Chapter Seventeen
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“I take thee as my true and lawful wife, forsaking all others, until death separates us,” Darien said softly. “ Airson a h-uile àm , Eventide. For all time.”
He’d just said his vows in front of a ward full of people, all of them witnessing what was a perfectly legal marriage. It wasn’t with a blessing or a priest, as would have been preferred, but it was legal.
That was all Darien cared about.
In the blue silk dress that wasn’t quite finished, with a wreath of bluebells around her head because she’d found a small patch growing near the front gates, Eventide smiled up at Darien, tears glistening in her eyes.
“And I take thee as my true and lawful husband, forsaking all others, until death separates us,” she said. “ Airson a h-uile àm . For all time, my love.”
People were beginning to cheer because that was the extent of the vows. Grinning, Darien took Eventide in his arms and kissed her deeply as a roar of approval went up. Fergus, standing next to them, was probably cheering the loudest. When Darien was finished kissing her, Fergus made sure to hug his daughter tightly. This was such a precious moment in their lives. Darien took congratulations from Calum and Guthrie, who were very happy to have been present at the wedding. But it was over now, and things needed to happen. It was the Munro brothers who began pushing both Darien and Eventide toward the keep.
“Go,” Calum said. “Ye must finish this so no one can ever tear ye apart. Take the lass tae bed, man!”
Darien was on the move. He took Eventide by the hand, pulling her away from her emotional father and walking very quickly toward the keep. The crowd was calling after them, shouting encouragement, giving bawdy suggestions. They knew exactly where the couple was heading, so the mood was light and vulgar at times. Some of them started to follow, until Darien got to the top of the steps leading into the keep and turned around to shake a balled fist at the crowd.
Everyone roared with laughter.
But he didn’t take any chances. Leading his new wife inside, he shut the entry door and bolted it.
“Ah,” Eventide said, laughing. “Ye dunna trust them.”
Darien shook his head firmly. “I dunna trust any of them,” he said frankly. “They’ll be pounding on the door while I’m trying tae take advantage of my own wife.”
Eventide paused. “Say it again.”
He looked at her curiously. “Say what?”
“Wife.”
That was a moment that fed the soul. Wife. Darien felt like he’d been waiting all his life to use that word and mean it. With a grin, he kissed her and then picked her up in his big arms, sweeping her up the stairs to the level above.
Eventide’s chamber, attached to her sister’s, was on this level, along with a third chamber used for storage or guests. Darien really had no idea where he was going—in all the times he’d bedded her, it had never been in her own chamber—so she pointed to a door and he practically kicked it open, ducking under the doorway as he carried her into the room.
Inside, a comfortable chamber unfolded with a big bed, a dressing table, and a wardrobe. Eventide kept it very neat. Next to her chamber, the door was open into Emelia’s, which looked as if a tempest had moved through it. Once he put Eventide on her feet, she went to the connecting door and shut it, bolting it on her side. When Darien saw what she did, he bolted the door they’d just come through. Locked in the chamber, there was no one to bother them.
They stood there, just for a moment, and looked at one another.
Darien finally grinned, a rather lascivious gesture.
“Well?” he said. “We actually have permission tae do this now. What are we waiting for?”
Eventide motioned to his clothing. “I’m waiting for ye,” she said as if he were a slowpoke. “What are ye waiting for? I thought ye’d be stripped and intae the bed by now.”
Still grinning, Darien began to yank his clothing off—tunic, boots, and finally his breeches. By the time he was finished, Eventide was already in the bed and her dress was in a heap on the floor. With a growl, he launched himself at her, and her bed, unused to such forceful weight, collapsed on one side. They both grabbed on to the mattress, laughing uproariously as they tried not to roll off. But they finally crawled off, with Eventide holding her coverlet over her nude form, as Darien tried to figure out how to fix what had broken. But he couldn’t, or he didn’t want to take the time to figure it out, so he pulled the bed apart completely so the mattress lay evenly on the floor.
He pointed to it.
“Get in there,” he said. “No more delays.”
Biting off a smile, Eventide lay down on the bed again before he grabbed the coverlet, yanking it off her body. For a moment, he simply stood there and looked at her.
