“To love and care for her, to provide for her and protect her, and keep her in every comfort known to man till the day we both part?”
She pressed her lips together. The words held such a sincerity, it was hard to believe he did not mean them. Even if she knew, he couldn’t have. Even if she knew that he hardly knew her at all, let alone well enough to offer her something so enormous.
“Aye,” he replied, not even the barest hint of doubt in his voice. “Aye, I do.”
“Then I am pleased to announce you man and wife, Laird and Lady,” the minister finished up, dipping his head low in respect.
Her toes curled in her slightly too-tight shoes.There. It was done.No backing out of it now, no changing her mind.Yesterday, she had been a carefree woman, and now, she was nothing more than his wife.
He turned to her as the minister unwrapped the binding tartan from their hands.Her husband.
The words sounded strange, even in her mind, like they came from someone else, even though she knew them to be true. And, before she could say a word, he slipped his hands to either side of her face and kissed her, hard, on the mouth.
The kiss was less a romantic gesture and more a mark of his claim over her. His tongue grazed her lip, far more forward than a chaste kiss in a chapel needed to be, and she felt the sensation trickle from her mouth down her whole body to consume every part of her.
She found her back arching towards him, her body pressed to his, and, when he pulled back, she was trembling helplessly. Swallowing hard, she caught her breath, almost forgetting for a moment that they were in a room surrounded by people, until the crowd exploded into applause that filled her ears—but did little to wipe the dark pulse of desire that had awakened inside her at his touch.
He offered her his arm, and the two of them made their way back down the aisle and towards the Keep, which had already been decorated for the upcoming celebration. Her lips tingled from the pressure of his kiss even as a handful of people paused to offer their congratulations. She did her best to keep a smile on her face as he accepted them on behalf of the new couple and prayed that the twisting tension in her belly was not obvious to anyone else.
She made her way to the Great Hall of her new home for the first time and found it filled with music and food clattering down onto large wooden tables that ran the length of the stone floor. She clung to Camron’s arm for dear life, and they took their seatsat the head of the table, the two of them gazing down across those who were to be her subjects from this moment on.
She had never thought of herself as a woman with any real power before, but now, she’d have to find a way to reconcile this version of herself with what they expected of her. She shifted slightly in her seat, the hard wood digging into her back, and she stole a glance at Camron out of the corner of her eye. His eyes seemed to be fixed squarely ahead, and she wondered if he was beginning to doubt his decision.
“Lady MacLeod!”
A voice drew her attention, one that she recognized at once.
Glancing around, she saw Archie, the man she had met the night before, standing there, a beaming smile on his face. He bowed low and took her hand, brushing his lips across it lightly. Isla was immediately cast back to the memory of how Camron’s mouth had felt against her; the warmth of his body so close to hers, the welcome of his tongue as it caressed her lip…
“Look, I’ve made yer new bride blush,” Archie laughed.
Isla stiffened slightly, not sure whether she should argue with him, but Camron didn’t seem to react, his mouth set in a hard line. He cocked an eyebrow at his cousin in acknowledgement, and Archie turned his attention to Isla once more.
“Perhaps I could tempt ye to a dance, my lady,” he offered.
She shot another look at her husband, expecting him to put up some kind of a fight, but then, she recalled her promise to herself, the one she had made when she had arrived here. She had sworn she would not make herself palatable for him. If he wanted her as a wife, then he’d need to accept everything that came with it.
She smiled at once and rose to her feet, offering her hand to Archie.
“Of course, sir,” she replied. “What kind of celebration would it be with no dancing?”
Before Camron could say a word in protest, she rose to her feet and allowed Archie to lead her on to the floor, offering him a broad smile as she did so. Archie returned it, and she could have sworn that she saw a glint in his eye that spoke to something more, though she did not think much of it as he swung her around amongst the small crowd of gathered dancers who had already begun the day’s festivities.
“Now, ye must tell me if I go too fast for ye,” Archie remarked as his hand came to her waist. “I ken that some lassies arenae able to keep up with me.”
But, even as he spoke, she found her gaze drawn over his shoulder. Towards her husband, who was watching the two of them with a narrowed gaze and a glower that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
Archie’s hand pressed against the small of her back, attempting to pull her attention back to him, but before she could do as he asked, Camron rose to his feet and strode towards them.
The crowd parted easily to make way for him, as though they could all sense his fury as well as she could. When he reached her, his top lip curled into a snarl, and he grasped her by the wrist.
“Come,” he ordered her, his voice low and leaving no room for argument.
She stared back at him as Archie stepped away from her swiftly. For a moment, she thought that she would argue with Camron and tell him that she was perfectly capable of choosing who she wished to dance with, but the look on his face silenced her at once, and she knew that she could not dare.
He pulled her through the crowd again, leading her outside the hall, all eyes on them, though none made a move to stophim. She knew why, but it infuriated her. No wonder he was so arrogant as to think he could demand such things from her with no warning. Everyone here treated him like some sainted king who they could not stand against, when he was just a man, like any other.
As soon as they reached the corridor outside the hall, she yanked her hand away from him and raised her eyebrows furiously.
