Page 109 of An Enchanted Spring

“When you disappeared all those years ago, it nearly destroyed me. And when you returned, I thought that, were I to lose you again, I wouldn’t be able to survive it. But I was wrong, Aidan. Seeing you like this, so broken, is much worse.” He stopped walking and grasped Aidan’s shoulders. “If given the chance, I need to know that you would take it.That you would return to your other world, live a long and happy life together with your mate. That you would make a family, create a clan, live in peace…I need to know, Aidan.”

“Aye,” Aidan choked out, “Of course I’d take it, you bastard.”

A noise behind him had him spinning, his hand on his sword. Reilly leaned against a tree, ankles and arms crossed.

“I will pay dearly for this, MacWilliam, so for you to make up for that, you will vow to your brother, here and now, that you will spend the rest of eternity making that woman feel loved. Every. Single. Day.” Reilly held out his hand, fingers splayed open. “Vow it, and I’ll bring you back to her.”

Aidan locked eyes with Reilly , his heart constricting in his chest. He slowly nodded his head. “I vow it.”

He looked at Nioclas. “I want it noted that I’m doing this for Emmaline, not this arse.”

Nioclas managed a smile. “Aye. Duly noted.” He looked at his brother. “Godspeed. I wish you well. May we see each other in the next life.”

They were gone immediately.

Aidan saw Emma first,and his heart pumped faster, harder. His breath came in short gasps, and he tried, in vain, to steady his breathing.

She was here.

Emma sat on a flat outcropping. The winds of the North Atlantic whipped the loose strands of her hair. Her arms were wrapped protectively around herself, and all Aidan could sense was her loneliness.

As he approached, the wind carrying his footsteps away from her ears, his concern skyrocketed. He saw her closed eyes were swollen from tears, and her nose and cheeks were red. Her frame was smaller; whether that was from the injuryReilly told him she had sustained or the fact that she was barely eating, he didn’t know, and with a start, he realized it was more than loneliness that enveloped her.

It was grief.

Even over the roar of the wind and the crash of the waves below, Aidan could hear his heart shatter.Hehad done this to her. If he had left her alone from the start, she wouldn’t be sitting here, outside his house, overcome by emotions she should never have to feel.

He re-avowed, then and there, that if she let him, he would spend every day of the rest of his life making it up to her. He swallowed past the sharp lump in his throat, and sent a prayer flying that she would find it in her heart to forgive him for his transgressions. He knew he didn’t deserve her, and she certainly deserved better than him, but he couldn’t imagine living without her in his arms, or his bed, or his life.

He needed her more than he needed to breathe.

She drew a shuddering breath, tearing him from his thoughts, and her eyes fluttered open. She blinked and slowly turned her head.

He saw her take a breath, and he held his own in response.

Emma caughtsight of a man standing to her left. She turned slightly, and her breathing stopped.

The wind tore at his black hair, his eyes a stormy, tormented green. His jaw had at least a week’s worth of scruff; his hands were fists at his side against a blue and silver léine, and as the wind whipped into a frenzy, her heart stuttered.

His name came out of her mouth, and she felt her world spin dangerously out of control. Her breath returned in short gasps, and she clutched herself even tighter, unsure if he was a figment of her imagination.

If he was, she never wanted to see reality again.

Then he was next to her, his arms open, and she launched herself into him with a guttural cry, her sobs muffled against the soft tunic. He was stroking her hair, whispering Gaelic in her ear, and she couldn’t formulate any thought beyond—

He came back.

His lips found hers, and she was crying, kissing him, practically climbing him. He leaned back, let out a loud laugh, and then gazed down at her, love shining from his eyes.

“Are you really here?” she choked, furiously wiping her tears away so that she could be sure.

“I am,” he confirmed.

“How?”

“Turns out O’Malley isn’t as big of an arse as I thought he was.”

Emma grinned, then wrapped her arms around Aidan and pressed her lips to his. He kissed her hard, then led her back toward his—their—cottage.

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