Chapter Fourteen #2
Paige squealed and took off, drawing up short just before plowing straight through him. Her breath coming fast, she met his gaze.
It was different, his gaze. Stronger. More intense than it was before. He stared down at her now with an absolute predatory gaze.
“Are you no’ going to embrace your fiancé?” asked Ethan.
Paige glanced at him. “What?”
Just as Ethan, with a big hand on her backside, pushed her straight at Gabriel.
Paige gasped and squealed.
Just as Gabriel caught her, lifted her right off the floor, and brought his mouth a mere inch from hers.
Again, Paige’s mouth slid open, speechless.
“I vow you’re givin’ me an invitation, what wi’ your sweet mouth parted,” he whispered.
With her hands, Paige slid her palms along Gabriel’s arms, then his shoulders, then one on each of his jaws.
“How can this be?” Paige asked, mostly to herself. Then, she fixed her gaze onto Gabriel’s.
He apparently could wait no more.
With a low groan, he crushed his mouth to hers, and the sensation of his warm lips pressed to hers and then his velvety tongue caressing against her own made her heart thunder. His arms enveloped her, big hands molding to her back, her neck, and pulling her mouth closer still.
Vaguely, in the background, Paige heard the Munro clan whoop and holler.
Without thinking, she shoved her hands through Gabriel’s hair and kissed him back with just as much fervor as he did. She all but wrapped her legs around his waist, and it was only when she felt his large hands cup her bottom that she heard Ethan’s deep, strong voice.
“All right, then, that’s enough laddie,” he said, and suddenly she was pulled out of Gabriel’s arms. “That shall come only after the nuptials have been voiced.”
Paige glanced up at Ethan, who wiggled his brows.
Gabriel shoved Ethan away and enveloped Paige’s body in his arms once more.
He looked down at her. “We’ve plenty o’ time for answers, but I’ll say this just to douse your obvious curiosity.
” He kissed her again. “ ’Twas my hatred of the MacDonalds that kept me here all these centuries past.” He kissed her again.
“And ’twas no’ only my own recognition of my mistake, but your love and my acceptance o’ it that gave me redemption.
” With two strong hands, he adjusted the angle of her face just so, leaned in to kiss her, and then stopped.
His eyes searched her face, and Paige completely forgot there was a medieval hall full of Munros.
“Say it again, Paige MacDonald,” he whispered, and grazed his thumb along her bottom lip.
She shuddered. God, it felt better than she’d even imagined.
“Say it.”
Slowly, she smiled, and slid her arms about his waist. “I love you, Gabriel Munro,” she said softly. “And yes, I will wed you.”
The thunderous boom of Munro males echoing in the great hall was deafening, and Paige threaded her hands through Gabriel’s hair and pulled his mouth the rest of the way to hers. A groan escaped him, and she knew only she’d heard it, and they kissed their very first Yuletide kiss.
Her silent wish had come true. She’d not cared one whit how her Highlander had returned to her. Only that he had.
That he’d returned in the flesh and blood of his earthly body was more than a plus. It was a miracle.
And she’d thank God and the Powers That Be for such a miracle for the rest of her days.
“Do you think you can accept my rowdy kinsmen as well?” Gabriel said, close to her ear. The feeling had been delicious when he was a spirit. Now? It made her quake uncontrollably.
“Oh, yes,” she answered. “Gladly.”
In one fatal moment, she’d lost her love.
Hours later, she’d not only been given that love back, but in the flesh, as well as an entire family.
Paige knew then there wasn’t a soul as lucky as her.
“Welcome to the family,” said Amelia, who’d come to stand close. “I’m so happy to have another girl around.”
Paige smiled. “Thank you.”
The rest of Christmas Day flew by. The Munros, who had employed a husband and wife to cook for their large clan, brought them to Gorloch to prepare the holiday feast. Turkey, dressing, potatoes, yams—the works—had been prepared.
Presents had been brought, as well, and the two young Munros had played until each had fallen asleep beneath the very real tree all the men had gone out and chopped down.
Paige thought she’d never seen more food consumed in her life as when the Munros had sat down to dinner.
Gabriel had sat directly across from her, and he’d not once taken his penetrating green gaze from hers. He ate, but not with as much fervor as one would think a soul could eat after not having one single bite for centuries on end.
He looked starved for something else entirely different.
Later that night, Gabriel whisked Paige off to be alone—not an easy thing with several large medieval Highlanders determined to make sure Paige kept her innocence intact.
Somehow, though, they managed to make it to the west tower. Without a word, Gabriel led Paige to the sofa, sat her down, then lit what candles remained in the room. Outside, a Christmas night snow fell. Gabriel settled down beside her, pulled her into his arms, and sighed.
“I fear that if I close my eyes, this will all disappear,” he said in his thick Scottish burr. He pressed his lips to her temples and nudged her cheek with his mouth. “Are you still sure? About becoming my wife?”
Paige turned in his arms to look at him. She stroked his cheek, his jaw, and then his hair. “I’ve never been surer about anything in my life,” she said.
Gabriel grinned and gathered her close. “When?”
With her head to his warm chest, Paige smiled. “The sooner the better. I don’t think I can take your kin hovering over us for much longer.”
A deep rumble started in Gabriel’s chest as he chuckled. “Hogmanay, then. ’Twill give you enough time?”
Paige sighed, content. “I’ve waited for you my whole life, Gabriel Munro. I suppose I can wait another week.”
Lowering his head, he moved his mouth to her ear. “I vow I canna wait,” he said, his deep voice washing over her. She shuddered.
Neither could she.
They spent several hours before the long windows, watching the Christmas night snowfall, wrapped in one another’s arms.
Paige thought she couldn’t get much happier.
That is, until Gabriel Munro tucked her hair behind her ears, tilted her head, and covered her mouth with his . . .