by Matie Cole
Chapter 8
R osalyn could not get enough of this man. Her hands travelled all over his shoulders and chest without her even realizing what she was doing. She had not acted like this with Bryson before, nor any other man as far as she could remember, she normally felt shy in front of other people, but he brought out a confidence within her that she could not get enough of him. She wanted to feel him everywhere, all over.
In the dark of night, from the shadows that he had rescued her from, Rosalyn felt like anything was possible. Nothing was holding her back from kissing this wonderful man like there was no tomorrow.
“May I take off your night dress?” Bryson asked her quietly, his fingers delicately cupping her cheeks with a whole lot of love. It flowed through him rapidly. “I do not want to push you if you are not ready.”
Rosalyn paused for a moment, pulling back only slightly while she thought about Bryson’s question. He rested his forehead against hers and stared into her loving dancing eyes. He could not believe that he was here, that they were both in this moment, that they had been kissing wildly. He was expecting a conversation, not kisses, not her hands running all over his chest. This was utterly perfect.
“I am ready,” she finally declared. He knew that Rosalyn was ready for this. The past might have been trying to catch up with her, to let her know who she really was, but Rosalyn was not interested in that right now. In the heat of the moment, she wanted this wonderful man to really see her. “I want you, Bryson.”
He peeled off her night dress carefully, grazing his fingers all over her skin. She shuddered with excitement and need as he touched her, loving the electrical bolts of desire that raced through her veins. The way that Bryson stared at her with desire, with lust, like she was the most beautiful woman on the planet, made her feel so incredibly special. She loved him looking at her like that, it made her feel more like herself than she had done ever since she woke up. Perhaps she was not fully aware of who she was, but Bryson could see deep inside her soul and he liked what he saw. He liked her, which allowed her to like herself.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured as soon as she had nothing left on. “Like an angel. My angel.”
Rosalyn tossed her head back in desire as he said those delicate words at her. He was her hero and she was his angel. It was the perfect mix. It made Rosalyn feel like they were meant to be together, like they found one another for a reason. For a woman who did not have a lot of purpose right now, that was wonderful news. It gave her something solid to focus on, which Rosalyn needed more than she knew.
After Bryson’s hands had explored her body, he continued to travel all over her with his teeth and tongue, making her feel an unexpected flurry of sensations that she did not know possible. Rosalyn laid backwards, falling into the bed sheets, completely giving herself over to this man. She had no control over herself in any aspects of her life right now, but this was a power that she did not mind giving up to. She yearned to.
“Oh, wow,” Rosalyn gasped as the pleasure rocketed through her. “Bryson, oh, my goodness...”
The words kept falling out of her mouth. What Bryson was doing to her ensured that she could not stop herself from talking, like she was praying because the intensity of the pleasure was too much for her. He seemed to know her body even better than she knew it herself, which was wonderful.
“Bryson, I would... oh, wow,” she burst out as the pleasure hit her once more. “Bryson, I want to see you.”
“You do?” He yanked away rapidly. “I can make that happen, if that is what you want.”
Rosalyn propped herself up onto her elbows and nodded a few times. She gulped back the nervous excitement as he peeled away from her and began to undress. She was thrilled by the concept of seeing this wonderful man naked, but anxious too. This was going to be a new experience for her, she was pretty sure that it would be brand new because she could not imagine this ever being something that she had ever been through before. Certainly not with a man so tall, so handsome, so rugged with sexy dark features like Bryson had. As he undressed, she started to realize how muscular he was as well. His body was incredible, like it had been sculpted from stone as a statue for its perfectionism. Rosalyn was utterly blown away by the sight of him, she could not wait to get her hands all over him once more. She was itching to touch him, to feel him, to hold on to him while he had nothing on. He was delicious in every way.
“Wow.” She could not stop the words from tumbling passed her lips. “You are very good-looking.”
Bryson was stunned by this admission, he was shocked that Rosalyn was being so open with her feelings, but he liked it a lot. He climbed back on top of her like a predator coming for his prey, and with both of them naked, it was not long before their bodies connected, and they experienced a sensation of mind-blowing pleasure together. For both of them, this connection was further proof that they were supposed to be together, that fate had brought them into one another’s lives for a reason.
Everything surrounding them remained strange, but neither of them could feel that while they were connected in such an intense way. It really was just the pair of them. Nothing else mattered. They could surround one another in enough love to last a lifetime. If they let one another, that was...
“You have the loveliest, softest skin ever,” Bryson told Rosalyn as he stroked her forearm. “You really are like an angel, you know?” He paused for a second, before he simply decided to say it. There was no turning back now. They had already had sex, she had to have some feelings for him too, surely? “Actually, Rosalyn, I came here to speak to you about something. I want to let you know that I love you.”
She snapped her head around to look at him, to see how serious she was. Bryson was not the sort of man to say something so serious without truly meaning it, but this was such a shock she needed to check. His face said it all though, his face was flooded with love, he really did feel that way about her.
“You... you love me?” she gasped, adoring the way that those words made her feel. “Really?”
