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“It was.” He grazed a lazy kiss upon her lips. “At least, it was until I met ye. As I told ye before, ye’ve created this, and I’m beginnin’ to worry.”
She pulled back. “Worry?”
“Aye,” he replied with a smile. “I’m worried that I’ll want ye so much, for the rest of our lives, that I’ll end up collapsin’ from exhaustion.”
Relieved, she cuddled back into his arms. “Are ye also worried that, now ye’ve given me a taste, I’ll want more and more?”
“Nay, Lass,” he whispered, holding her close, “that’s what I’m hopin’ for.”
Truly, it seemed Heaven was smiling down on Edwina, but as she relished in the heat and comfort of him, a slight prickle of fear pinched at the back of her mind. Before her father died, she had mistakenly thought she was fortunate, and all that had been taken from her. What if this would all be taken from her, too?
“Sleep, Lass.” Felix stroked her hair and pressed soft kisses to the fiery strands.
“Aye, I wouldnae want to look like a ghoul at our weddin’,” she replied, though she knew full well that sleep would not come. Not with that fear whispering so cruelly in the back of her head. A fear that he could not kiss away.
CHAPTER21
“And where inHeaven’s name have the pair of ye been?” A shrill voice greeted Edwina and Felix as their horses clopped back into the main courtyard of Castle Moore.
It was not the welcome that Felix had expected, but he knew better than to have any expectations when it came to his sisters. They appeared from the base of the tower, running full pelt toward the horses. Besides, nothing could spoil his mood today, for he was in the soothing haze of a fledgling love. If anything threatened that peace, he just had to close his eyes and remember the way Edwina had looked last night and this morning—naked and beautiful and so tempting that it stirred him to just think of her for a second or two.
And the way she cried out my name—he shivered inwardly, in the most wonderful way, as he recalled that sweet, sweet moment.
“Ye’re turnin’ pink,” Edwina whispered, flashing him a wink.
He smiled back. “As are ye.”
“That was the wind whippin’ me cheeks,” she protested, but her dazed grin suggested otherwise.
Melissa stormed forward with her hands on her hips. “I asked ye both a question. Where the devil have ye been? Did ye forget ye’ve a weddin’ to attend today?”
“There was somethin’ we had to do first,” Felix replied evenly.
Edwina nodded. “Yer brother is nae an unfaithful wretch, so today will be a happier occasion than it might’ve been yesterday.”
“Pardon?” Meredith joined Melissa, searching the faces of the coy pair.
“The truth was revealed,” Edwina explained. “He dinnae lie with another woman and he wasnae even so inebriated that he might have forgotten. I’ll tell ye everythin’ as I’m readyin’ myself for the day.”
Meredith’s eyebrows shot up as she wagged an excited finger between the couple. “Ye… did ye… ye dinnae… did ye?”
“I daenae ken what ye could possibly mean.” Edwina chuckled as she slipped down from the saddle and handed the reins off to the waiting stable boy. “Now, if ye daenae mind, there’s a great deal of work to be done if I daenae want to look like a corpse at my own weddin’.”
Meredith’s eyes looked like they were about to burst out of her head. “Of course! This way! And I want to heareverythin’… or maybe nae everythin’, but the general gist of what the pair of ye have been up to.” She grabbed Edwina’s arm and marched her away, already whispering things in Edwina’s ear as the women departed. Melissa hurried after them, wearing a bemused expression.
Dismounting, Felix took a moment to stop and look around at his Castle with fresh eyes. It seemed to gleam in the morning sunlight, taking on a charm that he had never noticed before. Indeed, he could not remember the last time he had just paused to observe his small kingdom.
“I ken that look, M’Laird, but I daresay I’ve never seen it in yer eyes,” John’s voice drew Felix’s attention away from the sandstone walls and shining slate.
Felix turned with a smile. “I never thought I’d have reason to feel like this.”
“Well then, that makes two of us.” John sighed softly. “Ye make a fine pair, M’Laird. I take it this means that all the wrinkles in yer betrothal have been ironed out in time for the weddin’?”
A frown furrowed Felix’s brow. “Most of them.”
“Most?”
“There’s somethin’ I need ye to deal with, as quietly as ye can.” Felix had forced away all thoughts of Kenney Young, but if the wedding was to proceed smoothly, something had to be done. “Come to my chamber while I get ready. It’s nae goin’ to be a simple day for ye, I fear.”
