Page 18 of To Tempt A Highland Duke
There was no doubt in his mind that he could not, would not lose her again, and he would pray to God every night to keep her safe.
He slipped from his room and silently made his way to her.
When he entered, she was standing at the window dressed in a silken robe looking down at the gardens below. She slowly turned toward him.
“You are right, I have been a coward.”
She said nothing.
He stepped closer. “I’m still scared. I’m a duke in control of many estates and tenants, but that doesn’t frighten me. I have responsibilities to my King and country, but that doesn’t frighten me. I have a large extended family to provide for, but that doesn’t frighten me.”
He pulled her into his arms.
“The only thing I am truly frightened of is losing you.”
Her face fell, and she tried to push away, but he held her tight. “You will lose me either way.”
“I realize that. God help me, I couldn’t bear seeing you married to another man ever again.”
He lowered himself to bended knee, holding his hands in hers.
“You’ve always been my dream. I want to be your husband. I want to be a father. And it’s all because of you, Flora. You make everything seem possible. Your courage… you make me possible. All I really want is for you to forgive me and let me love you as you deserve—as I desire.”
He placed his hand on her stomach. “You were the one to teach me the meaning of love. Love is selfless, caring, but it also takes courage. I was such a coward when I first met you.” He took a deep breath and calmness descended. “Will you marry me and live by my side and if God sees fit—give me a son?”
A tear splashed his hand. “Yes. Oh, yes.”
And just like that, his fear melted away. The feel of her hands in his and the love shining from her eyes made everything seem conceivable. He would have faith.
Without further words, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed. As he lowered them both to the sheets and removed her attire, his heart sang with hope. This time he would take his time savoring the fact she was his to protect and love as God saw fit.
Epilogue
Monreith House, Scotland three years later
The fire in the drawing room's grate in Monreith House burned bright as it neared midnight, making the room stifling hot. Yet the ice in his gut would not melt. It had been over twenty hours since Flora began to give birth.
He had given up pacing the room hours ago, and now he sat staring out the window praying, even the whisky was forgotten.
Angus and Stuart had begged him to leave with them to the local tavern while Flora gave birth, but he could not leave her now. He wasn’t there for Connie and look how that ended. He had this foolish hope that if he stayed, everything would be all right.
Earlier, when he’d visited her in her bedchamber, Flora too had tried to get him to leave.
“Go with Angus. I will be perfectly fine. Doctor Mallard and the midwife are here, and so are Mary and Tessa. They won’t let anything happen to me.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Mary began pushing Dougray out of Flora’s birthing chamber. “You’ll only get in the way. I promise to come and get you when your son or daughter arrives.”
Tessa sighed and tried to lighten the gravity of the situation. “Men. They make such a fuss.”
Flora smiled, then grimaced as a contraction gripped her. Finally she said to her friends, “Dougray has to push his fears aside and be strong for those who need him—myself included.” She spoke quietly to him. “I need you to be strong. I can’t have you falling to pieces now. So please, my love, go. I don’t want to have to worry about you too.”
“I am not falling to pieces, but Christ, I feel very entitled to worry about my wife,” he growled. “I love you.”
Flora laughed and Tessa said, “Society expects men to be impervious to pain or emotion. Yet, they are only human. I’ve seen your brother on his knees beside my bed begging God to keep me, and the baby, safe. He’s cried in my arms, wishing he could birth our babes himself.”
“Right at this moment, I wish Dougray could,” Flora hissed through the pain of another contraction. “So, trust me when I say it’s time to leave. Go and be with Angus and Stuart. Drink whisky and think up names for our child.”
