He stilled. “Elise,” he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion. “I am ashamed.”
“Ashamed? Jamie, none of this was your fault—”
He lifted a hand, stopping her. “Ashamed of my lack of judgment,” he said quietly. “Of trusting Phillip so completely. Of letting him so close. I put every man, woman, and child under my protection in danger because I didnae see the treachery right in front of my eyes.”
“Jamie—”
“Let me finish.” He lifted his gaze to hers, and the rawness there made her chest tighten. “But more than that…” His voice broke slightly. “I’m ashamed because I didnae trustye. Because when ye told me yer suspicions, I doubted ye. I doubted the woman who has come to mean more to me than life itself.”
Rain hammered the roof. The fire crackled softly. And Elise held her breath.
“But the worst thing of all is how close I came to letting ye go, of letting Phillip MacClelland’s poison infect me and giving up the one thing that makes me feel alive.”
She no longer seemed able to speak. Her chest and throat felt so tight she could barely breathe. But she forced herself to swallow, to work up enough saliva to force out words. “What are you saying?”
He reached out, cupped her face with his big hand. “The reason I came after ye wasnae because I thought ye were in danger. Lord knows I’ve learned ye can look after yerself. I came after ye because I had to tell ye what was in my heart. I couldnae go through with it, Elise. When I saw that marriage contract this morning, I realized there was no way I could ever sign it. Not when my heart belongs to another.” His thumb brushed across her cheek. “Ah, lass,” he said softly. “I’ve been trying to keep it at bay all this time. Trying to be the laird everyone needs me to be.Trying to put my duty before everything else. But I canna do it. It will break me if I dinna admit the truth.”
Elise’s heart fluttered against her ribs like a trapped bird. “What truth?” she whispered.
“The truth that I am in love with ye. The truth that ye own my heart and always will.”
His eyes burned with a fierce intensity. “I love ye,” he repeated softly, fiercely. “From the moment ye walked into my life at yer sister’s wedding. Every day since, I’ve found myself wanting ye. Needing ye. Ye are all I think about.” His breath shook. “And I will never forgive myself for making ye doubt what ye mean to me.”
Her vision blurred. Her throat burned. “Jamie…” She felt something inside her break open—all the anger, hurt, fear splintered into pieces—letting in the light that shone behind it.
For so long she had been bracing herself against what was growing between them, against the impossibility of it all, against the crushing weight of wanting someone she believed she could not have. But here he was, storm-stung and exhausted, telling her he loved her as though it was the only thing that mattered.
Elise lifted a trembling hand to his cheek. His stubble was rough beneath her fingertips. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I tried not to, I really did. But it happened anyway.” Her voice caught and she had to swallow a few times before she could continue. “I love you so much it hurts.”
Jamie closed his eyes, just for a heartbeat, relief carving through every line of his face.
“Elise…” He said her name like a promise.
She didn’t wait for anything more. She leaned forward and kissed him.
It was meant to be gentle, but the moment their lips touched, something fierce and aching and unstoppable surged betweenthem so strongly that Elise could taste it like the charged air before a thunderstorm.
Jamie’s arms went around her, drawing her into him as though he feared the storm might sweep her away. In response, she clutched his shoulders, feeling the heat of him even through their soaked clothes, feeling him tremble slightly—not with cold, but with emotion held too long, too tightly.
The kiss deepened, slow and searching at first, then urgent with everything they hadn’t said, everything they’d nearly lost. The fire threw warm light across Jamie’s skin, highlighting the contours of his face, the hollow at the base of his neck. The world outside might be chaos and danger and betrayal—but inside this abandoned cottage, for Elise there was only this moment and this man.
Her hands slipped into his hair, fingers curling in the soaked strands as he kissed down the line of her jaw. Her pulse roared so hard she felt dizzy. Jamie inhaled sharply against her throat, and the sound sent a shiver straight down her spine.
“Jamie…” she managed, barely more than a breath.
His hands fumbled with the ties of her dress, urgent, demanding. Then he was shrugging her out of it, and she gasped as the chill air hit her bare skin. But Jamie was there immediately, hands warm, mouth warmer.
“Elise…” His voice was hoarse, reverent. “Gods, help me, ye are perfect.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed his shirt and yanked at the fabric, desperate to get all his clothes out of the way, to have nothing between them but heat. He obliged, tugging off his garments and tossing them away. The firelight played across the planes and angles of his chest, highlighting the myriad scars that crisscrossed his skin.
She gasped at the sight.
Mistaking her reaction, he pulled back suddenly. “Elise,” he murmured, brushing a strand of wet hair behind her ear. “Tell me to stop if—”
She didn’t want him to stop. She didn’teverwant him to stop. So instead of answering, she kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and scooting closer so that her chest was pressed against his, skin against skin, heat against heat.
It was like her blood had caught fire and she knew of only one way to douse it. His fingers trailed lightly from her hips to her back, making small circling movements across her skin. It was barely anything really, little more than the lightest feather caress, and yet it sent thrills of electricity right through her.