“I do.” He grabbed her hands and held them tightly. “I really do love you. I wish you to be my wife.”
This caused Rosalyn to bolt upright into a sitting position. “I think I might well be falling in love with you as well. My only hesitation is that I do not know who I am. I do not want to worry about that because I would love to remain in this glorious moment forever, but it is something that troubles me.”
Bryson understood exactly what she meant. Much as he wanted to ignore Rosalyn’s past, they could not do that forever. Whatever it was, whether it was a good past or a bad one, they needed to know. If this was what she wanted, then he was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. Even if he had to search himself to find out where Rosalyn had come from, he would do it. Anything to make her happy.
Then once they knew who she was, he would propose to her properly. He would ask her to marry him once they knew at long last that there was nothing standing in their way. Then they could go on to their happy ever after without worrying about anything. Without looking over their shoulders to see if anyone was coming for them. That was the only way that they could be comfortable.
“That will not be something to trouble you forever,” he promised her. “We will find a way.”
It was not long before Bryson drifted off into sleep, unable to remain awake any longer, but Rosalyn found it much more challenging to shut her brain off. Thoughts raced through her mind, tension flooded her body, she felt stuck and frozen in the moment. Now that she had caved to her desire for Bryson and there was a confession of love from both sides, everything was so much more serious. So, the intense snake of her past which consumed her every sleeping moment, needed to be dealt with somehow.
“Who am I?” she whispered as she held on to her medallion once more. “What is waiting for me?”
If Rosalyn was not so afraid that she had some bad secrets waiting for her, if she did not worry so much that she might be a terrible person, the
n she would simply let it go, but she cared about Bryson enough not to want to drag him into whatever mess she had made before she met him. He had done nothing but care for her, and she would not repay that with unnecessary stress. With the trouble that she could be in.
Maybe that was why she could not remember who she was and why no one had come looking for her, because she was not worth finding. She did not want to see the look on Bryson’s poor unsuspecting face when he found out that she was awful... but it was something that needed to happen.
On the off chance that she was not what she feared, then it would be better for her to know so that she could move forwards without that hanging over her head. She would not fully be able to enjoy her marriage without that. So, as terrifying as it was to delve into the unknown, she had no choice now.
“Mother, I hope that this is you on my medallion,” she whispered to the jewelry, hoping that her words would make it out into the universe and that her mother could sense it. “I hope that I find you and you reassure me that I am in fact a good person. That I am worthy of this wonderful man.”
As Rosalyn stared at Bryson, she recognized that it was not just about him, but his darling daughter as well. She would be hurt also if it turned out that she was a bad person. Anice had already lost her mother, she did not need any more pain in her life, which was why Rosalyn needed to tackle this now. She had to discover who she was sooner rather than later. The more feelings that everyone developed, the harder that this would end up being if it all went wrong. The more challenging it would be to end it all.
“Please, do not all go wrong.” She stroked her fingers through some of Bryson’s shaggy dark hair. “I have never been as happy as I feel with this man. I have never felt as safe as I do with my hero. I would like to stay here with him forever. I would like to be his wife.” Never had she spoke a truer word. “I love him.”
She had not exactly told him that she loved him, she said to Bryson that she was falling, but in fact she did love him. She just could not accept it yet fully until she knew her name and her truth.
Chapter 9
“T his is such a beautiful place,” Rosalyn muttered to herself as she wandered around the grounds of Goraidh Castle. “I love it here. The more time that I spend here, the more I love it.”
To be perfectly honest, she would have been happy to forget the past completely. She would have been content to just stay here at Goraidh Castle to live the life that was being offered to her here. She wanted to settle down as Bryson’s wife, as Anice’s stepmother, and to just be here to live out her days. If it was not for the medallion reminding her constantly that there was someone out there potentially looking for her, someone that she needed to find also. That was the only way the nightmares would end.
“I need the nightmares to end,” she whispered into the wind. “I wish that I would either remember absolutely everything or nothing at all. This in between thing is not working for me.”
She sighed and paused where she was in the middle of her walk, her eyes sliding closed with the hope of the breeze washing over her would help her a little bit. Bryson was keen to help Rosalyn unravel who she was, but she could not help being afraid of that. She did not know what he would find. Eventually she knew that she would have to accept his help, but if there was any chance of her working it out alone, she would prefer that. She prayed that something would come to her as she waited silent and still...
“Miss!” A voice yelling loudly and fearfully snapped Rosalyn from her peaceful moment. She was not sure how long she had wandered off into her thoughts, but it seemed to be far too long. Something bad was happening... “Miss, you must move. Miss, I have lost all control, I do not know what to do.”
Rosalyn twisted around quickly in the direction of the voice, but apparently not fast enough. There was a horse ploughing towards her, and it was coming at such a speed that she instantly knew she could not move fast enough. She tried, she did not freeze on the spot, but it made no difference. The horse had been spooked and it did not know what it was doing. It was in a state of panic and could not stop.
