“What? Oh. Yes.”
Niall bent his head and kissed Heather on the cheek.
The blacksmith snorted in derision. “Got to do better thanthat, man.”
Niall frowned at him, then without any warning swept Heather into his arms and kissed her directly on the mouth.
Heather gasped in surprise, and then again in shock because this kiss completely surrounded her, inside and outside, stirring up a maelstrom in her belly and leaving her breathless. Who knew kisses could do this? Who knew kisses involved Niall’s tongue teasing hers, his teeth tugging on her lower lip, his chin with a trace of beard growth rubbing against her cheek in a way that made her all warm and liquid inside?
Then it was over, Niall pulling away as he asked the blacksmith, “Acceptable?”
“A sight better than the first one, m’lord.” Grinning, the blacksmith tapped his book. “There ye are, sir, all witnessed and signed. People may rant, but this marriage is as binding as any in a church.”
“Oh, is it really?” asked Heather, worriedly.
“Thank you,” Niall interposed, pulling out his money and counting out the cost of the service, and a generous gratuity as well. “We’ll be on our way.”
“Whose family gets the pleasure of learning about ye first, then?”
“Mine,” he said firmly.
“And I hope mineneverdoes,” Heather muttered under her breath. She was still reeling from the kiss.
Her wish was almost immediately dashed. A horse thundered up to the smithy, and she recognized the rider.
“Oh, Lord,” she muttered. “Why could his horse not have thrown him?”
“I’ll handle it,” Niall told her.
Brom dismounted and strode toward them. “Everyone stop what you’re doing. There will be no marriage. I’m taking the girl back to her uncle.”
“Too late,” Niall said, his voice mild, but with a gleam in his eyes. He pointed to the book the smith had so recently updated.
Brom frowned, looking between Niall and the blacksmith.
“Too late?” he asked, apparently not believing it possible.
“Just conducted the ceremony,” the smith replied, his own voice calm as well. He’d probably had many encounters with aggrieved parties. “You are the first to know, if that’s any consolation.”
“Cancel it!” Brom yelled at the smith.
“Cancel…what?”
“The wedding, you idiot!”
The smith gave him a pitying look. “That’s not how wedding ceremonies work, my friend. I already conducted it. It can’t be unconducted. More or less defeats the purpose, you see.”
“I said cancel it! Undo it! Stop it!”
“Again, not within my writ, sir. However, if you’ve got a horse that needs re-shoeing…”
Furious, Brom advanced on the smith, who picked up an iron bar from the forge and held it up in a warning gesture.
But before Brom got anywhere near the smith, Niall blocked his path.
“Your quarrel isn’t with him,” Niall said. “If you insist on fighting about it, you fight me.”
Heather didn’t like where this was going at all. “Niall, please don’t do this! Brom won’t fight fair.” Her uncle’s lackey was known for ruthlessness. And she couldn’t stand the idea of Niall getting hurt on her behalf. How had this become so complicated?
