Epilogue
The wedding was planned for a month later at Castle Wallace.
The floral bouquets were chosen by Drusilla—for, as she told Edwina with a sly wink, she knew more about plants than merely which ones were good for healing.
Indeed, she seemed to know precisely where to look for the most beautiful and fragrant blooms, and she supervised the servant girls who braided them into magnificent garlands to be hung from the ramparts around the courtyard.
All of the Wallace siblings were in attendance, and many among them expressed their absolute astonishment at the notion that standoffish Edwina had finally found a man she actually wished to spend the rest of her life with.
She endured some good-natured ribbing from them and tolerated it well enough.
Better, in fact, than most would have assumed she was capable of.
In fact, this led many of them to speculate that James had somehow “tamed” her.
Those suppositions, when voiced aloud, were enough to earn them a fairly hard slap on the arm.
But no matter how short-tempered and sharp-tongued Edwina acted with her family, they could all see there had been an incredible change in her, one they would never have predicted. She was genuinely happy.
This was confirmed entirely when she walked down the aisle and stood beside James, her eyes gleaming with tears of joy (a phenomenon none of her loved ones had ever witnessed before or even thought possible).
She seemed so unguarded around him, so much more relaxed than she’d ever been.
There was an effortless delight to her, and after the ceremony, she danced and sang with all the others with abandon—when at other such events, she had generally turned her nose up at such activities, denouncing them as utterly silly and beneath her.
It was so thoroughly marvelous to see her twirl and laugh through the night, especially when she was in the arms of her adoring husband.
Lairds Fergus and Cawley spent much of the evening in deep deliberations.
They were trading strategies to make their allied clans all the stronger and to overlap the patrols along their borderlands to make them far safer from the sorts of bandits who had wounded James.
Likewise, the soldiers and advisors of the two clans took this rare opportunity to trade tales and drink to each other’s good health.
(It would even be fair to say that several of the bridesmaids and groomsmen ended up enjoying each other’s company enough to ensure that there would be more weddings soon to come.)
In all, everyone had a marvelous time. There was feasting and drinking, and the echoes of merriment reverberated off the walls around the courtyard for many hours until, at last, the musicians’ hands grew weary, the guests’ feet became satisfyingly tired and sore, the last toast was drunk to the bride and groom, and everyone retired for the night.
“How fares your leg?” Edwina asked as they made their way up to the wedding night chamber that had been afforded them.
“Barely a twinge,” he assured her, “even after all that dancing!”
“I am tremendously impressed that you were able to keep up with me in that regard,” she teased, a twinkle in her eye.
“I believe, my lady, that before the night is over, you will find I am able to keep up with you in many regards,” he retorted with a wink.
That drew a giggle from her, and she felt more girlishly excited than she’d ever allowed herself to feel in her entire life.
She’d never permitted herself any frivolity to speak of (that had been for other lasses, in her estimation, not for someone as sensible as she was), and now she had begun to realize how dreadfully she’d deprived herself.
No matter. Being with James made her feel as pert and vivacious as a woodland sprite, capering merrily from branch to branch on fairy wings. She felt bubbly, vibrant, truly alive, and filled with cheer in ways she’d never been before.
She glanced at James as they continued up the steps, looking to see if his leg was perhaps giving him more trouble than he was letting on, for she remained concerned for him and determined to see his leg return to its former state of wellness as fully as possible.
But no, James was practically hopping and skipping up the steps behind her, and his eyes appeared to be fixed upon the curves of her hips and buttocks. She made a point to sway them to and fro in a fashion that was somewhat more pronounced, just to stoke his desire all the more.
From the way his eyes lit up, it seemed to work wonders.
When they reached the room and shut the door behind them, they were on each other at once.
Edwina had spent a lifetime containing her passions—to the point where she had largely failed to recognize she even had any—but now they came flowing out of her, and she grabbed on to him as tightly as her arms would allow.
He led her to the bed, untying the ribbons that held up her wedding dress until it flounced to the floor in a heap around her ankles. She stepped out of it and kicked off her shoes, allowing him to coax the underthings from her body.
“You have seen my nude form,” he murmured, nibbling gently at her earlobe and the side of her neck, “but you have no idea how long I have been waiting to gaze upon yours.”
Sure enough, when she was exposed to the rays of silver moonlight from the window, he stared openly in happy amazement. The shapely slopes of her body hypnotized and enticed him, and he lowered her onto the bed before quickly shedding his own clothes as well.
When he was likewise naked, she spread her legs invitingly, giving him a sultry smile.
He put his head between them and slowly kissed the lovely, petal-like folds there, using his tongue on her in ways she’d never imagined possible.
She put her head back onto the pillow and closed her eyes, moaning dreamily at the unfamiliar yet dizzying sensation.
The room around her felt like it was twirling, and the scent of her musk filled the air.
Her inner thighs were as dewy as a spring morning, and her face was flushed as she bit her lower lip.
Her skin tingled as though there were legions of pixies dancing across it, leaving goosebumps in their wake.
She felt her ecstasy boiling up within her until she felt so light-headed from the intensity of it all that she could take no more. “Please take me,” she whispered urgently, running her fingers through his hair.
James rose and positioned himself above her, and she felt the quivering tip of his manhood brush against her leg. Her blossom was damp and fragrant now, and an animal lust hovered in the pit of her stomach, howling and roaring for satisfaction.
He would feed it what it hungered for.
He penetrated her gently but deeply, and she gasped, feeling her maidenhead tear within her.
The sensation reminded her of waves crashing and breaking against sharp rocks, something jagged and violent yet strangely beautiful all at once.
It overtook her, and as their bodies rocked together in perfect rhythm, she dug her fingernails into his back and cried out his name.
When the final rush of climax came, it was the ocean surging up onto the shore, sweeping away whole landscapes of the person she used to be before James had set her free.
As they drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms, Edwina smiled.
Yes. This was precisely the future she had pictured…and there was still so much more of it ahead.