Part 21 (1/2)

”I suspect that he probably thinks that yer dead. Not many survive the grips of the Atlantic,” he said solemnly. ”And if he did find ye, ye've nay need tae worry. Ye are safe here.”

Relief shrouded me now. Devon still wants me. He's going to forgive me, protect me from my father. I continued my story, encouraged by Devon's remarks.

”I stumbled upon Ms. Berks.h.i.+re's coach as when I reached the sh.o.r.e, trying to find someone to help me. They were already dead. There was nothing that I could do for them. My s.h.i.+ft was shredded from the ocean, and I took a dress from the coach. I went back into the forest to put it on.” I glanced up at Devon's face, looking for a reaction.

His expression was unchanged and I dropped my eyes back to our hands, continuing to fidget with his well boned fingers. ”Nathan found me in the forest. I was walking back to the coach to see if there was any food left behind. He asked me what my name was, and I told him it was Kate, and he a.s.sumed that I was Kate Berks.h.i.+re, and......”

”And the rest is history,” he finished my sentence.

”I wish that I could have told you sooner, Devon. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I didn't know how. I was so afraid that you would leave me,” I looked up, lip trembling and searched his face for a response.

”I could never leave ye, Kate,” he said simply.

”I love you and I don't want to keep secrets from you.”

”I wish that ye could have told me sooner too,” he said, considering what I had just revealed. ”I understand yer reasons for not telling me, I ken that ye had reason tae be afraid.”

”I hated lying to you. I wanted to tell you so badly.” I said with sincerity.

”Yer story explains many things. Ye've been through quite a trial. And tae be forced tae marry me on top of it all!”

”I know it sounds crazy, but Devon, you have to believe me. I promise you from the bottom of my heart that it's the truth,” I said quietly, looking up at him to gauge his reaction.

I wondered if he could ever trust me again.

Please, please let him forgive me. Let him give me another chance.

”I believe ye. It does sound crazy, but what choice do I have but tae believe ye? Either I'm marrit to a lunatic or yer telling the truth,” he responded. ”Whatever it is, lunatic or no, I'm happy that yer here,” he said, removing his hand from mine and placing his arm around me, drawing me closer to him. ”Please doona lie tae me again, Kate,” he said, his tone harsh yet forgiving. ”I need tae trust ye in all matters.”

”I'll never lie to you again,” I promised sincerely. ”I'm so sorry.”

We sat silently for a few breaths, trying to process what had just pa.s.sed between us. I leaned my head to rest it upon Devon's shoulder, enjoying his warmth as the firelight danced in front of me. The contrast of my husband's warmth in comparison to the cold lonely ground that I had endured last night was vast.

”Frankly, Kate, I don't care if ye tell me that ye came from the moon. I'd love ye just the same. I love you, a chuisle mo chroi,” he whispered, reaching up his hand to cup my face.

”I love you too,” I said sincerely, smiling as I looked into his green eyes. ”When I first got here, I was terrified. I wanted to escape,” I confessed, my fingers rubbing the woolen fabric of his kilt to help the words come forth. ”But then, when I found you, I felt hope kindle inside me, there was an immediate connection that I felt when I saw you,” I said looking up from my fingers to meet his patient gaze. ”I felt it the very first time when I saw you and I st.i.tched you up in the great hall.”

”Even though I was a drunken a.s.shole?” he said laughing under his breath.

”Even though you were a drunken a.s.shole,” I smiled, remembering our first encounter in the great hall.

”Is that why ye kissed me after ye finished st.i.tching me up when ye thought I was asleep? Or was it because ye thought that I was sae handsome that ye couldna keep yer hands off me, and had tae hold back from lifting my kilt and taking advantage of me right there on that table in the hall?”

I laughed so unexpectedly that I snorted in a very un-ladylike fas.h.i.+on.

”I don't know why I kissed you! It was just a peck on the forehead!” I said defending myself.

”I'll choose tae believe that ye wanted tae take advantage of me and that's why ye couldna hold back from kissing me against my will.”

”Against your will?” I said incredulously.

”Nae, I'm just teasing ye, la.s.s. But with all honesty, remember the next day when I came and spoke with ye in the garden, when ye checked my shoulder?”

”Yes, of course I remember that,” I said smiling as I thought back. ”You were pretending as though it didn't hurt very bad, trying to be all manly and tough and I could tell that it hurt a lot more that you were willing to admit.”

