Page 61 of Lady Frederica and the Scot Who Would Not
She turned over and met his gaze, just visible in the moonlight. “Listen, Freddy, there are some things I need to tell you.”
She was sure it had to be about Georgette. She didn’t want him to feel bad or as if he could no longer love Georgette. “It’s all right for you to still love her,” she said. “I think there’s room in your heart for the both of us.”
“Good God, Freddy, you’re a much better person than I am. I don’t want you to love anyone but meever.” He brushed his lips to hers. “I did love Georgette, but not as you think. I understand why you thought it, and had I really considered what it might do to you, I would have set you straight sooner. I wed Georgette because she needed me to.”
“What?” Freddy pressed up to look at him. “But Blythe said—”
“Blythe didn’t know,” he interrupted. “Georgette thought she might be in love with Hawk. She gave herself to him, and then shortly after, she saw him kill someone. She knew then, she couldn’t be with him, and she told him so, and when she did, he forced himself on her, and got her with child. I didn’t even know she thought she was in love with him until she lay dying. Nor did I know she’d given herself freely to him the first time until she confessed it in my arms as she was dying, but it would not have changed what I did for her.
She needed a protector, and she didn’t want her baby to be a bastard, and she was my best friend, other than Hawk—who suddenly was no friend. She asked me to wed her, and to pretend we were in love. She was shaken and ashamed, and at the time, I couldn’t imagine a future for me where it would matter, where someone like you might come into my life and I’d want to wed for love. So I married her, and Hawk twisted it in his mind. He convinced himself I stole Georgette from him, when in truth, he destroyed any possibility for them himself.”
“But when you told me your honor was your downfall, you said I was nothing like Georgette.”
“And you aren’t.” He hugged her tightly with his one uninjured arm. “She came from the rookery but was soft. Fragile. You come from a pampered life but somehow are strong and resilient.”
Freddy grinned into the darkness. “Yes, I’m quite different.”
“You are perfectly different.” He leaned in and gave her a kiss that made her want to rip off his clothes. “I was afraid to feel again, but you made me feel despite myself. I want to soak up everything you inspire in me and be damned the fear.”
“What do I inspire?” she asked, her breath hitched for a confession she had hardly dared to dream of from this man she loved with all her heart.
“Humor.” He kissed her cheeks. “Fulfillment.” He rose up on his good arm and kissed her lips, then leaned over her belly and kissed it, too. “Deep love that feels like I could drown in it.”
“You won’t drown, Gabriel. We’ll float together through calm waters and storms.”
He straightened up and kissed her heart. “My Freddy. The wee lass that I love.”
She smiled at that. She hoped to hear the part of himself he’d buried so long ago come out much more often now that he felt he could allow love once more. She placed a hand over his heart. “I’ve got your heart, you devil of a Scot, and I’m never letting it go.”
“You better not,” he whispered, and lying back, he brought her into crook of his arm where she settled with a smile, feeling more accepted, more cherished, and more at peace with who she was than ever before.
Thank you so very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed Freddy and Gabe’s story!
Are you a fan of Scottish romances set in the medieval period? If so, I think you will love myHighlander Vows: Entangled Heartsseries. You can read a bit about book 1 below.
Not even her careful preparations could prepare her for the barbarian who rescues her.Don’t miss the USA Today bestsellingHighlander Vows: Entangled Heartsseries, starting with the critically acclaimed When a Laird Loves a Lady. Faking her death would be simple, it was escaping her home that would be difficult.
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