AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Six
Something strange has happened to me this morning. Maybe waking up with my wife snuggled up to me has done it. Maybe her silliness is contagious. Whatever the cause, I develop a bizarre and irresistible desire to act like an eejit, if only to make Emery smile. She might think I'm off my head, but I'm hoping she will appreciate the effort.
I gently peel the covers back, trying not to wake her yet, and slide down the bed until I can rest my chin on her hip and my elbows at either side of her body. Then I move my fingers over her belly as if they're wee people cavorting on her skin.
She rouses little by little, her gaze sleepy as she struggles to understand what she sees. Emery blinks rapidly, then jerks her head up, her attention riveted to my fingers.
"What are you doing?" she asks.
I aim a sly smile at her. "Isn't that my line?"
"Usually." She tousles my hair. "What are your finger-people doing on my tummy?"
"Playing shinty." I make one finger-person run toward her belly button, then thrust my thumb out. "You have to imagine the caman he's swinging."
"The what?"
"Caman. The stick every player carries and uses to hit the ball."
She pushes up on one elbow. "What is shinty?"
"Something like lacrosse." I smile. "Only better."
Why does she look almost sick? I thought she wanted me to smile, but she doesn't seem happy about it. I order my finger-people to take a timeout while I study my wife. "Are you all right?"
"Fine, yeah." She drops back onto her pillow and waves a hand. "Go on. Don't let me interrupt your important shinty game."
"It's a match, not a game." I kiss her belly. "You'll learn the lingo when you watch the MacTaggarts play the Buchanans."
"You play shinty?"
"Aye."
"When will this game—sorry, match—happen?"
I shrug. "We play whenever both families can get twelve members to join in. For the MacTaggarts, that means our cousins need to be available. Lachlan may think he's the equivalent of ten men, but we need actual bodies on the field, not just his ego."
Her lips curve into a sweet wee smile.
And I end the timeout, letting my fingers play out their shinty match. A few minutes later, the MacTaggarts have won the match and defeated the Buchanans amid stage-whisper cheers, which I create. With my team victorious, I lay back on the bed with my head beside Emery's. Then I thread our fingers, holding her hand while we enjoy a comfortable silence. I'd never known silence could feel nice, but this time it does.
Emery bites the corner of her lip. "Do you think we'll be smote by a bolt of lightning?"
She does ask the strangest questions.
I feather my lips over her fingertips. "Why would that happen?"
"Because we're going to take vows and swear we love each other."
I give her a patient smile. "If everyone who married without love were smote down, hardly anyone would've survived the Middle Ages. Arranged marriages used to be the norm."
"Right, I forgot about that." She sits up and twists sideways to look at me. "So, there won't be any smiting. That's good news. But we still have things to discuss, about our wedding."
I exhale a long sigh. "Must we?"
"Yes."
She swings one leg over me to mount my lap. Though I enjoy the view of her breasts from below, I dread whatever she might say next.
