Page 112 of A Scottish Bride for the Duke
“I thought ye would want us to be in separate rooms,” she said, even as the words clogged her heart.
“You thought wrong.” He stared at her as though she was a shooting star, liable to disappear the moment he closed his eyes. “I won’t let you leave again, Isobel.”
“Adrian—”
“I’m sorry for sending you away.” The words sank between them, shattering the silence, shattering her uncertainties. “I was wrong. And I missed you—terribly. Please forgive me.”
Right there before her, he sank to his knees, looking at her with that odd, intense expression he had worn before.
“I wanted to protect you and my heart. But now I understand it would be fruitless. You are my partner. You go where I go, and I want you to be where I am. For no reason other than that I love you.”
Her breath caught. She sagged against the door, one hand over her mouth.
“Ye cannae be serious.”
“I was serious from the moment I asked you to be my wife. Then, I didn’t know how much I already cared for you, and I was in denial after that.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, but he didn’t look away, even as shame entered his expression.
“You bring out the best and worst in me. I want to be the best man I can for you, but I was afraid of loving you.”
He gave a soft, wry smile.
“You see, after my father died, I vowed I would never love anyone, and I would be a man defined by my reserve, my isolation. Marriage, when I considered it, was to be an entirely bloodless, affectionless affair. No doubt the kind of union you would despise. And not the union you forced on me. Right from the beginning, you made me adore you, more than I knew I was capable of such things.”
“Ye sent me away,” she whispered.
“I made a mistake. I let fear rule me.” He looked at her steadily. “You want a marriage based on love and respect. And now I am here, on my knees, offering that to you.
“If I had not known you were the woman for me, I would have known it when you pulled that pistol out of your cloak. When you threatened Moreton. When you picked up that knife so he couldn’t hurt anyone again. You are brave and beautiful and more honorable than I have ever been. But I will try, Isobel. Give me a chance. Let me be the man I know I can be—the man Iwantto be for you.”
Her heart fluttered. She didn’t know if she could trust him to take care of her like this, but she wanted him.
Be patient.
“My mother knocked some sense into me,” he said wryly when she said nothing. “She said that by denying you a voice, I was behaving like my father. But I have no intention of resembling that man in any way. So, Isobel?” He raised his gaze to her. “Will you forgive me?”
Every part of her melted at the sight of him on his knees before her. Her duke, one of the proudest men she knew, begging for her forgiveness.
She could not deny him.
She sank to her knees beside him.
“I forgive ye,” she said, “if ye promise never to do it again.”
“A promise easily made.” He took her face in his hands. “You won’t regret this, Isobel. I swear to you. I will never let you go again. I will show you what it means to have married a duke.”
“A love match,” she said.
“A love match,” he repeated, and ghosted his lips over hers. “I love you, beyond anything I ever knew I could.”
She smiled against his mouth. “I love you too, husband.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Come,” he said, taking her hand and leading her through to the dressing room, where maids were still filling the large bath with hot water.
Adrian wanted nothing more than to make love to his life, but there were other things more pressing than that to take care of. For starters, they were both covered in the grime of the day and the remnant of everything that had happened at the docks.
