Chapter Thirty-One

Bryce ran a hand over his shirt to smooth it—as if that would help. As soon as the viscount saw Bryce’s smile he’d know immediately what they’d done. And he couldn’t stop smiling.

He coughed and walked into the room where Dorie’s father waited to speak with him. It was better to get it over with. Surely this village had a clergyman who could marry them so they could be on their way by noon. Bryce only had to survive this conversation.

Dorie was already seated in the room and he couldn’t help but notice she was smiling as well. When she spotted him, that smile grew and a lovely blush bloomed on her cheeks. No doubt she was remembering the night before. He couldn’t wait to have this morning over so they could be together as a married couple once more.

He took the seat as far from Dorie as possible so as not to touch her and offend her father. But even the distance didn’t keep them from stealing glances and sharing knowing smiles.

“Bloody hell. What have you done?” the viscount snapped while looking between them.

Even the threat of death couldn’t force Bryce to look away from the woman he loved. “I’m in love with your daughter, sir. I want to marry her. Today, preferably.”

“Did your laird discuss my offer and the stipulations?” he asked, sitting back in his chair and steepling his long fingers.

If the man thought to intimidate him, it wouldn’t work. Bryce was leaving with his wife. No matter what.

“Aye. He told me the only way you’d fund the men we asked for was if I signed the annulment and stayed away from Dorie. I may have signed it, but that was before I realized I didn’t want to live without her.” Bryce swallowed and his smile dimmed slightly. “My clan would like to have your assistance, but Lach told me I needed to do what was right for me. He said we’d figure out the rest later. I have his support. Will you give Dorie and me your blessing to be wed?”

The man stared at Bryce for a long time before turning to Dorie. “I’m afraid I cannot.”

Bryce reached for his sword, forgetting he’d left it in his room for this very reason. It wouldn’t do to slay the man and take Dorie away. She would want to have her father in her life, so Bryce needed to remain calm and not act the beast he felt.

“Papa, please!” Dorie cried, standing to come to his side. “I appreciate everything you did for me to try to find someone to love me, but it turns out I had him all along.”

“This is what you want? To be second best to a ghost?”

“She’s not second best,” Bryce cut in. His earlier smile was long gone now. He’d not allow anyone to belittle his feelings for Dorie. Not when he’d dragged himself through hell to finally allow those feelings. “She’s the most important person in my life.”

“Please, Papa,” Dorie said. “He’s the man I want.”

“Well, it’s a good thing since you’re still married to him. I cannot give you my blessing to be wed because you’re already married.”

“Excuse me?” Bryce asked in confusion.

“You say you signed the annulment, but I never received it.”

He’d signed the document and— “Lachlan.” This had to have been his cousin’s doing. He hadn’t wanted Bryce to go through with it. He must have anticipated Bryce would change his mind. Damn it. The man’s head wouldn’t fit through the bloody gates when he found out he’d been right.

Dorien frowned, not in anger but with sadness. “I imagine you plan to take her back to Scotland.”

Bryce understood that he didn’t want to lose his daughter after she’d just entered his life a few months ago. “Aye. It’s our home. It’s where we’ll raise our children.” He smiled at the man. “Your grandchildren.” Dorie came close and Bryce took her hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. “You are welcome to visit as often as you like,” Bryce added, hoping to appease his father-in-law.

“This is really what you want, Dorie?” the viscount asked.

Dorie went to her father with tears in her eyes. She hugged him tightly then stepped away. “Yes, Father. I hate to lose you, now I finally got to know you. I’ll miss my brothers and sisters. And Harriet. She’s a wonderful woman and so accepting of me, considering the circumstances. But I must follow my heart. And my heart wants to be with Bryce.”

“And if he hurts you again…?”

“I trust him, Papa.” She wiped a tear away. “I just wish I didn’t have to lose you to have him.” A new sob overtook her, and her father pulled her close.

“Shhh. Why do you think you have to lose me?” he asked.

She backed away and blinked up at him. “Because I’ve displeased you.”

He gave her a soft smile. “You are my daughter. I love you. You will never lose me. Never.”

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

She clung to him as he held her tightly.

“As long as you’re happy, I’ll not be displeased.” The man’s words sounded warm. The glare he shot Bryce over Dorie’s shoulder, however, spoke of all the harm that would come to Bryce if he hurt her in any way. Bryce did not doubt he’d one day look at a man the same way when he claimed Bryce’s daughter, if they were blessed in that way.

“Thank you, Papa.” She turned to Bryce and smiled. “I shall go pack so we can go home.”

