Epilogue
EPILOGUE
One Week Later
Keira contemplated herself in the looking glass and wondered how it was that her life had changed so much in so short a time.
Daisy stood behind her in a pale lilac gown that beautifully complimented the deep purple of Keira’s wedding dress. Daisy’s mop of bright red hair was stunning against the contrasting colors, and she looked bright, happy, and contented.
“Are ye ready?” Daisy asked, and Keira laughed. Daisy looked impossibly happy but there were tears streaming down her face. Her sister had not stopped crying tears of joy since they had arisen that morning.
“Daisy, me flower, ye must try to stop cryin’,” Keira said with an affectionate smile.
Daisy wiped at her face. “I ken, I cannae help it. I’m so happy.”
Keira grinned, touching her own hair and pulling a single strand from the intricate plait that Fenella had tied it into that morning.
“Do ye think he will like it?” she asked for the third time. “He always prefers me hair down.”
“Do ye like it?” Daisy asked.
“Aye. I have never felt more beautiful in me life,” Keira said happily, and Daisy smiled.
“Then Laird MacAllen doesnae matter,” she giggled and Keira gave her a warning glare.
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway and Keira turned, feeling her breath catch in her chest as she saw her brother standing before her.
He wore the highland colors of Noah’s house, and had a completely new set of clothes for the occasion. He looked absolutely wonderful and was standing taller now that his wound was beginning to heel.
“Scott, ye are goin’ to make Daisy cry again,” Keira said, laughing as her sister melted into hysteria beside her and Scott laughed.
“Ye look beautiful, Kee,” he said softly as he walked into the room. “Ye are stunnin’.”
“Thank ye. Ye dinnae look so bad yerself,” she said, watching him carefully. He looked so like her father. “Are ye carryin’ yer dirk today?” she asked curiously.
To her joy and relief he gave a small smile and shook his head.
“I dinnae think I need it today.”
“Ye may never need it again,” she said hopefully and he chuckled.
“I am still learnin’ to fight, Keira, and I willnae stop. Besides, the laird told me ye asked him to teach ye to knock a man out, so who is to blame for me followin’ in yer footsteps.”
Keira scoffed. “I cannae believe he told ye that.”
Scott smiled and went to stand behind her, waiting for Keira to leave the room to head down to the wedding celebrations.
She turned back to him, holding out her arm and waiting for him to come forward. Scott’s eyes widened as he stared at her in confusion.
“I have nae faither to give me away, and I could think of noone better to do it than ye.”
Scott stepped forward, taking her arm in his, his eyes a little brighter than they had been.
There was a happy sob from behind them as her sister clasped her hands over her mouth.
“Daisy!” Keira exclaimed affectionately.
As his bride came into view, Noah struggled to take in a full breath.
She had always been the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but in the deep purple of the dress, with her hair tied up away from her neck and the familiar necklace sparkling at her breast, he felt lighter than air as he watched her walk toward him.
How on earth did I manage to win this woman? He thought in astonishment. I am the luckiest laird in all the Highlands.
“Breathe, man,” Callum muttered as Noah realized he had been holding his breath for far too long. Callum looked at him with some concern.
Noah watched her approach on her brother's arm and had never felt happier in his life. As she grew level with him, she met his eyes with a shy smile, and he recovered enough to offer his arm.
“I am nae worthy of ye,” he said, without thinking.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “We are worthy of each other Noah Black, and I will prove it to ye every day,” she said simply as they stepped up the front of the aisle and the congregation took their seats.
The ceremony passed in a whirlwind of happy laughter, wedding vows, and the tying of hands, and it seemed like only moments before it was all over.
Noah led Keira straight to the center of the celebrations, where the ceilidh was being set up. He held her close to him, finally able to call her his wife and touch her as often as he liked.
As the ceilidh dancers gathered, Noah nodded in greeting to his fellow lairds, all of whom had come to celebrate with him on this happy day.
The only one who was not participating in the dance was Murdoch, who stood at the edge of the room, looking positively furious, but when he caught Noah’s eye, the frown faded, and he raised his glass in acknowledgment with a brief smile.
Noah nodded in return just as he heard a loud laugh at the end of the line and sighed as he looked over at Camden. It appeared he had promised himself to far too many ladies and Noah would not be surprised if there wasn’t a fight by the end of the evening.
He looked back at his bride, whose gaze was fixed at the other end of the line of dancers and Noah followed it curiously, only to grin as he saw Scott standing up with Fenella, looking absolutely terrified as he prepared to dance with her.
Keira’s eyes came back to his, and they were filled with so much happiness that he thought his heart might burst. “I love ye,” he mouthed across the divide between them, and as the music began, they came together in their first perfect act as man and wife.
It was later that night, as they lay together in bed, a candle burning gently beside them and the warm covers pulled up to their shoulders, that something occurred to him that he had not considered before.
“Me chest hasnae pained me for some time, now,” he said, as he rolled closer to his wife and pulled her into his arms.
