Love Me Forever Read Free

task, perhaps then she would not feel so
helpless and dependent on this stranger.
    She stubbornly moved her arms, though her
chest ached from the effort, and when she attempted to brace them
on the bed and move herself, a vicious stabbing pain knifed through
her and forced a scream from her. She did not, however, count on
the scream being his name.
    He rushed to her side and took her hand,
holding it gently while his other hand tenderly stroked her
forehead.
    “It is all right. Calm and the pain will
subside. I am here and will care for you and protect you. Think
naught but of my hand soothing your head and my voice that reaches
out to you in concern. Tell me your name? I have wondered over
it.”
    She concentrated on his strong voice, and
his confident touch comforted her. “I am Brianna.” She made no
mention of her clan, for she knew not of his clan distinction, and
there was much friction amongst Highland clans.
    “A gentle name,” he said and stroked her
face.
    She kept her eyes closed, gaining the
courage to look upon him. It was not that she thought him
horrendous, though his fresh scars made him appear so. It was that
she felt for his plight. He had suffered horribly, and the scars
that remained attested to his horrific ordeal.
    “It is kind of you to look after me.” Her
pain was slowly ebbing and she breathed more easily, though she
would not surrender the comforting strength of his hand.
    “I do not mind. You need me.”
    She instantly responded, “Aye, I do, though
I do not mean to be a burden.”
    “I do not think of you as a burden and I
tend you most willingly.”
    She was relieved to hear his truthful words.
“I am grateful for you, but I must ask of the two men who were with
me.”
    A moment of silence preceded his answer. “I
am sorry; they did not survive.”
    She felt a sense of sorrow for her
companions. They were good men and free of family so there was no
particular person who would mourn their loss, though the clan
would. All members of the clan were considered family and all
mourned a passing.
    “They were good men.”
    “Then they will be missed.”
    “Aye, they will,” she said softly and
offered a silent prayer for their souls.
    “Are you hungry?” he asked, his hand
remaining firmly locked with hers.
    She thought a moment, for food had not been
a thought and she simply felt too weak even to consider attempting
to eat. “Nay, I have not the strength.”
    “The very reason you should eat something,
to regain your strength.”
    She sighed softly, knowing a deep breath
would only bring her pain, and before she could respond he
spoke.
    “The broth I have made would suit you
well.”
    Brianna knew she could not lift even a
simple spoon, and her disappointment was evident when she repeated,
“I have not the strength.”
    “I will feed you, you need not worry.”
    A single tear trickled from her eye. The
idea that she was completely dependent on this stranger upset her.
She had no choice but to rely on his kindness and to trust him. She
realized that trust was the most difficult for her. She had not
been able to trust her husband; how was she ever to trust this man
she did not know?
    With a gentle swipe of his finger he removed
the single teardrop from her cheek. “You need not fear me. I mean
you no harm, Brianna. I will care for you as long as is necessary.
Trust me.”
    She had shut her eyes and listened to the
soothing lilt of his voice. If she had not known his features, she
would have thought of them as gentle, a smooth complexion, tender
eyes, soft lips. This vision of such a man she could trust, but the
man who stood over her possessed no gentle features.
    Her eyes drifted open. He looked down at her
with an intense dark green eye; his other eye was too badly swollen
shut for him to open. The color reminded her of the forest in the
winter, cold and empty yet content in its solitude. His hair was
long, a burnished brown, as though fire and light mixed with the
color of the