Page 66 of Married to the Icy Highlander
She smiled sweetly, making sure he was looking into her eyes as she spoke. “If ye beg.”
EPILOGUE
“Ididnae even get to say goodbye to the lass before she was runnin’ down the road!” Neil huffed as he stepped back into their bedroom.
He had insisted that all of Ceana’s things be moved into the master suite the moment she had come back. He had said that if they were going to do this, they were going to do it the right way.
“I told ye she got on with me maither very well. I think she’s determined to make friends with Peter’s cat as well.” Ceana sighed as she rose out of the bathtub.
“Sure, but she didnae have to be so excited about it. All of her beggin’ and pleadin’ to bring ye back here, and then she takes off just like that.” Neil shook his head. “The servants have retired for the evening, so we have the castle to ourselves at least.”
“I’m sure that wasnae an easy task to accomplish,” Ceana hummed, drying off as much as she could and pulling her dressing gown on before she started toward their bedroom.
She pulled the pins out of her hair, letting the blonde waves cascade around her shoulders.
The moment Neil caught sight of her, he staggered.
“Now that’s the reaction I want to see every time I come into a room.” Ceana grinned.
“If ye dressed like that where other people could see ye, wife, we would have a whole other issue on our hands.”
“Mm, want to keep me all to yerself?” she teased, her fingers hovering over the small bow that held her dressing gown together.
Now that they had made up after their fight, she longed to feel him. She wanted to know that he meant his words. Neil couldn’t hide from her when they touched—it had always been that way. If that was the only way he was comfortable with being vulnerable, she was more than all right with it.
Only, he moved away from her. “If I take ye right here and right now, wife, then I’ll have wasted all of me efforts since we returned.”
“What are ye talkin’ about?” Ceana asked.
“Ye’ll just have to wait and see,” Neil said mysteriously. He extended his hand toward her once more, but this time she accepted it. “Close yer eyes.”
“How will I see where I’m goin’?” Ceana giggled.
“I suppose ye’ll just have to trust me,” Neil teased.
“Do ye nae want me to get dressed first?”
Neil paused for a moment and then scoffed. “Absolutely nae. There’s nae a soul who would set eyes on ye apart from me.”
“The only eyes that I would ever want on me,” Ceana agreed.
The stone floors were cold under her feet, and she walked on her tiptoes to keep the chill from spreading up her legs. With her eyes closed like this, following his lead, it was almost like a whole other kind of dance that he was leading her through.
Heat pooled in her core, spiking higher every time the cool air slipped through the opening in the front of her dressing gown. It was the promise of something more.
“Careful now,” Neil cautioned as she stepped onto the cool grass.
“Can I open me eyes?”
“Nay. Count to ten, and then ye will ken where to go,” Neil said as he released her hand.
Ceana heard a rustle beside her and was distinctly aware of the fact that he had moved away from her. She counted slowly in her head, ticking off the numbers until it was time to open her eyes.
She wasn’t properly prepared for the sight that greeted her. Lanterns illuminated a path across the lawn, clearly meant for her to follow. It felt like something straight out of a fairytale.
Ceana walked slowly at first, tiptoeing over the cool grass as she followed the path. She couldn’t hold in her girlish giggle as the lanterns led her to the gardens, opening up into the flowers that Alice had taken such great care in planting and cultivating.
There, in the middle of it all, stood Neil. With his boots off, his shirt untucked, and his hair unbound, he looked every bit as handsome as in her dreams. Only, this wasn’t a dream. This was reality.
