solid heat of her body even through her clothes. He knew he could never tire of this; there was nothing like having her in his arms, knowing that a creature as pure and beautiful as her could see the good parts of him when no one else could—when even Tiernan himself couldn’t. Isabeau was the one thing in his life that made him want to keep on living. Not only. She also made him want to become a better man. She deserved someone good, someone who wasn’t defined by his past. She deserved someone better than him, and he was determined to become that man for her.
Isabeau’s lips were soft and warm, plump against his. He loved kissing her, loved feeling her tremble in his hands, as though the pleasure from such a simple act was too much for her to bear. He loved how responsive she was in his hands, the soft sounds she made against his lips, the subtle twitch of her hips as she tried—and failed—to control herself.
“I love ye,” he told her, mumbling against her lips. “I adore ye,mo graidh.”
Breathing softly against him, Isabeau pulled back just enough to gaze into his eyes. “I love ye,” she said, and it sounded like a promise.
Slowly, Isabeau began to scatter kisses down his jaw and neck, nibbling over the mark she had already left on his skin. He had the sneaking suspicion that she liked to mark him like this, to make sure that everyone knew he was hers, and if he were honest, Tiernan liked it, too. He had caught a glimpse of himself in the looking-glass earlier in the room and he had marveled at how much it appealed to him, that small reddened mark on his neck. Now that she bit into his skin once more, teeth sinking gently into his flesh, the gesture shot a jolt of pleasure through him, so strong that he couldn’t resist the urge to buck his hips, seeking some kind of friction.
On top of him, Isabeau moved leisurely, taking her time as she explored his body with her lips and her hands. Tiernan could never get enough of this. Each brush of her gentle fingers on his chest and stomach sent a wave of affection crashing through him, her touch driving him mad not only with lust, but also with all the love he held for her. He liked that she took her time, the two of them undressing each other without hurry before they fell back onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, their bodies pressed tightly together as they kissed.
“Can I… can ye tell me…”
