“By this time on the morrow,” he vowed, “all will be changed.” Malcolm turned his back on the scene, the contours of his plan as clear as the path he now walked alone.
*
When Fiona reachedthe room she shared with her sisters, she found them sitting on their beds, talking about the wedding. For a moment, she stared out the window, and then she joined them.
Ailis studied Fiona for a moment. “Ye appear flushed. Are ye well?”
Fiona smiled. “I’m flushed from kissing Alisdair. The man knows how to make me want things a maiden shouldn’t want.”
“Tell us more,” Moira gushed. “I will never marry, so I must understand how he makes you feel.”
Fiona settled onto the edge of Ailis’s bed, her cheeks still aglow with the remnants of passion. She leaned in conspiratorially, as if sharing a well-guarded secret.
“His kisses are like wildfire on my skin, searing yet gentle, igniting a desire that courses through me like a tempest,” Fiona began, her eyes alight with an inner flame. “When he lets his hands roam, he unravels every knot of restraint within me, leaving me bare and unguarded before him.”
Ailis’s eyes widened at her sister’s fervent words, while Moira leaned forward eagerly, her expression hungry for every detail.
“And his caress…” Fiona paused, savoring the memory. “It’s both a promise and a plea, a silent oath spoken through caresses that leave me breathless and yearning for more.”
Moira let out an exaggerated sigh, falling back onto her bed dramatically. “It sounds as if the two of you were ready to claim each other then and there,” Moira teased, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “I can only imagine how passionate your wedding night will be, sister.”
Fiona chuckled, a rosy hue still tinting her cheeks. “Oh, Moira, you have a vivid imagination. We must abide by tradition until tomorrow’s ceremony.”
Ailis, ever the voice of reason, interjected gently, “It is a delicate balance we tread between desire and duty. Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new chapter for you and Alisdair.”
As they talked late into the night about love, duty, and the uncertain future that lay before them, Fiona found solace in her sisters’ presence. Despite the trials that awaited her as the future Laird’s wife, she knew that with Ailis and Moira by her side, she could weather any storm.
Fiona knew that her sisters’ unwavering support would be her anchor in the tumultuous sea of change ahead. As they wove dreams and whispered secrets in the late hours of the night, the bond between the McAfee sisters grew stronger.
In the quiet depths of that chamber, where the flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows on the stone walls, Fiona found herself at peace. The weight of her impending union with Alisdair still lingered, but in the safety of her sisters’ company, she could set aside the burdens of duty for just a moment.
As the night deepened and sleep began to tug at their eyelids, Ailis rose from her bed and approached Fiona with a tender smile. “Rest now, dearest sister,” she murmured, brushing a stray lock of hair from Fiona’s forehead. “Tomorrow will bring Father and the wedding. I canna believe it’s happening!”
