Annis’s heart began to beat wildly.
Brogan dropped down beside her, not able to contain himself any longer. “I am selfish. I know I offered you freedom, but I love you too much to let you go, Annis. I love you with all my heart. This time spent with you has made me realize that I do not want to spend a day without you, even though you do not hold your tongue as you should, but I can rectify that. OW!” he cried out with a laugh when she punched him in the arm, not that he felt it. “I am teasing you.” He snatched her around the waist and settled her in his lap. “I would not change a thing about you. I especially love your fiery red hair.” He buried his face in the soft curls and smiled when he lifted his head. “It is wild like you and soft like you, a perfect blend for a wife.” He kissed her gently. “I love you, Annis, with every beat of my heart and every breath I take, and I do not ever want to lose you, for without a heartbeat and a breath I would die.”
He cupped her face and kissed her gently, then rested his brow to hers for a moment.
Annis felt his reluctance to move his face away from hers, but he did, giving her a chance to respond. “Never, ever, would I have thought in my wildest dreams or nightmares,” —she chuckled— “would I have given thought to wed you, but now your love has stirred in me something I have tried to ignore or deny.” She shook her head. “I believe I have fallen in love with you, and I do not have the slightest idea how it happened. I only know that I miss you when you are not near and my mind thinks more on you than anything, and when I am in bed at night, I wish you were there beside me, your arms around me.” She sighed. “My concern is that how can I love and remain wed to you when Bliss sacrificed for me, so I was not forced to wed you? How can I hurt her like that?”
“Bliss wanted you to wed a man of your choice. She would be happy and relieved that you wed me because you love me and chose to wed me, not that you were forced to wed me. And I give you my word that I will do everything I can to see that no harm comes to Bliss. But you know yourself that your sister would be happy you wed a man you love and who loves you with all his heart.”
Brogan was right. Bliss would be happy for her and yet she could not help but feel she betrayed her sister by falling in love with Brogan.
He took hold of her face again. “We can have a good life, Annis. You can oversee the building of our home and the village. Our home we build together, and if Rannick refuses to take Bliss as his wife, having sworn never to wed again, she will have a home with us in the village.”
The thought that she could provide a home for Bliss filled her with joy. “That would make me so happy. Elysia and Saber could join us as well and my sisters and I would be together again.”
Brogan made no remark about Saber and Elysia. In time she would learn the truth about Saber, but it was not for him to say. He had given his word.
“Then it is settled,” Brogan said, making it clear, leaving no doubt. “We remain wed.” A scrunch of her brow had him asking, “You do not agree?”
“You will not try to tame me.” It was not a question.
He laughed and kissed her. “The last thing I want to do is tame you, wife. I love you for who you are and always will.” To his surprise and disappointment, she wiggled out of his arms to stand. What she did next shocked him.
Annis slipped off her tunic. “We need to consummate our vows so nothing or no one can separate us.”
17
Brogan was all for consummating their vows, but in a shed that leaked rain from the rainstorm that pounded overhead was not exactly what he had in mind. But what difference did it make when they had declared their love for each other. That was all that mattered. That and that she had agreed willingly to their marriage had his shaft aching so hard for her that he thought he would wither from the pain.
“You are sure?” he asked, wanting her to have no regrets for her hasty decision.
“We must if we are to remain together or we risk losing what we have found,” she said as if she was doing it because it was the most sensible thing to do.