Alex pulled back so he could see Jamie. “There’s a contract to sign in the morn. Important decisions to be made. We must work together, protect our people while expanding our power wisely.”
Jamie gripped his cousin’s forearm. “We are family, nothing will ever change that.”
“Stay with us for a couple of weeks, then take yer bonny bride home.”
*
As soon asJamie carried Helen over the bedchamber threshold, he set her down and bolted the door. How long had he waited for this moment, to be truly alone with her? Only now, she belonged to him. Lady Helen was his wife…hiswife. It hadna quite sunk in. He rested his forehead against the door.
“Jamie? What are ye doing?”
“Thinking about all the blessings I received tonight.”
“Ye are an honorable man, deserving of everything God has given ye.”
He turned around. Her crown of golden hair, intent blue eyes, the neck he found himself always wanting to kiss, her perfect lips… “Have I told ye how beautiful ye are?”
“Aye,” she said. “And I could say the same about ye.”
“Ye think me beautiful?” He moved deeper inside the bedchamber, the room he’d occupied since he was a lad.
A pleasant fire burned in the hearth, and someone had been kind enough to set a tray of food and a pitcher of ale on the bedside table. Miran had moved Helen’s things over from her bedchamber earlier. They would share this space whenever they visited the MacKay keep.
“I think I am the luckiest woman in the world,” Helen said.
Jamie went to her and pulled her into his arms. He rested his chin atop her head, breathing in her honeyed scent. Irresistible desire told him to undress her now, to ravish her with kisses and heated caresses, to lick her from head to toe, to make her moan his name and quiver in his arms until the morn.
“Helen…”
She gazed up at him.
“Ye know what is expected of ye—what yer wifely duties are?”
“Aye,” she said, holding his gaze. “Keely and Miran spoke with me. Even Nudar, bless her, gave me much-appreciated advice.”
Being told and doing were two different things. “Are ye afraid of me?”
“Afraid?” She laughed. “I’ve been in yer arms many times, Jamie MacKay. If anyone has prepared my mind and body for this night, ye have.”
The sheer honesty of her words and the determined look on her face made him want her more. He leaned in and kissed her full lips. “I will take ye home soon. But tonight…”
Helen turned about and lifted her hair so Jamie had access to the laces on the back of her gown. With unsteady hands, he slowly loosened the laces, savoring every moment. He pulled the delicate material down her shoulders, exposing her pale flesh. He kissed her left shoulder, then the right, and she shivered.
Then Helen faced him again, and finished taking her gown off, hanging it on the back of the closest chair. She stood in her shift and silk slippers.
“Now ye,” she said.
Jamie unpinned his clan brooch at the shoulder, loosening his tartan, then removing it completely. Now he stood before her in his tunic and leather boots. His beautiful wife wrapped her arms around him, pressing her soft body against his. He cupped her breasts and groaned. No woman had ever felt so right in his arms. Twas time to take her to bed and show her how much he loved and wanted her.
“Wrap yer legs around my waist, lass.” He lifted her, and Helen did as he asked.
He carried her to the bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress with her propped on his lap. She nipped his lower lip and smiled as he went in for a kiss, their tongues tangling together with renewed hunger.
He’d chosen a fiery lass to take as wife. It excited him, knowing he’d be the one to show her what a man and woman shared in the bedchamber, the one to awaken her deepest desires. Her skin was soft and smooth, and he slid his palms down her arms, over her back, and ended on her shapely arse. She clung to him, their kiss intensifying, her body moving rhythmically with his.
They fell back together, and Jamie rolled her onto her back, staring down at her, loving her with his eyes.
“Ye are perfect, Helen of the Highlands.”
