Chapter 34
Archer rode like the wind. It was one big slap in the face from Eileen. He’d expected her to wed eventually, but not to O’Gunn.
How could she even think of it after everything the bastard had done? How could she do it after he had kidnapped her brother?
It must have been his doing. O’Gunn must have forced her hand somehow. Archer would do what he could to make sure she didn’t go through with it.
The black beast beneath him was warm, steam rising from its back as they tore across the moors. Archer’s shoulders ached as he held the reins taut. His rear bounced up and down in the saddle as he leaned over the horse’s neck and spurred him faster.
His stomach was tied in knots, and his heart was thudding against his ribs. He believed there was some sort of mix-up and Eileen had been forced or conned into marrying O’Gunn. He didn’t understand how the cad still had any power after what had happened.
Worse than that, he realized what a mistake he’d made in letting her go. He needed to get to her and convince her to ride home with him.
“Come on,” he urged his horse. “Get me there before she leaves, and ye’ll have all the oats ye want and a barrel of apples, too.”
All he could think about were her lips, the soft curves of her body, the way she stood up against him when he was wrong, the feel of her in his arms, how he wanted to share what he felt with her, and how she brightened his life in every way.
The castle appeared in the distance, and he felt a burst of hope. Hope that she was still there and he could apologize for hurting her. He knew he’d hurt her. They weren’t together, and it was all his fault.
A horse and cart were leaving the castle, and he pulled his steed to the side to dodge it before heading for the main gate. He stormed through and into the courtyard, looking around as if he might see her there.
He saw some horses tied to a long post, and he brought his horse up alongside them, leaping down and tying the reins to the post. He ran for the first entrance he could find and burst into McFair Castle.
He didn’t remember the last time he was there, and he barely remembered this time as he ran through the halls, shouting Eileen’s name.
“Eileen! Eileen Kilmartin!”
People stopped and looked at him as if he were a madman—which he might as well be. They would call the guards at some point, but he didn’t care about that.
“Eileen! Eileen!”
He skidded to a halt, realizing how foolish he was not to stop and simply ask. He heard booted steps behind, and when he turned around, three guards were marching toward him. He strode straight for them.
Archer didn’t care if they threw him in the dungeons, as long as they conveyed his message.
“Laird MacLennan?” asked a familiar voice.
“Reid,” Archer said as the scarred man skirted around the guards.
“What are ye doin’ here?”
“Has she left yet?”
“Left? Who?”
Who else would I be talkin’ about!
“Eileen,” Archer pressed. “Ye cannae let her go to O’Gunn.”
“What are ye talkin’ about?” Reid frowned.
It was then that Archer realized what had happened. He smiled as he thought about Ivy back at the castle, laughing at him.
“I was tricked,” he scoffed as he realized that Eileen was not on her way to O’Gunn Castle, after all. “I need to speak to Eileen.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Reid said. He motioned for the guards to leave them. “Ye hurt her when ye let her leave.”
“I ken,” Archer mumbled. “I should never have let her leave, and I ken that now. She needs to ken that as well. She might hate me—and she has every right to—but I need to say me piece.”
“Ye have that right after what ye did for both of us,” Reid said. “Go down that hallway”—he pointed over Archer’s shoulder—“and ye’ll find the solar. Wait there for her.”
“Thank ye.”
Archer left in one direction and Reid in the other.
When he found the solar, it was not all that different from the one in his castle. It was a little bigger, but just as bright with the large windows.
His conversation with his mother came flooding back like the June downpours, and everything became so obvious. It was as if there were a veil over his face, and he couldn’t see anything properly until it was lifted away.
He went to the window and looked out at the grounds beyond, the large pine trees much larger than the birch trees back home.
One important conversation with Maither before I left, and now an even more important one with Eileen.
A few minutes later, he heard soft footsteps behind him, and when he turned around, his breath was taken away. Eileen wasn’t dressed in splendor, but she was there, and that was all that mattered.
“What do ye want?” she asked.
“Is that really how ye’re goin’ to speak to me?” He arched an eyebrow. “I dinnae care how ye feel about me; ye cannae speak to me like that.”
“Ye dinnae care how I feel? Then what are ye doin’ here?” she shot back.
“That’s nae what I meant, and ye ken it.” Do ye nae see that I’m here for ye? What more do ye want? “Of course I care about ye, nay matter what ye might think. I sent ye away because I care about ye, and now I ken that was the wrong decision.”
“Aye, and?” Eileen put her hands on her hips.
“Ye’re nae goin’ to make this easy for me, are ye?”
“I dinnae ken,” she drawled. “I dinnae ken why ye’re here, so I dinnae ken what to make hard for ye.”
Archer stepped forward, but she didn’t back off.
“I came here to tell ye that I love ye,” he said.
He saw the twitch at the corner of her mouth and the flicker in her eyes. She hadn’t been expecting him to say that. He’d caught her off guard, and if he kept going, he could win her over again.