”Well, maybe it did hurt a bit more than I let on,” he smiled sheepishly. ”But when ye ran yer wee fingers over my chest and ye looked at me sae intensely with those big blue eyes, it took ever thread of composure that I had no tae kiss ye right then. h.e.l.l, I wanted tae do more than kiss ye, I wanted tae....”

”And here I thought you were such a gentleman!” I interrupted, giggling at his admission that he had been so attracted to me right from the very start.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and looked into the fire, enjoying being close to Devon, laughing and talking.

”I'm glad that I jumped into the ocean. Maybe I was meant to end up here, here with you,” I said nostalgically as I watched the fire and toyed with the small hairs at the base of his skull.

”I'm glad that it happened too. You've been the greatest gift of my life,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me softly. ”I need ye, Kate. I need tae ken that yer safe, that yer whole,” he whispered, a growing sense of urgency in his deep voice.

”I need you too,” I whispered in response, kissing him back and pressing my body against the length of his, matching his desire to come together as one.

”I doona think that I can be gentle, at least no the first time, and I'm sorry for that,” he said, already rucking up my dress and moving his kilt out of the way, ravenous with his need to be inside of me.

”I don't want you to be gentle,” I admitted, as crazed as he was to be joined together. I needed to feel him inside me to be sure that this was real, that we were both alive and safe together. I needed to know that he loved me still, even now that he knew my secret.

Devon growled in response and rolled me over so that I was on my hands and knees before him. He was inside me with one swift movement, the size of his pulsing manhood filling me, stretching me. He drove into me, holding my hips as he buried himself to the hilt before pulling himself out and driving in again.

I was wild with desire and met his fervor with the rhythmic motion of my hips. I felt Devon's c.o.c.k pulse and spill his seed deep within me, spasms racking through his body as a moan escaped his mouth. His release spurred my own and I felt my body shatter into a million pieces as I experienced wave after wave of intense o.r.g.a.s.m. Devon collapsed above me and rolled onto the blanket, taking me with him. The cool night air felt wonderful against our overheated bodies, and we did not speak, but lay wrapped in each other's arms, pa.s.sing a few moments in silence, listening to our heartbeats gradually slow down.

”Are ye well?” he whispered, bringing the edge of the blanket up to cover us from the chilly night air.

”Better than well,” I a.s.sured him, smiling in the dark.

”I lost control a bit ye have a way of doing that tae me. Did I hurt ye?” he asked, concerned.

”Not a bit. I liked it, I wanted it, needed it to be that way too.”

”Well, if that's the case and yer alright, I think I'm ready tae have another go at it,” he smiled in the firelight, face just inches from mine. ”Slower, softer this time, I want tae drive ye mad with desire. I want tae enjoy ye,” he confessed.

”I don't think I'll ever get enough of you,” I said honestly as I drew him closer and began to gently rock my hips against him, spreading my knees wide so that he could settle between them. He was ready to make love again already and I felt powerful knowing that I had such an affect upon him. We made love again in the glow of the fire and the moon, taking time to pleasure each other slowly and thoroughly, delighting in the feeling of each other's bodies.

We stayed up way too late, holding each other and basking in the glow of our lovemaking and the warmth of the crackling fire. The flames cast a magical glow on Devon's face as I answered his questions about what life had been like before I jumped into the sea on that fateful night.

There was such freedom, such relief now that he knew my secret. I felt as though a great burden had been lifted from my shoulders, and that I could finally be myself, my true self with the man that I loved.

We fell asleep, exhausted by the day's events and content with the trust that the disclosure of my great secret had built between us. We slept wrapped in each other's arms underneath Devon's worn plaid and my last thought was of my father, stalking me, tracking me and taking me from Devon.

We rode onward for two more days, all the while Devon asked questions about my previous life,and I answered them eagerly, relis.h.i.+ng that I could share my past with my husband. The only thing that stopped his onslaught of questions was his desire to kiss me, and my desire to kiss him back.

In our haste to reach the Berks.h.i.+re lands, we made love only one more time, in broad daylight when the needs of our bodies became more than we could bear. Devon again took me fiercely and I responded to him in kind. We both needed bodily a.s.surance that we were alive and together, our need consumed us.

On the second day of our journey, we saw the Berks.h.i.+re castle looming in the distance through the hills. Dread filled the pit of my stomach as I reconciled how I would tell this family about the tragedy that had befallen their daughter.