Page 127 of Auctioned to the Cruel Highlander
“Ye’re cold,” he whispered.
“Nerves,” she responded, almost automatically.
“Well, we will have to do something about that later.”
She nodded and laughed, almost like he had said the most hilarious thing in the history of man.
By the time the ceremony was over, relief had spread through the chapel so hard that it almost felt like a collective exhale. Laughter rose from the back when Bruce barked once, as if in approval.
That set off the rest of them.
Isobel began crying outright. Millie embraced Hector hard enough to make him stagger back half a step.
Laird MacKenna clapped Ciaran on the shoulder.“Ye did good, lad. Ye did really good.”
“Thank ye, Laird MacKenna.”
Ava turned to look at her husband once more as the joy of their people echoed around them. She had stood in white before and waited for her life to end. Now she stood in white again and felt only peace.
Ciaran stepped close and bent to kiss her, the warmth in the room wrapping around them. Then he drew back slightly to murmur, “If I let one more person hug ye before I have ye alone, I shall die of patience.”
Ava laughed. “A tragic end for a bridegroom.”
“Aye. Come save me.”
Before Isobel or her father or Millie could pull her back into another round of congratulations, Ciaran took her hand and led her out of the chapel and through the hall with the speed of a man who had already given enough of his wife to the world for one day.
Behind them, laughter erupted, Bruce barked, and her father said something about shameless husbands. Ava looked over her shoulder once, smiling, then let Ciaran drag her on.
He did not stop until they were in their chamber with the door shut fast behind them.
The quiet struck at once.
Ava stood with her back to the door for one moment, breathing hard from laughter and the quick walk, her veil slightly askew and her bouquet still clutched in one hand. Ciaran eyed her as though he had been waiting for this for half his life.
She watched as he came closer and took the bouquet from her hand, setting it aside without looking away from her face.
“There,” he murmured. “Now ye belong to me for at least five minutes.”
Ava smiled. “Only five?”
He put both hands on her waist. “If ye tease me on our wedding day, I shall carry ye to the bed this instant.”
“Ye may try.”
The answer pleased him so much that the smile lit up his whole face.
He bent and kissed the corner of her mouth, light and brief, then her cheek, then paused. Ava followed his gaze, only to find the star map hanging above their bed.
It was framed simply and placed where she could see it the moment she entered the room, the fine markings clear in the firelight, the lines and names preserved with care.
For one breath, she could do nothing but stare at it, then she crossed to the bed slowly. Her fingers lifted toward the frame and stopped just short of touching it.
“When did ye do this?”
“This morning,” Ciaran said from behind her. “While ye were being fussed over.”
She turned to look at him. He stood a few steps away, watching her with a steadiness that felt almost shy. It made the ache rise in her throat faster than any speech could have.