“I spoke to Maither,” he continued. “I thought for the longest time that she blamed me for me faither’s death, but she never did.
I always blamed meself, and whether that’s right or wrong, I always will.
I didnae want to feel that pain again, so I thought it better nae to become involved with someone I cared about.
“Some people are worth the risk. Nay, that’s nae true.
I only ken one person who’s worth the risk.
I dinnae want to keep worryin’ about gettin’ hurt or those around me gettin’ hurt, and I cannae shut everyone out any longer.
I ken I made the biggest mistake of me life when I sent ye away, but I’m only here now because of ye. ”
Eileen pursed her lips, still not speaking.
“If it werenae for ye,” Archer continued, “I wouldnae have come. I had to grow as a man, and ye were the one who helped me do it. If it were anyone else, I would never see them again, but I’m here for ye, because of ye, and I’m nae leavin’ without ye.
Even if I have to throw ye over me shoulder and carry ye back to me castle, I’ll do it. ”
Eileen shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I bet ye say that to all the lasses.”
Archer couldn’t help but smile.
“Ye think I would just let ye throw me over yer shoulder without puttin’ up a fight?” she challenged.
“I would expect nothin’ less,” Archer replied.
Eileen dropped her hands from her hips. “Did ye really mean what ye said? Do ye love me?”
Archer stepped closer to her until they were toe to toe. He looked into her eyes, finally feeling at home.
“I’ve never said that to anyone in me life before. I love ye, Eileen Kilmartin, and I’ll always love ye. Me love for ye will sustain me for the rest of me life. I’ve kenned it deep down for a while, but I was too afraid to acknowledge it. I’m nae afraid anymore. I love ye.”
Eileen blinked a few times, tears welling up in her eyes. She released a shaky breath through her nose.
“I tried to tell ye,” she sniffed. “I lost me courage a couple of times, and that last mornin’ with ye, I was about to say it, but ye kissed me.”
“I couldnae let ye say it and then let ye leave,” Archer admitted. “I couldnae bear that. I should have let ye say it and then said it back, but I was too afraid. I’m nae afraid anymore.”
“So what? We do it all over again? Be betrothed for real this time?”
“Only if ye’ll have me,” Archer said. “I’ve nae been fair to ye, and I wouldnae blame ye if ye wanted nothin’ to do with me, but I’ll try to win ye over for the rest of me life if that’s the case.”
“If ye’re goin’ to pester me all the time, then I might as well agree to it afore ye start annoyin’ me,” Eileen drawled.
“Aye, I can be very annoyin’.” Archer held back a smile. “I will never stop.”
“Then I guess we should try again,” Eileen relented. “Just to see if we are compatible, ye ken?”
“I dinnae think we’ll have any problems with that,” Archer said. “I do love ye, Eileen. I never thought I could love anyone, but ye’ve changed everything.”
“Och, I love ye, too,” Eileen breathed. “Me heart’s been broken since I left yer castle, but just seein’ ye today mended it a wee bit. Bein’ in yer arms again will go a long way.”
“Like this?” Archer asked as he pulled her in an embrace.
“Aye, that’s better,” she murmured.
She looked up at him, and he brought his lips down onto hers. They melted into each other, and a soft moan escaped her lips.
Archer slid his arms under hers and pulled her up against him. He took her lips in a languorous, searing kiss before he let her go.
“Do ye ken that Ivy told me ye were ridin’ off to O’Gunn’s to be wed?”
“And ye believed her?” she asked.
“It nearly killed me,” he admitted. “I rode here immediately.”
“Is it true that ye burst in here shoutin’ me name at the top of yer lungs?”
“Aye, that might be true.” He winced. “I couldnae stop until I found ye.”
“And ye did find me.”
Eileen raised her alluring doe eyes to his, and he leaned down and kissed her again.
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
“Well, we talk to yer older braither, and I ask for yer hand in marriage.”
“Or ye can just take me back to MacLennan Castle. We will get married, and everyone will just accept it.”
“Aye, we can do that,” Archer acknowledged. “But it’s the right thing to do to talk to yer braither first. Besides, do ye nae want to have yer family at yer weddin’?”
“Aye, I suppose I do,” Eileen relented.
Archer twisted the edges of his mouth as he tried not to smile. “Nay, wait, I have a better idea.”
Her eyes widened a little. “What is it?”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. She was warm, even with the small distance between them. “Ye go and get changed into yer disguise, we leave the castle together as two men, and nay one will ever ken that ye’re gone. How about that?”
“Och, ye are a rotter,” Eileen snorted, pushing his chest. “A braw rotter, but a rotter all the same.”
Archer’s chest rose and fell quickly as he laughed. He grabbed her hand again and pulled her close. She didn't struggle.
“And ye’re marryin’ a rotter, so what does that say about ye?” He winked.
“I dinnae ken,” Eileen quipped, turning away but not letting go of his hand. “We’re just a couple of fools wanderin’ through life.”
“A couple of fools in love,” Archer reminded her.
“Aye, a couple of fools in love.”