Give My Love to Rose(1st in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Seventeen

"You couldn't have!" Rose quickly countered, feeling her panic rise. "I wouldn't have let you! There will never be another man to touch me against my will."

Marston fought back the rising rage within him. He'd suspected that Rose had been taken against her will in the past but to hear it spoken with such fear and pain from her own lips, caused his blood to freeze and boil red hot all at once.

"Rose..." Marston swallowed hard, working desperately to control his temper. "Rose, I would never, never, force you to do anything. You are the only person in this whole world who ever saw me as something other than a bad man. You told me you didn't think I was all bad and I want to believe you... but then you go and say something like that and leave me to wonder if all your pretty talk is nothing but horseshit. It leaves me to wonder if you really trust me at all."

Rose felt her heart fall at the pain she could hear in his gruff voice. He was so strong, so confident and so tough that it was easy to forget how sensitive he was—at least when it came to his newfound goodness. Rose closed the distance between them quickly and stood on her toes so she could throw her arms around his neck and hold him tight.

"I trust you, Marston. I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry!"

Marston was quick to throw his arms around her in return and hold her fiercely. He kissed her hair. "I'm sorry for what you went through," he whispered against her tightly pulled back curls.

Rose pulled away and slowly smoothed out the black wool of her skirt. "I'm sorry I stormed away from you the way I did last night. That was terribly childish..."

Marston shrugged. "I understand why you did."

"I just.. I was ashamed and embarrassed to know that you saw my scars." Rose stared at his feet, unwilling to look up at his face. "I know how ugly they are."

Marston simply stared at her with disbelief. "You're brain addled," he stated bluntly.

Rose rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not."

Marston nodded. "You must be because that was the most brain addled comment I've ever heard and that's saying something seeing as how I've been around quite a few men suffering sun stroke."

Rose nearly laughed before catching herself. "Marston, I'm serious..."

Marston sighed and took her hands, wishing she would let her blue eyes gaze up at him. "Rose, you are a beautiful woman. I wish you could see for one second what I see when I look at you. You're soft, warm, caring, gentle—all the things that I've never known before. I feel like the luckiest man alive just to know that, for some reason, you want to keep me around."

Rose shook her head and she tilted her head up toward him. A tear rolled down her full cheek and Marston kissed it away, causing her to gasp. "I still wish you hadn't seen them," she whispered. "I wish they were gone."

"Duke said something to me once and now I'm gonna say it to you. Don't you ever be ashamed of your scars. Each one of those damn things made you stronger and helped you become the person you are. Now, granted, the person I was back then wasn't exactly something to be proud of, but the person you are is. Look how damn strong you are and what a great kid you've raised. You did that, Rose." Marston stroked her wrist with his thumb. "If my opinion counts, I think that you are a beautiful and desirable woman."

Rose was unable to speak as she stared up at him. What had happened to that cold callous man he'd been just a few short months before? "Are you sure there aren't two men living in that head?" she asked, remembering that he had asked her a similar question all those months ago.