Shona stood before the Balmoral priest, ready to speak her vows with Caelis. Meeting Lachlan had been amazing and wonderful. To know she had family that cared, to know her children had had options for safety even before fate had brought Caelis back into her life gave her such a sense of peace.
But she did not want to stay on Balmoral Island, despite the beauty and obvious closeness of the clan, or the fact that their laird claimed her as family.
Her future and the future of their children lay with Caelis and his destiny to protect his people and the humans of the MacLeod clan from the false doctrines of the Fearghall. It was her destiny as well. She could feel the truth of that deep in her soul.
It would take those not of the Faol to turn the thinking of the Chrechte among the MacLeod clan from the misguided teachings of the Fearghall. Those wolf shifters would not come to see humans or the Éan as individuals worthy of life, much less respect if Uven succeeded in pushing all but the Faol from the clan.
She and her children would make the Faol stop and think about all they had been taught by that deceiving blackguard. Vegar’s strength and honor as a warrior would challenge their beliefs that the Éan were the ones to be despised as lesser Chrechte.
But in this moment, her destiny was not paramount. The vows she would speak were. And everything within Shona longed to make these promises before God and man with her warrior, to bind them together with the ties of law and honor.
The priest said the wedding Mass with warm feeling, his attitude that of a friend though they’d never met before Lachlan had introduced them.
The homily he spoke about marriage was both moving and funny, but all laughter faded as he led Caelis to speak first his vows and then Shona to utter hers.
Caelis maintained eye contact through each word, reminding Shona that no matter who was there as witness, the ones who truly mattered were her and him.
The priest spoke his blessing over both newly married couples before the clan celebrated the marriage of their laird’s newly discovered cousin.
Shona faced Caelis in the tower room Lady Emily had offered for their wedding night.
His big body glowed golden in the firelight, his muscles rippling with power and strength that both excited and soothed her.
This man, this shape-changer, was her mate, her husband. And she loved him.
Now and forever.
“You are my gift,” he said quietly. “The blessing I never deserved but could not live without.”
“You did live without me.”
“I survived without happiness, without pleasure. Every day of the six years we were apart, I ached for you. The years I believed you lost to me through death, I was little more than a shell. My one purpose with any meaning was to serve my brethren, but I had no hope of anything for me, or for the future. You give me a future laced with joy, filled with pleasure, worth living not just for my people, but for my own life as well.”
His words fell on her heart like rain on the parched summer ground. “Our future is what we make it. The past no longer has any bearing.”
“Do you truly believe that?” he asked. “You have forgiven me?”
“Yes.” She meant it with every fiber of her being, too.
He nodded and moved forward until he stood directly in front of her, his body heat reaching out to wrap around her like a touch. “This is the last time you will dress an English baroness.”
“I am a laird’s lady, but no baroness any longer.” He could not know how much that pleased her.
Chapter 23
Ignore the sacred teaching and the lessons of the past at the peril of all Chrechte.
—ANCIENT CELI DI
“Exactly.” Caelis set about undressing Shona with efficient movements, as if the sight of her in the English garb was too much for him to bear one moment longer. “’Tis a lovely dress, but I’ll be happy to never see it again.”
“I still have my MacLeod plaid.” She’d kept it all these years and brought it with her from England, though she would never have admitted so before tonight.
He stopped, staring down at her, his expression arrested and lit with an inner joy she never wanted to see extinguished. “You knew.”
“What?”
“That you were still mine.” And he set about proving it by removing her clothes and touching her in ways only he had ever done.
This time, though, she was determined to do the same. Moments later, they both stood naked in the center of the room, his hardness jutting into the air between them, her body showing its own obvious signs of arousal, too.
Her nipples were pebble hard, tingling with the need for his touch and his mouth. She ached deep in her womb and moisture had gathered between her legs, the scent of her need obvious even to her human…or mostly human senses.
He sniffed at the air, inhaling deeply and smiling with a feral light in his blue gaze. “You are ready for me and we have barely touched.”
“I am not the only one.” She jutted her chin toward his weeping purple erection.
He growled low. “No, you are not.”
“That is a good thing.” To be together in their desire more amazing than he could ever know.
“Tonight we consummate our marriage and our mating.”
“Yes.” She reached up to kiss him, needing the intimate connection.
He did not hesitate to give it to her, taking control of the joining of their lips with gentle but inexorable force. His tongue swept inside her mouth and an image of his sex invading her body in a similar fashion flashed through her head.
She knew that image had not come from her. It was too intense, too aggressive…too male in its perspective. “Caelis?” she asked across their mental bond.
“Hmmm…” he hummed against her mouth.
She lost the thought she meant to pursue as his big hands cupped her backside and lifted her firmly against him. The feel of their naked flesh touching for the first time with the knowledge that they were legally bound sent chills of pleasure throughout her body, leaving goosebumps behind.
“Mine,” she heard in her head. “Mo toilichte. Mo gra.”
The sense of possessiveness emanating off of him wrapped around her and filled her with inexpressible delight, adding to her excitement. More images of lovemaking between them, her body wrapped in his, his nestled in hers, played like the most precious of dreams across her mental landscape.
She did not know how he was giving her these mental pictures, nor did she care in that moment. Seeing what he wanted, what he dreamed about, made her realize this physical connection between them was every bit as important to him as it was to her. That it went beyond the physical to souls intertwining.
She spread her legs, wrapping them around his hips, allowing Caelis to fit her body to his so his hardened sex rubbed against her most intimate flesh.
She saw an image in her head of her body taking his inside while she leaned back, her breasts completely revealed to his gaze, their bodies moving together in perfect harmony. She shifted to make it happen, both of them groaning in deep pleasure as they connected in the most intimate way possible for the first time in six years.
The kiss broke; she knew not which of them made it happen, but she leaned back as she’d seen in her head, her breasts heaving as he made love to her standing.
’Twas the most incredible experience she could have imagined, his passion so honest and true, so tempered by emotion it could never be compared to the selfish, lustful groping she’d endured with the baron.