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Avelina was unrepentant. Though he cared not for the fact, Niall was her husband now, and Avelina would not rest until Ewan accepted the fact.

“Good den, Lina,” he said with a slight bow. “Until we meet again.”

“Until we meet again,” she said as Ewan left, a pang in her chest reminding Avelina that, despite their differences, she loved her brother deeply. Though it saddened her to part with him, as she looked toward the dais, Lina did not question her decision.

There might not be love between them, but there certainly was an abundance of desire. Even from here Lina could sense it, the expression on Niall’s face unmistakable. With every step she took from the hall’s entrance toward her husband, the man she’d first met was replaced by a very different look.

One of pleasure.

One of anticipation.

And suddenly, Lina very much wished her wedding feast was over, even if they could not leave before their host. She was ready to get to the wedding night and all that it entailed. And it seemed Niall did, too, because after speaking briefly to the chieftain, Niall stood as if he meant to join her.

They could not leave now.

Could they?

Decorum aside, it seemed precisely like that was what they would do, for Niall’s smile as he approached her could only mean one thing.

“Shall we retire, then, my lady wife?”

“Before the host?”

“Aye.”

“May we do such a thing?”

He took her hand and tucked it into his elbow, walking back toward where Avelina had just come from. He never answered.

An answer was not necessary.

They were leaving to cheers and some not-so-polite suggestions from the crowd behind them. Ones that once would have made her blush. But now, Avelina simply smiled.

Their wedding night had begun.

Chapter Twenty-Five

He was going to make this night one Avelina would never forget.

All eve Niall watched her, more pleased by his bride than he ever thought to be since matrimony was not something he enjoyed thinking about. Though his parents had a happy marriage, theirs was not a love match. Not, at least, when they’d wed, though Niall believed his parents had come to love one another.

But ‘twas never a marriage of passion, of that he was certain. They were more like friends. Compatible. Happy. The kind of marriage that was common among nobles, but not one Niall particularly looked forward to having.

His own marriage?

Complicated for very different reasons. But that he desired his wife? Of that, there was no doubt. He’d dismissed the maid that attempted to follow them to their chamber, so instead Niall took the girl’s duties. As soon as he closed the door behind her, he did not waste a moment.

“Turn around,” he demanded.

Lina gave him a brief glance before doing so.

He could not read her look but smiled to himself thinking she likely bristled at the command. His wife was fiercely independent. A bow-wielding maiden who he had no doubt would use her skills if such an occasion warranted it.

But here, in their bedchamber?

“I will remove every piece of fabric from your body,” he said, undoing the ties at her back. “Before I lick everything from your neck to your nipples to the very core of you, Lina, I would spin you on the bed, facing down, and continue to lick until you are writhing beneath me. Only when you beg me, when you call out my name so loud that guests remaining in the hall can hear you, will I enter you, giving you all of me. Do you understand?” he asked, spinning her back around.

Eyes wide, Lina watched as he pulled the shoulders of her gown off on each side. Tugging her arms from their sleeves, with her aid, Niall did exactly as he promised. As the gown fell to the floor, he kissed Lina’s bare shoulders, the shift she wore blessedly sleeveless.