Kaiden knew that in the morning, being laird would mean something far different than tonight’s revelry. “Tell me...wot did ye do first?”
His father shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I wed yer ma. She fought me for months before mah ceremony, but the moment that I was handed that sword, I knew I would give it all tae her if she would be mah wife. ’Twas those words that got her tae agree tae be mah wife.”
“Good thing I already have one,” Kaiden replied dryly, squeezing his father’s shoulder lightly. “In which I’m in need of finding.”
“Aye,” his father replied. “Go on, find yer lass.”
Kaiden moved away from his father and into the crowd, making his way outside once more. In the crisp night air, the torches burned merrily as the musicians struck up another Scottish dance, much to the delight of the dancers.
“There ye are!” Erik laughed as he pulled Kaiden into a fierce embrace. “Mah laird!”
Kaiden joined in Erik’s laughter as the warrior pulled back, his face flushed from the ale he had imbibed in. “Nothing has changed.”
Erik snorted, pressing a mug into Kaiden’s hand. “Everything has changed. Now we have tae listen tae ye in council.”
Kaiden just shook his head, a chuckle rumbling deep in his chest. “Should be a sight more entertaining than wot ye are used tae.”
“Or bloody boring,” Erik added. “Yer wife is on the dance floor, by the way.”
Erik melted into the crowd before Kaiden could respond, but his eyes were already searching the dance floor. Sure enough, Ferra was in the arms of one of the elders, her face wreathed with a smile as they attempted to keep up with the other dancers.
Before he realized what he was doing, Kaiden was walking toward them, clasping his hand on the elder’s shoulder. “I will take it from here.”
The elder squinted up at him before releasing a stunned Ferra. “Aye, mah laird. Yer wife is all yers.”
Kaiden took Ferra’s hand in his as the music slowed, placing his other hand on her hip and pulling her close. “Ye have been missing, Wife.”
“Ye have been busy, Husband,” she replied evenly, her voice light. “Though I imagine that will be how yer days are filled now.”
He fought the urge to nuzzle her neck, her scent all around him. “I can think of other ways tae fill mah day, Ferra.”
Her cheeks pinkened, and her hand pressed against his chest. “I dinnae know if ye will have time, mah laird. After all, ye will have others wanting yer time other than yer wife.”
Kaiden heard the teasing nature of her voice and felt it reverberate throughout his entire body. The music, the laughter, the people...they all disappeared, and Kaiden found himself enthralled by his wife.
“Tell me,” he said softly in her ear. “Tell me that ye want tae quit this and go tae our chamber.”
Her lips parted. “’Tis yer party, Kaiden.”
Ah, but it was his wife that he wished to spend time with, and no one else.
So he took her hand and led her back into the keep, through the crowd of people until they reached the stairs. Only then did he pause and look back at Ferra, who met his eyes unabashedly.
He wanted his wife, and no one else.
14
Two days later, Ferra woke alone. For a moment, she didn’t know where she was truly at, but then the familiarity of the chamber before her soothed her frazzled nerves. It had been a nightmare that had her so rattled—a nightmare where she watched her husband perish in battle.
Rubbing a hand over her face, Ferra pulled her knees to her chest and the furs over her naked form, savoring the last few moments in bed before she would rise to start her day. Of course, Kaiden was already gone. He was never in bed when she woke, and Ferra knew why.
He was training again, training for a battle she was afraid he wouldn’t be able to come out of alive. Their relationship had grown significantly since he had become laird, and Ferra had moved into the laird’s chambers, now the laird’s wife in every sense of the word. The things he did to her body...Ferra’s cheeks still warmed at the naughty moments they shared. She had come to learn every inch of his, from the top of his head to the balls of his feet, tracing every scar with her own fingers.
And, well, sometimes her lips.
Her newly wedded glow, however, was overshadowed by the thought of him charging into battle and not making it back to her. He wasn’t fully healed, and the stubborn Scot thought that he could be the warrior of days past no matter what she tried to tell him.
Her heart ached as she thought of Kaiden being injured again and her hands covered in his blood, much like that young warrior she lost. She couldn’t bear that thought.