Home. He couldn’t wait.

…

Dorie expected her brothers and sisters would be happy to see her go. She’d grown attached to them but felt they’d never quite accepted her. So it was a surprise to find three crying children clinging to her as she tried to pack her things.

Philip was, of course, too old for such dramatics, but even he seemed unhappy that she was leaving.

“I’ll write to you all the time,” she assured them.

“But I canna write back,” George said, using the Scottish word.

“Then all the more reason for you to pay attention during your lessons so you can. In the meantime, I would be happy for you to draw me a picture. I know you can do that.” Though her younger brother seemed only able to draw unfathomably large horses that took up the entire page and were larger than the manor house in the background.

Harriet took Geneva and soothed her tears. “I wish you happiness,” she told Dorie. “I know I’m not old enough to be your mother, but I care for you as one would.”

“And I have come to rely on your advice. Thank you so much for making me see what was right in front of me.”

Harriet and Dorie both brushed tears from their cheeks as a servant came to carry her things downstairs.

Dorie heard the two men talking in the parlor and paused to see if they’d made amends or if her father was still trying to intimidate her husband. She recalled something Harriet had said about her father never finding any man to be good enough for his daughter, and guessed this tension was normal for the situation. Though as she drew closer she realized it went beyond that.

“You realize this changes the terms of the agreement I made with your laird regarding the offer of men to aid in your takeover of the McCurdys? You’ll be on your own.”

“Aye. My laird supports my decision,” Bryce said. “It would have been good to have your added support, but we’ll move forward without it.” Bryce sounded confident, but Dorie worried what would happen when Bryce came home with a wife instead of an army to conquer their enemy. “Our clan has gone decades without access to the sea, but I can’t go another day without my wife,” Bryce added.

Dorie’s heart soared at his words. Whatever they faced when they got home, they would face together. She entered the room with a smile for both the men she cared for deeply.

Her father nodded as she joined them. He hugged her and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear like a doting father. His gaze shot to Bryce and he sighed. “I put her in your care. Don’t make me regret it.”

The men shook hands. “I’ll make sure you don’t. The rest of my life will be spent making her happy and comforting her in those times in life when happiness is not possible.”

The man nodded. “I’m glad you finally realized what you were missing.”

With more teary goodbyes on the lane by the waiting carriage, Bryce tied his horse behind the vehicle and helped her inside. While Dorie wasn’t exactly looking forward to a long ride in the carriage, she did want to be alone with Bryce.

He only waited until they could no longer see the manor house before he leaned over to kiss her. When she kissed him back, he took advantage and kept kissing her.

A sound of interest escaped her throat and his lips pulled up in a smile against hers. Surely he wasn’t planning on…in the carriage?

“It’s a long ride home and I need to make up for lost time,” he said, making his intentions clear.

Her blood rushed with excitement, and she moaned when he touched her breast.

“I love the sounds you make. It makes me want to keep giving you reasons to make them.”

“I canna help it,” she said, then gasped when his teeth nipped the sensitive skin where her neck met her shoulder.

He’d already unbuttoned her dress enough to pull it down and expose her breasts to his mouth. She would never tire of this man. Her husband in every way.

…

“Do you still plan to take over the McCurdys?” Dorie asked when they were almost home. It had been a long trip, but Bryce hadn’t minded since he’d taken up much of the time satisfying his wife in all the ways allowed in the small space of the carriage.

“It will depend on whether Liam is able to get the Stewarts to agree to join us. The Campbells have already promised their support. And the Fletchers.”

“But even with the Stewarts, it would have been easier if you’d had my father’s men as well.”

He wouldn’t lie to her, but he shrugged it off. “We will find a way. I wouldn’t have wanted to go off to war with your father’s men at my back if it meant I had no one to come home to when it was over.”

“Perhaps if you’d asked—”

“Nay. He made it clear to me that I’d breached the agreement when he didn’t receive the signed annulment and I showed up at his home instead. I can’t say that I understand why he wouldn’t change his mind. He has every reason to hate the McCurdys as much as we do. But his offer was made with conditions I couldn’t live with, so we’ll manage somehow. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Unfortunately, telling someone not to worry and them doing that were two very different things. Bryce knew his wife worried that she had ruined their chances for earning surrender from the McCurdys. But he also knew that Lach and Cam would have done the same thing in his situation. Because when it came to having Dorie in his life, he’d rather fight all the McCurdys single-handed than live without her.

There wasn’t any other choice to be made.