Highland Soldiers: The Enemy by J. L. Jarvis Page B

and from the kirk and the people who hurt me.” Without thinking, her hand went to her abdomen. She lowered her eyes.
    Callum took note but said nothing. His jaw clenched through his hardened expression. Rage roiled inside every time he thought of the minister’s son. What a sorry excuse for a man he was. He tamped down his anger and grasped Mari’s hand. She brought warmth to his soul and heat to his body. The dark thoughts washed away as her gentle spirit filled him so full of love that it ached. Smiling, he told her, “You ought to be married.”
    She lifted her eyes to meet his intense gaze. “And who would I marry, when no one has asked me?”
    A frown creased his brow as he tilted his head and looked off to the distance. “Och, I’d not thought about that.” His eyes glimmered under his furrowed brow.
    “Aye, well, you’ll have time to think later, and no one to bother your thinking.” Mari started to rise to leave him, but he would not let her hand go.
    A smile spread from his brightening eyes to the crooked curve of his mouth as he said, “You bother my thinking, Miss Mari McEwan.”
    She could not resist the smile that his words drew from her.
    He went on, “And there’s no help for it.”
    She shook her head and feigned a sympathetic look. “Poor lad.”
    “Aye, no help,” he went on, “unless you marry me.”
    His words warmed her heart as tears shone in her eyes. “And why would I do that?” she said softly.
    He tenderly turned her wrist over and traced his thumb up the back of her wrist to the crook of her arm. Lifting his eyes to find hers fixed on him, he dropped all guard. “I dinnae ken why you would.”
    She could not look away. Her lips parted to take in an unsteady breath. “Because I love you.”
    He smiled to hear the words, then a sudden frown creased his brow as he studied her. “Mari.” Combing his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck, he drew her closer. As their lips brushed together he whispered, “Do you ken how I love you?”
    “Aye,” she whispered, and he kissed her.
    *
    They were in the midst of a kiss when Nellie and Hughie returned. Nellie cleared her throat.
    Playfully giving Mari a tight squeeze, Callum said, “I’ve asked Hughie to find someone to marry us.” Turning to the others, Callum smiled broadly and said, “That priest had best get here soon. The lass looks a bit shaky.”
    Mari went still. “A priest?” She looked off distractedly.
    Seeing her reaction, Callum exhaled, only now realizing how Mari would feel. “I’m sorry, lass. But we’re short of Presbyterian clergy on this side of the bridge.”
    She looked at him as though realizing for the first time. “An Episcopal priest?”
    “Aye.”
    “But you’re not even… ”
    “No, lass. I’m Catholic.”
    “Aye. Well, there’s no difference, is there?” she said, making little effort to conceal her sarcasm.
    “Mari, we have no choice. In this camp, all we will find is an Episcopal priest.
    “So I’m to be married by a papist?”
    “And to one.” Callum watched her with concern. “My love, I want you as my wife. It’s that simple. I dinnae care who does it, as long as we’re married.”
    Mari spoke as though thinking aloud. “I knew you were not Presbyterian. Of course you were not. But I hadnae thought of our marriage—a Presbyterian and a Catholic.”
    “Lass, we’re just us, Mari and Callum.”
    She heard him, but could not ignore her heart and her conscience. “Jamie and Ellen died for their right to worship as we were raised to do. To ignore that is to scoff at their memory.”
    “Mari, love, what happened to them was wrong, and I grieve for your loss. But this is our time. We cannot let this stand in our way.”
    When at last she met his eyes, it was not what he was hoping to see. She was troubled, with no way to resolve it.
    “Mari.” He took hold of her shoulders, eyes burning into hers. “I would do anything to be with you.”
    She met his gaze with