Chapter Twenty-One
A soft knock on her bedchamber door awakened Beth. She looked frantically around the room, but Daniel was gone. “Enter,” she said.
“Why was yer door locked?” Her mam asked once Beth had opened the door. “I thought ye said ye dinna need anyone to stay with ye.”
“Um, I was a bit nervous so I decided a locked door would be best.”
Her mam shook out a dress she carried with her. “Ye should have come and got me.”
Eager to change the subject with her face flushing, she left the bed and was thankfully surprised to find herself in her nightgown. God’s bones, she’d been tired. She never felt Daniel putting her nightgown back on.
“What is that?” she asked her mam as her sister entered the room.
“’Tis yer wedding gown. The ceremony has been set for ten o’clock. Yer cook has been busy making special food for ye and the Laird.”
Even though she was absolutely certain she wanted this, Beth stomach tightened at the idea of marriage since she’d been against it for so long.
Then she pictured Daniel as he went against her mam to insist on staying with her when Emma began her treatment and had to remove all her clothes.
Yes. This was definitely the right decision. She loved the man and he loved her. They would have a good life together.
Once she was washed, dressed, fussed with, and approved by her mam, the three of them left the bedchamber just a few minutes before ten o’clock.
As she made her way across the great hall to the kirk to be married, her da stepped up and took her arm. He smiled at her in such a way that tears welled up in her eyes. Within seconds the king moved to her other side and they three of them walked up to Father Matthew.
Although she was sure she was one of only a very few women who had the king walk her to the priest, all her concentration was on Chief of the Mackenzie Clan, Laird Daniel Mackenzie.
Dressed in his formal attire, he made her feel a little dizzy.
This amazing man, who loved her, rescued her and defied the king for her was soon to be her husband.
He reached out and took her hand and she immediately relaxed. They both turned to Father Matthew who glowed with happiness himself and began the ceremony.
*
Daniel enjoyed the celebration of his wedding in the great hall, and didn’t even mind that a great deal of the attention usually focused on the bride and groom was instead focused on His Majesty, King George II.
He was sure almost every clan member was seeing the king for the first time and truly, not everyone had a king as a guest at their wedding, so he and Beth could be proud.
And the rest of the guests could all admire the king; Daniel spent his time admiring his beautiful wife and hoping she would soon tire of the celebration and let him bring her to his bedchamber where he planned another sort of celebration.
They’d had a wonderful feast that had him wondering how his cook Jemima was able to put together such a meal in what little notice she’d been given.
There had been hours of dancing, singing, and toasting the newly married couple.
He turned from watching Beth on the dance floor as Gregory slapped him on his back. “I figured yer new wife would no’ want to have the traditional bedding ceremony so I passed the word among the verra drunk men that they are no’ to start one.”
“Aye, drunk or no’, there is no way I want my men seeing my naked wife.”
Lord Grant returned Beth to their table after a rousing dance. Daniel looked at her. “I want more than anything to bring ye upstairs and settle for the night, but I honestly do believe y’er looking a tad tired.”
Beth smiled and touched his arm. “’Tis true, I am feeling worn out.” She leaned in closer and said, “And ’tis anxious I am to see how ye plan to settle me for the night.”
The smile she gave him had all his blood pooling in one place. Out of respect, Daniel turned to the king sitting next to him. “Yer Majesty, after my wife’s ordeal, she is feeling tired, so we will retire now. I will speak with ye first thing in the morning.”
The king smirked and said, “I don’t expect to see you too early.”
“Most likely no’,” Daniel replied with a grin.
The king laid his hand on Daniel’s arm. “I have sent Lady Chisholm and her maid to Kensington Palace where they will remain until Lady Chisholm’s trial. I am no’ yet sure what punishment would fit what the maid did.”
He took a sip of ale and continued. “I will leave the lad, Joshua, in your hands to do what ye think is appropriate for his punishment.”
Daniel nodded and then helped Beth up. He ignored the few calls from the men who were sober enough to start the bedding ceremony. He just laughed and shook his head and hustled his wife upstairs.
They entered his bed chamber. It was set exactly as he had requested. Flowers had been scattered on the bed, a bottle of wine stood on a table with pieces of the cake that Jemima had made for the wedding that they would have missed.
Beth turned to him, tears in her eyes. “This is beautiful.”
He took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “Aye, but no’ as beautiful as ye.” He bent his head and kissed her, thanking God that he had this wonderful woman for his wife, and that she had survived the horror Lady Chisholm had put her through.
*
She leaned into his touch, heart thudding as he brushed his thumbs across her cheeks.
“I thought I would feel different as a wife,” she whispered.
Daniel arched a brow. “And do you?”
Beth nodded. “I feel… safe.”
His breath left him in a quiet rush, and then his mouth was on hers—warm, deep, full of love and hunger he’d held.
Her hands slipped beneath his shirt, sliding over the hard planes of his chest. He made a low sound and pulled her closer, lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bed as though she weighed nothing.
Their bodies remembered the rhythm from their one time together, the heat, the way they fit—but tonight was different. He undressed her slowly, reverently, his lips following the path of each loosened fastener, each bared inch of skin.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against her collarbone. “And you’re mine.”
She tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling his mouth back to hers. “Only yours.”
Their joining was a slow claiming, a deep, aching union that spoke more than words ever could. He moved within her with care, with reverence, his forehead resting against hers as their breaths mingled.
“I love you,” she whispered as her body arched into his.
Daniel stilled, his breath shuddering against her skin. “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
He kissed her hard, and then again, his movements growing more urgent now, as if those words had unlocked something inside him he could no longer contain. She clung to him as pleasure rose between them, fierce and consuming.
When they finally came undone, it was together—bound in love and vows and a future neither of them would face alone.