Archangel (16 page)

Gart didn’t even bother to correct the man. “Aye, I am. The most fortunate man in the world.”

The merchant grinned at him. “I can tell you are content. Few married men I meet are half as proud of their wives as you are.” He swept his arm in the direction of the boys. “She has given you three fine sons and a lovely daughter. What more could a man ask for?”

Gart just shook his head, slowly. “Nothing more. She is perfect.”

Emberley felt as if she had been punched in the gut as she listened to the exchange. She would have sold her soul for it to be true.  It was at that moment that she realized she was falling in love with the man and the knowledge cut her deeply. Gart Forbes, her brother’s strong and compassionate best friend, had succeeded in stealing her heart. It was a horrible awareness.  Blindly, with great anguish, she grabbed the boys and began shoving them out of the stall.

“Go,” she pushed them. “Out, out. We must leave.”

Brendt tripped in her haste and she picked the boy up, pushing them all out into the street. She felt someone bump up behind her and realized it was Gart. He had followed her from the stall.  She caught a glimpse of Lacy in the big knight’s arms and she reached out, grabbing her daughter away from the man and listening to her scream.  She began to walk, very quickly, down the street.

Gart didn’t let her get two steps before he was grabbing her by the arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“What is the matter?” he demanded softly. “Where are you going?”

She was pulling away from him, beginning to weep as Lacy cried loudly in her ear. “Please,” she begged, whispering. “Let me go. Please let me go and let us return to Dunster.”

He wouldn’t let her go. “Why?” his voice was a pleading whisper.

She finally looked at him, the anxious look on his face, and she broke down into sobs. “Please, Gart,” she wept. “I want to go home. I want to leave.”

Gart had no idea what her trouble was but she was deeply upset and he would know why.  He looked at the boys, who were gazing at their mother with some concern, realizing that her behavior was frightening the children.  Lacy was already crying loudly.  Looking over his shoulder, he saw a couple of his men standing back in the shadows and he whistled softly to them.  They came forward immediately as Gart returned his attention to Emberley.

“Give me the baby,” he pulled Lacy out of her arms before she could protest and handed her to Romney.  Then he turned to his men. “Take the children, find them something to eat, and take them back to the wagon. I will meet you there.”

When Emberley realized she was separating her from her children, she struggled strongly against him. “Nay,” she snapped. “We are going home. You cannot…”

Gart shook her gently, forcing her to focus on him. “Still your tears,” he commanded softly. “You have frightened your children with your behavior. Look at their faces. Is that what you want? To frighten them?”

She froze, tears on her face, as she looked down at her four children.  Romney was holding Lacy, who was screaming unhappily in his ear, as Orin and Brendt looked rather frightened.  She realized how she must be coming across to them. Her emotions had the better of her.  Relaxing in Gart’s grip, she struggled to compose herself.

“I am sorry,” she murmured to her children, wiping at her face. “I am not upset with you. I… I suppose I am simply weary from all of the excitement of the day.”

That seemed to soothe the boys but Lacy was still very unhappy.  Gart bent over and kissed the little girl on her wet cheek and when she realized who it was, she stopped sobbing and lifted her arms to him.   He kissed her little hands but stopped short of picking her up.

“Romney,” he said. “These men serve me. They are going to find you something to eat while I speak with your mother. Please go with them.”

Romney wasn’t entirely convinced. He looked seriously at Gart. “You are not going to spank her, are you?”

Gart shook his head. “Nay.”

As long as Gart wasn’t going to touch her, Romney didn’t argue but he cast his mother a lingering glance before doing as he was told.  Orin and Brendt followed, subdued and no longer fighting each other with their swords.  Gart watched as four of his men closed around the children and escorted them down the avenue.  With the children taken care of, Gart turned to Emberley.

She was watching her children walk away as if he had just stolen them from her.   A gentle sea breeze blew her hair across her face, making her appear forlorn and fragile. Gart gently cupped her face and forced her to look at him.

“What is wrong, kitten?” he asked softly. “What have I done to upset you so?”

She yanked her face away, slapping at his hand. “Do not call me that,” she half-wept, half-hissed. “You let that man believe we were married and we are not. How could you do that?”

He stared at her, feeling unfamiliar emotion rolling in his chest, squeezing at his heart. He’d never felt so sad, so desperate, in his entire life. He’d never felt so confused.

“It was simpler to agree with him than to explain you did not belong to me,” he said after a moment, his voice quiet. “I am sorry it upset you so.”

She looked at him, her cheeks flushed pink with angst and turmoil.   The tears were flowing faster than she could wipe them away.

“Do you think to toy with me, Gart?” she wanted to know. “If I was an unmarried maiden, I would take your behavior over the past few days to mean extreme interest in me. You have endeared yourself to me and to my children and have taken care of us as Julian never has. You have been kind and sweet and compassionate.  You have made me feel things that I have never felt before and I hate you for it.”

Her last words trailed off, mortified that she had spoken what was on her mind.  Then she turned away from him and began to run, slipping in between two stalls and ending up in the small, dirty alleyway behind them.  Gart was right behind her, throwing his big arms around her before she could get away.  She tried to get her fists free to strike him but he held her fast.

