Page 22

The wedding was to be held two weeks later to give Moira’s arm a chance to heal and to have a dress made. Niall had observed that the bridegroom only had to show up for the ceremony, nobody cared what he looked like. It was the bride and the dress that the guests came to see!

Moira had asked Glennie and Jean to suggest the colour of her wedding dress, and they had chosen light blue to match her eyes, with a gold sash around her waist. The design of the garment was very simple, a long-sleeved satin creation with a short train and a plain round neckline. It had no frills or fussy embroidery, and the only jewellery Moira wore was a heart-shaped gold locket which Glennie had given her.

Glennie presented the jewellery in a small velvet-covered box just after Jean—who had officially become part of the staff in Baltyre—had fastened the last button on the back of her dress. When she opened it, Moira beamed with pleasure.

“Oh, Glennie, this is lovely,” she said happily. “Thank you!”

“It is much less than you deserve,” Glennie replied. “You have made Niall so happy, and me too. I have always wanted a sister, Moira, and now I have you. In a few hours, you will officially be part of the family in the eyes of god and the law, and I am overjoyed at the prospect!”

Moira felt a surge of happiness inside as she looked around at the little gold heart, allowing Moira to fasten it around her neck.

“Perfect!” Glennie said, clapping her hands. “You look almost like a queen, Moira.”

“Almost?” Moira laughed.

“Ye need a crown, hen,” Jean told her, then she brought forward a little circle of bluebells, daisies and gold ribbons which she placed on Moira’s head, tying it at the back with a pretty bow. “Now ye’re a queen, Your Highness.”

Along with Glennie, she gave Moira a deep curtsey, and they all laughed. The two women stood back and looked Moira up and down.

“Do I look all right?” Moira asked nervously.

Glennie stepped forward and took her arm, then smiled at her fondly. “I wish I looked as beautiful as you do today,” she said. “Niall will love that dress, but you know that he adores everything about you anyway. In fact, he is so besotted that I think he might understand why I love Ritchie so much.”

Her voice became wistful.

“I will do my best to make him see your point of view, Glennie,” Moira promised. “After all, we sisters must look after each other!”

A moment later, they arrived at the castle chapel, then Glennie smiled and leaned over to kiss Moira’s cheek. Moira felt weak at the knees, and her heart was racing, but she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and stepped into the church for the last time as a single woman.

And there was Niall, standing waiting for her dressed in his clan finery, this big, handsome man of her dreams who was so fiercely in love with her that he had fought for her and risked his life for her. At that moment, Moira thought she was the most fortunate woman in the world to be joining her life with Niall’s for as long as they lived.

Niall watched his bride coming into the chapel, and his heart swelled with love and joy. Moira looked like the ethereal white witch, he had always imagined her to be, and at that moment, he felt only pure love and admiration. He was amazed that he had captured the heart of this wonderful woman and resolved to treasure it all his life.

When Moira reached him, Niall held out his hand, and she took it, then raised it to his lips for a soft kiss.

Moira had been enchanted to know that the minister, Reverend Iain Campbell had been newly called to his vocation, and it was the first time he had conducted a wedding ceremony.

Now he smiled at both of them and then addressed the congregation behind them.

“Does anyone have any objection to this marriage?” he asked.

It was a customary part of the wedding service, but because of the circumstances that had led to their marriage, both Niall and Moira were terrified. What if they had come so far only to be stopped at the last possible moment?

For a few seconds they looked at each other in tense silence, waiting for someone to speak up, but there was not a sound from the people behind them, and at last, the minister began the ceremony.

They began with the loving cup, which was a vessel with two handles filled with ale. They both drank from it, then it was time to say their vows.

Niall, obeying tradition, went first, and held Moira’s hands as he said, “Moira, I love you with all my heart, but I want to assure you that when you are my wife, my love will not be a cage for you. You will be free, but my love will be with you everywhere. Will you take me as your husband?”

