Page 34 of Married to the Cruel Highlander (Unwanted Highland Wives #5)
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T he fire had died to a soft glow. Ashes whispered as they collapsed in the hearth, a quiet echo of the storm they’d both survived—outside and inside.
Keith lay beside her, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, one arm draped loosely over her waist. Their legs were tangled under the blankets, skin still warm from where they’d pressed together.
It should’ve felt strange, but it didn’t.
Ersie’s fingers traced idle shapes on his chest—the long scar starting from his shoulder, the freckle just under his collarbone. She memorized the sound of his breath, the way his hand would shift every so often like he was still afraid she’d vanish if he didn’t hold on.
“I still cannae believe it was Lucas,” she whispered.
Keith exhaled, the sound heavy but calm. “Unfortunately, I can.”
She turned her head toward him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “I used to envy the bond between braithers. Ciaran and I lived apart for twenty years. Our bond is strong, but yers seemed different. I imagined it would be… unconditional, unshakable.”
His jaw twitched. “We had that once. Or I thought we did.”
She nodded quietly, letting the silence wrap around them. There was something about this hour of the night that she appreciated most of all. It was the hush between night and dawn that made honesty easier.
He glanced at her. “Tell me somethin’ ye havenae told anyone.”
Ersie stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then smiled faintly. “I quit.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Quit?”
“Aye. He’s appointing a new second-in-command today.”
He sat up slightly, propping himself up on one elbow. “Why now?”
She pulled the blanket up to her chest and shrugged. “Because I’m ready for the next chapter of me life. And I dinnae ken what that looks like yet. But I ken it doesnae include standing in formation every dawn, pretendin’ I still have somethin’ to prove.”
Keith studied her.
She continued, the words spilling easier than she had expected. “I trained so hard to earn me place, to be taken seriously. For years, that was everything. But lately… I’ve been wantin’ something different.”
He tilted his head. “Different how?”
“Something that’s mine .” She hesitated, then added, “I dinnae want to belong to anyone. Nae a commander, nae a clan. Nae a man.”
He smirked slightly. “So, nay more fightin’? Nay more battlin’? Nay more barkin’ orders at lads twice yer size?”
Ersie grinned. “Only when they deserve it.”
Keith grew more serious then, his fingers brushing along her arm. “So, what are ye lookin’ for next? Another commitment maybe?”
She stared at him.
“Nay,” she said finally. “It’s nae that.”
“Then what?”
Ersie sat up, curling one leg beneath her, and looked down at him. “Freedom.”
Keith blinked. “Freedom?”
She nodded. “Aye. Men get to go off and find themselves. Ride off, seek glory or solitude or adventure. And everyone claps them on the back for it. But a woman? If she says she wants the same, it’s seen as runnin’ away. As leavin’ duty behind.”
Keith leaned back against the pillows, watching her closely.
Ersie sighed. “I want to ken who I am when I’m nae swingin’ a blade. When I’m nae beholden to a title or a mission. I want to breathe without the weight of always bein’ useful.”
There it was, the raw truth. Laid bare between them like a sword on the table.
He didn’t interrupt, just nodded slowly.
“And maybe that makes me selfish,” she added, “but I’ve spent me whole life chasin’ someone else’s idea of what makes a woman strong. I just want to… figure out what it means for me. ”
Keith was quiet for a long beat, his eyes never leaving hers. Then, finally, he said, “I get it.”
She wasn’t sure she believed him—not fully—but the warmth in his voice made something unfurl inside her.
He reached for her hand and pressed it gently to his chest. “Ye want to be free, and I want to ken what freedom looks like when I’m nae angry or grievin’. Mayhap that’s the next chapter of yer life—figurin’ it out.”
She squeezed his hand back. “Mayhap,” she murmured.
But she knew this couldn’t last. Not like this.
His chest rose and fell beneath her palm. Their breathing had begun to slow, but her mind wouldn’t stop racing.
She felt it—the pull of the hourglass.
Dawn would come soon, and with it the consequences of the choices they’d made.
She shifted slightly, trying not to disturb the blanket. “I should leave before anyone wakes up.”
Keith didn’t release her. Instead, his grip tightened. “Ye cannae leave.”
His voice was rough, like gravel. Not demanding, not pleading. Just true.
She froze.
“Ye are truly mine now,” he said softly. “Ye can become me second-in-command if that’s what ye wish. Or ye can choose something else to do. But I’m selfish enough to claim ye. And I willnae pretend to be all right with the thought of anyone else claimin’ ye as I have done so… thoroughly.”
Ersie sat up slowly, her eyebrows rising. “Keith?—”
“Ye dinnae even have to be me second-in-command. Or make yerself useful to me in any way.”
Her mouth opened, then closed again.
He turned to her fully now, his eyes dark and sincere. “Ye’ll stay as me wife.”
Her breath caught. The words hit her harder than a blade, sharper than any strike she’d taken on the training grounds.
“Yer… yer wife?”
He nodded once. “Aye.”
“But we’ve only…” Her voice faltered. “We only just…”
His wife? Truly?
He reached out and tucked a curl behind her ear. “I ken what this is. I’ve been through too much nae to recognize it. I may have been a fool for fightin’ so long against what I wanted, but I’m nay longer a fool now.”
She searched his face, looking for a jest, for uncertainty, for anything that would let her laugh and brush it aside. But there was none.
“I ken ye have been through hell,” he said quietly. “That ye have fought to be free, to be seen, to belong to nay one but yerself.”
Tears stung the back of her eyes. And yet he did not stop.
“But if ye let me… I’ll spend the rest of me life makin’ sure ye never have to fight alone again.”
The silence between them turned holy.
“Let me make ye happy.”
Her voice came out as a whisper. “And if I want to make ye happy too?”
A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Then I’ll be the luckiest bastard in the Highlands.”
Ersie laughed—a soft, surprised sound, halfway to tears. “Ye dinnae play fair.”
“I never once said I did, nor did I give ye any indication that I am capable of fightin’ fair, lass.”
He kissed her then. Not like earlier. Not wild, not aching.
This was slow. Final. Like a vow.
She leaned into him, lowering her walls—all of them. Because he wasn’t asking her to be anything less than who she was. And somehow, still, he wanted her forever.
When they pulled apart, she cupped his cheek.
“I love ye,” she whispered.
Keith exhaled like he’d been holding that breath since the day they met. “I love ye too.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, the fire crackling low beside them.
She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring. She didn’t know if she’d wear a sword or a ring or both.
But she knew one thing now, beyond all doubt—she was exactly where she belonged.