Love Beyond Compare (Book 5 of Morna’s Legacy Series) (31 page)
Read Love Beyond Compare (Book 5 of Morna’s Legacy Series) Online
Authors: Bethany Claire
“A guest?” I couldn’t believe she assigned that task to me after days with no patrons. “Don’t you want to do that yourself? I can see to those with Cooper.”
Her face flushed red in an instant. “Do I look like I want to take care of it myself? Please, Jane.”
Shaking my head in disbelief, I watched her and Cooper walk away before stepping back inside. The sun cast a shadow on the man standing within, and I couldn’t tell who it was until he turned toward me. When he did, I had to grab the edge of the table to keep myself steady.
It was Adwen.
*
*
*
“Hi.” It was all I could manage to say as I stared at him. Every inch of me wanted to run toward him, but he took no step toward me so I stayed where I stood.
He was darker than the last time we were together, tanned and slightly dirty. He looked even better, and the circles beneath his eyes were gone.
He smiled but said nothing. I carefully removed my hand from the table, feeling more steady with every second.
“You haven’t been at Cagair Castle.” I didn’t know why I said that to him. It just seemed the most obvious observation. He didn’t look traveled in the way one did after a few days gone from home. He looked as if he had been away a very long time.
“No.”
The sound of his voice made me want to weep.
“Where did you go?”
“Many places. It doesna matter.”
He was tense, and I could see the rise and fall of his chest from across the room. I wanted to feel him, to touch his hands and the strength in his arms. I’d pushed every feeling I had for him down so deep inside me that I thought they could never get out. One look at him, and I thought I might explode from the rush of emotions.
“What are you doing here? It’s not fair, Adwen. It’s painful for me to see you.”
“Jane.” He did move then, closing the distance between us in two long strides. His hands trembled as he gripped either side of my face. “Do ye still love me?”
Tears from my eyes dripped onto his fingers as I spoke. “I was never the one who said anything different.”
He kissed me and pulled me into his arms as months of heartache at missing him melted away. In that moment, I realized I had lied to myself over and over to cope. Dreams, hopes, wishes—they couldn’t be killed by will alone. They simply retreated beneath the surface of my heart, waiting for Adwen to return. Part of me—the part I pushed away—must have always known that he would.
I didn’t care where he’d been or why it had taken him so long to come for me. I knew we wouldn’t be parted again as his arms wrapped around me.
I turned my face up to kiss him, wiping the lone tear that crept from the corner of his eye. I hugged him and heard a loud sniffle from the back of the room. I pulled away but kept hold of his hand as I turned to see Isobel crying and Cooper clapping gleefully in the doorway.
CHAPTER 45
Cagair Castle
One Month Later
We put our wedding together in the matter of a day, both of us far more interested in the honeymoon than the ceremony. We left immediately after saying our vows and took off on a month-long journey around Scotland, where I had the endless pleasure of acquainting myself with the man Adwen had become.
He had changed over the course of three months. Not in the way I had, but in a way that was far less changeable. He found that piece of himself Orick had always known he was missing—an unwavering inner strength. He was a better man, lover, and partner for it. And someday, when we were both ready and the right children crossed our path, he would be able to open his heart to a home full of children without the constant fear he would have always had before.
He was free from chains he didn’t even know he carried, and our marriage, our life together, would be so much happier for it.
After weeks of laughter, conversations, and a fair amount of lovemaking, we chose to make the last day of our honeymoon a somber one—a day of reflection at Cagair Castle to properly say goodbye to the friend we lost before starting our new life together.
Cagair Castle would not be our home. Callum was happy as laird, and we both wanted to be closer to Cooper. Upon our return, we would find a home base on McMillan territory and, while I knew we would travel often, we could be close to those we loved.
Adwen would not allow me to climb down the rocky hillside, not so much for my safety as his need to be alone. I didn’t mind as I stood near the edge and watched him. I needed the solitude, as well. This day was so different from the one that claimed Orick’s life—the rocks held sturdy and the sea remained calm.
I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer for my friend. I could feel him here, among the rocks and the water.
