Maude’s smile widened as her eyes locked on his, and he marveled that the smile was for him alone. His heart thudded to receive a gem rarer than the one in the brooch he’d given her. They stood facing one another as the priest wrapped a ribbon around their wrists and then placed a length of Sutherland plaid over their hands.
“I realize a woman cleaves to her husband, but there is also something so right seeing our hands joined with a Sutherland plaid making us one,” Maude whispered. “I would welcome you to my family and clan, just as you welcome me to yours.”
The priest cleared his throat as a reminder that it was supposed to be his turn to speak. They exchanged their vows before her family and clan, then entered the kirk for the wedding Mass. Kieran spared little thought for his family, but he understood Maude worried about them as she glanced at her mother and sister. The service progressed at a snail’s pace as they awaited the priest’s announcement that he’d officially married them. When the time came, Kieran refused to be rushed. He eased Maude to her feet and slid his arm around her waist, stepping close to her. He lifted her chin and peered into her eyes. She searched his steely gray ones, the depth of her feelings for him clear. He recognized it was time to declare himself and regretted not having done so sooner.
“Maude MacLeod, I love you with all that I am and all that I have. I have since the day I met you and will until the day of my passing.” Before Maude responded, he swooped in for a kiss that began as a feathering of his lips and breath against hers but soon enveloped her in tenderness and affection before bursting with passion. She returned the emotions without reservation until they were both breathless. “I love you, buttercup.”
Maude nodded as she swallowed before finding her voice. She blinked back tears as she spoke in the strongest voice she could muster. “I love you, turtledove. Now and forever.”
They kissed again before Kieran swept her into his arms. Maude rested her head against his shoulder until they emerged from the kirk to more cheers and applause. Kieran scowled at his horse but failed to keep from laughing when Peat knickered at him and nodded his head as if he understood his owner’s annoyance that they would have to ride through the bailey and surrounding village before they made their way to the Great Hall. He’d argued vehemently with Hamish and Lachlan when they arrived at the stables and found Trioblaid was also being saddled. He insisted they saddle either one or the other horse, but it would be pointless to ready both since he refused to relinquish Maude to ride apart from him. Father and son acquiesced when Kieran threatened to ride off with Maude if they were each given their own mount.
Kieran lifted Maude into the saddle, and she adjusted her skirts as she sat sideways. He swung up behind her and arranged his plaid and sporran to continue to hide the erection he had sported throughout his wedding. He sighed with relief that God hadn’t smote him for such lustiness in His house. Kieran spurred Peat into a cantor and squeezed the horse’s flanks once they were through the gate, urging the steed into a gallop.
“I like this detour aboot as much as you do, but we canna gallop through the village. You’re bound to run someone over!” Maude chuckled. Kieran slowed Peat but followed Maude’s directions for the most expeditious route before they returned to the bailey. Maude’s relatives had guided her through the keep at such a brisk pace before the ceremony that she hadn’t a moment to appreciate the decorations, but as they entered, she paused to take in the bows of flowers that hung from the second-floor railing and were draped across the dais. A garland encircled the top of her chair, and she wondered how someone collected so many buds and blooms after the weather had been foul for days.
“I gathered them as soon as the weather looked as though it might turn. Your father alerted me that a wedding would take place soon after you arrived, and I wanted you to have fresh flowers for your special day.” Amelia explained as she dropped a kiss on her daughter’s cheek. Kieran eased her chair back once they reached their places, and once they were settled, his hand found her thigh beneath the table.
“Eat your fill, my wee one, because I don’t intend to let you out of that chamber before we pass a sennight. This shall be your last meal that doesn’t come on a tray, and I’d have you fortify yourself with some sustenance. You shall need it.”
Maude nodded but was too self-conscious to serve herself much with so many eyes upon them. Kieran had no such qualms and heaped food into their trencher. He ceased pushing food onto her side when he caught her look of horror and how Maude’s eyes flew from table to table to determine who watched the food accumulate before her. Kieran chided himself for being so short sighted.
“I fear you may need your own trencher, lass. I have left little room for your share,” he teased and breathed easier when Maude relaxed.
“Need to keep yer strength up, ma laird,” someone called from the tables below.
“Yer bride willna appreciate ye wasting away this eve,” another cheered.
Maude ducked her head and picked at her food. The comments and attention were knotting her stomach despite Kieran’s soothing caresses under the table.
“I’m sorry, mo chridhe,” Kieran murmured. “I didn’t mean to draw even more attention. I’m a tad overeager it would seem.” Maude nodded, but continued to pick at her food until the clan members lost interest and focused on their own meal. Maude ate more, but not as much as Kieran would have liked. He glanced down at Lady Sutherland and offered a rueful smile, since she had noticed her daughter’s discomfort. Lachlan glared at him until he shot his brother-by-marriage an apologetic expression. Since it was the midday meal, they kept their time at the tables short since there was still work for most clan members. They would return in the evening for a cèilidh, but Kieran intended to tuck himself and Maude away in their chamber well before then.
Relief flooded Maude when people trickled out of the Great Hall and Kieran took her hand. He kept his gaze directed at the stairs as he led them away from the dais. A few people caught sight of their intended destination and offered randy suggestions, but Kieran refused to acknowledge them. He tucked Maude against his side until they were halfway up the stairs and noticed even her ears were red. He lifted her into his arms and tucked her head against his chest as he took the remaining stairs two at a time. It only fueled more comments but helped them reach the landing faster. He carried Maude to her chamber door, relieved to see someone had already sent a tray of food and two pitchers of wine. He set her down before locking and barring the door.
