Page 113 of The Icy Highlander's Virgin
"Now ye die," Duncan snarled, raising his dirk for the killing blow.
But Lachlan rolled aside at the last second, Duncan's blade striking sparks from the stone where his head had been. In the same motion, Lachlan swept Duncan's legs with the spade handle, sending his cousin crashing to the ground.
Both men scrambled for advantage, rolling and grappling among the crushed flowers. Duncan's dirk came up toward Lachlan's throat, but Lachlan caught his wrist and they strained against each other, muscles corded with effort.
Slowly, inexorably, Lachlan's superior strength began to tell. The dirk turned in Duncan's grip, the point now aimed at Duncan's own chest instead of Lachlan's throat.
"Ye should have accepted exile," Lachlan said quietly.
"I'll... never... yield..." Duncan gasped, still fighting against the inevitable.
"Then die with your pride intact."
Lachlan's weight and leverage forced the blade down with finality. Duncan's eyes widened in shock and pain, then glazed over as life left them. His body went limp beneath Lachlan, blood pooling among the ruined daffodils.
For a moment, the garden was silent except for Lachlan's labored breathing and the distant sounds of the castle. Then Hayden's quiet sob broke the spell.
"Is he dead?" the boy whispered from where he'd taken shelter behind an overturned bench.
"Aye, lad," Lachlan said gently, rising from Duncan's corpse and moving toward the child. "He'll never hurt anyone again."
Hayden threw himself into Lachlan's arms with desperate relief, and Lachlan held him close despite the pain in his wounded shoulder. Over the boy's head, he met Erica's eyes as she leaned heavily against the garden wall.
"Are ye hurt?" he asked, noting the blood still seeping from her head wound.
"Nothin' that willnae heal," she replied, though her voice was shaky. "Ye?"
"The same." He set Hayden down gently and moved to her side, his hands gentle as he examined her injury. "We need to get this cleaned and bandaged."
"Lachlan," she said quietly, her hands coming up to frame his face. I love ye." The words came out in a rush, as if she'd been holding them back for too long. "Not because ye're my husband or because of duty or politics. I love ye because of who ye are, because of how ye protect the people ye care about, because ye make me feel safe and cherished and whole."
The declaration hit him harder than any of Duncan's blows had. For a moment, he could only stare at her, seeing the truth of her words written in her dark eyes.
"I love ye too," he said finally, his voice rough with emotion. "More than I ever thought possible. When I heard ye scream, when I thought I might lose ye..." He pulled her against his chest, careful of her injuries. "I would have torn this castle apart stone by stone to get to ye."
"I ken," she whispered against his neck. "That's why I love ye."
They held each other in the ruined garden, surrounded by the evidence of violence but alive and together and finally, truly united by something deeper than marriage contracts or political necessity.
"Come," Lachlan said eventually, his arm around her waist as they moved toward the castle. "Let's get these wounds tended to, and then we have some very serious celebrating to do."
"Celebrating?"
"Celebrating?"
"Aye." His smile was filled with promise and heat and the kind of love that could weather any storm. "We've said the words, but now I want to show ye exactly how much I love ye. Properly. Thoroughly. All night long, if you'll have me."
Erica's cheeks flushed, but her answering smile was radiant. "I'd like nothin' more."
In their chambers, Lachlan carefully cleaned the blood from Erica's temple with a damp cloth, his touch infinitely gentle despite the tremor in his own hands. The events in the garden had shaken him more than he cared to admit - not the fight itself, but the thought of losing her.
"Hold still," he murmured, dabbing at the wound with practiced care. "It's deeper than I'd like."
"I'm fine," she said softly, but her eyes never left his face. "What about yer shoulder?"
"It'll heal." His fingers traced along her jawline, checking for other injuries. "When I saw Duncan threatenin ye..."
"But ye protected me," she said, her hand covering his. "Just like ye promised ye would."
