Chapter 35
Sonya quickly plaited her hair and walked into the kitchen. She needed something to do with her hands, something to take her mind off the fact Deirdre had come to see her.
She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder, and then Cara said, “It will be all right.”
“She’s right,” Reaghan said with a firm nod.
Marcail sat on a stool and put her hand on her stomach and her unborn child. “I wish I had your optimism, Cara.”
Isla handed Marcail a bowl and a spoon. “Stir that for me, please.”
There was a pause before Marcail did as Isla asked.
Isla moved to stand beside Sonya. “Deirdre marked all of us the moment our men stormed her mountain.”
“Aye,” Larena said with a soft sigh. “As soon as we heard she hadn’t died, we all knew her retaliation would be swift.”
Marcail dropped the spoon and wiped at her eyes.
“What does it mean, though? Marked.”
“I think it means she has something in store for each of us,” Sonya said. “She didn’t say as much, but it was implied.”
“Did you see her?” Reaghan asked.
Sonya shook her head. “I saw nothing other than her cloak. She held it together in front of her, and the hood was pulled up in such a way that her face was obscured.”
“Why the ruse?” Larena asked.
Marcail snorted. “Precisely. Why not show Sonya who she was?”
“I suppose it has something to do with her plan,” Isla said.
Cara rolled her eyes. “Whatever that might be.”
The subject was quickly changed. Sonya paid no attention to anyone. Her mind continued to go over every word Deirdre had spoken to her again and again. There had to be something she was missing, something that would help them.
“We’re very happy for you,” Isla said as she began to knead the dough.
Sonya glanced up. “Happy?”
“For you and Broc.”
“Oh.” Sonya shrugged and continued to clean the fish they would have for their noon meal.
“Sonya,” Isla said. “There is no need to deny your feelings for him any longer.”
She smiled then. “I’m not.”
“Is he?”
“Nay. We just haven’t had a chance to...”
“Talk,” Isla finished. “I can understand that dilemma. Hayden and I had the same problem.”
Sonya turned to her. “I knew our chances of returning weren’t good. I didn’t want to die without knowing him.”
“No one can blame you for that. We’ve all seen the way you look at him and he looks at you. You both needed to come together. If you care for him, fight to keep him.”
“Listen to her,” Cara said.
Marcail nodded, her many small braids atop the crown of her head moving with her. “These Warriors are fierce in battle but can be very stubborn. Especially when it comes to the women they care about.”
“Our mortality,” Cara added.
Sonya wiped her chin with the back of her hand. “He’s not said as much, but I believe the fact that I’m not immortal bothers him.”
“Nay,” Isla said. “It is his immortality which troubles him. He will have to endure long after you are gone.”
Reaghan grinned and nudged Marcail’s arm. “Make it so Broc has no choice but to see you as his, Sonya. Once he has claimed you, there will be no turning back for a Warrior.”
The women erupted in laughter.
Sonya smiled, but she wasn’t convinced. It was going to take much more than that. It was going to take persuading him his curse couldn’t hurt her.
Broc stood with Ramsey and Quinn atop the battlements. He had tried to convince Fallon to allow him to look for Deirdre, but Fallon had said it didn’t matter where Deirdre was, that they needed Broc at the castle.
“I agree with Fallon,” Ramsey said. “I think Deirdre is gone.”
Broc stared at the forest. “I’d like to find out for myself.”
“If she had wanted in the castle, she could have gotten in,” Quinn pointed out.
Ramsey put a hand against the sawtooth battlement wall. “For whatever reason, Deirdre left you and Sonya alone. Rejoice in that.”
Magic, strong and pure, sizzled around Broc. He recognized the feel of Sonya’s magic and turned toward it. She walked from the kitchen to Cara’s garden.
Her hair was pulled away from her face and was once more in a braid. The thick plait slid over her shoulder to hang in front of her as she bent over to tend to a plant.
“We’ve all been waiting for you to claim her,” Quinn said.
Broc frowned and glanced at the youngest MacLeod. “Was my attraction so obvious?”
“Aye,” Ramsey said. “As was hers for you.”
“She’s mortal.”
Quinn smiled wryly as he faced Broc. “So is Marcail. Lucan faces the same obstacle with Cara.”
“And Galen and Hayden have yet to know if Reaghan and Isla are still immortal,” Ramsey added.
“What I’m trying to say,” Quinn said, “is that if you love her, then it shouldna matter.”
Love. Did Broc dare to admit it, did he dare to dream of sharing a life with Sonya? Did he dare to subject her to the curse or, worse, test it to see if it was gone?
He knew he wanted her beside him, wanted to share her smiles, her laughter, and whatever else came their way.
But would it be enough when he watched the life fade from her eyes?
“I’ll admit I'm holding out hope that somehow our gods are bound again,” Quinn said into the silence.
