“That would imply that I once dreamed of getting married, me Laird,” she teased, with a wink for good measure.
“Nay, ye were too busy bird-hunting.”
“That’s correct.”
“And what are yer thoughts on marriage now?”
“Now that I’m married for only a few hours?” Emily asked, very much enjoying the way the tips of his ears flushed red with indignation.
He was so good at riling her up that it was nice to be able to return the favor every now and then.
“Aye.”
She spun into him and was spun back out again. “I suppose the night will tell.”
“Are ye reconsidering yer condition after yesterday, then?”
Emily shrugged. “Well, that really depends.”
“On what?”
Emily debated whether this was really the time or place that she wanted to have this conversation with him. Though the very last thing she wanted was to spend her wedding night with her husband, only to wake up in a cold and empty bed. While Maggie was good company, it wasn’t what she was looking for right now.
“Will I wake up missing ye again?”
Kaden’s eyes widened in what appeared to be genuine shock. Had he really not realized that she did not want him to go? She didn’t wish to ruin the mood by making things too serious.
“I’m only teasing ye,” she soothed, and she mostly meant it.
As the dance ended, he placed a hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer so that he could whisper in her ear, “I cannae wait for this year to be over, so I can really make ye me wife.”
Emboldened by the wine and happy atmosphere, she met his gaze squarely as he pulled back from her. “We can always do more of those… other things.”
“Is that an invitation to dine with ye again?” he asked in a purr that reverberated through her clothes to her core.
At first, she didn’t catch his meaning, but the heat in his eyes was unmistakable. Slowly, she nodded her head.
That was all he needed.
“Then I think it is high time that the two of us retire for the evening,” he declared.
She couldn’t agree more.
Kaden barely waited for the door to her bedroom to close behind them before he was on her. It was like something had been unleashed inside him.
Every time she was with him like this, it seemed like a little bit more of him was bared to her. She felt like he was letting her in, piece by piece.
For tonight, it was going to be enough.
He lifted her into his arms and carried her further into the room. She distantly heard the lock click into place. She was more glad than ever that Maggie was staying with her maid this evening. She didn’t want anything to distract her from the man she was wrapped up in.
He kissed her deeply, his tongue meeting hers in a way that claimed her. All the wine she had drunk that evening might have gone to her head, but if she hadn’t been feeling warm and floaty before, she certainly was now.
Kaden placed her carefully on the edge of her bed, but she didn’t want to let him go. He tried to slip out of her arms, but she pushed her fingers further up into his hair to keep him close. She wanted him to know that she wanted him to get something out of this, too. Even if he didn’t seem displeased by what they did, she wanted to make him feel good.
“Something wrong?” he asked, his lips brushing against hers with every word.
Nerves fluttered in her stomach. She was almost too anxious to answer.