“I see no priest here.” Alethia could hardly breathe; her heart beat a quick staccato in her chest.
“Priests are hard to come by in the Highlands, Cousin True.” Robley gave her a brief hug, his usual grin absent. “union s take place without the benefit of a priest’s blessing because we are so far removed from society. Rather than have us all live in sin, the Church has sanctioned handfasting as legal and binding. A priest comes in the spring to bless all the handfasted couples and baptize their bairns.”
Stars danced before her eyes, and the world spun. “No.” She tugged at their bound wrists, her hand trembling as she tried to work the knot free with one hand. “You should have said. I can’t…I can’t go through…No, no, no!” She stomped her foot.
“Leave us,” Malcolm commanded his men.
Her whole body trembled, and panic made her frantic to untie their bound wrists. “Why did you do this? You didn’t ask. I can’t go through that again. I can’t.”
Malcolm took one side of the knot and held it so she could work it free. He unwrapped the strip of wool and tucked it into his sporran. “You canna go through what again, Alethia?”
She tried to bring air into her lungs and couldn’t get enough. No way did she want to have this conversation, but the devil drew her into his arms, and she was lost. His solid strength felt so damn good, so warm, safe. She burst into tears.
“Wheesht, love.” His hand went up and down her back. “What is it that you canna go through again?”
“I can’t sit around for a month waiting to hear that you’re…you’re…” She put her arms around his waist and sobbed into his chest. “I didn’t think you would come back. I thought I’d lost you. I can’t love you only to lose you.” Placing her ear on his chest, she listened to the beat of his heart. God, she’d missed him. “Don’t men here ask a woman first before marrying them?”
“I did ask.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Aye, I did. I asked if being a MacKintosh would make you feel better. Now you’re a MacKintosh.”
“You didn’t tell me becoming a MacKintosh involved getting married!” His smug tone lit the wick of her already frayed nerves. “This doesn’t count. I need to go home. I have a future, a family…and…and…Juilliard.”
“Who is this Juilliard you speak of?”
Malcolm’s voice had gone hard, and her head started to throb. “Juilliard is a place, not a person. Everything that meant anything to me has been snatched away.” She massaged her temples.
“Everything?”
The hurt in his voice penetrated the fog in her mind, and suddenly everything seemed too much to bear. “Your father will never approve. I have nothing to offer to this union .” She closed her eyes against the conflict of emotions overwhelming her. She loved him. She loved her family. “Am I never to see my home and family again?”
“You said yourself the Norse have ventured to your land in the past. If they can make the journey, we can as well. What say you to that?” He leaned down to peer into her eyes. “If I were to take you home, would it ease your mind? Would it no’ give your family peace to see you well settled?”
She looked at him through her tears. “You would do that for me?” Of course it couldn’t happen, but still the offer melted her insides. Her heart lurched. A life with Malcolm tempted her away from her fears—life without him seemed a far worse proposition.
“Aye. I mean to do all in my power to make you happy. Dinna vex yourself about my father. I am my own man and make my own choices. I care naught for more land. You bring yourself to our union , and ’tis more than enough for me.”
Malcolm put his arms around her once again, and she swallowed the constriction lodged in her throat.
“You said you wanted a large family, aye?” He lifted her chin and brushed his lips against hers. “I want that as well. We can start right away. Tonight.”
Her body shivered from his touch, and his words were a seductive promise. “What about Giselle? What will we do when she comes for me?”
“I willna let her take you.” His tone carried a hard edge, like the blade of his claymore.
“You don’t know…I haven’t told you everything.”
“It matters not. Giselle will no’ take you. I vowed to protect you, and I will.” His hold tightened. “Have faith in me, lass.”
“Why, Malcolm? Why did you do this?” She longed to place her faith in him, to let go of the fear she lived with every day.