Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Not for me.”
“So I have learned.”
“So I am a fool for wanting to love the man I wed?”
“I thought you were,” Tarr said. “I thought I offered you much and that you were not only foolish for not accepting my generous offer but selfish.” Tarr pressed his finger to her lips to keep her silent. “I learned differently as time went on, and the more time we spent together the more time I wished to spend with you. I discovered I admired and respected you, and the ruse you perpetrated. In my eyes you were an adept warrior woman capable of anything, and as I made all these surprising discoveries, along the way I also fell in love with you.”
She shoved his finger off her lips. “How convenient!”
“Aye, for us both,” he said, and leaned close enough for their noses to touch. “There is much more that I wish to say to you but not here in front of everyone.”
“Why?”
“There are some words meant for your ears alone.”
“Give him a chance,” Aliss urged from beside her.
“Aye, I agree,” Oleg said. “Talk with him.”
Fiona looked to Anya. “Have you no opinion?”
“I reserve my opinion for a later time.”
“I agree with my father and Aliss,” Raynor said. “Be fair and talk with Tarr privately.”
Fiona stood. “I will give you but a few minutes.”
Tarr stood, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along behind him. “That is all I need.”
Chapter 25
They made their way to his bedchamber and Fiona hesitated at the door.
“It is the most private place and the place most likely we would not be disturbed,” Tarr said.
Fiona agreed by entering his room. She went to the window, though not for the view of the meadow. Rather, to put distance between them. She would grant him his few minutes, hear what he had to say, but no more. She would not allow him to touch her, and least of all kiss her. The thought itself made her anxious.
“Speak and be done,” she said more sharply than intended, and faced him with arms crossed over her chest.
“Is there any point?” he asked calmly, to her surprise. “Your mind seems set. Would what I say make a difference?”
“I said I would listen.”
“But would you hear?”
He stood just inside the closed door not having moved since he entered. She had expected him to approach her, attempt to touch her, but he had not. This calm control of his sometimes infuriated her for it usually meant he would have his way.
A warrior’s way.
Did he look prepared to battle?
The silent question irritated her for it reminded that it was she who was ready to battle, to defend against him. She could convince herself of it easily. There were signs; he stood blocking the door and any escape, his body was rigid, every muscle taut and prepared to attack.
But then she looked into his eyes and they told her a different story. There was a desperateness in them, a plea of sorts and an ache that—
Would you hear?
She felt a catch in her throat. Were her own words caught there? She cleared the lump as she said, “I will hear you.”
He walked to the center of the room, a few feet from her. “Will you? I know you have a right to doubt I speak the truth, but how will you ever know if you do not shed that heavy shield you keep around your heart?”
She stiffened in silence.
He took another step. “Nothing penetrates it, not truth, not passion, not love. How, then, can you truly feel anything? You tell me you wish to know love, and yet how do you expect love to pierce your defenses?”
She tightened her arms to her chest.
He approached her slowly. “You took on the burden of protecting you and your sister after your parents’ death. You refused to rely on anyone, trust anyone. How, then, could you think to love?”
His words were a direct hit to her heart. Where, then, was her shield?
“We are much alike, you and I, which is why I think we love so passionately. How it happened, when? I do not need to know. I only know that I love you. If you ask me why I love you—”
He shrugged and smiled. “I would give a different answer each time. At this moment I love you because you stand firm, unafraid to listen, your arms shielding your heart, your green eyes filled with uncertainty, your soft lips tempting me.”
He shook his head as he stopped a few inches from her. “I love you, Fiona. I know not how else to say it, but simply, and those three words I will say to you everyday of our lives together.”
He reached out and gently took her wrists, pried her arms away from her chest. “Marry me, Fiona. Marry me because I love you. Marry me because you love me.”