Mhairi sucked in a shaky breath and spoke in a hard voice she'd never have thought herself capable of producing. "Ye know, I'm getting heartily sick of Drummonds and Mackinnons, and the endless carping on the trouble between our families."
At least he heard her this time. Black Callum fixed burning eyes on her and drew himself up to his full, impressive height.
"It's brought ye nothing but strife, I know. Now I'm taking ye back to your father wounded and in pain. When all I wanted to do was cherish ye and do you honor. Ye are the bride of my heart, Mhairi Drummond, and I’ll have nae other." A sour smile twisted his lips. "Ye have your triumph, my lady. It’s the last gift I’ll give ye. I hope you enjoy it."
He turned away again, she guessed to hide his excess of emotion.
A thorny silence fell between them.
"Will ye say that again?" she asked in a small voice.
"What? That I'll never marry if I cannae marry ye?" He sounded as if he forsook all hope of happiness. "Aye, on my soul."
"No’ that bit."
"That you've won? What do ye think? Or are ye just twisting the knife in the wound?"
"No’ that bit either," she said with a hint of impatience. "If ye love me, say the words."
The Mackinnon stiffened as if she'd struck him. Slowly he turned, and she gasped in consternation when she saw his face. He looked like a man testing the farthest edge of his control.
She'd seen him as a ruthless captor. She'd seen him as a powerful laird. But this man was stripped to basics, and the basics were all fierce desperation.
"Aye, I love ye," he said gruffly. "Precious little good it does me."
She watched him the way she’d watch a wild beast likely to decide to devour her any minute. "And yet ye tell me I'm free to return to my father?"
"Aye." His nod was an echo of one of his brief bows. "I should never have taken ye away from Bruard in the first place. God forgive me."
"I woul
dnae worry about God right now, Mackinnon," she said sharply. "It's my forgiveness ye should be interested in."
Another of those almost courtly acknowledgements. "And that I'll never have, I ken."
"Dinnae speak too soon," she muttered.
"What?" He looked puzzled. "What the devil madness is this?"
Mhairi took a faltering step in his direction. Her lips curved up in a tremulous smile, while her heart danced about in her chest and promised to burst with joy. "This devil madness is a life sentence, Black Callum. This devil madness is a wedding at Achnasheen. A wedding for ye and me."
She waited for him to seize her in his arms and kiss her again. She'd just started to discover what magic his lips could conjure on hers when he'd jumped away as if he'd stuck his hand into a fire.
But he remained where he was, staring at her in confusion. "I dinnae understand."
Her smile broadened, as she extended her good hand in a gesture that offered him everything she was, everything she'd ever been, and everything she would become.
To her surprise, her voice emerged firm with certainty. "It’s simple enough. Aye, I'll marry ye, Mackinnon."
Chapter 20
Callum didn't move. His heart was pounding like a mighty drum, and the world around him faded to nothing. He only saw this remarkable girl who had stolen his soul away. This remarkable girl who was smiling at him as if he’d put the sun in the sky.
He couldn’t be sure his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Had this headstrong lass driven him insane indeed?
Surely Mhairi hadn’t just consented to wed him. Not today, when he'd come so close to losing her and he'd at last recognized that she’d never be his.
Except maybe he was wrong about that…