Free Enchanted Heart by Brianna Lee McKenzie

an instant, he had fallen madly, obsessively in love with her, but instead, he whispered, “Ah, don’t say that!”
    Then, he reached for her, clenching his mouth shut and cursing himself for taking the argument too far. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t feel the same way about him. He should not have punished her for the fact that she still loved her husband by reminding her that she could never be a mother if she would not give her heart away again. Tenderly, with regretful emotions rising into his eyes, he pulled her back into his embrace where he held her, caressed her and whispered soothing words to her.
    “I know about the babies,” he whispered into her hair with wavering words. “Greta told me."
    Marty pulled from his embrace and uttered as if her sister had committed some unforgivable deed against her, “Why would she?”
    Caid shook his head and placed a hand upon hers; enveloping it with his warmth as if that gesture would ease the pain in her heart and he whispered, “Don’t be angry at her. It’s my fault. I asked her so many questions while you slept.”
    “Why?” Marty wondered aloud, staring at his face for an answer.
    He turned away from her then and stared at the grassy horizon before he sighed and admitted, still watching the waves of lush tendrils, “I wanted to know more about the woman I saved and who saved me in return.”
    “H-How could I have saved you?” Marty asked while she blinked away another tear.
    Caid pulled in a breath, deciding whether or not to tell her how she had saved him from an endless empty heart just by looking at him with gratitude in her blue eyes that night when he’d scooped her from the grip of that river. He wondered if he should explain to her that he knew in his soul that she was meant for him long before he had taken control of the oxen that she had been so hard on. He let the breath out and chose not to divulge either significant element that could forever change the way she felt about him. He knew that she was not ready to hear such a profound declaration. Not yet anyway.
    He took her into his arms again and was surprised that she did not push him away. He pressed his palm against the back of her head while he groaned with emotion clearly in his raspy voice, “I’m sorry I said such a hateful thing to you. God, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    He kissed her forehead, searing his lips to her skin for as long as it took in order to convey his heartfelt apology to her while he fought back the unshakable tears that he had brought about in his own body by his terrible words and the heart-wrenching look that they had caused on her beautiful face. Then he encased her in his arms again, pressing her face into his chest where his heart beat the expressions that he longed to utter. I love you, I love you , it repeated over and over while he searched for the courage to say the words aloud. And inside, he admonished himself for making the one woman, the only woman that he loved and would ever love; feel as if he hated her.
    Marty clutched her fists beneath her chin and let the tears fall unchecked upon Caid’s shirt. How could he say such a hateful thing to her? How could he insinuate that she never wanted love again? And why did that hurt her more than the fact that she could never be a mother?
    She felt him pull her away and then felt his palms against her cheeks while he held her face in his hands and declared to her, “I’m so, so sorry, Marty.”
    She blinked hard, rolling her eyes against her lids and trying to hold back the tears now; but flow they did, breaching the confines of her lashes and streaming down her cheeks and into the palms of his hands. This must have revived his sorrow, for he groaned inwardly and clutched her to his chest again. For some reason, that tender gesture broke the wall around her heart and she wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him as if he were her lifeline. And in that moment, her heart heard what his was