Moira could hardly speak, but she managed to say, “I will, Niall. And I promise to be the best wife, and if we are blessed with children, the best mother that I can be, and be faithful only to you for the rest of our lives. Will you have me as your wife?”

“I will, Moira,” he replied, then he took her left hand and gently slid a slim gold ring onto her third finger. “My mother’s ring,” he whispered.

The smile they exchanged was one of pure joy, pure love, before the minister took a length of cloth and loosely tied their hands together. Then they each took one step backwards, tightening the knot and symbolising the strength of the love that bound them together.

After a final blessing, Moira and Niall turned to walk back down the aisle hand in hand, both of them smiling and radiant.

“I can hardly believe this,” Niall said as he looked down at Moira. “My lovely white witch who cast a spell on me as soon as we met is now my wife, my Lady McPhee.”

Moira giggled. “You talk such nonsense,” she said fondly.

Niall put his arm around Moira’s waist and pulled her close to him. “I cannot wait to be alone with you,” he told her, his eyes full of wanton desire.

“It won’t be long now,” Moira assured him, her whole being throbbing with need.

They went into the Great Hall to a chorus of cheers and took their seats at the head of the table, with Moira seated at Niall’s right hand. The meal was served, then the dancing began, and the bridal couple were the first to take to the floor, joined shortly thereafter by the other guests.

They all took part in the lively strathspeys, reels and quadrilles that made Scottish dancing so enjoyable, but halfway through an Eightsome Reel Niall saw Ritchie and Glennie dancing together, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes.

He frowned deeply, and asked, his voice loaded with anger, “Who invited him?”

“I did.” Moira laughed. “You know, you look terrifying when you do that with your face.”

Niall turned to her and shook his head, smiling. “Wait till I get you alone, woman,” he said in a mock-threatening tone.

“I can’t wait!” Moira answered, laughing.

She thought she had managed to divert Niall’s attention away from Glennie and Ritchie, but when the dance ended, Moira could see that he was about to go and pick a fight with them.

She caught his arm and turned him to face her, then stood on tiptoe to plant a soft kiss on Niall’s lips.

“Let them be, My Laird,” she said gently. “Ritchie is a common man, and I am a common woman, yet you made me your wife. They love each other very much, so give them a chance to be happy.”

A slow smile spread across Niall’s face. “You have been covering for them all along, haven’t you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Moira replied simply. “And I would do it again.”

“I am so glad you’re mine,” he said, sighing in satisfaction. “But we can discuss all that later.” Then he looked around the hall. “Can we slip away?” he asked. “Because I can’t wait for us to be alone.”

Moira saw the gleam in his eyes and her senses began to sing. “Do you know a sneaky way out?” she asked wickedly.

Niall chuckled. “This place is riddled with secret passages,” he replied, “but I don’t think we need one today.”

He looked around to see if anyone was watching them, but now that the excitement of the wedding was over, most of the guests were busy chatting and drinking, and no one paid them any attention as they left.

Outside, Niall swept Moira off her feet so suddenly that she squealed in fright, then marched across to the big staircase in the centre of the atrium and began to sprint upstairs as though Moira were weightless in his arms.

She loved the feeling of being jogged up and down in his confident grip, and had no fear at all that he would drop her. When they reached his chamber, they found the door ajar, and it was only when they stepped inside that they realised why.

Niall carried her across the threshold into the room where their married life would truly begin. He set her down on the floor, and she looked around in delight.

This was not the plain and functional room it had been before, since it had been festooned with flowers in crystal and silver vases, and the air was filled with their fresh perfume.

“Glennie has been here,” Moira said, laughing softly.

However, now nothing was important but Niall, who was gazing at her with a fierce passion in his eyes.

“At last,” he said huskily, closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around Moira. “I’ve been longing for this, Lady McPhee.” Then his lips descended on hers, and he kissed her as if his life depended on it.

