Page 61 of Conquer the Highlander

“Isna my presence here proof of that?”

He had a point, but she wasn’t going to accept it. She wanted to hear it from his own lips. “You made me tell you how I felt,” she said. “Tell me or I will not go with you.”

Titus kept his hand up, outstretched to her, but he was struggling with his reply. He finally grinned, embarrassed.

“I’ve never had tae tell anyone what I felt,” he said. “No one ever cared enough tae ask.”

“I’m asking.”

He pondered his answer for a moment. “I told ye that ye make me want tae be a better man,” he said. “Ye’re kind and compassionate and genuine. Ye willna take what ye havena earned. Ye’re as beautiful as a new sunrise. Ye’re a woman of unusual strength and I told ye that I’m unworthy of ye, but I want tae be. I’ve never had a woman whose respect I so badly wanted. What do I feel? I dunna know yet, but I know I dunna want tae be without ye. Whatever I’m feeling, I want it tae grow. I want tae be the man ye thought I was because I want tae make ye happy. Does that tell ye enough or must I go on?”

He had explained himself well enough without really giving her a direct answer. But for Esme, it was enough to ease her wounded heart. She wanted so badly to believe him because he seemed truly repentant. But she knew it would probably be difficult for him to change his ways.

From what she’d heard, she wasn’t entirely sure he could commit to one woman.

Still… she couldn’t refuse him because whatever she was feeling for him, too, seemed to demand forgiveness. The feelings were precious and fragile, but oh so glorious.

She couldn’t cast them off so easily.

“I hope I am not making a mistake,” she said after a moment.

A hopeful smile came to his lips. “I swear I’ll try my hardest so ye never regret it.”

Esme thought on that. Then, she sighed faintly and lifted her hand, putting it into his palm. He lifted it to his lips, kissing it sweetly. It was a kiss of hope, of implied promises for the future.

Never had a kiss meant more.

“Let me take ye home,” he whispered.

Stiff, sore, sick, and achy, Esme shifted from her seated position as he held her hand and helped her rise. Once she was on her feet, she put both hands on his face, forcing him to look at her.

For a moment, they simply stared at one another. Titus didn’t try to touch her, or hold her, because this was her moment. She was drinking him in, deciding if he was worth the risk. After a moment, her dark eyes glimmered, just a little.

“You are still the most beautiful man I have ever seen,” she murmured.

He smiled faintly. “I’ll make ye a promise, Esme,” he said. “I canna erase the past, but I can make a promise for the future. From this day forward, ye’ll be the only woman for me, Esme Marabella Silva y de Gracia. I swear that tae ye on my honor as a warrior of the Ludus Caledonia.”

A weary smile spread over her lips. “Hearing you say my name like a Highlander makes me think that you mean it.”

“Did I say it right?”

She laughed softly. “Beautifully,” she said. Then, she was forced to quickly lower her head and sneeze. “I fear I have caused you much trouble, Titus. I hope you think I am worth it.”

It was his turn to put his hands on her face, forcing her to look at him. He studied her big, soulful eyes, her red nose, her lush and dreamy lips. His gaze drifted over everything about her, the fine lines, the contours.

“Strange,” he said. “I can honestly say that I’ve seen many women, but I never really looked at them. What I mean is that I’ve never looked into their eyes. I’ve never stopped long enough to care about anything other than myself, but now… I see ye, Esme. Ye’re the only woman I’ve ever really looked at.”

Esme was quickly forgetting her hurt, even though she was trying to keep some measure of self-protection up. But with Titus, it was so easy to let it all go because she believed him.

She wanted to believe him.

“What do you see when you look at me?” she whispered.

A light came to his eyes. “Everything I want tae be.”

With that, his mouth slanted over hers. She tried to pull away, given that she was sniffling and ill, but his big arms went around her and she was lost. Titus kissed her fully, deeply, tasting everything about her in a way he’d never tasted anyone before. It was an awakening for him, acquainting himself with a woman that, in two days, had taught him everything he wasn’t and everything he wanted to be.

He wanted to discover more about her.