He stared at her as he leaned back against the table, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“Yes, of course I did,” he muttered.
“But didn’t you have other matters to attend to?”
“They weren’t as important.”
“But—”
“What do you want from me, Kyla?” he finally burst out, unable to keep it all contained any longer as he flung his arms wide. “Do you want me to profess my undying love for you? Well, aye, I love you. I love you more than anything in this world, more than my own life or anything else in it. I would do anything for you, to make you happy, to see you smile. When I thought ye were going to die, I wanted to die with you. Since you’ve left me, I’ve been nearly destroyed, but if leaving me makes ye happier, then so be it. Stay with your father. But stop asking me about this, about how I feel for you. What does it help knowing? Why do you want to see me in pain? Just know that you are the only woman for me. You always have been and always will be.”
He stopped as abruptly as he’d begun, as if shocked that the words had come from his own lips.
Kyla stared at him, her mouth agape.
“You—”
“Leave it. You know now, but please let it stay at that. You dinna have to say anything in return.”
“Finlay McDougall,” she stood and walked over to him, a perplexing smile beginning to form as a tear ran down her face. “I love you, too. I love you just as much and do not want to spend another day—or another night—without you. You are stubborn, you are serious, and you annoy the hell out of me. But you are also caring, you are loving, you are kind. You take the weight of the world and carry it around on your shoulders because you want things to be better for everyone else. Once you commit to something, you are dedicated to it, for better or worse. So I want to hold you to that. You’ve committed to me—as your wife. When we married, you told me, ‘Above and beyond this, I will cherish and honor you through this life and into the next.’ You have me, now and forever.”
She smiled up at him as disbelief flooded through him. Was this a joke? Could she truly mean such a thing? He leaned into her and gathered her face in his hands.
“Truly?”
“Aye,” she said with a smile, “I am not letting you go.”
He kissed her with all the passion, all the love he felt for her from the core of his soul. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she entangled her fingers in his hair, drawing him even closer. Their mouths met in a play of love, and tears began to fall down Kyla’s cheeks in earnest.
This was more than he ever could have asked for, more than he had ever dreamt of for himself. When he finally pulled back, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“Now,” he said with a grin, “you have business to discuss?”
* * *
Finlay poured over her proposal, trying to concentrate on the words in front of him as she sat on his knee, explaining it to him. She should have taken the chair next to him, she really should have, but at this moment they didn’t want to let go of one another.
He nodded as she explained to him what she was thinking.
“Have you spoken with your father about this? With Rory?”
She nodded. “They are more than happy to agree to it, as long as they receive their monthly stipend. We will manage the lands together, and one day, should we be lucky enough to have children,” she blushed at that, “they will inherit all of the lands.”
“It’s a long road ahead,” he mused. “But I’m up for it, if you are.”
“I am,” she said resolutely.
“As for children,” he said with eyebrows raised, “we should probably start working on that, should we not?”
“I think, husband,” she answered with a sly smile, “that is a wonderful idea.”
They started for the stairs, lost in one another. When they reached the bedroom, she smiled as she threw off her overcoat and turned toward him.
“I love you, Finlay McDougall,” she said.
“And I love you, Kyla McDougall,” he responded. “You are the sunlight in my life. When I am dreary, you are uplifting. When I am angry, you are reason. And when I am stubborn, you are yielding. You are my soul, my other half. Through this life, and into the next.”
He kissed her again, and they promised themselves to one another, for now, and forever.
Epilogue
Two years later
“You can lead them tomorrow, Roderick.”
“I will not, Fin, I did the last bunch. You do it.”
“They like you. Humor them, will you?”
“What about Adam?”
“He—”
“I’ll do it.”
Finlay and his brothers stopped arguing when a feminine voice filled the room—a voice that never failed to capture his attention, no matter when and where they were.
“You’re not leading the hunt, Kyla,” Finlay said gruffly, turning from her back to the pages of paper in front of him—pages that outlined the schedule for the upcoming month. Pages he had to focus on and, hence, the reason he could no longer stare at his wife.
She had always been beautiful, true, but now… now she seemed to have an ethereal glow about her, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“Why ever not?” she asked, walking further into the room and taking a seat at the table with the brothers. “In fact, why was I not invited to this meeting?”
Finlay and his brothers shared a guilty look. He was trying to think of the best words to use when Roderick bestowed his most charming grin upon her.
“We didn’t want to disturb you, Ky,” he said, and Finlay nodded in agreement. “We were told not to cause you any undue stress, so we thought we would look after things until… well, for
