Outlaw (Medieval Trilogy 3)
Wolf had been dozing in a chair he’d brought in. Though he’d held her often during the day, at night he’d refused to lie in her bed, insisting that she needed her rest and knowing that her body and mind needed time to heal. He roused and smiled as he saw her on her feet.
“The lady arises, eh?” he asked, stretching in the chair.
“Aye.”
“And how’re you feeling, Mistress of Dwyrain?”
“Better.”
His blue eyes gleamed and a shock of black hair fell fetchingly over his forehead. “Well enough for a wedding?”
“A wedding?” she repeated. “But whose—?”
“Our wedding, love,” he said, standing and circling her small waist in his arms. “The priest, he swears he’s able to perform the ceremony. All we need is a willing bride.”
“Father Timothy is still recovering.”
“Aye, but Hagan rode to the abbey and located another man—Brother Something-or-Other—to help Timothy. He’s ready.”
“Are you?” she asked, touching his rough cheek with her fingertips.
His smile was warm, his eyes sincere. “I’ve been waiting for you all of my life, Megan,” he said, his lips brushing lightly over hers.
“But your life as a—”
“What? A criminal? An outlaw?” He let out a soft little chuckle. “ ’Tis over. Bjorn is the leader now.”
“So you’re ready to settle down here?”
“At Dwyrain?” He shook his head. “Nay, m’lady, I think we need a new start, and long ago my brother promised me a small portion of land with its own keep. ’Tis time to take him up on his offer. If you’ll agree to be my wife.”
Her heart was suddenly full and she pressed a soft little kiss to his lips. “How could I deny you?”
“You couldn’t.” Lifting her off her feet, he carried her to the bed and fell with her on the rumpled coverlets. “ ’Tis too early yet for me to show you how much I love you, m’lady, but when you are well and truly healed, I will take my time pleasuring you.”
“Mayhap I’m healed already,” she teased and sighed as his lips found hers.
“When you are, woman, we will have another child,” he promised, “and ’twill be the first of many.”
“How many?” she asked.
He laughed and the sound echoed off the rafters of the chamber. “As many as you want, Megan. As many as you want.”
Snuggling close, she wrapped her arms around the rogue who would soon be her husband and whispered into his ear, “I think we’ve already started.”
“What—?”
“I know not, but the bleeding’s stopped, and I … I feel that the babe is still with me, that somehow Cadell saved that small soul.”
“Megan,” he said, shaking his head. “ ’Tis too much to believe.”
“Trust me,” she said and placed a kiss at his temple. “Do you not know that I love you, Wolf?”
“Forever?”
“At least,” she said with a giggle.
“And I love you, woman,” he vowed. His lips found hers in a kiss that touched her soul and promised a lifetime of happiness for the lady and her outlaw.