Moira clung to him, and all the love she had stored inside her poured out of her as her body melted into his. Suddenly, it seemed to her that all the trials and tribulations she had undergone in the last few months were worth it, for she would endure them all again if she had known they would lead to this moment.

When they drew apart, he smiled at her, a smile of such tenderness that it brought tears to her eyes. “Now, My Lady McPhee,” he said with a businesslike air. “We have not yet consummated our marriage. Should we take care of that now?” His eyes were twinkling, both with mischief and love.

Moira giggled. “You make it sound like such a hardship. Oh, well, let’s get it over with.” She looped her arms around Niall’s neck and pulled him down for another kiss.

He turned her around to undo the back of her dress, cursing at the complicated fastenings. When he had finished, the dress fell to the floor, but Moira was still clad in her chemise. After unlacing all the ties on the dress, Niall was not inclined to fuss with any more of them. He simply took the neck of the flimsy garment in both hands and tugged, rending it down the middle. He pulled it from her shoulders, then disposed of her drawers and stockings and looked at his handiwork with satisfaction.

“Beautiful,” he breathed, almost devouring her with his eyes.

The words were hardly out of his mouth when he felt his kilt dropping to the floor, and in less than a minute, he was standing naked before Moira. She dropped her hand to his erection and began to pump him gently, and Niall closed his eyes and let out a long breath of pleasure.

He gently backed Moira towards the bed, and she fell backwards onto the soft mattress, then he knelt in front of her, positioning himself between her thighs. He took her legs and draped them over his shoulders, then bent down to sweep his tongue once, twice, three times through her folds, before he turned his attention to the little nub at her core. He teased it with his tongue tip, then scraped it gently with his teeth, sending bolts of sheer pleasure from Moira’s core all the way through her body. It was torture of the sweetest kind, and she loved it.

She arched her hips up and Niall eased backwards to look into her eyes, smiling wickedly. He stood up and Moira took the opportunity to suck him into her mouth and tease him with her teeth and tongue.

Niall was in heaven as he plunged his hands into the golden mass of Moira’s hair and groaned in sheer bliss. He had been with women before, but none of them had ever made him feel like this. The difference was that he had never been in love before, and now he was, wildly and passionately so.

“I want to be inside you,” he said huskily as he leaned down to kiss her. He shifted Moira into a better position on the bed then lay beside her. After another heated kiss, he said, “No more sweet words, Moira. No more talking.”

He rolled onto her and thrust into her so forcefully that they both cried out, then they began to take each other to a piece of heaven where no one else existed but the two of them.

Niall felt Moira’s flesh wrapping around him in a warm embrace that tightened with every stroke he made, and he climbed towards his orgasm with what seemed like lightning speed. He tried to hold back because he dreaded the moment when he would have to break their connection and become two separate people again. Currently, when they were one, he felt a love for Moira that was almost painful in its intensity. It drove him on, faster and harder, until he erupted inside her.

With Niall’s first plunge inside her, Moira realised that this encounter was going to be far different to anything she had experienced with him before. There was a determined passion about him that was fiercer than he had ever shown her thus far, and it made her own need for him even stronger. Her whole body was tingling and throbbing with delight, from her lips to her breasts to that special place to which Niall was giving so much pleasure.

Moira clung to him tightly for purchase, feeling that she might fly away if she let go of him, then she felt herself rising, climbing to that peak that seemed inaccessible. Yet, the more she strove to reach it, the fiercer the pleasure became until at last she exploded into rapture, she felt Niall’s hard body stiffen against her, then heard him crying out her name as his climax hit him.

They held on to each other as they descended back to earth, and lay silent in the afterglow, all their passion sated. Now there was nothing but an aura of love and peace that settled over them like a warm, soft blanket.

“Now you really are Lady McPhee,” Niall told her, with a soft smile on his face.

“Yes, and yours forever,” Moira whispered lovingly, before kissing him again.

Thank you for reading my story!