Page 86 of Dangerous Exile
“You have different silences.” She turned her head slightly to see his profile. “This one, when your hands are playing in my hair, it means you’re silently working a problem you’re worried about.”
“The men Gilroy hired. Your father.” He said it simply, not hiding the truth of what was going on in his mind.
Her fingers involuntarily curled against his chest. “It is not resolved.”
“No.”
She pulled up, finding that unease had creased his brow. “It does not worry me.”
“How?”
“One, you’re worrying about both of those things, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s to trust you when you say you’re going to keep me safe.”
Her forefinger and middle finger tapped on his chest as she locked her eyes with his. “Two, the only happiness I’ve had in the last four years has been when I am with you. It is the only place in the world that I trust. And I’m willing to gamble anything on that. Blindly, going into it with nothing but reckless trust that you won’t hurt me. Always protect me. Maybe that’s idiotic. Maybe that’s the naivest thought in the word for me to have after the men that I have suffered under. Maybe I should be sailing off to a forlorn island to hide and live in a solitary cottage with nothing but a dog and a cat and cow for the rest of my life.”
His bottom lip jutted up. “An island like that sounds somewhat idealistic.”
“It’s not. It’s not, because you’re not in it. I don’t want that. I want you, Talen. Always. And I will fight for that.”
“You don’t have to fight, you don’t have to gamble anything, Ness.” His right hand slid along the side of her head, burying deep into her wet hair. “You have me. I love you. And I need you to want this with me. Want a future with me. Want children. Want a life we decide upon together.”
She nodded, a smile cutting across her face so hard it hurt her cheeks. “That—that I can do.”
He pointed north. “The last day’s ride to the border? If your arm is up for it, we will take horses and forget about the damned carriage and the damned muddy roads. Hell—even if you’re not up for it I’ll drag you onto my lap and change out the horse every hour to get you up there.”
Her right hand tightened around his neck, her eyebrows lifting. “We leave at first light and you can be mine by nightfall?”
“As long as there is a willing blacksmith, or farmer, or clergyman, aye. And you can be mine.” His face suddenly went serious. “But I jest—we only go if you have the energy.”
“For you? Nothing could hold me back.”
He smiled at her, one of his rare smiles that made heat pool in her chest, spreading out to every limb.
The rasp in his voice vibrated with pride, with intention. “I always knew you had a warrior’s spirit.”
She chuckled. “Thank you for showing it to me.”
“Thank you for letting me find it.”
She nuzzled her face into his chest, utterly content that he was her true place in the world. Finally found, finally secure.
Finally hers.
{ Epilogue }
It had to be neutral territory.
Neutral, where someone could hold him back from killing the bastard.
Thank the devil Juliet married a hulking man.
Evan Docherty clamped his hand on Talen’s shoulder, stilling him from charging at the wretched old goat.
Standing next to the wooden bench where Talen sat in the front drawing room of Whetland Castle, Evan, the future Earl of Whetland, was a massive, imposing force with a brutal grip. A grip that held Talen in place, reminding him of what was at stake.
How Juliet had ever fallen in love with the man, he couldn’t guess.
Yet he could.