Page 65 of Love Me Forever

Ian leaned close to him and whispered, “I will tell you where her bedchamber is.”

Royce grinned and listened.

* * *

Brianna stoodby the hearth in her chamber. The roaring fire cast a much-needed heat over her chilled body. She wore her white linen night shift and was barefoot. She had been snug beneath the wool blankets on her bed but found that she could not get warm. Finally in a need to chase her chill, she climbed out of bed and came to stand in front of the fire’s warmth.

She could not stop thinking of Royce. He had sounded so confident that she carried his child. She placed a hand to her flat stomach. She would have loved to have given him a child—many children, if it was possible. But it was not and he knew that. Why, then, did he persist in this ridiculous pursuit? Nothing would come of it except that he would be free of her.

Did he want to be free of her?

Was there no truth to his words to her?

Had he ever really loved her?

And why with all these endless questions did she still love him?

She shook her head. Love made fools of people. Or was it the need to love and be loved that made people foolish? She had actually believed that Royce truly loved her. He had been kind and caring. But then, what else could he have been to her? She had been injured and needed care. But it was a kind and caring soul that tended the injured. He could have left her to her own fate, not given a thought to her well-being. But he had not; he had carried her back to his cottage and had tenderly cared for her in every way.

She shook her head again. None of this made sense, and the more she attempted to make sense of it, the more confused she became.

Remember.

That word echoed in her head and forced her to remember how gentle and loving he had been with her.

Could all of that have been lies?

A heavy sigh escaped her. She did not want to think that he did not truly love her. She wanted him to love her as much as she loved him. They had been so happy together alone in the cottage. But then, she had not known the truth about him.

Would it have made a difference?

And had she not learned about him during that time? Had she not come to truly know him and not the legend? If she had known him to be the legendary warrior Royce Campbell, how, then, would she have reacted to him?

She grew tired of the confusion and the endless questions, and she hurt desperately from the thought that she would never feel his arms around her again. She had found a comfort and safety in his arms that she had never felt before, and she longed for his arms at this moment.

“You should be in bed,” Royce whispered from behind her before his arms circled her waist.

“You should not be here.” She tried to sound annoyed that he intruded on her privacy, but she was not. She was glad for his presence.

“Aye, you are right,” he agreed with a slow and lazy kiss to her neck. “You should be with me in my bed.”

She silently reprimanded herself for smiling at his suggestion.

“You do not deny that you want to be there as much as I want you there?”

Her body was beginning to respond to his kisses, and if she were not careful, she would surrender without a thought or a care. “I cannot deny the truth, can you?”

His lips traveled up her neck to rest near her ear. “I cannot and I have spoken it to you.”

She feared the answer she might hear but asked her question. “Have you always spoken the truth to me?”

He was quick to respond. “I have not lied to you, Brianna. I love you, and as crazy as I may sound, I feel as if I grow to love you more each day. Believe me, Brianna, please.”

She wanted to believe him. The aching plea in his voice told her to believe him, and her body trembled with the need for her to believe him.

He felt her slight tremble and tightened his hold on her waist, forcing her body to relax against his. “Does your back pain you?”

She was honest in her answer. “A little.”