Page 67 of Taken By the Highland Villain

EPILOGUE

One Week Later

Jude staredat himself in the mirror, his stomach knotting as he looked over his reflection. The man who stared back at him was a man he’d thought, six months ago, that he’d never see again.

His jaw was clean-shaven, his dark hair combed, trimmed, and neatly braided back. His back was straight, his shoulders relaxed, and his eyes clear, rather than bloodshot with pain and whiskey.

He was dressed in a new outfit Valerie had made for him—the same kilt and shirt he’d worn what seemed like a lifetime ago, the night of the dance they’d shared. But he wore a new, specially sewn sash and a delicately embroidered belt that had been made by Valerie and her sister, Megan.

Megan.

Thinking the name brought a wry smile to his face. Valerie’s younger sister had wasted no time after he and Valerie had emerged from her bedroom after stopping her wedding to Nathan Cullen. She had also minced no words as she informed him that, should he hurt her sister again, she would not hesitate to put an arrow in a painful and delicate place—unless she decided to take a knife to his bollocks instead.

Her sister Lily had been much gentler but no less stern. Jude had come out ofthatdiscussion with the impression that any foolishness on his part might result in unpleasant mixtures being slipped into every drink he tried to swallow for the next several days.

Brigid, on the other hand, had simply smiled at him over the head of her newborn daughter. “I dinnae need to threaten ye. Conall’s protective enough of all of us that he’ll handle that, if necessary.”

After one meeting with Laird MacKane to discuss the marriage contract and a new alliance, Jude believed every word the cheerful young woman had said to him. Laird MacKane was a stern, gruff man whose gaze only ever seemed to soften in the presence of his wife or her sisters.

The door opened behind him, and Jude abandoned his thoughts to turn and greet Craig. “How is everything?”

“It is nearly ready.” Craig smiled and reached out to pull him into a strong forearm grip and a firm clap on the shoulder. “And ye? Are ye ready for yer wedding?”

“Aye. I think I am.” Jude smiled back, chuckling lightly.

A fortnight ago, he’d sworn he would never, ever marry. It was almost funny to think of how much of a fool he’d been, and how much it had taken to finally break through his stubborn idiocy.

“Good. Yer bride is waiting.”

“As is yer lady.” Jude felt his grin widen at the soft, almost disbelieving sparkle in his second-in-command’s eyes.

Lady Ailsa was now a widow, and though the fate of Clan MacAllister was undecided, along with the fate of Clan MacOlley, she and Craig could at last be together openly and without fear of vengeance.

A moment later, Craig regained his composure and clapped him on the shoulder once more. “Come, My Laird.”

Together, the two descended not to the Great Hall, but to a small receiving room.

Jude and Valerie had both agreed that neither of them wished to have their wedding in the same room where her wedding to Nathan Cullen had almost occurred.

The pipers and the priest were both in place when he arrived. So were Valerie’s younger sisters, Lady Ailsa, Laird MacKane and his brother Oliver, and Moira, who was beaming as she cradled Oliver’s young son in her arms.

Jude took his place near the priest, with Craig at his side. After a moment, the bagpipe music changed. The door opened, revealing Valerie, walking slowly toward him on her eldest sister’s arm.

It was all he could do to keep from swallowing his tongue or falling to his knees.

Valerie had taken the week to make herself a new dress. It was a few shades lighter than the blue-green silk he was so fond of, and adorned in knotwork of MacFinn and MacKane colors intertwined. A sash made of MacKane tartan was draped across her shoulder, and Jude felt a rush of warmth and pride, knowing it would be replaced with a sash made of MacFinn tartan at the appropriate time.

She was radiant, glorious, like the goddess of springtime come to earth. And she was about to become his wife.

Valerie and Lily stopped a few feet away, and the priest—a different priest from the one who had presided over the previous ceremony—cleared his throat. “Who comes to be wed today?”

“I, Jude Reid, Laird of Clan MacFinn, come this day to be wed.”

“I, Valerie Blackwood of Clan MacKane, come this day to be wed.”

The priest nodded. “And who comes to present and stand witness for these two, as a testament to their willingness to join in holy matrimony?”

Craig stepped forward. “I, Craig MacCann of Clan MacFinn, come this day to stand as witness for my friend, Jude Reid.”