Page 33 of Enchanted

Giving in to the moment, Rosalyn brushed her thumb against the top of Keiran’s hand. Then realising what she had done, she shifted her gaze from their joined hands to the moonlight shimmering on the water of the loch. “If I could change one thing about my life it would be that I had been born male. Then I would not be in this situation at all.”

He chuckled, the sound deep and rich. “I, for one, am glad you are not male.” He reached up and removed the pin that secured his tartan at his shoulder. A moment later, he pulled her more closely against him, then spread the tail of the fabric across their legs and bodies, enveloping them both in a cocoon of warmth against the encroaching night. “Tell me about your past,” he asked in a sincere tone. “You know about my past in Fairyland, I would like to know more about you.”

“It is not an extraordinary tale. You know about my parents, but what you do not know is that my father’s parents never accepted my mother as his wife. They went out of their way to make life difficult for her in London society. My father never seemed to notice. His love for my mother overshadowed everything. When my brother and I came along, our grandparents were not cruel to us, but they never accepted us.” Rosalyn’s hand involuntarily tightened on Keiran’s. “My mother died one morning when she was taking a carriage to the market. She thought she might be pregnant with her third child and wanted to prepare a few things.” Rosalyn swallowed roughly. “I have no proof, but I always suspected that my grandparents had something to do with her accident, as the fasteners on the carriage wheels had been loosened.”

Rosalyn closed her eyes as the aching memories swelled inside her. “My father was devastated. He never recovered from her loss. He had nothing to do with Hugh or myself from the time of her death, until he himself passed from a broken heart.”

In the silvery darkness Keiran raised his head and searched her face. “How old were you?”

“My brother had only just reached his majority, and I was only twelve.”

“That must have been terribly hard for both of you. Did your grandparents help you at all?”

“No. My brother somehow figured out how to move forward with our father’s estate and as the new Lord of Thomond. I was only an obstacle in his way. He made it clear from the very first day that he could not wait for me to grow up so that he might be rid of me.”

“Which is why he sent you to Scotland.”

She was stunned into meekness by the warm and sensual look in his eyes. The rest of the story about her own poor choices would remain her secret.

Keiran’s arms tightened around her. “Your brother might not have protected you, but I will. You asked the one thing I would change if I could. It would be that I was betrothed to you and not Lieutenant Long.”

“Be serious,” Rosalyn said, keeping her voice light despite the sudden tension that tightened her chest.

Keiran leaned even closer, so only fragments of his features were clear to her in the silver moonlight. “I am being serious.”

The sincerity of his voice snatched her breath away. She could not allow herself to fall into that trap again. She pulled her hands from his. “Men only say such things to further their own goals.”

“I am not like most men. You know that. Even in the two days we have been together, you sensed that I am different.” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted it, forcing her to meet his steady gaze. He was close enough for her to see him clearly in the moonlight. “I am sincere in my determination to protect you. Please hear me out before you turn against my idea.”

She had no choice but to stare into the dark intensity of his gaze. She saw no deception there, only an earnest desire for her to listen. “You have been poorly treated by the men in your life. And I can understand your hesitancy to put yourself in a situation where yet another man has control over your life. But I do not want to control you. You are perfect the way you are—strong, brave, and determined. I respect that.”

Rosalyn swallowed roughly. No one had ever said such things to her before.

“My desire to protect you is not born of obligation. It is because since the moment I first saw you in the woods, I have not been the same. Your desperate situation brought something deep inside me back to life, something that I kept hidden all the time I was away from my family.”

He looked away briefly before returning his gaze to hers. “I have held myself apart from anyone, both fairy and human, for so many years that it became habit. And if I am honest, it was a way to keep from being hurt.”

She frowned. “I do not understand. What are you saying?”

“I have as much to lose as you do with what I am about to ask. Lieutenant James Long does not deserve you. The one way we can keep him from hurting you is for you to bind yourself to me. Handfast with me for a year and a day. A secondary, even though it is temporary, commitment to another would have to be resolved in the courts and would keep you from having to honour any prior obligations.”

“What if a child comes from such a union?” she asked, needing clarification and a moment to absorb what he asked.

“Then I would care for you both whether you stayed with me or not.”

Her frown deepened. “Why would you want to sacrifice yourself like that for me and any possible child?” He released her chin, and she mourned the loss of his warmth. Even so she leaned back, putting some distance between the two of them.

“Because that is what warriors do—we sacrifice ourselves for others. And if I saved your life, it is up to me to protect that life. If the courts do not approve your disillusion of betrothal, the man who tried to kill you may succeed next time.”

Rosalyn’s body began to tremble. He did not speak of love, only obligation and sacrifice. But what he proposed had merit in that it would keep her safe, for as he said a year and a day. It would also mean putting his life on hold. Could she ask that of him? “Might I have time to consider your offer?”

“That you would consider my offer and not reject it out of hand gives me hope.” He smiled as he gathered up the tail of his tartan and secured it at his shoulder once more. “As for tonight, did the food, the dancing, or feeling connected to the land around you convince you in any way to claim your own Scottish heritage as it did me?”

Her thoughts were still a tangled mass of confusion from what he had proposed. Even so she managed to smile. “I need more time for that as well.” He had no idea how close she had come to claiming that part of herself this evening when she had been dancing with him. Yet now, here in the open air, sanity had pulled her back to her more cautious self. She needed more time to think not only about his proposal, but about what would be best for her heart. For she was certain if she gave herself to Keiran, even for a year and a day, that she would never be able to move forward without him. She was very much like her father in that respect. Once she gave her heart, it would be forever. But did he even want her heart? Was forever what he offered her, or only a temporary solution to her troubles?