Page 30 of Love Beyond Reach (Morna’s Legacy #11)

W e slept on and off through the night, waking every few hours. We would then visit before making love again. As the sun began to peek through the night sky, we both knew it was time to decide what we must do next. Our night of pretending as if we were the only two people in the world was ending.

“I wish to marry ye, lass. As soon as we can see to it, if ye’ll have me. I want ye as my wife.”

Laying with my head on his chest, I looked up and smiled at him.

“O’course I’ll have ye. Do ye think I would have done everything we just did, if I dinna plan to marry ye?”

He laughed against my hair.

“Aye, I do. Ye wanted me that badly. What should we do? I fear when ye tell Henry he willna handle it well.”

“He willna be pleased, but I’ve no reason to believe that he willna be gracious.”

Shifting me off him, Jerry sat up in the bed.

“Ye still canna see it, can ye? I doona believe Henry is a good man. I doona say that because the thought of his hands on ye causes my blood to boil. I know ye say he’s been good to ye, but all men can be good for a time if it gets them what they want.

What he wants is ye, lass. Now that ye’ve agreed to marry him, he believes ye are his. ”

“Ye believe his behavior will change now that we are betrothed?”

Jerry nodded, his fingers tracing lazy circles down my arm.

“Once he has ye away from yer brother and father, once ye are at his home around his servants, aye. He yelled at Kip yesterday as we readied their horses. ’Twas the temper of a man well-practiced in cruelty.”

I thought of Elspeth and the scene we’d witnessed from her bedchamber window.

“Henry can do nothing to me as long as I’m here. ’Tis Father who concerns me. He willna care for me breaking my word.”

“Would he…” Jerry’s voice lowered as he asked, “Would he ever permit ye to marry me?”

“No.”

I hated my answer, but I knew it was true. Father saw it as his duty to see me cared for in a manner he felt acceptable. Jerry had no rank in class and no home of his own.

“Then what are we to do? I know ye willna leave here. I would never ask ye to run away with me.”

He was right. I would never leave my home forever, but for a time, perhaps it would be bearable. I could think of no other way we could be together.

“We could enlist Alasdair’s help. ’Twill place him in a terrible position, but I know he will help us. He cares for ye. As long as I am happy and loved, he doesna care who I marry.”

I pushed myself up and twisted to face Jerry. Every inch of my body ached deliciously.

“What assistance can he provide?”

I thought for a moment, trying to work through every possible outcome in my mind. No solution was ideal, but unless I wished to leave for McCabe Castle in a matter of days, we would have to do something.

“He can help us marry in secret and see that Henry returns to his home without a dispute breaking out between our two clans. Henry is his friend. I know he can talk to him. With time, Father will have to accept what we’ve done. If we are married, he willna have a choice.”

He did have a choice. He could always disown me and order me to never return home. But as long as Alasdair lived, I knew my brother would never allow it.

Jerry didn’t seem pleased with the suggestion. His face was solemn—his eyes sad.

“I doona wish to take ye from yer family, lass. Perhaps, we shouldna marry. Perhaps, ye should send Henry away and every suitor after. ’Twill pain me to see ye in the presence of any other man, but I’d rather have ye in secret than tear apart yer family.”

It was an outrageous suggestion.

“I canna bear to have suitor after suitor welcomed into this castle when I know my heart belongs to ye. We must think of another way.”

We discussed various possibilities until the night was long gone and sunlight filled the room. Eventually though, with the appearance of no plausible solution, we fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

“ M orna , wake up. Ye must wake up. ’Tis urgent.”

I stirred to the touch of someone’s hands on my shoulders and opened my eyes to find Elspeth standing next to my bed. I scrambled to cover myself and immediately flew into an attempt to explain Jerry’s presence in my bed. She interrupted me before I could even start.

“It doesna matter, lass. Not now. It doesna matter. Something terrible has happened.”

Jerry stirred beside me, his face turning oddly white as he looked at Elspeth.

It was only then that I could see the concern on her face.

“What is it? What’s happened?”

“’Tis yer father, Morna. He’s dead.”