Chapter Nineteen
I an lifted Mairi off Sara’s lap. “Tell your momma good night.”
Mairi wrapped her tiny arms around Sara’s neck and clung tightly. “Night, Momma.”
Sara’s ordeal had frightened Mairi. Sara made every attempt to reassure her daughter of her love. She couldn’t make promises out of her control, but she could make it possible to never leave her again on purpose.
Sara returned her hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Night, my love. We will continue your story tomorrow.”
Ian brushed his lips across Sara’s. “I will return shortly.”
His presence soothed Sara’s frayed emotions. Ever since she awakened three days ago, he had never left her for long and always showered her with loving attention. They had yet to discuss the impact of her ordeal, and Sara decided they would this evening. She needed to put the past behind her so she could enjoy her future with Ian. Too many doubts lingered between them that they needed to discuss. Only then would their nightmare be over.
Sara rose from the bed Ian had ordered her to stay in. She wrapped her robe around her and moved to wait for Ian on the settee. Her change in position would force him to acknowledge their need to talk. If he refused, then Sara wouldn’t hesitate to remind him of the passion between them. His time treating her with precious care would end this evening. She wasn’t a fragile miss but a brave duchess.
“She wanted to sleep with us again. We should never have allowed her to,” Ian said as he entered the suite.
“It helped to soothe her fears,” Sara disagreed.
Ian stopped and swung his gaze from the bed to where his wife rested on the settee. “You need to be in bed.”
Sara narrowed her gaze at his high-handed demand. “I need for you to join me.” She held out her hand.
The determination in his wife’s eyes showed him they would have their long-awaited discussion that evening. He came to her side and clasped her hand before lowering himself next to her. If they were to discuss her near-death experience, then he wanted her wrapped in his loving embrace.
“I am sorry to have worried you and Mairi when I fled,” Sara started.
“Why did you?”
“I overheard you speaking with Marian and Stuart about attending an event. You argued with them, and Marian expressed her distaste for my recent behavior. My greatest fear had come true of shaming your family. I thought it would be best if I left. When I read the letter from my father, my only thought was to protect you and Mairi,” Sara admitted.
Ian tipped her chin up. “Ah, love, you misunderstood. Marian wasn’t ashamed of you. She had grown concerned about how the strain of your father’s terror affected you. I had been blind to your misery in my attempt to keep you safe. In which I failed. If you had felt secure in my love, you would have shared your fears with me.”
The unconventional start to their marriage had left them both unsure of the other’s feelings. Even after confessing their love, their doubts had lingered. Doubts Sara no longer held and she hoped Ian felt the same.
“I was a fool to ever doubt our love. Can you ever forgive me?”
Ian brushed the hair from Sara’s eyes. “There is nothing to forgive, my love. You are here and safe in my arms, where I hope you will always remain.”
“I promise,” Sara pledged with a kiss.
Ian sank back into the cushions, pulling Sara with him. “After you have recovered, I wish to return to Scotland if you agree.”
“I wish for nothing more.”
Ian tightened his embrace before broaching the delicacy of the next topic of conversation. They had spoken of nothing but their love for one another since he rescued her. However, they’d never discussed the torment she’d endured at her parents' hands. He didn’t wish for her to recall the events, but he hoped it would help with her recovery.
“I am here for you whenever you wish to discuss your ordeal.”
Sara turned into Ian’s arms and stared deeply into his eyes. She noted his hesitation in asking her about her torment. She never wanted to relive those moments. However, if she were to heal, then she must confide in Ian the terrors that plagued her whenever she was alone.
Sara told Ian of the trauma she’d endured with an ease she never expected. The comfort of his arms reassured her that her parents could never harm her again. However, when she came to the part concerning her parents' cruelty, she had to pause while tears flooded her with the terror and grief she’d experienced. Throughout it all, Ian remained steadfast with his love and support.
They discussed long into the night her feelings about her parents’ and grandmother’s secrets. Ian explained how the Hardys were her aunt and uncle and how they wished for a relationship with her if she was amicable to one. Ian explained how he’d rescued her with their friends’ help. He shared his grief of waiting for her to return to him. Sara never wanted either of them to experience the terror they’d endured ever again.
“Know this, my dear Sara, you are loved by everyone. By me especially. Never allow your parents' cruelty to leave doubts about how very special you are to all those who love you.”
Sara smiled at him with the same tender smile he had fallen in love with. His wife was a treasure he would guard with his heart. He never thought he would love again. Especially not a love that left him shaken. However, Sara proved miracles happened.
Ian’s declaration warmed Sara’s heart. His love was a precious reminder of the fragileness of life, but also one that proved one must endure hardship to enjoy the simplicity of another’s love. Ian’s love was her salvation she would cherish forever.
“I love you, my darling husband.”
Ian rose with Sara in his arms and carried her to their bed. He slid them between the sheets and kissed her with the softest of kisses. “I love you, my darling wife.”
Sara sighed into Ian’s kiss as he caressed her with his loving touch. She had ached for his touch the past few days. While he never left her side, he had kept himself at a distance, as if he might break her. Now he showed her his distance was only his act as a gentleman to allow her time to recover. His touch set her desire aflame with a need only he could fulfill.
His lips trailed a path of fire along her body as he slid her nightdress off. Sara arched into his touch, her body begging him to possess her. She’d thought she would never experience Ian’s lovemaking again when she left. Now the power of their connection was so profound, Sara moaned at the effect it held over her.
She held his head to her chest as he suckled at her breasts. However, when he parted her thighs and slid his fingers into her pussy, Sara could no longer hold back from expressing the relief he brought from his touch alone.
“Ian.”
Sara’s breathy moan urged Ian to savor her sweetness on his tongue. He slid between her thighs and dipped his head to blow a soft breath against her core. Her wetness glistened from her desire. A desire he hungered to explore with one delicious lick after another. At the first stroke of his tongue across her decadent pussy, Ian lost himself in Sara’s whimpers of pleasure. He swirled a path between her folds, savoring her essence.
When Sara tightened her hold on his hair and arched her hips in rhythm with his fingers, he devoured her wetness with a relentless hunger that would take him forever to satisfy. Her clit hardened under his attention with the swift flicks of his tongue, drawing her toward the edge. Sara’s thighs pressed against his head, holding him hostage to ensure her pleasure.
Ian inhaled the musk of her desire, losing himself in Sara’s scent. He was a husband desperate for his wife to explode on his tongue. He slid his hand along her body and pinched her nipple between his fingers, twisting with a desperate urgency to send her flying.
“Ian.”
Ian’s attention had her swirling in the whirlwind of their love. She abandoned control, losing herself in Ian’s passionate touch. Her body shook from the orgasm that ripped through her. Nothing compared to how Ian loved her with his heart and soul. She had lost her heart to him the second she met him.
Before she could recover from the onslaught of Ian’s passion, he entered her with such slow precision that Sara was positive her heart had stopped beating. But as soon as he sank in as deep as he could and she wrapped herself around him, her heart started beating again, a slow rhythm that matched their bodies moving as one. It was a dance as old as time. They moved against one another, with their bodies pressed close to feel the other’s heartbeat.
Ian entwined their fingers together and pressed a soft kiss to Sara’s lips. “You are the other half of my soul, and I love you with all my heart.”
Tears slipped from Sara’s eyes at Ian’s gentle lovemaking and the love shining from his eyes. “My heart only beats for you, and I will love you for an eternity and beyond.”
Their love was a rare gem that neither of them had ever expected, one that had flourished out of their control into something they would never take for granted. They were two lost souls who had found one another when they thought they were alone. A stroke of luck, some would say.
However, destiny would disagree.