Page 29 of Promise of a Knight
Alaric held her tight, nuzzling the top of her head and breathing in the floral scent of her hair. “I’m sorry, love. I beg your forgiveness for the boar I acted today.”
She shook her head, the softness of her hair tickling his skin. Hell, but he knew he couldn’t live without her. Holding her in his arms felt soright.Just the few hours since he thought she’d betrayed him left him nearly broken.
“I do not blame ye. How could ye have known?” Alex’s voice wobbled.
“But I should have. You’ve been nothing but honest with me from the moment we met, even if you didn’t share your parents’ directive right from the start, you did eventually tell me. I know you, Alex. I know you wouldn’t have been able to go through with it. I just… I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you told me before.”
Alex turned her face up to him, emotion shining within the depth of her eyes. “I would never do anything that I knew would disappoint ye. That would have me losing respect for myself.”
Brushing the tears from her cheeks, Alaric smiled. “Even when I thought you might have, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, caring about you. Couldn’t stop the rush of sentiment that clouds my mind every time I envision your face or hear your name.”
A soft smile curved her lips and he couldn’t help but brush his thumb over her bottom lip. Velvet, sweet.
Alex tucked her head against his palm. “The great warrior knight talking words of sentiment?”
“Oh, aye, love. You, Lady Alexandra Maxwell, have bewitched me. I would crawl to the ends of the earth for you. Fight every battle. Leap from buildings. Face a boar with no weapons.”
“Ye needn’t do any of that. I’d not ask it of ye. Besides, what if one of yer acts of love proved fatal? Or maimed ye in some way?”
“Would you not love me if I were maimed?” He grinned and tickled her chin.
Love.He’d just said the word out loud without having ever confessed it, or even admitted it to himself. His stomach leapt to his throat and he found himself without breath.
Alex’s eyes widened, her lips half open on a gasp. “Do ye love me, Alaric?” she questioned quietly.
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers, staring into the one eye both of hers had become. “I love you very much.”
“The truth is,” she started, licking her lips, her grasp tightening around his middle. “The thing is I would love ye the way ye are, maimed or even beyond the grave.”
His chest swelled. “I’d never hoped to hear those words from anyone. But the day we met, when I caught you in my arms, and you stared up at me with a mixture of hope and panic, I wanted you to be mine for the rest of my days.”
Alaric gently brushed his lips over hers. He kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her forehead, then went back to her lips to kiss her with all the love he felt. Wrapped tightly in his arms, just where he wanted her to stay all of his days.
“How can we?” she asked, arms circling around his neck.
“I want to marry you, Alex. Say you will.” He pulled back, staring into her eyes, suddenly feeling as though his life would be over if she said no.
How had he gone from being a confident knight of the realm to a nervous, green lad still tugging at his leading strings? He’d laughed at men before him, his brothers, when they’d felt the same way, swearing he would never endure such. But here he was, getting down on his knees, holding onto the hands of the woman who held his life in her grasp.
“Marry me,” he said again, eyes up toward her.
“But I am Scottish.” She shook her head.
“That does not matter. I’d not have you any other way. You see your sovereign has married an Englishwoman. Throughout the de Garde line, we English have married Scots. I want you for my wife. I cannot live without you.”
“What of the law? Of permission? My parents will surely deny it.”
“I will gain permission from the king myself. Queen Margaret will be in favor of the match. And if they deny us, I will whisk you over the border before anyone can stop us.”
Alex got down on her knees, scooting close to Alaric on the dirty, stable floor, their thighs touching. “I do not want to live without ye in my life. I am certain I’d be miserable the rest of my days.” She smiled crookedly. “Ye know, I’d not had much, if any, confidence before I met ye.”
“Bah, I’ve only known you to be filled with fire.” He brushed his lips on hers.
Alex cupped her hands on his cheeks, stroking his cheekbones. “A spark of a flame that grew into a blaze.”
“That is how I feel about you. Answer me, please. You torment me with the waiting.” He drew her hands to his chest, letting her feel the beat of his heart.
“Aye, Sir Alaric de Garde, I will marry ye.”