Broc turned his head to Quinn. “And if they are no’? You will accept that you will live on as Marcail and your unborn child willna?”
Quinn’s head jerked with a nod. “I love her more than anything. Whatever time I have with her I will cherish and enjoy every moment of. I doona want to lose her, but I would rather spend a few years with her than never know the love between us.”
Broc thought over Quinn’s words as he continued to watch Sonya. Maybe Quinn had the right of it. Whatever time Broc might have with Sonya was better than no time at all.
Sonya's head suddenly lifted and their gazes clashed. It was time to talk to her, time to speak of what was between them. And if there was a future for them.
He jumped from the battlements and landed softly in the bailey. His long strides took him around the kitchen to the garden. But Sonya wasn't there. He caught sight of her walking toward the village.
Broc inwardly smiled when Sonya looked over her shoulder at him. He didn’t waste another moment following her. He didn’t need to use his power to find her, all he had to do was follow the trail of her magic.
It led him through the village and inside one of the newly completed cottages. He pushed open the door. She stood facing the hearth, her face in profile to him.
He stepped over the threshold and softly closed the door behind him. Words ran through his head, words he wanted to say to Sonya, but he didn’t know where to begin.
She exhaled and turned to face him. The corners of her lips were tilted in a soft smile. “I’m glad you followed me.”
“I couldna stay away if I wanted.” The truth of his words slammed into him like an arrow. And suddenly the curse didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered as long as he had Sonya. He took a step toward her, his hands itching to touch her smooth skin. “There is much I need to say.”
Her amber gaze dropped from his. “And much I would speak of as well.”
“I know I’m no’ the best of men,” Broc began. He moved closer a step. “I doona have a title or the land that was once mine. The only thing I have is coin and... myself.”
His heart pounded loudly in his chest. He had never mastered the art of flattery, had never learned how to charm women. All Broc knew to do was speak the truth. A truth that came straight from his heart.
He didn’t expect Sonya to accept his offer. There was so much more that awaited her if she took a mortal. But, as he stared at her, he knew he would give Deirdre his soul if only Sonya would be his.
“I care not for your coin, land, or title,” Sonya said. She lifted her head and searched his eyes. “Those things don’t make the man I have watched risk his life countless times, the man I know will always be there for me.”
Broc took another step, bringing him even closer. “Is that enough? Will knowing I will be there for you without fail be enough?”
“Is it enough for you?”
“I fear forever might no’ be enough.” He took the last step which brought him to her.
Sonya inhaled deeply. “It wasn’t until I saw you standing outside Marcail and Quinn’s chamber that I knew you would change my life. I had no idea then that you already had. When you are near I want to be with you. When you are gone, all I can think of is you.”
“Sonya...”
She raised her hand to quiet him. “Everything I had hoped for died when I saw Anice in your arms. Your grief made me believe you were in love with her.”
“l wasna.”
“I know that now. When I knew there might be a chance Deirdre would find me, I decided I wouldn’t live my life watching anymore. I wanted to know what it felt like to be in your arms. To feel you.”
Broc swallowed hard. “And afterward?”
“I knew whatever had pulled me to you before would never let go. I told you once I was yours. I meant it then. And I mean it now. I love you.”
He touched her cheek, then slid his hand around to the nape of her neck. The words he had never thought to utter filled him. “I love you.”
The smile on Sonya’s face was radiant, making her amber eyes flash. She rose up on tiptoe and wound her arms around his neck. “I fear I’m dreaming.”
“You’ve said the words. You are mine now. I willna let you go. Ever.”
“Just what I wanted to hear,” she said before she kissed him.
Broc nibbled her lips before he slanted his mouth over hers and swept his tongue inside.
Passion and fire exploded within him. Everything in his life had changed, just as it had when Deirdre had first taken him all those years ago.
But this time Broc embraced the love Sonya offered and looked ahead with a smile.
“There’s one more thing I would ask of you,” he said between kisses.
Sonya laughed breathlessly as she leaned her head back so he could kiss her neck. She had everything she could ever want, and she had never been so deliriously happy. “Anything.”
“Be my wife.”
She stilled and looked into his dark, beautiful depths.
“I know I’m immortal, and there may be a chance the spell to bind my god will never be found.
There’s also the chance the curse will come to you.
It is for that reason I contemplated staying away from you.
But I cannot. You have my heart. You have always had my heart.
Immortal or mortal, I am nothing without you. ”
Sonya blinked away the tears which suddenly filled her eyes. “And I am nothing without you, my dark Warrior. Aye, I will marry you.”
He smiled as his look turned wicked. Broc guided her backward until her legs bumped against the bed. “When?”
“Wh...whenever,” she said with a gasp as he ripped her gown down the middle and cupped her breast.
“Tonight. I want you to be mine tonight.”
Sonya smiled as he laid her on the bed. She was already his. Now and forever.