Taken By Storm(87)
“I daresay the look in his eyes when he knows that you will be going to America with him will far exceed it.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. Thank you for a chance at happiness.”
Once Philip and Alaina were gone, the group continued discussing the plan in relative silence until near dusk, when they stopped for the night. It wasn’t until later, when all but Burke and Storm were asleep, she taking the first guard as usual, that Burke got a chance alone with her.
“You know I don’t like this,” he said, sitting beside her on a slight rise that allowed a good view of the forest from various angles.
“I know,” Storm said, and slipped her arm around his.
He asked a question he knew the answer to, but he had to voice his concern. “Tell me why I should let you do this.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“What if I said I love you too much to chance losing you?”
She hesitated, then answered. “I would think I am lucky to have someone who loves me so much, but it would change nothing.”
He took strong hold of her hand. “I will be relieved when this is over and we are sailing home to America.”
Storm sighed. “Burke, you know I cannot go with you.”
He would settle this dilemma once and for all. Actually, she had settled it once she had made the choice to go into the prison to free Cullen. “Do you love me?”
She glanced at him with the most serene blue eyes he had ever seen, and he knew then and there just how much she loved him, though he wished to hear the words.
“I love you very much, Mr. Longton.”
He smiled. “Then it is settled.”
“Burke, please understand my—”
“No,” he snapped. “You understand that now you have no choice in the matter as I have no choice in deciding if you go into Weighton or not.”
“What do you mean?” Storm asked confused.
“You are the infamous outlaw Storm. What do you think will happen once you pull off a successful escape from Weighton? Not only will you have doubled the earl’s wrath, you will most likely have incurred the king’s wrath, and the bounty on your head will surely double, possibly triple. There will be no safe place for you to hide. You will have no choice but to leave Scotland. You sealed your fate, my love, once you made the decision to enter Weighton.”
Her silence told him that she weighed the impact of his words and knew them to be the truth.
“In my zeal to free your brother, I had not given the consequences thought. You are right. I will be hunted viciously, as will anyone associated with me. No place will be safe.”
“Give it thought now,” he said. “And while you’re thinking on that, think on this.” He brought her hand to his mouth for a kiss. “Storm, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
She stared at him.
“The choice is yours. I do not want you to feel that you must marry me in order to go to America. If you don’t wish to marry me, I will see you safely to America and I will provide for you until you get on your own feet. However, you do love me, so it would seem reasonable that you would want to marry me. Would you? Marry me, that is.”
She smiled.
“A smile is a good sign. Let me remind you again of how very wealthy I am, how much you adore my sense of humor and how deeply I am in love with you.”
Her smile grew. “You forgot your leadership qualities.”
“See what a good catch I am.” He grinned.
“There is only one thing that matters,” she said softly.
“What is that?” he asked and leaned his face down near hers.
“Love, that you love me and I love you. Nothing, absolutely nothing else matters. Foolishly, I thought it did.” She shook her head. “I thought rescuing people was my fate, but I realize it’s not forever. Life changes. It always does whether we’re ready for it or not. I admit I’m not ready. I don’t believe I ever would be, but it looks like fate has decided that my life is about to change.” She kissed him.
The kiss was gentle and Burke favored it for it sealed their future, their fate.
She rested her cheek against his. “I can’t believe I am agreeing to this. What will happen to my men, my group of people who depend on me? There’s so much to consider. Is this really a wise choice?”
“I will offer passage to America for all those who choose to go, and for those who do not, I will give them sufficient coin to go elsewhere.”
“You would do that?”
“I would do that for you, for I know you would worry over their fate and I want you to leave Scotland free of worry for those who choose to remain behind.”