“Stop!” he ordered sharply. “I will do nothing but hold you, so that we both stay warm.”
“I have your word on that? My brother’s warriors are expected to honor their word. I expect the same.”
“You have my word.”
The tenseness left Wintra’s body, though a spark of it remained. Torr hadn’t expected anything less. She trusted him only to a point. It was good that she did, for he did not trust himself. She enticed like no other woman, something he hadn’t expected.
“Why do you love, Owen?” he asked to his own surprise.
It surprised her that she struggled for an answer. Why did she love Owen? He had been kind and good to her. He paid her attention when most didn’t, and he talked with her as if he was interested in what she had to say. But since there was no one to talk with about falling in love, she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel when falling in love.
“Can why you love someone be explained that easily?” she found herself asking.
“Love grabs the heart and won’t let go no matter how much you fight it.”
“You know this from experience?”
“From what I’ve observed.”
“You have never been in love then?” she asked and wondered why she should be so curious.
“No, love has never struck me, though I wouldn’t mind if it did.”
“You wish to fall in love?”
“I do, and I hope it is at least half as strong as the love your brother has for Dawn, his future wife.”
Wintra found herself speechless for a moment, and then questions poured out. “My brother has fallen in love? He is going to wed? Who is this woman? What is she like? Does she love my brother as he loves her? I cannot believe this.”
“Believe it. Your brother has fallen in love with my sister and will wed her soon. Dawn is a kind, loving, wonderful woman and your brother is lucky to have found her. And he is lucky that she loves him.”
“My brother is a good man,” Wintra snapped defending Cree, though at the moment she was angry with him or was it more disappointment that she felt. Now she understood why he hadn’t come for her himself. He was too busy being in love to bother with his sister. She was surprised he had not suggested that she take her vows and remain at the abbey. This way she wouldn’t be in his way, interfere with his life, or be more trouble than she was worth to him.
Her heart felt heavy. She loved Cree dearly and missed him terribly. She had thought he felt the same. He had repeatedly promised her that they would once again be family, be together, never to part. Now he would have a wife. Would there be room for his sister in his life?
“I agree. Your brother is a good man, and he will see that you have a good husband.”
Torr answered the question on her mind without her having to ask it. She and Cree would never be family again. He would find her a husband and send her away—again.
“I have found a good man to be my husband,” she said rebelliously.
“It is not your choice to make.”
“My brother can find love, but I cannot?”
“You should discuss that with your brother,” Torr advised, attempting to delay the inevitable.
“Discuss?” She gave a defiant laugh. “What is there to discuss? I have no say in the matter. It will be decided for me.”
I think not. She wished she could have shouted the words at him, but she wisely kept silent. She would not be forced into a marriage with a man she did not know, who she did not love, and who did not love her.
Owen had claimed to love her. After they had become better acquainted, he had begun to hint at his feelings for her. Until one day, he had boldly admitted that he had fallen in love with her. He had struck her speechless, and she had not been too pleased with what he had said in her wake of silence.
“You are virginal in so many ways that I am sure you do not even know that you are in love with me. I see your love for me in your eyes, and I am honored that one so beautiful would love me.”
Did she truly love Owen or had she seen it as a chance to escape the abbey that had grown more confining every day?
“Perhaps the decision would be one that will suit you.”
Wintra had almost forgotten that Torr lay wrapped around her that was how natural it felt to be in his arms. She sighed, having grown tired of the worry. “The only decision that would suit me is the one I would make myself.”
“Be careful that your mulishness doesn’t lose you something that may be good for you.”