“I ken it. I dinnae think I have e’er heard anything so beautiful.”
She looked down at the top of his head, enjoying the way he was kissing and licking her breasts but needing to look him in the eye as they spoke of such serious matters. Just as she reached to turn his face up to hers, however, he slid his hand between her thighs and began to caress her in a way that made thinking of serious matters almost impossible. Arianna gritted her teeth and forced her mind back to the problem of finding out whether or not the man she loved and would soon marry actually loved her.
“Brian, I love ye.”
“Aye, and I will ne’er tire of hearing ye say it.”
She frowned. There was a teasing note in his voice. The man was teasing her about something so very important to her? She rapped her knuckles on top of his head and scowled when he lifted his head and grinned at her.
“Ye can tease me about it all ye like later. Right now I am feeling as if I am at a disadvantage here,” she said, not surprised that her voice did not hold the tone of prim reprimand she wanted for he was still stroking her, sliding his fingers in and out of her in a way that had her beginning to pant.
Brian kept his hand busy right where it was but slid up her body far enough to brush a kiss over her mouth. “I love ye, Arianna. I have for a long time but I kenned it for certain when Amiel took ye from me. I loved ye enough to let ye go because I thought it was what ye needed.”
Arianna rapidly blinked, not wanting to cry when she was actually so happy she felt choked with it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, trying to imbue the kiss with all the love that filled her. When he slowly entered her, she sighed with pleasure, stroking his back as he stroked her with his body. Release came slowly to them both, whispered words of love adding to its beauty. Arianna knew she was crying while she held him close as they both trembled from the force of their release.
“I dinnae ken how ye would have e’er thought of being without this,” she whispered against his cheek.
“Weel, mayhap ye were right to call me an idiot.” He lifted his head and grinned at her when she laughed. “Ah, lass, I still think ye are too good for me but ye are stuck with me now.”
“Good. ’Tis the only place I wish to be.”
“We should get off this wee bed and get dressed before someone tries to get in. I dinnae want any of my kin seeing all this bonnie flesh. ’Tis mine and mine alone.”
“Are ye mine and mine alone, too?”
“Aye, lass. I should have said so. I ken my family isnae one to inspire belief in the faithfulness of a MacFingal but—”
She stopped his words with a brief kiss. “Your word is enough. Now, let us get dressed before—”
“Am I to unpack or pack the horses?” yelled Callum from outside the closed door.
Brian had to bite back a grin at how deeply Arianna blushed and how swiftly she leapt from the bed to start getting dressed. He sprawled on his back and watched her, enjoying the way she moved. She loved him. He felt like a king and could not seem to stop grinning.
“Weel? Have ye gone deaf in there or has my wee cousin killed ye and she is now weeping o’er your rotting corpse?”
“’Tis too soon for my corpse to be rotting,” Brian yelled back as he got up and began to dress, biting back a grin when he saw a flustered Arianna struggling to disguise the tear in her gown.
“So are we staying? Am I invited to a wedding?”
“Callum, go away!” yelled Arianna.
“That was what I was going to do but since ye two have been in there together for so long and I didnae hear any screams of pain, I thought there might have been a change of plans.”
Brian was glad he knew how to dress quickly for Arianna rushed to the door, flung it open, and glared at her cousin. “Have ye been out there the whole time?”
“Weel, nay the whole time,” Callum said, and then winked. “Just long enough to ken that we probably willnae be leaving.”
Brian caught up to Arianna just in time to catch her little fist as it swung toward Callum’s nose. “Tell my fither that we need a feast so that I can announce that I am about to get married.”
Arianna heard a round of cheers and finally looked beyond Callum. There had to be two dozen MacFingals standing around in the hall outside the door of the little ledger room. Right outside the door of the room where she had been yelling at Brian and then yelling in pleasure. She groaned, turned around, and hid her face against his chest.
“Tell them to go away before I die of embarrassment,” she told Brian.
Callum patted her on the back. “Congratulations, cousin. Best ye find time soon to write to your family. Come on,” he said to the gathered MacFingals. “We need to prepare for a celebration. Your brother is nay longer an idiot.”
Brian put his fingers under Arianna’s chin and tilted her face up to his. “Welcome to the MacFingal family, my love.”