Page 145 of Highland Spy

They lay together, quiet and still, with only their rapidly beating hearts and strained breath to fill the silence, but the quiet did not carry with it the awkward discomfort it had of late. It was familiar. Comfortable.

Intimate.

Connor threaded his fingers through Ariana’s small ones. Her skin was soft beneath his touch, exquisite. He loved their closeness. He loved being able to touch her again, kiss her again.

She smiled up at him the way she had once before, glowing with affection, and it left him near breathless with its impact.

“Ye’re beautiful, Ariana,” he said. And truly she was. Powerful yet feminine, strong yet kind, stubborn yet forgiving.

“I love ye.” Last time he had said it out of desperation for her to remain. This time he said it with the whole of his heart.

The coolness of her blue-green eyes had melted to something warm and tender. She looked up at him now with all those lovely qualities shining like the most exquisite of gems. “I love you too, Connor Grant.”

To hear the admission of her own heartfelt affection, to know he was loved by so wonderful a woman as Ariana Fitzroy, eased some of his burden.

Later, when they’d lain on the small mattress, twisted in the warmth of one another, there was a peace in his mind he had not known in some time. His people were alive and well, he would be meeting with Kenneth the following day to finally uncover a truth too long left untold, and he had Ariana.

But before sleep could cradle him, a realization crept into his mind the way a sliver of cold air seeps down the back of a jacket on a particularly bitter night.

Ariana had overlooked a lot of his sins to love him, and while he knew she was able to fend for herself, he couldn’t stop thinking of all those he’d wronged—of all the faces of those he’d killed and their families, who would be vengeful.

Connor had enemies—rival clans, families of those he’d killed in battle. He’d have many more if it ever came out who he’d killed in his service to the king. Ariana would now have those same enemies.

In allowing himself to love her, he made her vulnerable.

She’d asked if he deserved her now. And he knew with all certainty, he did not.

He only hoped it would not be Ariana who would pay the price of his sins.

Chapter 35

After three long years, Connor would finally have answers.

He had arrived early at the fountain near the small stone church where he’d promised to meet Kenneth. He’d not told Ariana of the fears keeping sleep at bay. Instead he’d let her sweetness ease the concern from his mind and he’d left her in their rented room.

“Connor.” The rich note of male authority in the voice identified its owner before Connor even turned.

In the daylight, Kenneth did not appear as worn-out by the hardships of power. Aside from the white sifting through his temples, the lines of his face seemed to have softened in the soft gray light of a coming storm.

Silence settled between them, not awkward, yet not quite comfortable either.

Connor searched his mind for something to say, but it was Kenneth who finally spoke. “I know ye’re angry with me and I dinna blame ye for that. But ye have to know I tried to stop him.”

Him. The former laird of the Gordons—the man who had taken everything from Connor.

“He dinna listen, of course,” Kenneth said. His voice went flat. “And I knew I couldna stop him. But I knew I could at least protect ye and Cora.”

Anger flashed through Connor. “Ye saved us, did ye?”

Kenneth met the force of Connor’s glare without flinching. “Did ye think it was a coincidence I was in the area, but had Cora away from the castle? Or that someone told ye where to find us?”

The idea jarred in Connor’s brain and stunned him into silence for a brief moment.

No.

He’d never considered either of those instances a coincidence.

“Ye never told us about the attack.” Connor couldn’t keep the accusation from his tone. “Why?”