“You know?” she asked.
Kaelan nodded slowly. “Aye. I know you understand.” He brushed the stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “And I know that understanding does not change how you feel.”
Bria swallowed hard. “Nay, it does not.”
The simple admission seemed far louder than the words themselves.
For several moments neither spoke, the silence between them feeling strangely comfortable. As though she no longer needed to protect him from her feelings.
“I am disappointed,” she admitted, the words bringing an immediate sting to her eyes. Not because she regretted saying them, but because she finally had.
Kaelan’s gaze never left hers. “You have every right to be.”
Bria blinked in surprise. That had not been the response she expected.
“You do not intend to argue with me?”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“Nay.”
“Explain why it was necessary?”
“Nay.”
“Remind me that you were protecting me?”
“I believe we have already established that.”
Despite herself, Bria felt the corner of her mouth twitch.
Kaelan’s expression softened. “You are disappointed because something precious was taken from us.”
His words settled gently between them.
He hadn’t said, not taken by him. He’d said taken fromthemand that distinction mattered.
“I wanted better foryou,” he continued. “Forus.”
The honesty in his voice tightened her throat.
“I wanted a place where you felt safe. A place where we could take our time. A place where your first memories as my wife would not include a prison cell beneath a witch’s fortress.”
Bria laughed softly, though tears threatened her eyes. “When you say it aloud, it sounds even worse.”
“Aye, it does,” he agreed.
That earned a genuine smile from her, one that quickly faded.
“I feel guilty for being disappointed.”
Kaelan frowned. “Why?”
The question caught her off guard.
“Because you did it to protect me.”
“And?”
