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Black lace? She must be trying to give me a heart attack as punishment for my bad behavior. I don't care. She can torture me as long as she wants, provided she never leaves me. I will never leave her again, that's a certainty.
I kneel before her on one knee. My gaze flicks down to her knickers, and I scrub a hand over my mouth, blinking furiously, then I lift my gaze to her face. Taking hold of the ring, I raise it between us. "You are the center of my universe, Erica Teague, and I'm blessed to have you for my wife."
"My goodness, I've never heard you babble before tonight." She grins despite the tears flowing down her cheeks. "You really are a changed man."
I slip the ring onto her finger, head bowed, and turn my eyes up to look at her. "Don't care if I sound like an eejit. Best get used to my babbling because I intend to let you know every single day how much I cherish you." Dropping my head, I press my puckered lips to her belly. "And our bairn. Which I'm certain will be a bonnie wee lassie just like you."
When I tilt my head back to smile at her, she bends to rest her forehead on mine. "I think it'll be a boy. Braw and handsome like his father."
"Hmm. Maybe we should have several bairns, to make sure we get a boy and a girl."
"How about dozens of little MacTaggarts running around in the heather?"
"Dozens, aye."
A smile of unrestrained joy breaks across my face. Never in my life have I been this happy before. Through half-closed eyes, I drink in the vision of her, from her slender ankles to her perfect breasts and higher to her beautiful face. Cannae help that my gaze stalls at her bosom for a heartbeat. Everything about her body is spectacular, and I'm imagining every possible way I can make her come for me tonight, over and over and over. When I meet her gaze, I capture her face in my hands and let my lips tease hers as I sketch the outline of her mouth with my tongue in swift licks. She thrusts her hands into my hair, dragging me in for a kiss that scorches me through and through, our hungry tongues wrestling while our mouths muffle each other's moans and groans.
Suddenly, she breaks away.
I pull her tight against me, certain she can feel my erection. "Not done with you."
"Oh, Lachlan."
I shove my fingers inside her knickers, down into her cleft. "You're so wet."
"Please, wait—" Erica shudders when I rub my fingers up and down her flesh in slow, relentless circles. She throws her head back, exposing her throat to me. I lick and nip and kiss a path up from her collarbone to her ear, suckling the lobe while I torment her nub with my fingers. She gasps. "Not here. Please."
I freeze with my fingers resting on the damp hairs between her thighs. "Where?"
"Can't go to my place. My parents are there."
"My hotel," I growl, and sweep her up into my arms while I surge to my feet.
"Hurry."
I manage to yank her dress down to cover her thighs without letting go of her, a feat I can pull off only because she fits snugly in one arm. Aye, she is perfect for me in every way. She snatches her small purse off the table an instant before I stride out of the booth, the curtains billowing around us, and storm down the hallway into the club proper. Erica padlocks her arms around my neck. I march straight across the dance floor, ignoring the couples who scatter to get out of our way. People stare at us in disbelief, but everyone steps aside.
Once we've exited the building, I pause. "Where's your car?"
"There." She points across the parking lot. The cool night air raises goosebumps on her skin, but she'll warm up soon enough once I've got her alone and naked in my hotel suite. She wraps her arms around me more snugly while I rush across the pavement to her car and set her down beside the passenger door.
"Keys," I command.
She digs them out of her purse and hands them to me. "I see we're back to monosyllabic Lachlan."
I grunt, unlock the door, and hurl it open. "Not capable of conversation right now. All I can think about is stripping you naked and ravishing you until sunrise."
"Well, in that case…" She climbs into the car and—on purpose this time, I'm sure—lets her skirt hike up. "Get a move on."
Chapter Thirty-Three
Three Weeks Later
On a sunny Wednesday morning, I stand in a field of heather, hand in hand with Erica as we speak our vows before our gathered families. Erica looks bonnier than ever in her elegantly simple white dress that's trimmed in lace, its full skirt fluttering faintly in the warm breeze that whispers around us. She is more than beautiful, though. My soon-to-be-wife is a vision of angelic grace. When Erica had first seen me as she and her entourage strolled up the hill toward me and my groomsmen, who are my brothers Rory and Aidan, she had grinned at me. Well, I am wearing the kilt I know she loves, but instead of a black T-shirt, I've chosen the top half of a suit—a shirt, tie, and jacket.
Now I stand amid the heather on a tree-cloaked hillside that slopes up behind us while a gentle grade extends down behind us to our new house, and beyond that, the glassy waters of Loch Leven with its smattering of islands. The village of Ballachulish nestles along the loch's shores, hemmed in by mountains. The shadows of those peaks stretch over the village, but not a single cloud mars the azure sky, and a disk of pure sunshine lights up the village as if Mother Nature herself wants to give us the perfect view today.
A certain golden retriever dances around amid the guests as far as his retractable leash will allow. Frank Teague holds tight to the leash's handle, but no one seems fashed by Casey's exuberance. Just as the ceremony starts, the pup sits down and falls silent, as if he understands the importance of this moment.
