Page 78 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
I will be her husband in name only.
“Take Lady Lydia Helen Turner to be your wedded wife?”
“I do.”
The wedding passed in a blur, the binding of hands and the minister’s words merging together.
Callum wasn’t sure whether he had acted as he should, but suddenly, there was rustling on all sides again, and the congregation was standing behind him.
Is it over already?
Callum turned as Lydia’s arm came around his, her face upturned toward him, eyebrows raised in query.
I am a married man.
She did not turn away, the query in her eyes turning to confusion. He stiffened as he realized she was expecting him to kiss her, and bent down, feeling awkward with so many eyes upon them, brushing his lips against hers in a whisper of a kiss.
He pulled back, not meeting her gaze, and waved to the congregation as they both moved through the church, studiously keeping his attention on the distant loch instead of on Lydia.
The girls were chattering excitedly behind him, and he could hear Lady Bentley and Tommy in the mix, too.
Glancing back, Callum noticed Alexander at the rear, his eyes watchful and alert, the guards around the room coming into sharper focus.
But it seemed all his worries had been unfounded. There was nothing to suggest any threat.
As they walked outside into the sunshine, Callum took a great lungful of the Highland air.
Finally, he could put it off no longer and turned to his wife. Lydia was looking up at him, her beauty so vivid that Callum felt his chest tighten as he took her in.
Say somethin’ to her, ye dobber.
He opened his mouth to tell her she had never looked more beautiful, but as he did so, something glinted at the edge of his line of sight.
Callum’s head snapped around to the side of the church.
Guards were flanking the doors and along the path, but as the wedding party emerged, they all moved around from the rear.
Alexander was suddenly tense, noting Callum’s stance, and he turned just as an arrow flew in front of Callum’s face, missing Lydia by inches.
“Get down!” he shouted, pushing Lydia to the floor as he gripped the sword concealed beneath his kilt and pulled it out.
Alexander was at his shoulder instantly, the guards all around pulling out their weapons too.
Arrows flew from several directions, and a few of the men hollered in pain, two guards hitting the floor in front of him.
“Everyone, get back!” he shouted, and the congregation scattered. Shouts and cries of fear reached him on the wind as they moved to their carriages or the shelter of the trees nearby.
Callum stayed low, watching Lydia grab for Tommy and her mother, but the frantic look she sent his way made his heart stop in his chest.
Amy. Eilis. Where are the girls?
Staying as low as he could, he spun around, scanning the space outside the church. They had only been a few feet behind him seconds before, but suddenly the girls were nowhere to be seen.
“The arrows must have been a diversion,” Alexander shouted, his dagger pointed ahead. Callum followed the line of it, relief flooding through him as he saw the twins.
The girls were beneath the arms of a huge man running behind the church wall, the noise of the congregation drowning out their screams, but he could see them wailing from where he stood.
“How many?” he snapped.