“Do ye think it is because ye have been smilin’ more?” she asked, laughing at the look he gave her at that comment.
“Are ye sayin’ I am nae cheerful enough for ye, wife of mine?” Noah asked.
“Callum said ye nearly killed him when I was gone. Apparently I have been a good influence on ye. Laird Dougal said as much at the wedding feast.”
Noah scoffed. “Laird Dougal kens nothin’ about anythin’,” he said defensively.
“And Callum?”
“Callum is a good man, who puts up with me nae matter how disagreeable I am, and for that I am very thankful. Ye are forbidden from ever speakin’ to him again. I dinnae need ye to have nae more tales told about me.”
She chuckled lightly as his fingers began wandering, and she gave him a knowing smile.
“Ye ken,” he said thoughtfully, “me chest might have stopped hurtin’ because I’m too distracted,” he said, cupping her breast as his hand moved further down her body.
“Is that right?” she asked as his fingers skimmed over her curves, his breath coming faster as he looked at her beautiful body laid out before him.
“Aye, I think so,” he said happily, and there was a soft clink as the necklace she always wore fell to the mattress between them. Noah could not help but pick up the stone and examine it carefully.
“Ye ken,” he said idly, rubbing his finger over the piece. “Me grandmaither was appalled that I was lettin’ me wife get married in a necklace made from glass,” he said conversationally as he rolled away from her briefly to pick up the box that he had placed beside the bed.
She looked at him quizzically as he handed it to her, a soft smile playing over her lips.
“Noah Black, what is it ye have done?” she asked.
“I remember when I bought it for ye I wondered how ye would look with jewels about yer neck. I love this one,” he said, gently placing the necklace back between her breasts, making her breath hitch. “But nae wife of mine will own a necklace from a market.”
Keira gently prized open the box and gasped as she saw the contents.
“I still wish for ye to wear this one, for as long as ye like, but I wanted to get somethin’ to replace it. I am not sure it is made of the sternest stuff.”
Inside the box was a chain of the finest silver. The pendant on the base was identical to that of the one she already owned, but Noah had had it made from a black sapphire that his grandmother had given to him as a wedding gift for Keira.
It was a deeper black, and beautifully contrasted against the silver mount he had had made for her. It had a raven carved into it, which reminded him of her hair, and he hoped she would wear it often.
“It is so beautiful,” Keira said in wonder, “I have never had anything this fine in me life. This is the second gift I’ve ever received,” she said happily.
“Was the pendant the first?” he asked, feeling ridiculously pleased that he was the only one to ever buy her a present.
“Aye,” she said as she placed the box behind her on the bedside, pulling out her glass necklace and looking at it carefully. “I will still wear this one, but I shall wear the other on special occasions,” she said decisively. “Thank ye, it’s beautiful.”
“Whatever ye want, witch,” he muttered, kissing along her neck and down over her breasts, taking the chain in his mouth, making her laugh as she tugged it free.
“Stop tryin’ to break it,” she said as he pulled her back into his arms. Her hands came to rest on his chest and she stroked his skin, her fingers moving up and over his shoulder, lingering on the thin scar that Scott’s blade had left.
“I am glad ye dinnae have chest pain anymore,” she said earnestly as she hooked her leg over his hip and he pulled her flush against him.
“Aye,” he agreed, as his hand moved over her stomach and down between her legs. “I dinnae have to have any more of that dreadful tea.”
He laughed as she pulled away from him in mock outrage and laughed even harder when she misjudged the distance and almost fell off the bed. He lunged forward to catch her and pull her back on top of him.
“I am always havin’ to save ye, lass,” he said fondly, pulling at her nightshirt and dragging the fabric up and over her backside where he squeezed her flesh, making her gasp.
“I could make ye a green tea next time, and ye can compare the taste.”
She jolted as the tip of his tongue probed over her jaw and he pushed a hand beneath her body to hook between her legs. She writhed above him, a moan escaping from her throat.
“I kenned ye were tryin’ to poison me,” he said, rolling them over so she was under him as he pushed against her.
“Dinnae tempt me,” she said as she kissed him tenderly, and he ran his other hand lazily through her hair.
He cried out in surprise as she flipped him over onto his back and sat astride him, rolling her hips over his hard length and making him groan.
“Perhaps tonight I can distract ye again instead,” she said with a mischievous smile as she lowered herself down his body.
He could not get enough of her, and it seemed that throughout the many hours of their wedding night, they came together more fervently each time, reveling in each other until they were entirely spent.
As they lay together in the early hours, the fire had died down to an ember, and Noah pulled her tightly against his body and kissed her neck.
He stared out of the window at the bright full moon, the dark clouds gliding before it, as though the shadows of their past were floating away.
She sighed in contentment and he could not imagine ever being happier than he was in that moment.
“I love ye,” he whispered solemnly, never having meant three words more.
“I love ye too,” she whispered back, and slowly they settled beside one another, letting sleep take them, safe and warm in one another’s arms.
The End?