Page 17 of Love Me Forever (Highland Duo #2)

Brianna had to smile. “I will be the one who decides whom I wed, and how can I decide that when I have not been asked?”

He laughed and the strong sound echoed in the stillness of the surrounding woods. “We will wed, of that I am certain, but I will appease your romantic side and properly request your hand in marriage.”

If she had not been aware of his tender side, she would have taken affront to his arrogant proposal that they would wed merely because he was certain of it. But she could not be angry with him, for she understood that he spoke from his heart and in his own way. She waited patiently for him to ask.

After he made certain his fur was secure around her, he took her hand and made ready to walk with her.

She stood firm where she was and asked, “Do you not intend to ask me?”

“Aye, in time.”

“In time? Why not at this moment?”

“It will not do.”

Her eyes rounded. “Will not do? And why not?”

“You expect it.”

If her eyes could have widened further, they would have. “You confuse me. You tell me we will wed, you tell me you will ask me, and now you tell me I expect it.” She shook her head.

He took her in his arms. “I am not your common man. I am strong in my thought and opinion, and when I make a decision, there is no changing it. I am used to following my own way of things and having my own way.”

“I have become accustomed to the same luxury.”

He smiled. “Then we will match wits often.”

“You do not mind defeat, then?” she asked with a serious tone, though there was a twinkle in her eyes. His grin portrayed his confidence. “I have known only victory.”

“Then prepare for your first defeat,” she challenged with her own confidence.

His laugh was hardy and he threw his arms wide. “Do I look as though you can defeat me?”

She looked him over and with an arrogant confidence wiggled her pinky in front of his face.

He smiled and shook his head in disbelief. “Are you brave or foolish?”

“Foolishly brave.”

He gave her a quick kiss. “I love you.”

Her heart skipped several beats and she sighed. “I still cannot believe that I have fallen so very much in love with you.”

“It was my good looks that won you.”

She laughed this time. “Aye, your looks certainly captured me when first we met.”

He leaned his forehead to hers. “And now do my looks capture you?”

She brushed his lips with hers and cupped his cheek with her hand. “Aye, you are my handsome hero.”

“Hero? I am your hero?” He looked startled.

She seemed as surprised as he. “Why would you not be my hero? You rescued me from death and tended me back to health with a tender hand and heart. You are a true hero.”

He appeared to drift off in thought as he spoke. “Heroes often spill blood.”

She knew his thoughts were elsewhere in a place that brought him pain. She wished to ease his suffering.

“Come walk with me.”

He did so, taking her hand in his as they strolled slowly away from the cottage.

Silence followed their trail, their leather boots leaving imprints in the snow that remained on the ground.

It had been a week since the last snow, which had been but a sprinkling, and the ground had remained untouched except for their recent footprints.

They walked on the carpet of white hand in hand.

“I have spilled much blood, Brianna,” Royce said, feeling she was owed some truth about him.

“You are a warrior; like most it could not be helped.”

“I will spill more. The Highlands are in turmoil and the fighting will continue until we are left in peace.”

She feared the fighting would never end, for those who led would always be hungry for more power and wealth.

“I wonder if peace will ever be found for the Highlands.”

“We will not know if we do not try, and if I do not try, my children will also bear arms, and I would prefer them to live in peace.”

She stopped abruptly and looked up at him with round sad eyes. “I cannot give you children. You know this.”

It seemed not to bother him. He simply said, “We will see.

She remained insistent. “Nay, Royce, I can bear you no sons or daughters.”

His badly bruised and battered eye was healing nicely, and she could now see the vibrant darkness in both his eyes. And she could understand how the intense dark color could intimidate.

“My seed is potent.”

“Aye, I am sure it is.” Reluctantly she added, “But I am not fertile, so your seed falls on barren soil.”

He smiled with his next remark. “I repeat. I have known no defeat.”

She did not smile. “And I do not wish for your first defeat to be so disappointing.” She waited a moment before she expressed a concern that tore at her heart. “If it is children you hope for, perhaps you should think twice before wedding me.”

His tongue was sharp and quick. “Perhaps you should think twice before speaking foolishly.”

She took an abrupt step away from him. “You are being foolish to think I can give you something I cannot.”

“You are being foolish if you think that it matters.”

She grew annoyed. “Your own words tell me this.”

“I want children and I feel we will have children, but if I am wrong—and I know that I am not—it makes no difference. I love you and I will wed you.”

Sadness filled her eyes along with a glistening of tears. “You say this now, but what happens if no children come along? Will you not be disappointed with me? Will your love for me fade? Will you?—”

“Stop!” His powerful shout echoed through the woods.

She stood as still and straight as the trees that surrounded them.

He grabbed hold of her shoulders and fixed his eyes on hers.

“Listen well to me. I am twenty and eight, long past the age most men take a wife. I have waited to wed, for I wished to find a special woman to love. I swore when I found her that I would make her mine forever and that I would love her forever. The love I have for her and she for me will be the most important thing in my life, and with the passing years it will deepen and grow. Nothing matters but that love.”

He took a breath and his dark eyes softened along with his voice. “I have found that love in you, Brianna. I want nothing more but for us to love. What follows I will accept as long as you remain by my side and love me forever.”

Tears trickled down her face. Words failed her. Actions did not. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. She listened to the hard, steady beating of his heart, felt his warmth seep into her, and knew then what to say.

She looked up at him. “I will take your seed often and pray for a miracle.”

He smiled and cupped her face in his large hands.

“This you promise me?”

“Aye, I promise you.” Her own smile was wide.

“And if I suggest that we return to the cottage and start on that promise?”

A teasing twinkle replaced her tears. “I would suggest that you carry me, for it would make for a quicker return to the cottage.”

He roared with laughter and swung her up into his arms, his hasty retreat leaving heavy footprints in the snow.