It banged into Rosalyn hard, so hard that she felt her body fling into the air like a rag doll. The man howled in fear and pain as he watched Rosalyn fly upwards and slam back down onto the ground, hitting her head. Everyone in the whole clan knew that she had likely suffered a head injury in the first place which was what had caused the memory loss. The man was terribly afraid that he had harmed her more.
“Miss!” he cried out as he raced towards her. “Rosalyn. Oh, my goodness, what has happened?”
The man raced over to the woman. He felt his heart breaking as he watched her eyes roll to the back of her head. The horse was racing off into the forest, still spooked by whatever had frightened him before, but the man knew that Rosalyn was more important right now. Her health was in jeopardy.
“Someone, we need Bryson,” he yelled as the fear really started to claim him now. Bryson was a wonderful man, but he was also very attached to Rosalyn, everyone could see it. He was afraid of how the leader of their clan might feel while she was knocked out like this. “We need him now...”
Rosalyn drifted off away from the man’s voice. She could no longer stay within consciousness. The blackness was coming for her, swallowing her up, and there was nothing she could do.
Father. All of a sudden, in the dark, a man appeared before Rosalyn. She could not see much of him but instinctively she knew that he was her father. Now she knew with utter certainty that she had family. Of course, it was obvious that there was some man in the world who had fathered her but now she could see him... well, sort of. He was fuzzy and she had no idea what his facial features were, but she felt safe with him, she wanted to step closer to him, to hold on to him, but the closer she got, the more he faded away. It was irritating, upsetting, she wanted to run to him and claim back all of her memories, but she could not. And anyway, now she could hear a female voice behind her. Another welcoming, happy voice that Rosalyn wanted to turn to. But there was no face attached to this voice. It was more just a feeling. A feeling that attached her to her medallion once more. The medallion and the truth it held on to...
As she turned around, trying to locate the new person since her father had finally disappeared completely, there were vague flashes of what felt like memories of her life. Unfortunately for Rosalyn, they were flashing too quickly for her to pick up on any of them. She could not see any of the images enough to grab them, to use any of them, to find anything out about her life. She turned around rapidly, reaching out as if she could grab the pictures and hold on to them, but they kept on slipping through her fingers like grains of sand.
“That is me,” she muttered as she whizzed around, trying to reach some more. “That is me. I need that.”
But eventually the pictures turned into images of the medallion. Just the medallion because that was all she knew for sure. That was all she could be certain of. The damn medallion which would torture her until she finally knew the whole truth for sure. Something that was not going to happen today in this blackness.
Rosalyn had no idea how long she had been knocked out for, but as she came around once more, she had an all too familiar pain in her head. She had felt this way once before, perhaps when she initially got her injury which caused her to lose her memories in the first place, but no memories came with it.
“He... hello?” she stammered out as she propped herself up to see what was around her. “Hello...”
But clearly her voice was not coming out strong enough because no one was paying her any attention. She was surrounded by people, but they were all staring above her. Rosalyn allowed her eyes to travel in that direction as well so she could finally work out what was going on. Words began to reach her.
“I am in love with Rosalyn,” Bryson declared in a bold, loud, confident tone of voice. “I have wanted to keep this information to myself while I work out what I want to do, but nearly losing her like this has made it obvious that I need her to
be my wife. I hope that everyone can support me with this decision.”
Rosalyn sucked in and held a breath as she waited to see what was going to be the reaction. Much as she got on with everyone in the clan, she was not sure that they would want her to stick around, that they would be happy for her to marry their leader. But cheers erupted, flooding her with relief.
“She came to the castle as a stranger to all of us, I found her injured in the woods, and not knowing who she was, all I wanted to do was help her. I did not expect to fall in love with her. But I have fallen in love with her and I want her to be my wife.” Rosalyn smiled as she listened to Bryson’s sweet words. She grinned even harder when she heard Anice squealing with delight. “But as you all know, she has no memory of where she came from. This is a mystery that I would like to unfold. Rosalyn would like that as well. But for that we will need some help. Is there anyone here who would help us with that?”
More cheers and yells of agreement gripped Rosalyn hard. She was shocked to hear so many people that she had not known at all until recently wanting her to be happy. She was afraid of what was going to be found, that fear would not go anywhere, but after what she had experienced while being knocked out, she had a feeling that anything found would be nice. Her memories seemed to be nice and warm, however rapidly they flashed before her eyes, so maybe everything would be alright.
“Thank you,” she rasped out quietly as she rose to her feet, staggering a little because she was still a little dizzy. “I appreciate you all willing to help me find out who I am. I have become a mystery to myself and since I would like to marry Bryson as well, I do need to find out who I am.”
She smiled shyly at Bryson, a heat burning in her cheeks as she did, and he grinned back at her just as happily. By the time someone had gotten to him and told him about Rosalyn’s accident with the horse, it sounded so horrific that he thought she might have been killed. That made him wonder why on earth he would not have shouted his love for Rosalyn from the roof tops already. He wanted everyone to know how he felt about her, he did not want to hide it any longer. Just as he thought they would be, everyone was pleased for him. They supported the marriage wholly, which meant there was only one thing left.