Seventeen
The following evening, the family gathered in front of their loch. Maddie and Miriam had adorned the area with flowers. Petals rested on the dewy plush grass. Candles lit a path to where the couple stood, gazing at one another. The candles surrounded them and the priest in a circle. The wind was light, and the stars and moon were luminous.
Under their stairs, and before their families and their loch, they recited vows to one another.
Katie wore a lush cream-colored gown, with a crown of white flowers on her head. They were beautiful against her rich brown hair.
James was in his ceremonial wear, proudly displaying the blue, black, and gold plaid of his clan.
“D’ye promise to love, care, and cherish him, placing him above all others?”
Rubbing his hands, which were joined with hers, she smiled up at him. Watery eyes lovingly caressed his face.
This was the man that would become her husband.
This was the man she’d often thought about as a young girl when she wondered about her future.
James was him.
He now had a face.
“Aye. I will love and cherish him for the remainder of my days, and beyond. I love ye, James Rhiseart Menzies.”
James’ gaze was intense as he looked at her. His grip was strong yet gentle, when he brought her hands up to his mouth for a kiss.
“I have my own words that I’d like to say, Father.”
His voice was solemn, accentuating his brogue more than on any other occasion she’d heard him speak.
“Proceed.”
“The whole of my life, I never envisioned that I’d marry.”
His gaze saw through her, to the soul that resided in her body.
“I never believed I’d find a woman who would make my steps lighter, who would know my soul, and who would fill my heart.” Her hands squeezed his as two tears slid down her cheeks.
“When my eyes first fell upon ye, there was an awakening in my soul. ‘Twas as if it recognized ye as its other half, as its mate. I knew at that verra moment, Katherynne Eleanor Ramsay, that ye were meant to be mine. For the remainder of my days, my love, my heart, mo stòr, I vow to protect ye, cherish ye, and love ye. My life for yers, always.”
Her lips trembled as they rounded, and her eyebrows curved over burning eyes. He brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her hands.
The priest continued with the ceremony until he announced they were married. James moved forward and cupped her cheeks, his eyes never wavering once during the ceremony. It was as if only she existed. The fierce determination and love that shone in the golden depths of his eyes caught her breath.
“Katherynne Eleanor Menzies, I love ye. Now and always.”
Tears freely fell down her cheeks and onto his hands. Slowly his head neared hers, and she met his lips with hers.
Their kiss was soft, tender, and loving. When James heard whistling, he moved back laughing at the pink hue of Katie’s cheeks.
“Father.”
Douglas came forward and gave James a folded Menzies plaid. Taking it, he draped it across Katie, and secured it diagonally at her hip with a beautiful brooch that caught the moonlight.
“Beautiful.”
He smiled at her. “It was my mother’s.”
Once the plaid was on her, James stood and stared at her. The possessiveness that swept through him at seeing her in his clan’s plaid was powerful. It enflamed a basal instinct in him as a man seeing his woman wrapped in his plaid displaying to all that she was his.
And no one else’s.
The family walked forward and congratulated them.
“Ye should leave. With yer wife. Live off the land until it’s safe.”
James was taken aback, and his eyes moved from his father, to Connor, to Malcolm, and to Katie’s two other brothers.
“What d’ye speak of? I must stay and fight.”
Douglas shook his head. “Nay, Son. Go with yer wife. Keep her safe. This is my fight, nay yers. ‘Twas my signature on the pact promising something I never should have.”
“Da, I-”
Douglas shook his head. “Live son. Live yer life with yer wife. Ye’ve been loyal to me, the best son I could have ever asked for. Do this for me. Once the clan war has ended, I will send for ye. Tell us where ye intend to go.”
There was remote area on Menzies’ land he’d been wanting to take her, and knew that it would be a great place for them to keep away from everyone while the fighting transpired. It wasn’t like James to run from fighting. On the contrary, he ran towards the sounds of metal against metal, and the torturous screams of men. Fighting was in his blood. For Katie, however, he would do anything to keep her safe.
“I’d like to sleep here, before our loch.”
James turned to Katie. “Would ye nay prefer a bed, lass? If we’re to live off the land for the following several months, ‘twill be a last comfort ye willna have for a long while.”
Katie shook her head. “I’d like to sleep under our stars and our moon, and next to our loch.”
He enfolded her hands with his and brought them to his mouth. “I can deny ye nothing.”
Katie blushed and smiled. “Thank ye.”
He kissed her hands again, before turning and making his arrangements with her family and Douglas. A tearful Miriam and Maddie hugged Katie, chattering all at once. They hurried to pack necessities for Katie, and before they knew it, it was only Katie and James standing before one another. The candles added an other-worldly ambience.
“‘Twas a beautiful night for a wedding.”
His hand cupped her cheek. “As beautiful as it is, it pales in comparison to ye.”
Plaid had been laid on the ground, and James was the first to lower himself. Katie followed and he waited for her to come to him. If it was her wish, she would, but he would not hurry her.
James felt the familiar weight of her body against his side, and he realized that it was the simple things that he had come to appreciate with her- her soft touch, her companionship as they sat together talking, looking on at the loch.
