Chapter Eleven #4
But she was. She swallowed hard but stood her ground. He looked…beautiful, perfect… damp . His hair was stuck to his forehead, and she reached up hesitantly and gently pushed it back. His skin felt warm. “You’re… sweating .”
“Aye.” He wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve—a motion that nearly stopped her heart. “Gravity will take some getting used to.”
Still, she could only stare at him. Some getting used to? What did that mean? Gah! Her brain wasn’t working right!
“Are ye not even a wee bit glad to see me?”
She steepled her hands against her mouth, against the hope that she was wrong. That he hadn’t come to take her, this time in the other direction. “That depends.”
“On what?”
She swallowed hard. “On whether you’re here because I somehow just gave myself a heart attack walking up this hill?”
A relieved laugh escaped him, and he shook his head. “No, mo ghràdh . Not this time.”
Thank God. “Then why… how are you here like this?”
He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek, then skimmed them down the length of her arm until he’d threaded his fingers with hers.
He brought her hand to his mouth. “I’m here because I couldna be anywhere else.
I tried. I did. I went to the Council, the place I’d always thought I wanted to be.
But I didna fit in there. Truth is I didna fit in anywhere anymore.
Ye ken, there was a piece of me missin’.
See, I’d left it behind on my last visit here, and without that, nothin’ felt good or right.
It just felt like a jagged ache where…where you should be. ”
Emma finally took a breath. But she couldn’t dare hope it was for more than just a moment. “So…you dropped by for a visit?”
“I’m not goin’ back, Emma.”
“What? You mean—?” She covered his hand with hers. “They let you go?”
“I wasna a prisoner. ’Tis no’ like that.”
Hope fluttered in her chest. “Then…like Elspeth?”
“Somethin’ like that.” He pulled her closer until she was pressed up against him. “’Twas a bit more complicated in my case. But ’twas Marguerite’s doin’ all along to put us together, to fix the tear in our soul circle. To mend what was broken in me.”
“Broken?” Emma shook her head. “You weren’t broken, Connor. You were only wounded. And wounds heal.” She glanced down at her leg. “And when they do, you get back up and start again.”
He stared at her for a long moment, taking in the sight of her. “I want to start again with you, Emma. I canna go back. I’m mortal now. That canna be undone. But I have no right to think ye feel the same fer me as I do fer you. And I wouldna presume to—”
She pressed two fingers against his lips.
“Oh, but I really, really wish you would.” Then she replaced her fingers with her mouth and kissed him deeply.
He was warm and solid and as human as any woman could wish for.
They wrapped their arms around each other, and he kissed her back until they both ran out of air.
Then he kissed her again. Her insides fluttered like the wings of a trapped bird. She could hardly contain her happiness.
Somehow, this kiss was different from the kisses he’d given her as a celestial. This one was full of hope and possibility, all the things they couldn’t have wished for before. Because somehow a miracle had happened. He was here. With her. And they could imagine a future together.
“I love ye, Emma,” he whispered against her mouth.
“I love you, too.” But she had to ask. “Just checking. You’re sure it’s me and not Violet you love? Because I can never be—”
“Violet is my past, and as sure as I’m standin’ here in your arms, yer my future.” His fingers splayed against her back. “’Tis you, Emma. ’Twill always be you that owns my heart.”
That was all she needed to hear. She swayed against him and smiled against his mouth. “All this time, I was sure I’d never see you again.”
“Ye couldna see me, mo ghràdh , but I was watchin’ you. Watchin’ you heal and fight to get your life back. And all I could think was… I’m in the wrong place . Ye inspired me to fight fer myself. Fer what I knew we should be.”
We. She liked the sound of that word. The cool wind scoured across the moor, whipping around them like an embrace. “What does that mean? Mo ghràdh. ”
He gave a little shiver of desire as her mouth caressed his ear. “It means ‘my love.’ Which is what ye are.”
“ Mo ghràdh ,” she repeated, smiling against his mouth now. “Promise you’ll always call me that.”
“I swear.”
“Tsk. Angels can’t swear,” she teased, pressing a finger against his mouth.
He caught her finger between his teeth, then kissed it. “Then ’tis a good thing I’m not one anymore, as I’m greatly lookin’ forward to bein’ fully mortal again, ye ken?”
Emma blushed. “Oh, I do, indeed. But how will I ever explain you to everyone? That I just picked up this handsome Scot on my short trip here and brought him home with me?”
He smiled. “Just tell them ye met me where the earth and the sky meet, at the edge of Scotland, where all good things begin.”
She laughed. “Hmmm. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Ye’ll come ’round. I’ll make a true Scotswoman of ye yet.”
They started down the hill together holding hands. All around them, the tiny branches of heather imparted their mossy scent as their legs brushed them. And beyond, the sea stretched out to the horizon.
“I’ll need to call you something else. At least for the time being.”
“Why is that?”
“I can’t introduce you to Aileen as Connor Montrose. She’d…well, she’d faint.”
“Who’s Aileen?”
“Oh,” she said, “just your great-great-great-great niece.”
“My— Och. Now I feel old. Well, I ken ye can just call me Farm Boy.” He winked at her.
“No. I called you that before I really knew you. How about Westley?”
“Westley, eh? The brave, strong, and loyal one?”
“Don’t forget helpful.”
“Right. Does that make you the princess, then?”
She tucked her arm around his and leaned against his shoulder. “Oh, yes, without a doubt, mo ghràdh . Without a doubt in the world.”
The End