Page 16 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
Hope understood why it could be easy to think her aunt was crazy, but she chose not to believe it. Orlaith was kind to her and Ian. “Maybe sometime ye can go visit her,” Hope suggested. “When I leave for Ian’s home, ye can come visit me and use the chance to see her,” she continued, her voice excited from the plan she had in mind.
“Rest,” Moira said. “I will have the servants bring up yer meal.”
Hope had no intentions of resting, not when all she could think about was the outcome of Ian’s talk with her father. She dressed quickly, and headed out of her chamber to the Grand Hall, hoping she would find Ian or her father.
The Hall was empty, servants hurried around the Castle, going about their duties, and Hope continued her search for Ian by walking to the garden. If she didn’t find him there, then she would check the fields where men usually gathered to train. She didn’t need to search for long because as she walked past the doors leading to the garden, a hand clamped over her arm and pulled her into a corner.
His hands were clamped over her mouth when he pressed her against the wall, and her eyes widened. When she realized it was Ian, she relaxed and he took his hand off her mouth.
“Ian,” she whispered when he released her. “What did my faither say?”
Ian grinned, and then replied, “He wants us to have a weddin’ feast here before we leave for Galloway.”
“He has agreed to this?” she asked and he nodded.
Excitement filled her and she couldn’t hide it because she was also grinning from ear to ear. Ian reached out and pushed back a strand of hair falling to her face, and she swallowed. His eyes held hers for a moment, before it dropped to her lips and when he looked into her eyes again, heat filled her.
“The feast is tomorrow, and then ye will be my wife in the eyes of everyone. I will take ye away from this Castle and ye will get to experience the adventure of the lands beyond.”
His words filled her with anticipation because he was promising everything she had ever dreamed of. A life of freedom and adventure without fear of her father.
“Where were ye headin’ to?” he asked her when he pulled back.
“To the garden,” she replied. “I find that it is my place of solace.” She paused, and then asked him to join her because she didn’t want to leave his presence yet. “Would ye walk with me?”
“It will be a pleasure,” Ian replied and then took her hand in his. The skin contact made her gaze drop to their linked hands and then back to his face.
* * *
The feast was planned in a short time after her father made the announcement to their Clan’s men and a priest was invited to the Castle to bless the marriage between Ian and Hope.
The Grand Hall was full of men drinking and dancing to the music the musicians played on their instruments. Hope and Ian sat beside each other at the large round table full of different foods, wild meat, haggis made of dried herbs, mutton and spices. The scent of the food filled her nostrils and the music filled her ears, but Hope’s stomach was full of tight knots of anticipation.
She didn’t feel this way when she had walked into the Hall with her mother beside her and met with Ian who stood proudly in front of the priest. When he took a piece of his Clan’s tartan and tied it to her dress, signifying the union of both their Clans she still did not the feel the knots, but when he had looked into her eyes and kissed her briefly on the lips in front of the crowd, then the knots sprang up.
It was because she couldn’t stop herself from wondering what tonight would be like. Hope wondered if Ian would consummate their marriage now that her father knew about it, and had blessed them even though he would have rather blessed her marriage to Laird Galloway.
What would the night be like with him? They had shared two kisses, and the last one while they journeyed back to Drummond had awoken a desire in her she didn’t know existed. Now, every time she looked at him, she flushed because it was all she could think about.
Ian’s gaze caught with hers from where she sat, and a slow smile spread on his lips, like he was admiring her. Hope began to count the seconds until the feast was finally over, and she could retire to her bedchamber.
When she had finished washing up, and dressed in a silk nightdress, she sat on her chair and let Alice tame the curls of her brown hair as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.Will Ian come to me tonight?
“Do ye think he would come to me tonight?” she asked Alice, her voice wavering as doubts filled her. She wanted him to come. Judging by the kisses they had shared, then Ian would want her to. He would also be feeling the same fire burning inside her from the first time they met.
She chewed on her lower lip when Alice replied her, “He is yer husband, and he would come to ye, My Lady.”
Hope caught Alice’s warm smile in the mirror, and she nodded and sucked in a deep breath.He will come to me,she assured herself, as Alice left her in the chamber.
Minutes later, there was a soft knock on her chamber door, and she turned to it as it creaked open. Ian came into the chamber, and she bolted out of the chair immediately. He closed the door and latched the bolt, then turned to her and gave her a long look, his eyes drifted slowly over her body, before he closed the distance between them, and took her into his arms in one fluid motion.
12
When his lips covered hers, Hope was lost in the pool of passion and the fire he ignited in her. His hands snaked around her waist, and plastered her against his body and she felt the heat of his arousal. It heightened her senses and she moaned out in anticipation of the pleasure that was to come.
Ian lifted her off her feet and carried her to the bed, then he climbed in after he had placed her in the center of it. He paused and hovered above her, his eyes searching hers before his lips came down again, but this time he started to kiss her neck.
He feasted on the pulse by the side of her neck, and her head lolled to one side to give him access. His body covered hers from head to toe, and Hope’s pleasure started to mount the moment his hands found its way past the sash of the nightdress. He pushed it aside and exposed her naked body to his ministrations.
