Taking her into his arms, Conor kissed her in a way that brought tears to her eyes, while his hands caressed her in a way that made her body yearn.She wanted every morsel of this man, with all her heart, soul, and body too.
They arranged a blessing on their marriage.After all the turmoil, it cemented the first steps toward a future full of promise and possibility that couldn’t have been more different from their empty past.She felt more at home here in the soft green countryside of Ireland, than she ever had in London, while Conor had adapted to the role of challenging, infuriating, and impossibly sexy husband, with no trouble at all.
The ceremony was held in the pretty country chapel in the village down the road with Conor’s local friends and staff present, and of course, his Blood and Thunder colleagues.Mary had been thrilled when Karolina had asked her to be her attendant on the day.“I don’t need anyone else,” Karolina had assured Conor.In the short time she’d known Mary, they had formed a bond built on mutual trust and respect.“You just know what you know about a person,” Mary had said in her soft, lilting brogue, and Karolina couldn’t have put it any better.
An hour later, she was ready to leave the house.“You look lovely,” Mary said in the doorway.Standing back to admire her handiwork, Mary beamed with approval.She’d left Karolina’s hair loose so that it tumbled in thick ebony swirls around her shoulders.The gown was a simple column of ivory silk, purchased in the local village where weddings were a thing of joy, and the accessories were plentiful and readily available.The daring split at the side allowed Karolina to ride on horseback to her wedding.She’d been working on building her confidence for this day by riding Rollo as much as she could, and had soon learned that knowing and building trust with a pony was quite like knowing and building trust with Conor.
Conor was waiting on the church porch to help her dismount.The sunshine was soft and warm, and the sky was a serene cloudless blue as he lifted her down and one of his grooms led the pony away.Birds were singing, bells were ringing, and all she could see was a blur of happy faces surrounding one man.
Karolina’s focus fixed on Conor.How could one man embody everything she wanted out of life?How could one man be so big and strong and gorgeous?The sight of him alone was enough to fill her with joy.Dressed for the occasion in a dark suit that skimmed his magnificent physique, Conor stared back as if she was everything in the world to him.And he’d shaved.She laughed with sheer happiness, wondering how long that smooth cheek would last.
Not long, she thought when she had to remind him that he was supposed to wait inside the church rather than take her on a slow slide down the length of his hard, sexy body.“We’ll never get into church at this rate.You’ll have to send our guests away.”
But that didn’t happen, and the service in the tiny flower-filled chapel was everything she’d ever dreamed of.“Happy blessing day,” Conor husked, dragging her close to kiss her when the ceremony had ended.
“And many days after,” she pledged.
Holding her as if he would never let her go, he murmured discreetly, “Are you okay if we leave now?”
“Who’s going to stop us?”she asked.
