Page 64 of Highland Crown
She didn’t want to, however, and came willingly. Her arms wrapped around him like bands of iron. She buried her face against his chest.
“I don’t want to lose you. Don’t you see?”
“You won’t lose me.” He kissed the top of her head.
He was touched deeply by her words, and her worry made his heart ache. Cinaed’s fingers delved into her hair. Pins fell to the floor, and her soft tresses tumbled down over her shoulders. He held her so close he could feel the beat of her heart.
He knew what passion was, but he’d never been schooled in love.
The possibility of finding the one person he could not live without, the one whose presence filled him up and brought him joy, whose absence left him incomplete, had to be a miracle. Cinaed was no romantic, but to feel this harmony of heart and mind was to tread on the edges of all in life that was holy.
He ran his hands over her back, gathering her even closer. They’d known each other for only a short time, butlifewas short, with no guarantees of tomorrow. He wanted her in his life, traveling alongside him on whatever road lay ahead, no matter how long they had. What he’d proposed to her in Searc’s clan room wasn’t to justify the fulfillment of their passion. He’d meant it. They were already husband and wife, if she’d accept him. He wanted to do away with the pretense and move forward.
“Will you have me?” he whispered. “Will you take me as your husband?”
Her hold on him eased, and as she raised her face from his chest, Isabella clutched his coat.
He looked down into her eyes and was troubled to see the tears. “I know I’m not worthy of you. I—”
She placed her fingers against his lips, silencing him. “It’s not you. My life is no gift to any husband. What future do I bring to him? What will become of me is a mystery. But aside from that, my decisions are not solely mine to make. I have two other people who rely on me to set them on their paths.”
“I’ll take them, as well, and I promise to—”
“I can’t give you an answer right now.” She shook her head. Her voice trembled. She stabbed away a tear.
He was a man who’d walked through life without the love of a family. He’d lived independent of the security of his clan. Isabella cared for him. He could see it as clear as the morning sun rising from the sea. But he also recognized commitment when he saw it.
“I’ll ask you again next week, once you’re reunited with your family. And I’ll ask you again when we sail out of this harbor for Halifax. And I’ll ask you again when we arrive there. And I’ll ask you time and again until you either accept me or tell me to disappear from your life.”
She stabbed away another tear.
“What do you say to that proposal?” he asked, brushinghis thumb across her cheek and smoothing away another glistening pearl.
She retreated from his arms and turned her back to him.
He was disappointed, but he understood her hesitation. He also knew that, as it stood now, he had nothing beyond promises to offer her. Nothing real that would secure her future, or the future of those she was responsible for.
“Can we at least continue with the pretense of husband and wife… for the good of everyone involved?”
She half turned toward him and nodded. The candlelight illuminated her profile and the dampness on her cheek. He stood for a long moment, fighting the urge to go to her and pull her into his arms.
Finally, he found the strength to step away. “Good night, Isabella.”
He was at the door when she called his name.
“Stay, Cinaed. Stay with me.”
They met in the center of the room. She raised her face to him and Cinaed kissed her, tenderly at first, and then with all the passion in his heart. When their lips parted, she took his hand and pulled him toward the bed.
“Isabella, I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life, but—”
“Take me,” she said, stopping him. “Make love to me.”
However honorable his intentions had been, they were gone. What he’d been about to say to her was forgotten. She pushed his coat off his shoulders, and suddenly he was as exuberant and clumsy as a lad making love for the first time. Excitement and impatience pounded in Cinaed’s veins. His hands were blocks of stone as he struggled to remove her dress. A boot accidentally flewacross the room. Their heads bumped as she pulled his shirt off his shoulders. He stole kisses from her lips as she tried to be mindful of his wounds. The laces on a blasted undergarment nearly ruined him, but the shift underneath dropped away nicely.
And then it was done. Isabella stood before him as gloriously naked as a goddess.
Her breasts fit his palms perfectly. He squeezed the tips, and a soft moan escaped her. She backed onto the edge of the bed, and he followed, moving in closer and spreading her knees. She reached for him, her hands impatiently unfastening his fall. He groaned as her soft fingers wrapped around him, but he somehow rid himself of his trousers.
