Page 77 of The Moonstone Major
Something changed inside of him in that moment.
He could not quite explain what was happening to him, only that he was no longer that lonely boy who struggled each brutal day to survive.
He belonged to someone now. Someone who cared whether he lived or died.
He had Chloe with whom to share memories, to hold in his arms, to confide his concerns. To dance with him despite his limp, and worry if it pained him.
They would build a future together.
Having Chloe by his side would help him forget the pain of the past.
Well, one never forgot a past like his. But she would make it bearable.
“Fionn,” she said, taking a hard swallow. “Does this mean we are betrothed?”
“I suppose it does.” He cast her an affectionate smile. “Well, unofficially. We still need your guardian’s consent.”
“Cain will give it. He must.”
He buried his face in the slender curve of her neck, suddenly struggling with the groundswell of feelings coursing through him.
How could someone as perfect as this lovely girl care so deeply for him? How could he possibly be right for her? Or she right for him?
And yet he knew it was the only way it could ever be. The two of them together, loving and supporting each other. Madly in love with each other.
“You are my everything,” he said in a ragged whisper. “Never doubt it for a moment.”
She was crying, and he was on the verge of it as well. But tears had left him long ago, for no amount of wailing or bemoaning his fate had ever helped against the freezing cold or pain of starvation.
“Look at us,” he said with a surprisingly shaky voice. “Aren’t we a pair?”
She laughed as she nodded, and then put her hands to her cheeks to brush them dry. “Yes, we are a pair. Matched in heart forever, I hope.”
“Not a doubt of it, love.”
She took a deep breath, and her face turned a deep red.
“What is it, Chloe?” It felt good to hold her in his arms and know they belonged to each other.
“Do you think we might sleep in the captain’s bedchamber tonight?”
“Share a bed?”
She nodded.
With this luscious girl? They wouldn’t get a lick of sleep. “Yes, love. Unless the roof caves in between then and now, I would say it was a certainty.”
Her eyes widened. “Then you have no objections?”
“Only one. That I will not claim you until you are truly mine. That privilege is for a husband, and I shall heartily claim it once we are wed, but not before.”
“Then we are only to sleep? I don’t think I will close my eyes at all while that storm still rages. I think it is more than a passing squall, or it would have been through here over an hour ago.”
“This is a tempest for certain, and there is no telling when it will pass.” After they’d shared a light repast, he led her upstairs to his bedchamber, and then rubbed a hand across the back of his neck as he stared at the bed.
“We are going to share it,” Chloe insisted, sensing his reluctance.
He grinned. “That isn’t the reason for my hesitation.”
