Page 117 of The Icy Highlander's Virgin
When he set her down this time, his hands immediately went to frame her face, his thumbs brushing away the tears of joy on her cheeks.
"I love ye," he said fiercely. "I love ye so much, and now we're goin' to have a bairn together. Our own little one to love and protect and watch grow up in these gardens ye're goin' to plant."
"I love ye too," she whispered, standing on her toes to kiss him again. "More than I ever thought possible."
This kiss was different from the others - deeper, more reverent somehow, as if they were both truly realizing the magnitude of what they'd found together. When they finally broke apart, Lachlan rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathing hard.
"Come," he said suddenly, his voice rough with desire and joy. "I want to celebrate properly."
"Here? In the garden?" she asked with a breathless laugh.
"In our chamber," he replied, lifting her into his arms despite her protests. "Where I can show ye exactly how happy ye've made me."
"Lachlan, put me down! What if someone sees?"
"Let them see," he said, carrying her toward the castle with determined strides. "Let the whole clan ken how much I love me wife and how proud I am that she's carryin' me child."
She laughed and gave up protesting, instead wrapping her arms around his neck and enjoying the feeling of being cherished so completely. As they passed through the corridors, several servants smiled and nodded respectfully, clearly delighted by their laird's obvious happiness.
In their chamber, Lachlan set her down gently, his hands immediately going to her waist as he pulled her close.
"I still cannae quite believe it," he murmured against her hair. "A bairn. Our bairn."
"Believe it," she said, her own hands resting on his chest where she could feel his heart racing. "In about seven months, we're goin' to have a screamin', demandin' little person who'll turn our lives upside down."
"I can hardly wait," he said, and she could hear the truth of it in his voice.
"Even for the screamin' and demandin' parts?"
"Especially for those parts. As long as the bairn gets yer stubbornness and determination."
"And yer protectiveness and strength," she added, reaching up to trace the line of his jaw with her finger.
"Our child is goin' to be the luckiest bairn in all of Scotland," he said seriously. "Growin' up surrounded by love, with two clans to call home, and parents who'd move mountains to keep them safe."
"And gardens full of flowers to play in," she added with a smile.
"Aye, gardens full of flowers." He kissed her forehead, then her cheeks, then finally her lips in a series of soft, reverent touches. "Thank ye, love. For the garden surprise, for the bairn, for choosin' to love me despite everythin'."
"Thank ye for bein' the kind of man worth lovin'," she replied. "For showin' me what marriage could be when both people choose it freely."
"Even though it started as an arrangement?"
"Especially because it started as an arrangement. It proves that real love can grow anywhere, even in the most unlikely soil."
"Like flowers in Highland gardens," he said with a smile.
"Exactly like flowers in Highland gardens."
As the afternoon sun streamed through their chamber windows, Lachlan and Erica held each other close, surrounded by the warmth of their love and the promise of the future growing within her. Outside, the empty garden patch waited to be planted with new life, just as their marriage had been planted with hope and nurtured into something beautiful and strong.
In seven months, there would be a new voice added to Castle Kinnaird - a child born of love who would grow up knowing nothing but safety and devotion. And in the gardens that Erica would plant, flowers would bloom year after year, a living reminder of how the most beautiful things in life often come from the most unexpected beginnings.
The Highland winds whispered around the castle walls, carrying with them the promise of spring and new growth. And inside their chamber, the Laird and Lady of Kinnaird began their own quiet celebration of the new life they'd created together - not just the child growing within Erica, but the love that had blossomed between two people who'd found their home in each other's arms.
Their story had begun with duty and necessity, but it would continue with love, laughter, and the kind of happiness that comes from finding exactly where you belong.
And they belonged together, now and always, in the place they both called home.
The End?
