“He carried ye all the way into Scotland from Mabrick Castle.” She regarded him with admiration. “I canna imagine how difficult that must have been, even with ye being as slight as ye are. He must really love ye.”
A flutter began in Kinsey’s chest. It went cold and still almost as soon as it had started.
Love.
He didn’t love her. And even if he did, he was meant to marry someone else.
The flash of jealous hurt passed almost as soon as it sank its teeth into her.
He was alive.
He was free of the dungeon and wouldn’t be hanged. Even if he couldn’t love her, she loved him enough to rejoice that he was safe.
Kinsey tried to rise, but the discomfort was too great.
With careful hands, Fennela aided her into a sitting position and propped her back against the wall. The pressure eased from her chest and allowed her to breathe somewhat easier.
“Is that better?” Fennela asked.
Kinsey nodded. “What’s happened to me? It feels as though I’m breathing in fire.”
“Ye’ve broken several ribs from what I can tell,” Fennela replied. “Yer sides and back are bruised, and ye’ve taken quite the knock to the head. I suspect that is why ye were no’ awake when Sir William brought ye here.”
“Kinsey?” William leapt up from the chair and scrambled to her side.
Fennela gave a knowing smile and gracefully backed away.
William knelt in front of Kinsey and took her hand in his, which was still warm from his slumber. “Kinsey, thanks be to God, ye’re awake.”
“I heard ye carried me all the way to Scotland.”
“I would do it again if need be.” He reached toward her face and stroked her cheek.
It was a tender caress. A lover’s touch.
Her pulse raced.
“William,” she whispered.
The door clicked as Fennela left her cottage, giving them privacy to speak alone.
William gazed down at Kinsey. “I love ye.”
Her chest ached, and she realized she was breathing too fast. “Ye can’t. Please don’t say such words to me when ye intend to marry another.”
He shook his head. “Even if it costs me the opportunity to assume lairdship of Dunscaith, I willna marry another woman. No’ when there’s already one in my heart.”
The world seemed to suspend at that moment. Her heart paused mid-beat; the air in her lungs froze mid-breath. All that existed was the warm clasp of his hand on hers and the way his brown eyes searched her face.
“Kinsey, I love ye,” he said with a sincerity that resonated in her soul. “I canna promise ye a castle or wealth. I dinna know what I can promise ye, beyond a life with me and my eternal devotion.”
“I don’t care,” Kinsey whispered. “I don’t need a castle or wealth.”
“’Tis well and good as we may no’ have any of it.” He gave her a charming grin that made her pulse run faster. “Knowing all that, will ye still marry me?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she nodded, worried she might not be able to speak around the welling of happy tears in her throat. “Aye,” she whispered.
William beamed at her. Not a tailored smile meant to be irresistible, but a genuine smile that crinkled the skin at the sides of his nose and corners of his lips and made his eyes twinkle.
A smile just for her.
He rose off his knee and curled his hand around the back of her neck, touching her as if she were a fragile thing that would break at first contact. His lips brushed hers, delicate as a butterfly’s wing.
“I love ye,” Kinsey said softly.
“And I ye.” William nuzzled his nose against hers and slowly eased away. “I was a fool to try to abide by my father’s wishes. It took me almost losing ye to realize I could never give ye up. No’ for anything in this world.”
“Don’t think anything more of it.” Kinsey embraced him as tightly as she could. “All that matters is that we’re safe. That ye and Reid are not in the dungeon, or worse…” She shuddered, unwilling to even think of the alternative.
He looked away, but not before she caught sight of the flash of emotion on his face. Sorrow.
Ice threaded through her veins. “William,” she asked tentatively.
His brow furrowed.
“How did we get out of Mabrick Castle?” She asked. “where is Reid?”
He drew a hard breath.
“William.”
He looked back at her. “The Scotsman gave us a key.”
Her stomach sank, and the pain in her ribs was so great, she could scarcely think. “The Scotsman?”
William nodded. “Aye, the tall one with the dark hair.”
“My brother,” Kinsey confirmed. “Drake.”
William stilled. “Yer…brother?”
“Aye, the man ye saw at the tavern before our first attack on the castle.”
William ran his hand through his hair, his face hard.
Alarm tingled at the back of Kinsey’s neck. “What is it?”
“He set us free and gave us the key to yer room, along with directions to find ye, while he distracted the English.”
“Nay.” Kinsey’s breath escaped her. This time, she welcomed the pain as penance for what she had cost Drake. “King Edward was considering knighting him.” She shook her head and balled her fists in the bedsheets. “If he helped us, then he has so thoroughly betrayed them that he will never be considered for a knighthood.” The pain in her heart was unbearable.
What had she done?
What had she cost Drake?
“That isna all he did.” William pressed his lips together and a sadness so visceral passed over his features that Kinsey’s body went cold with fear.
“What is it?” She asked. “What’s happened?” Her voice trembled. “Reid?”
“We were attacked as we were leaving,” William said. “Yer brother fought the English guards so we could escape.”
Kinsey put her hand to her mouth. “Nay.” There would be no saving him. If he were caught…“Where is my brother?” she demanded.
“He and Reid stayed behind to fight.” William reached for her. “’Twas the only way ye would have survived. Ye were so injured, ye couldna even walk.”
Kinsey pulled away from him, unwilling