“I am sorry,” he murmured, listening to her weep and struggle. “It was wrong of me, I know. But… Emberley, please believe me. I would never toy with you, not ever. I have a confession to make – I lied.”

She was trying to break free of his iron grip. “I know you lied,” she spat. “You lied to the merchant. I heard you. I am in enough trouble if Julian discovers you remained at Dunster without you spreading lies that I am your wife.”

He sighed heavily. “That is not what I meant.”

“What, then?” she managed to get an arm up and was trying to shove him away by the chest. “Let me
go
.”

He ignored her demand. “I lied to de Lohr when I told him that my feelings towards you were nothing more than the concern of an old friend,” he said softly. “I see in you the woman I should have married and I cannot help the emotions that have been growing since the day I arrived at Dunster.  You are sweet and beautiful and everything I have ever wanted. I think I fell in love with those three hooligans you have raised the moment they tried to rob me, and that slobbery baby that just wants to be loved. Everything about them is perfect and wonderful and I want it. I want
you
.”

She stopped fighting him, her dark blue eyes wide with shock as she gazed at him.  The tears had stopped, replaced by unadulterated astonishment.

“You
what
?” she breathed.

He didn’t back down; it was all coming out, anyway, so he figured he had nothing to lose. He felt like a fool but he didn’t care. She had to know all of it.

“I want you,” his voice softened. “I have since nearly the moment I saw you four days ago. I do not know how this has happened only that it has. It is wrong and immoral, and I understand that. But I cannot help what I feel when I look at you. You are married to a man who does not deserve you and it destroys me to see how he treats you. Please do not hate me for being weak enough to love you. I could not bear it.”

Emberley stared at him, a thousand emotions rippling across her lovely face, before breaking into sobs.  She fell forward, her forehead against his chest.  Gart wrapped her up tightly in his arms.

“Oh, Gart,” she wept against him. “I do not know what to say. I cannot give you encouragement where none exists. You love something that can never be and….”

She trailed off, shattered and sick. His cheek was against the top of her head, feeling the texture on his skin. “And… what?”

She lifted her head to look at him.  “I want it, too,” she whispered.

He pulled her closer, feeling her tense. “You do?”

She nodded her head, so hard that her careful hairstyle started to unravel. “But it can never be,” she whispered, reaching up to touch his rough cheek. “You must leave Dunster today and never return. To remain would only cause us more pain.”

He completely ignored her request, his eyes riveted to her.  He held her tightly by the upper arms and his great head dipped low, kissing her gently on the cheek, the nose.  He felt her shudder against him before planting his lips on her soft, warm mouth.  He kissed her more powerfully than he had ever kissed a woman in his life, tasting everything about her, experiencing her scent in his nostrils and her warmth in his hands, and he knew at that moment that he would never leave her, not ever. He was fused to her somehow and it could not be undone.

“I love you,” he murmured, his mouth against her. “Tell me you love me and I shall live on it the rest of my life.”

The tears streamed down her face. “I love you,” she whispered. “Oh, I do. You are my angel, Gart.”

“And you are mine,” he murmured, kissing her chin. “Tell me that you want to be with me, forever.”

Emberley couldn’t stop herself from replying, feeling the bittersweet emotions exploding in her chest. “I want to be everything to you,” she whispered, kissing his mouth when it came close. “But it is not possible.”

“Anything is possible.”

She stopped returning his kisses, struggling to come to her senses and processing what he was saying.

“But I am already married,” she murmured the obvious. “You and I cannot be together so long as Julian is my husband. What we feel... it is wrong.”

“It is not wrong,” Gart looked at her seriously.  “True love is never wrong.”

“We are violating the God’s law of marriage.”

“Julian violated that the moment he took his hands to you.” When she shook her head to dispute him, he continued strongly. “He took your marriage and stomped on it when he fornicated with the queen. Why would you be loyal to man who has only brought you pain and shame?”

She closed her eyes tightly and hung her head. “It is different and you know it,” she said softly. “If… if I shame him, he will kill me.”

Gart cooled. “He will not kill you because you will not return to him.”

Emberley’s expression tightened with confusion. “What do you mean I will not return to him?” she cocked her head, her hands on his face. “Gart, I have no choice. I am his wife and…”

“Nay,” he barked softly, cutting off her words. “You will never say that in my presence again. You are not his wife. You are simply contracted to the man, chattel and nothing more. From this moment on, you belong to me. Do you hear me? You are mine. Someday you will be my wife and that is the only time I will hear that word from your lips.  It will be the proudest moment of my life.”

Emberley gazed at him, having no idea how to respond. Gart slanted his lips over hers, hungrily, tasting her deeply before pulling away.  It wasn’t that he was afraid someone would see them but more that he was rather conservative with public displays of affection. What he felt for her was something treasured and private. Now that they had spoken of their feelings, he could still hardly believe it. He needed time to reconcile himself to the situation because his mind was muddled. He’d never been so confused or so happy in his entire life.