Epilogue
“Olivia, ’tis me. Can I come in?”
Surprised to hear Edan’s voice, Olivia sat up on the bed and hurriedly wiped her face with an already-soaked hanky.
Despite the heartbreak he was causing her, she still wanted to see him and talk to him. She composed herself as much as she could, hoping the fact that she had been weeping would not be too noticeable.
“Aye, come in,” she said, her shaky voice betraying her agitation at the prospect of more pain.
The door opened, and he stepped inside.
“Olivia, are ye all right?” he asked, his voice surprisingly soft as he rapidly crossed to the bed and sat beside her on the edge.
She looked into his eyes and was confused by the warmth and concern she found in them. But she would not let herself hope that anything was going to change.
“Aye, I’m all right. Are ye?”
Despite her sorrow, she was grateful to see him unharmed. When he took her hand, she started and gazed at him wonderingly.
“Olivia, I’ve come to say I’m sorry for the way I treated ye earlier.
Nay, I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated ye all along.
I’ve been cold to ye, I ken it, and ye deserve so much more.
I can hardly explain me reasons for behavin’ that way towards ye.
I didnae feel I could protect ye. I felt I was puttin’ ye in danger because of it. ”
“But why would ye feel like that?” she asked, unable to help being drawn in by his obvious sincerity.
“I told ye how I couldnae save me faither on the battlefield, and I told ye about all the friends I’ve seen die, the ones in me nightmares,” he said, his gaze a plea for understanding she could not help responding to.
“Aye, ye have.” His hand on hers was warm and solid. She squeezed his fingers.
“It seemed to me that I couldnae protect those I cared about, that I’d become some sort of monster and anyone around me was in danger from me inability to keep them safe.
” He gazed at her intently, making her heart flutter madly.
“I was scared that if I let meself care about ye, ye’d be in danger as well. Can ye understand?”
Olivia felt a great wave of affection for him. “Aye, I understand,” she told him, leaning forward. “So, are ye still scared?”
“I am, but I cannae deny me feelings for ye any longer, Olivia. I cannae go on hurtin’ ye like this.
I’m in love with ye. I love ye with all me heart, and I hope ye can find it in yer heart to forgive me for the way I treated ye.
If ye can, then I promise I’ll do me best to make ye happy and be a good husband. ”
“Och, Edan, ye dinnae ken how much it means to me to hear ye say those words!” Olivia exclaimed.
Elated, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him.
“There’s nothin’ to forgive. I love ye too, Edan. I love ye more than ye’ll ever ken!” she told him and kissed him on the lips.
“Och, thank ye, Olivia. Thank ye for comin’ into me life and showin’ me what love is,” he murmured against her lips as he kissed her back, holding her tightly against him.
The kiss began slowly, but it soon grew more intense as their desire for each other overwhelmed them.
The force of Edan’s passion swept Olivia away, and she did not hesitate at all to welcome it with her own, abandoning herself to the sensuality as he caught her lower lip between his teeth, gently teasing it before plundering her mouth once more, the length of his powerful body pressing against hers, making every part of her sing with excitement.
In a haze of desire, she looped her arms around his neck and pulled him nearer, craving more of his touch.
“Och, Olivia, I want ye so much. I need ye,” he whispered as his lips trailed slowly down her face, her throat, and decolletage, making her skin tingle.
“I want ye too, Edan,” she replied, pulling the top of her dress down to grant his lips access to her breasts.
“Mmm, gorgeous,” he murmured, catching hold of them.
Olivia moaned softly as he rolled their weight in his warm, rough palms, squeezing the flesh and pinching the soft tips until they turned hard, sending shivers of pleasure through her.
His mouth roved hungrily over her exposed neck and shoulders, kissing, nuzzling, sucking and biting.
One hand moved lazily from her breasts, down her belly, to where his fingers stroked the soft curls between her thighs.
Olivia trembled with anticipation, reveling in the sensation of his right hand still playing with her breasts while the other slid between her thighs, his thick fingers prizing them apart just wide enough to grant him access to her folds, which were already hot and moist.
He cupped her sex in his palm, working his hand back and forth while his fingers delved inside her, first one then another, his thumb strumming her sensitive bud, making her moan and tremble with wanting.
Just the sight of him, his eyes narrow and dark with desire as his head descended between her thighs, filled her with lust. His hot, questing mouth plundered her flesh, teasing and toying with her sensitive bud, his tongue flicking like lightning in and out of her alongside his fingers.
It was not long before Olivia felt the waves of tantalizing heat coiling in her molten center, where Edan’s dark head was moving up and down as he worked his magic upon her.
“Ah, Edan, please, dinnae stop,” she cried out softly, gripping his hair, matching every thrust of his fingers with her hips, riding him as the inexorable waves of pleasure began moving up her body like concentric rings, drawing her once more by slow, deliberate degrees to the delicious edge of delirium.
Her head thrown back, she bucked against him as the pleasure reached its ultimate peak and shook her entire being with its intensity.
Dazed and sated as she was, she had little time to recover when she saw him standing above her, his eyes hungry as he kicked off his boots and tore off his clothes. She knew she had to have all of him this time—she needed him inside her.
“Ye’re so braw, Edan. I’ll never get tired of lookin’ at ye. I need more of ye. Come to me,” she begged with a wantonness she hardly knew she possessed.
“I’m comin’, wife. I’m comin’,” he breathed, grinning at her wolfishly.
As he came down on his elbows above her, power seemed to ripple through his entire body, the hard muscles flexing like ropes in his arms, shoulders, chest, and belly. Olivia was entranced to see how the lamplight made the silver trails of his many battle scars shine like moonlight.
She pulled him down onto the bed with her.
He chuckled when she boldly rolled him beneath her and straddled his waist, pressing the hot wetness of her sex against his belly.
With a groan, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close, nipping and sucking on her breasts playfully before his mouth captured hers and declared his ownership of her with a deep, intense kiss.
“I need ye, all of ye,” Olivia whispered, excited to feel his rock-hard manhood pressing into her.
Suddenly, she sat up a little and reached between her legs to capture him in her palm. Then, she guided the head of his shaft to her entrance and slowly, deliberately sank onto it, her mouth fastened to his in a passionate kiss as she opened herself up to him completely.
They held each other close, their bodies and tongues entwined.
Olivia moved up and down, and Edan’s length throbbed inside her as if it would split her in two.
When they finally came, it was together, both panting and slick with perspiration.
Olivia collapsed on this chest, and he wrapped his arms around her as they lay in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
“That was magical,” she whispered, stroking his cheek and looking lovingly into his eyes.
He tilted her chin up with a finger and kissed the tip of her nose. “Aye, that must be because ye’re a wee witch, and ye’ve put a spell on me. A spell I never want to break.”
She laughed. “I’m so very happy, Edan. I dinnae think I’ll ever be happier than I am at this moment. I love ye so much, and I’m so proud to be yer wife.”
Edan chuckled and hugged her. “I love ye with all me heart, Olivia, and I ken I’m the luckiest man alive to have ye as me wife. I cannae wait to spend the rest of me life with me beautiful, clever, brave, bonny lass.”
Olivia smiled with contentment as they cuddled in each other’s arms. The past was swept away by the bright, happy future that beckoned to them with the promise of everlasting happiness.
The End?