“Ye’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “And ye belong tae me. I can hardly believe it even as I say it.”
“I’ve always belonged tae ye,” she said softly. “We just made it official.”
He was still smiling when he lowered himself onto her, pushing her hair away from her face, touching her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he couldn’t seem to find the words. Love, in the deepest of times, went beyond words, and this was one of those times. A love that encompassed everything it touched, like the air they breathed. Love filled their lungs, their hearts, their souls.
This was the moment.
Lowering his head, he kissed her gently.
The magic began.
Eventide responded instantly to him, engaging in a heated kiss as their tongues plunged deep. His arms went around her, pulling her against him, feeling every curve. It was wildly arousing. Eventide had her arms around his head, trapping him against her, and when she suckled his tongue, Darien nearly went out of his mind. That was a sensual trick he’d taught her, and she had learned it well. That same suckling had been accomplished on his manhood, but he didn’t want that tonight.
He simply wanted her .
Eventide was no longer a maiden. She hadn’t been for a while. Now, she was a woman grown, with a woman’s needs that had quickly developed. Every time he touched her, he showed her a new need until there wasn’t one part of her body that didn’t need him desperately.
The man set her on fire.
As they touched and kissed and fondled, Eventide took on the aggressor role. She opened her thighs for him, wrapping her legs around his waist as she deeply kissed him. Darien’s hands roamed over her silken flesh, seeking out her breasts because he loved them so much. They were warm and soft against his palms, more than a handful for him.
He’d never been more consumed by a woman in his life.
His wife.
Darien’s mouth went to her neck, gently suckling her skin, and a hand began to knead her right breast. He could hear her grunting with pleasure, her hands on his head, her face in his hair. Eventide cried out softly as his mouth clamped over a tender nipple, and she wrapped herself around him as he suckled first one and then the other, his big arousal pushing at her. Darien was a big man and his male member was proportionate, something that had terrified Eventide the first time he bedded her, but now it was something that she craved. Her hands moved to his thick erection as she guided him into her body. When he felt her slick, wet heat, he thrust firmly into her.
Eventide bit off her cries of pleasure into his enormous bicep, and the feel of her mouth against his flesh only served to inflame him. She was deliciously tight and hot, and he thrust again and again, feeling her body draw him in deeper.
It was paradise.
Darien’s mouth was on hers, kissing her deeply, as he made love to her on the collapsed bed. He felt things for her that he had never felt in his life, for anyone, feelings of love and temptation that he couldn’t control. It wasn’t the mere act of sex itself—it was the physical demonstration of everything he felt, every joy and every sorrow. It was a declaration of joy that they were finally man and wife.
Eventide was far gone with passion, feeling his body with the greatest of pleasure. He was so big, and thrusting himself so deeply, that the pleasure of it was quickly pulling her toward release. These moments had come frequently over the past month, but they grew better each successive time. Darien was a man in his prime that she had never seen equaled.
She never wanted this moment to end.
Darien’s thrusts grew harder, faster, and he withdrew completely every time, only to plunge deep again. He toyed with her nipples as he thrust, listening to her grunts of pleasure. It was a moment of great emotion, beautiful and powerful, and after one particularly deep thrust, he felt her release around him as pants of rapture escaped her lips. Still, he continued to make love to her until he could hold back no more.
His release came so hard that he nearly blacked out as he spilled himself into her sweet body. He could feel what he put in her, loving it, relishing it, wondering if they would soon have a son to bear the dun Tarh name. A strong son to ride alongside him into battle, to make him proud in every way possible. He’d never had such thoughts until now. Now, he wanted everything.
He wanted a family with her.
That was how he knew that his feelings for her were real.
With his body still joined to hers, Darien lifted his head to look at her. Eventide’s eyes were closed, one arm over her head, and he used that opportunity to nuzzle the exposed breast. Gently, he kissed the flesh before taking a nipple in his mouth again and suckling tenderly.
In his arms, he could feel Eventide shudder. When he started suckling her again, she put one hand down to where their bodies joined, gently fondling herself. She did it until she released again and he gathered her up against him, still part of her just as she was a part of him. He’d been lucky enough to marry for love, and he swore that he’d never take a day with her for granted.
Airson a h-uile àm —for all time
He meant it.