It was everything about her that held him captivated.
“Where will we go tomorrow? How long must we live like this?”
He hadn’t thought of it before then, and he felt like an arse. Did she want to go at all? He could take her to one of their strongholds, but he rather liked the idea of being alone with her and living off the land.
“Lass, d’ye nay want to leave?”
She raised herself onto an elbow, and looked down at him. “I’d go anywhere with ye, James. Until the end of our world and beyond.”
James turned to her then, also on his elbow, and leaned in to kiss her. She met him halfway.
Their lips touched and their kiss was sweet, and then turned sensual from one moment to the next. James slowly brought his other arm forward and cupped her cheek. Katie sighed into his mouth.
He felt her push him back. “‘D’ye wish to stop, lass?”
She shook her head. “I wish for ye to lay on yer back and for me to be atop. Kissing ye.”
Her smile was timid, and her gaze was averted. His words brought her gaze to his.
“Mo stòr, all that I have and all that I am, my chattel, my body, my soul, it is yers. Ye’ve nay need to be reserved or hesitant in yer requests. It is all for ye, my love.”
Studying his face, she quickly moved forward and kissed him.
“Ye mean behave as I just did?”
Smirking, he nodded and relaxed back, waiting for her to be atop him. Slowly, she rose and settled on top of his solid body.
“Nay any fat on ye, eh, husband? Puts me to shame.”
Her laugh was loose, telling him she was nervous. It was that comment, and her address to him, which gave him pause. Once she was fully on top, she braved a look at him only to find his eyes intently looking at her.
“What? Am I too heavy?”
She made to move but he stayed her with his arms, which wound around her and cradled her to him.
“Ye weigh nothing, wife.”
She gasped at his use of her new title, and they stared at one another before they grinned widely.
“I like that ye called me husband.”
She kissed his lips and moved back slightly. “An improvement upon Sweet James?”
He laughed and the sound was rich, making her arms blossom into goosebumps.
“Mayhap they are on par.”
Her laugh was melodious. “I liked that ye called me wife.”
James moved upwards and kissed her lips. “More than when I call ye mo stòr?”
She nuzzled her nose to his. “Mayhap it is on par, too. The sweet title of wife also causes my stomach to feel as if butterflies flutter inside.”
“Why is that?”
She exhaled and caressed his cheek with her hand. “Because it means that I am yers, and since the moment I saw ye, Sweet James, I wanted to be.”
James’s exhale was hard, unusually so. Katie perked up.
“What is the matter?”
“Yer words,” he said, sliding a hand down through her hair and the side of her head, “They cause me to feel empowered, emboldened. Ye tell me that ye’er mine, and I want to slay life’s demons so that they never touch ye, after I ravish ye.”
Katie dipped her head and he felt her cheeks heat.
He addressed the words she’d said earlier about his hard body. “Ye are beautiful. My body is meant to be hard. I build and I battle, mo stòr, and it has made me hard inside and out, but now, I love. I love ye, just as ye are. Ye are soft where I am hard, and ‘tis wonderful. Our differences are something to appreciate. I love ye, and I love yer body. Ye are like a warm fire when one has been out in the snow. Ye are like a soft blanket when one is cold.”
“Ye surely must have been a poet in a former life.”
He shook his head, laughing. “I merely speak the truth as my soul sees it, mo stòr. I am the luckiest man of all to have found ye. My mouth simply speaks what my heart and soul feel.”
Emotion welled up in Katie, and she lowered her head to kiss him.
It was enchanting.
The warmth of his soft lips as she was on his hard body, sent quivers of an unknown feeling run through her.
Was this passion?
Was this what it felt like?
She knew that it would need to be her to initiate intimacy between them. He respected her, and would not cause her harm by acting in a way that would remind her of that day. Mayhap at first it would have reminded her of that horrid day, but after knowing James’ touch, it was impossible to confuse with another’s.
“I love ye,” she said softly when she pulled away for a moment.
He caressed her cheek. “As I love ye, mo stor.”
Overwhelming emotion moved her head forward. Their kiss turned passionate, and Katie’s hands wove into his hair. Their kiss continued until James moved underneath her. Katie’s leg felt it then.
“I’m sorry.”
He laughed. “I will always be patient with ye, always place yer well-being above all else. I made that promise to ye but I am no saint, lass. I canna help my body’s urges and responses to yer beauty, but my mind can control how it is addressed.”
She kissed his chin. “I promise ye that I will try until we can.”
His kissed her lips. “I’ve told ye, mo stòr, that I will never force ye, and that if that day never comes, I will still be here with ye. Ye are the gift, my love. All else ye endow me with is an additional boon.”
She kissed his lips and rested her head on his chest. Slowly, her breathing grew even, and he knew she’d fallen asleep.
James kissed the top of her head and settled back. The feel of her body on him kept his manhood aroused. As the night continued, it relaxed, allowing James to sleep.
One thought remained in his head as his eyes closed from looking at the stars- he’d never gone to sleep happier.
He had his beloved in his arms.