Chapter 21
Torr's words both shockedand thrilled Cat. "Oh, dear heavens! What?" she gasped. "Future wife?"
"Of course. Do you nay wish to marry me?" His gaze searched hers.
Delight near overwhelmed her, and a laugh burst from her mouth. "Torr!" She hugged him to her. "Are you proposing?"
"Indeed, I am." After pulling back, he knelt on one knee. "Sweet lass, will you do me the profound honor of becoming my bride?"
Immense lightness filled her, and she thought she might float away. "Aye! A thousand times, aye." She wished they could marry this night.
Smiling, he arose and kissed her cheek, then her lips briefly. "Now, we but need Brodie's blessing."
A bit of the air left her sails. "What if we cannot find him?"
"I shall, even if I must take a galley to every tiny isle on the west coast."
She was glad Torr was confident, but she knew how annoyingly stubborn her brother was. Feeling discouraged, she trudged to the settle by the fire and plopped down. "What will we do about MacPeter, my clan, and Mother in the meantime?"
Torr sat beside her. "We will find Brodie first."
"What if you do, but he refuses to allow us to wed?"
"I'll confess the truth—I've compromised you."
When she imagined her family knowing she and Torr had been intimate, her face burned like fire. "There's nay need to reveal that. We can marry without his blessing."
"Aye, but I would nay wish to make an enemy of my good friend. I want our union to be honorable and accepted by both our clans."
She nodded, for 'twas what she wanted too. "I must be patient. Our love is stronger than all of them."
"Indeed. It shattered a powerful, evil curse. I thank you for coming here and loving me, even when I was too daft to recognize that I love you too."
His words touched her heart, causing her eyes to sting. "You're nay daft,mo ghraidh." She placed her hand along his prickly jaw and pressed her lips to his.
He accepted the kiss and deepened it. Before she knew it, she was sitting on his lap, the hearth fire warming her back and an even hotter fire blazing within. He slid his hands down her back and framed her hips, pulling her closer.
His kisses and the solid feel of him beneath her completely seduced her. She craved his heated bare skin against hers. He must have read her mind, for he tugged her long skirts upward. She lifted to help accommodate him, then yanked at his plaid. He unbuckled his belt and let it fall away.
He lifted her, carried her to the bed, and lay her down upon it.
"I thank you for agreeing to be my wife," he murmured.
Hot, happy tears filled her eyes and overflowed. "There's nay need to thank me for that. You are my dream come true."
Making love to her, Torr acknowledged that his soul craved her healing touch, and his heart needed her love.
Nothing or no one had ever felt as perfect for him as Catriona. He belonged right here, with her, inside her. She locked her legs around his and her arms around his shoulders, holding tight. Her love emanated from within her and wrapped around him in a warmth such as he had never felt in his whole life. He found himself whispering words of awe, and he knew not what. Declarations of affection and devotion. But they fell short, for he could not express the overwhelming storm of feeling inside him. She was the focus of his existence.
"I love you, and I will protect you always," he whispered in her ear.
"And I love you." She held him tight, kissing his face. Feeling her passion set him alight to the depths of his soul, he guided her pleasure and restrained his own until they were both submerged in bliss. She was his now, and he would not be letting her go, not for anyone.
***
THE NEXT MORN, CATRIONAawoke when the door rattled and a knock sounded. She sat bolt upright. Her gaze locked on Torr, gorgeous and naked at the wash basin. He glared at the door.
"M'lady?" her maid called from outside the door.