Maude waited for Kieran to approach before unpinning her new brooch and plaid. She laid the plaid across the chair near the hearth and placed the brooch with her other jewels. She removed the necklace and earbobs she wore. She looked at the amethyst ring Kieran placed on her third finger during the ceremony. She turned it around her finger twice but left it in place. She sucked in a breath as Kieran pulled the bow loose from her kirtle’s laces. The gown slipped loose around her shoulders until she freed her arms. Kieran tugged the ribbons at her shoulders until the chemise slid over her globes and pooled around her waist as the kirtle did. He stepped around her until he could brush the back of his fingers over her nipples, his mouth watering as they hardened into deep raspberry darts. He bent his head to take one into his mouth as his fingers continued to circle the other. He suckled as he flicked his tongue over and over. Maude’s head fell back as she mewled. A neediness that surpassed anything Kieran had previously stirred took root deep in her core.
Maude reached for Kieran’s belt and loosened it before catching it, his sporran, and his plaid. He laid them over her own MacLeod plaid. With his already hard rod now freed, her hand glided along the smooth skin. Kieran pushed her skirts past her waist as his hands stroked her thighs. He sank to his knees as he inhaled her floral scent. He hummed as he kissed along each inner thigh before flicking his tongue along her seam. Kieran was already looking up at her as his tongue rasped against her heated skin. His tongue once again flicked her, this time tapping her hidden bud. As he worked it from its surrounding petals, Maude grasped the edge of the table behind her. When Kieran’s fingers entered her, she could no longer remain upright. She lowered herself onto her elbows as she continued to watch her husband lavish her with attention, but she was growing impatient. She tugged at the material at his shoulder. Kieran obliged and lifted his leine over his head. He led her to the bed and braced her hands on his shoulder while he bent to ease off her slippers and roll down her stockings. He gave her time to examine his body, certain it was the first time she’d seen an undressed and aroused man. Her fingers kneaded the tight muscles in his shoulders before sweeping over his chest and down his arms.
Kieran guided Maude onto the bed and climbed on but laid beside her. His fingers trailed over her belly until they reached her mound. He moved with slow purpose as he readied her body for their joining. They had shared intimacies before but always knowing that it would end before he breached her maidenhead. He didn’t want to scare her now that he would make her his. As his finger entered her, he tested her responsiveness. He slipped another finger into her tight sheath and stretched the flesh as he stroked. When her moans grew, and she writhed with need, he struggled to restrain himself.
“Kieran.” She arched as she pressed his hand against her mons, the heel of his hand rubbing against her bud. “When?”
Kieran could resist no longer. His need was as frantic as Maude’s. He rolled between her legs and stroked damp hair from her temples.
“Now, mo chridhe. Now.” He eased the tip of his cock into her and waited for Maude to panic or at least cry out, but a gasp and a moment of tension was her only reaction to his invasion before she rocked her hips again. He’d grazed the barrier as his fingers worked to prepare her, and her maidenhead gave way as he thrust into her with less finesse than he intended. A tightness swelled within his chest as he realized that Maude was truly his wife, and no one could change that, and no other man had the privilege he did.
Once the pain ceased, Maude’s eagerness returned. She enjoyed the feel of Kieran’s body joined with hers, but she felt restless and unsatisfied despite the joy of knowing they were truly married and the exquisite sensation of him filling her.
“Please tell me there is more. That was divine, and I don’t want the feeling to end.”
“Yes, little one. This is only the introduction to what I hope to offer you today and every day for the rest of our lives. There is much, much more.” To prove his point, he rocked against her, his cock throbbing as Maude’s back arched off the bed and her moans filled his ears. He rested his weight on one forearm as the other hand kneaded her breast before his tongue drew circles around her nipple. Maude’s breathy gasps encouraged him as her fingers pressed along the ridges of muscle in his back. She stared up at him, mesmerized by how his chest and shoulders rippled with each of his movements. The contained strength Kieran possessed awed her as she watched her warrior husband make love to her with such gentleness. When he suckled her breast, Maude was certain she would explode. The same aching sensation once more thrummed through her sheath as the tightening in her belly bloomed into a powerful climax.
“Kier!” Maude’s neck arched along with her back as she called out her release.
Unable to wait any longer, and thankful Maude had found pleasure so soon, Kieran slipped over the edge. His seed jet from him as spots danced before his eyes. His body tautened as his own release seemed endless. He slid his arms beneath her and pulled her body against his as he continued to thrust over and over. Maude clung to him as she wrapped her legs over his, her body reacted once more to him.
“Again,” she panted. “Happening again.” Maude strained to find the motion that would keep her climax going, but it faded. Kieran feared he would be too heavy upon her spent body, but when he tried to roll off her, Maude tightened her arms and legs.
Kieran looked at his bride and wished he had lasted longer. He’d intended to not to rush and to draw out their first time, but too many moons of repressed longing had made his body demand immediate satisfaction. He was aware she didn’t know any better, but he did. His cock remained hard despite the rush of release that had just surged through him. It had been a climax unlike any other, and now a need to cuddle Maude warred with his need to take her again. He prayed his body would cooperate with his mind and be able to make love again sooner rather than later.
