Page 60 of Unforgotten
The meal concluded with another round of ale, and one by one, the members of the MacNichol party mumbled their excuses and went to find their beds.
Eventually, only Gavin and Ella were left at the table. It wasn’t so comfortable there, so they took their ales over to the fireside, settling down into high-backed wooden chairs. The men playing Ard-ri had long since departed for the eve.
“The inn-keep has given us his best room,” Gavin informed her, his mouth quirking. “He tells me it looks across his wife’s rose garden … I remember how well ye loved roses.”
“I still do,” Ella replied.
Gavin took a sip from his tankard, his gaze shifting to the glowing lump of peat in the hearth. “I have asked the inn-keep’s wife to make ye up a separate room,” he said. His voice was measured, as if he was carefully choosing his words. “Worry not, ye don’t have to share my bed-chamber.”
His words took Ella by surprise.
Of course—tonight was their wedding night. They had not yet consummated their vows. Unless they did so, they would not be officially wed.
The reminder made nervousness flutter up within Ella, like a cage of loosed butterflies. She’d done her best not to think of what the end of the day would bring; truthfully, she’d thought they’d be making camp under the stars rather than finding comfortable lodgings.
“We should share the same room, Gavin,” she replied, her fingers tightening around the handle of her tankard. Such bold words made her heart race, yet she forced herself on. “And the same bed.”
Gavin went still, his gaze widening.
“We are wed.” She rushed out the words before her courage failed her. “And I’d rather it wasn’t just in name only.”
His blue eyes darkened. “Ye wish to lie with me again … despite everything that has happened?”
The pair of them stared at each other for a long moment. Suddenly, it felt airless in the warm, smoky common room.
When Ella replied, her voice was barely above a whisper. “Aye.”
Ella stepped inside the room the inn-keep’s wife had prepared for them, and her heart started to race like a hunted deer’s.
Indeed, she’d given them a lovely chamber. The rose garden was hidden from view, for the shutters had been bolted closed. Yet a vase of fresh pale pink roses sat on a table in the center of the space, their scent drifting through the warm room. Heavy beams stretched overhead, barely high enough for a tall man like Gavin to stand at full height, yet the white-washed walls gave the chamber a spacious feel. A screen covered one corner of the room, hiding the privy and wash-stand.
However, the sight of a large bed in the far corner, covered with a woad-blue blanket, made dizziness sweep over Ella.
An intoxicating blend of nerves and excitement.
She couldn’t believe this was happening. After all these years—she and Gavin were going to lie together again.
The thought terrified her.
Gavin closed the door behind them, lowering the wooden bar so that they were secure inside the chamber.
Ella turned to him. Her heart was pounding so fiercely now that she was starting to feel ill.
It’s Gavin,she counselled herself.Ye know him … why are ye so scared?
And yet she was. So many years had passed. They’d both changed so much.
As if reading her thoughts, Gavin’s expression, which had been serious just moments earlier, softened into a warm smile. “Do ye want to wash up first, or shall I?” He paused then before pulling a face. “I fear I stink like a goat.”
“Ye go,” Ella replied with an answering smile. She was grateful he was focusing on practical things, not the fact that the pair of them were now wed and standing alone together in their bed-chamber on their wedding night.
With a nod, Gavin threw his cloak over the back of the chair and heeled his boots off. He then loosed his hair from where it had been tied at the nape of his neck. The dark-gold waves fell over his shoulders. Ella watched, mesmerized. She’d always loved Gavin’s hair.
Turning from her, Gavin disappeared behind the screen. Moments later Ella heard splashes as he poured water into a bowl for bathing.
She moved over to the fireplace, where the inn-keep’s wife had left two earthen cups and a jug of wine. Pouring out both cups, Ella took a large gulp of wine. It was bramble—her favorite. The heat of it pooling in her belly calmed her nerves a little.
Presently, Gavin reappeared. Barefoot and naked from the waist up, the sight of him made Ella’s breathing catch as it had that night in Dunan.
