The sea was savage, trying to seep into him, ravenous, relentless.
He hauled Aidan's limp body close to him, and with a twist to ease the tension, the knot fell apart, and his brother slid free.
They flopped Aidan over the side of Marjorie's boat, and the sudden pressure on his belly sent water spewing from his mouth. Cormac climbed in behind him, guiding his brother's head, leaning him over the side. Cormac slapped hard at Aidan's back while he worked to catch his own breath. Both of them were racked with tremors. Aidan hacked fiercely as the last of the seawater erupted from his lungs.
Marjorie was at Cormac's side, and her warm body pressed against him felt like a furnace. At the mere suggestion of heat, unstoppable shivering seized him.
“Thank God,” she cooed at him, laying frantic kisses along his cheek and chafing heat into his arms and back.
“Thank God you're alive. ”
With a grunt, Aidan spat one last time over the edge of the boat and shifted away from them.
Cormac coughed sharply into his hand, taking a moment to catch his breath once more. “We saved Davie. Saved the men. ”
“I know. ” She combed eager fingers through his hair, pulling a wet shock of it from his brow. “I know you did.
I'm so sorry if I ever doubted you. ”
“I sank the boat,” he said.
She looked to where the Oliphant once was and gave a little half laugh. “Clearly. ?
?
“I did what I promised, Ree. ” Cormac's body finally relaxed, and his breathing grew even. “You know what this means, right?”
She looked back to him. The morning sun was low in the sky, and it made her vibrant eyes glimmer like lapis.
“What?”
His heart swelled at the sight of her. Glorious, brave, impetuous Ree. His Ree. “You'll marry me. ” Marjorie tucked her hand in his, and it was all the anchor he needed on this earth. She leaned in for a tender kiss. Touching her forehead to his, she whispered, “Without question. ” Epilogue
Only in her wildest dreams had Marjorie imagined this.
Her, at Dunnottar, by Cormac's side. The grass was green and lush from the spring rains. Red light streaked the late afternoon sky, casting bands of orange and crimson across the gently rolling waves far below. The two of them lingered beneath a makeshift trellis, pine boughs laced with flowers arching overhead. The scent of blue-bells and sea lightened her soul.
“What is it, Ree?”
She glanced up, and her breath hitched, seeing her wildest dream of all: Cormac. Her husband. They'd married, facing Cormac's sea.
He raised a brow, silently pressing his question.
Joy overcame her, and she felt it as a physical thing radiating from deep inside. “It's just that I love you. ”
“And I, you. ” He cupped her chin for a lingering kiss. Reluctantly, he pulled away. When he spoke, his voice was husky with emotion. “Always, I've loved you. ”
Marjorie beamed. She took in the scene around them. Folk milled about Dunnottar's grounds, and as the moon began to challenge the sun in the sky, a small bonfire appeared, drawing smiling faces and cups of whiskey like moths to flame. “I still can't believe it. ”
“Believe it. ” Cormac's gaze tracked hers, looking at his siblings gathering around the fire. “I'm sorry your uncle isn't here to share this,” he added somberly.
She nodded, her voice too tight with emotion to speak.
He took her hand and squeezed it. “I'm your family now. ”
It was a simple notion, but it filled her all the same. She gave him a loving smile. “And them?” She nodded to the MacAlpins: Bridget, Gregor, Declan. And though Anya was far away, Aidan's presence eased the sting of her
absence. Their faces were at once familiar, and yet they were still strangers, too, in many ways. “I suppose they're my family, too, now. ”