Free Highland Soldiers: The Betrayal by J.L. Jarvis

the money I’d saved, and he lost it all gambling.”
    “You needed some time before being forced to move out.”
    “Could you nae have told me the truth while I saved up the money?”
    “And what would you have done–come to steal me away?”
    “Aye, it sounds like a very good plan.” Duncan fought a smile.
    “Do you know how I’ve wished for just that? But it would not have helped you. Not then.” Her soft gaze found his dark eyes and the regret that was etched there. After more than a year, Jenny had thought through it all. She had done what was best for his family, but at what cost to them both?
    “My darlin’.” Duncan held Jenny close. “I’d have gone to your father to plead for your hand.”
    “I know.”
    Overcome with anger toward Tavish, Jenny’s father, his own, and most of all, himself, Duncan stared at the castle. He had let Jenny down, forced her to carry a burden that he should have born, but could not.
    “We must end it now. I must go to your father and ask for your hand.”
    “He will say no, and you know it.”
    “But I owe him that much. It’s a matter of honor.” Duncan grinned. “Stealing his daughter is not, but I’m willing to let go of that bit of honor, just once.”
    “Duncan, I’ve seen his ledger. Your rent is over a year past due. How can you support us all now?”
    He clenched his jaw. “Thanks to my father, not as well as before. But I’ve found a new source of income.”
    “Have you taken to highway robbery now?”
    “No, but I’ve found my father’s whisky. It brings a good price in the cities. But I’ll need a few more trips to sell it all.”
    With a deep, hopeless sigh, Duncan said, “In the meantime, you’re still yoked to Tavish.” His eyes darkened.
    “I will wait until you are ready,” she said.
    “You cannae wait for long. They’re already calling the banns.”
    “You’ll not let me marry him, will you?”
    With a warm smile, Duncan said, “No, I promise you that.” For months, he had hidden his feelings behind dark, stormy eyes. With a guttural sigh, he pulled her to his chest. “You’re my Jenny, and I’ll not let him have you.”
    Jenny said, “You fair broke my heart every time I saw the betrayal in your eyes.”
    He took held her gentle face in his battle-scarred hands. “And what do you see now?”
    “I see how you once looked at me.”
    “How I loved you?”
    “And how you let me love you.”
    He leaned down and kissed her. The full lips she had longed for were hers. She was in his embrace. His body against hers was home. Together at last, they found peace from the yearning that had haunted them for so long.
    Duncan lifted and carried her to the base of the tree, where he set her down gently on a blanket of leaves. There he slowly undressed her. He touched her with his hands and his lips, and his fingers stroked the soft places he had once tried to forget. Her sighs in his ears fueled the need to be part of her. Jenny wanted him, too. Her hands sought him through the thick woolen trews to the point of near torture. With fevered impatience, he freed himself of them, kicking them free of his ankles as he lowered himself to her. He could not let her know how helpless he was in her arms. At the same time, he felt fiercely protective. Jenny MacRuer was his for as long as she would have him, and no other man would get near enough to hurt the woman he loved. And Duncan was hers, as he always had been. Woe to any who dared try to part them again.
     
    *
     
    Dusk settled about them as Duncan lay beside Jenny and watched as she sighed, eyes closed and content. A gentle smile formed on his lips as he stroked away soft strands of hair from her brow. She tilted her head until her lips found his.
    “We will have to leave soon,” she said, laying her cheek on his shoulder.
    “Aye, and I will let you go–for today.”
    “And tomorrow?” asked Jenny.
    “I will find a way. I cannot live without you.”
    “What if there is no