I watched as Adwen reached the platform on which Orick had landed and then been pushed off of by the falling rocks. Looking at it now, filled with clarity rather than grief, it surprised me that they hadn’t found his body. The rocks should have crushed him, not pushed him off the edge.
A breeze from the ocean swept across me. It was oddly warm, and I found comfort in it as my last conversation with Orick swept through my mind. I’m a verra good swimmer—even in waves such as this, I could do well enough.
I could almost hear his voice say the words in the breeze, and I had to shake my head to push away the thought. Hope was different from delusion, and it had been months since Orick’s passing.
Still, truly seeing the rocks for the first time since the tragedy, I could see Orick’s death in a way I couldn’t before. It had been awful for us, but for him, I imagined it was something like he would have wanted.
He had joined the sea. I would always think of him swimming in the ocean that he loved so much.
I said nothing to Adwen as he climbed upward and joined me.
He took my hand and kissed it before we turned toward the castle to join Callum.
We would always miss Orick and the sadness would never truly leave, but coming back here provided a cleansing we both deeply needed. And now we could breathe easily, free of guilt or regret as we started our new life together.
A life filled with love, travels, friends, family, and until we found children to adopt, I intended for us to enjoy at least several romps in the hay each day.
EPILOGUE
He dreamed endlessly, always of the same nameless people who danced through his mind and spoke to him without voices. He could hear nothing but the sound of water, of waves crashing against the rocks as he slept.
When he did wake, he couldn’t lift himself, couldn’t move from the warm coverings wrapped around him. How long had he been here—amongst the water and the candlelight and the woman that stayed with him in the cave?
She cared for him, feeding him, cleansing him, rubbing soothing oils into torn gashes in his skin. When she spoke, he could hear her voice, though most days he couldn’t stay conscious long enough to understand what she said to him.
One thing confused him more than any other. She always called after him with a name that wasn’t his own—Orick, Orick. She always referred to him in the same way.
He didn’t recognize the name. It couldn’t be his own. But if Orick wasn’t his name, what was?
He didn’t know.
To continue the series, read:
(Book 6 of Morna’s Legacy Series)
(Pre-order available now – Releases April 28, 2015)
Get it at Amazon
HERE
!
Read all the books in Morna’s Legacy Series:
(Box Set contains Books 1, 2, 2.5 & 3)
In Due Time – A Novella
(Book 4.5)
(Pre-order Available Now – Releases April 28, 2015)
Thank you for reading!
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed
Love Beyond Compare (Book 5 of Morna’s Legacy Series)
. If you haven’t already, be sure to read the previous books in the series, as well.
In
Love Beyond Compare,
Jane has her chance at love. In the next installment, magic continues to work to influence love, but who does it target? I hope you will read
Love Beyond Dreams
to find out.
As an author, I love feedback from readers. You are the reason that I write, and I love hearing from you. If you would like to connect, there are several ways to reach me. You can send me an email to
[email protected]
, reach out to me on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/bethanyclaire
, or on Twitter at
http://www.twitter.com/BClaireAuthor
. If you want to find even more information about the books, including excerpts, visit my website at
http://www.bethanyclaire.com
.
The best way to be notified of new releases and to be entered into a monthly $50 gift card drawing is to subscribe to my
newsletter
.
Finally, if you enjoyed this book, I would appreciate it so much if you would recommend it to your friends and family. And if you would please take time to review it on Goodreads and/or your favorite retailer site, it would be a great help. Reviews can be tough to come by these days, and you, the reader, have the power to make or break a book.
Thank you so much for reading
Love Beyond Compare
. I hope you choose to journey with me through the other books in the series.
All my best,
Bethany Claire
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bethany Claire is the author of the Scottish, time-traveling romance novels Love Beyond Time, Love Beyond Reason, A Conall Christmas—Novella, Love Beyond Hope, Love Beyond Measure,
In Due Time—Novella,
and other series titles coming soon. She grew up in the Texas Panhandle and now resides in Florida.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing the story is only the first of many steps that go into the completion of a novel. For each of you that step in after I’ve written the last word, I want to say thank you.
To Mom—assistant extraordinaire—thanks for being patient and for taking on pretty much all of the “business” stuff so that I can spend all of my time writing stories.
