Page 120 of His Destiny

“Nae, let me finish.” He blew out a deep breath. “As I lay there healing, with time but a nuisance to endure, I realized I was wrong to cleave to my anger when you had sacrificed your life to save mine.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “’Twas my treachery that endangered your life.”

“It was, but a wrong you righted.”

She withdrew her hand, lashed at the tear. “Do not claim me righteous. ’Twas my greed for money, my craving for danger that guided me to deceive you.”

“Mayhap then, but if now offered the same task by Cressingham, would you agree?”

Ire flared in her eyes. “Of course not!”

Patrik smiled, appreciating the fine indignation on her face. The lass was amazing, her passion and determination qualities he would forever savor.

“’Tis not a fact I find humor in.”

“Nor I,” he said, his words somber. “Over the weeks, you have changed. As I have. I realized that my anger toward you after your selfless act was wrong.” Patrik exhaled. “After my parents’ deaths, I held onto my anger, allowed it to sever my bond with the MacGruders, men who had taken me into their home, had treated me like a brother. With your help, I recovered that bond. Nay, ’tis folly to cling to such darkness, a mistake I will not be making again.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “You forgive me?” she whispered.

“Aye.” Emotion welled in his throat. “With the passage of days, dreams invaded my mind, those of a lass afraid and alone, a lass who had borne the brutality of man. Also, a woman who sought forgiveness, a woman who wished to help children who’d lost their families as well.” At the flush sliding up her cheeks, he smiled. “I believed the memories but dreams. When Nichola told me you’d remained overnight by my side during my fever, I realized ’twas you I had heard, not my mind’s whispers.”

“Patrik, I—”

“Was it not?”

Emma lowered her head.

Patrik caught her chin, raised her face until their eyes met. “And, in my dream, the woman told me she loved me.”

Another tear wobbled, slid down her cheek.

“Do you?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

“Thank God.” On a rough exhale, he drew her into a heated kiss, one seasoned with passion, one delivered with desperation to have her in his life. Slowly, Patrik drew away, stared at the woman who had touched his life, the woman who had allowed him to heal, and the woman who had helped him regain his family. “I love you, Emma Astyn.”

Tears flowed unchecked down her face. “I do not deserve your love.”

“Aye, you deserve that and so much more.” He hesitated. “Emma?”

“Yes?”

With his body trembling, Patrik knelt before her, withdrew the halved malachite dangling upon a chain from around his neck.

She glanced toward his neck. “The gift from your grandmother?”

“Nae.” He withdrew the matching half from beneath his tunic. “This gemstone is the other half. I had it made into a pendant to give to my heart’s desire, the woman I was destined to love.” He brushed away a strand of hair from her face, the flicker of candles warm upon her cheeks as if a golden caress. “Emma, you are the woman who saved me when no hope remained, who taught me to love when I believed none existed. Within God’s house I ask you to marry me.”

Emerald eyes widened in wondrous disbelief. “You want me to marry you?”

“Emma, you are my life and the woman who fills my every dream. Marry me and I swear, I will show you only love.”

She nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Yes! Oh yes!”

He stood, lowered the matching pendant over her head and claimed her mouth, her love erasing the last wisps of emptiness within his heart. Nay, Emma was not a threat, butHis Destiny.