He shuffled his weight from one foot to the other, tempted to go find her and drag her to the altar. Lachlan Og grasped his upper arm. “Easy lad, she will be here.”
If she changed her mind, he’d become a ghost forevermore.
Catherine entered the chapel with Durrell a few steps behind. She stood next to her husband; the priest walked to the altar, genuflected, and faced him, the man’s expression inscrutable.
Whispered words and an occasional cough came from those in attendance.
Where was Ashley? What was taking her so long?
Just when he’d had about enough of waiting, she entered the chapel with more grace than a queen. She glided the distance between them and stopped in front of him. She wore the same gold gown as their first night at the castle. Sable hair piled atop her head. He couldn’t wait to remove the gown from her luscious body. Loosen her hair to drape around her shoulders; drape over his chest when they made love as man and wife.
A low growl escaped his throat, and her radiant smile pierced his now beating heart. He’d spend the rest of his mortal life thanking Ashley for bringing him back from the brink of death. For saving his soul.
Their gazes locked in unity. He hoped the love he held within his heart for her revealed itself within his eyes.
Durrell directed them to stand together facing him. He joined their hands and bade them kneel. Lachlan Og and Catherine stepped forward to lend support and as witnesses to their union before God.
Cael squeezed Ashley’s fingers—a reminder he stood beside her now and always.
They repeated their vows as Durrell instructed. When the priest named them husband and wife, Cael assisted Ashley to stand. With his hands on her shoulders, he twisted her to face him.
“We are good and wed now, Ashley.” He placed a palm on each of her cheeks and lowered his head. He was wound too tight to be gentle. His kiss was hard and demanding. She responded in kind. Those in attendance roared with approval.
When the kiss ended, her cheeks flamed rosy red.
He stepped back. “Wife.”
She smiled boldly. “Husband.”
They left the chapel arm in arm and, with a jounce to their steps, crossed the passageway to the council chamber where their union would be celebrated during the Twelfth Night feast.
Much later, after midnight passed and Twelvetide ended, and they were exhausted from lovemaking, Cael held the woman of his heart in a tender embrace.
Ashley stroked his lips with hers. A kiss filled with promise.
“You have gained my soul-deep love, Caelan Innes.” Ashley’s gaze searched his.
“And you have saved my soul, Ashley Dumont Innes.” He squeezed her thigh—the sensitive place above her knee. “I will love you for a lifetime of Highland nights filled with magic.”
Also from Dawn Marie Hamilton
Just Beyond the Garden Gate
A Highland Gardens Novel
Highland Gardens Series #1
by Dawn Marie Hamilton
Time Travel Fantasy Romance
Determined to regain her royal status, a banished faerie princess accepts a challenge from the High-Queen of the Fae to unite an unlikely couple while the clan brownie attempts to thwart her.
Passion ignites when a faerie-shove propels burned-out business consultant Laurie Bernard through the garden gate, back through time, and into the embrace of Patrick MacLachlan. The arrogant clan chief doesn’t know what to make of the lass in his arms, especially when he recognizes the brooch she wears as the one his stepmother wore when she and his father disappeared.
With the fae interfering at every opportunity, the couple must learn to trust one another while they battle an enemy clan, expose a traitor within their midst and discover the true fate of the missing parents. Can they learn the most important truth—love transcends time?
Journey from the lush gardens of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the Scottish Highlands of 1509 with Just Beyond the Garden Gate. Click here to get your copy.
Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon
A Highland Gardens Novel
Highland Gardens Series #2
by Dawn Marie Hamilton
Time Travel Fantasy Romance
What happens when a twenty-first century business executive is expected to fulfill a prophecy given at the birth of a sixteenth-century seer? Of course, he must raise his sword in her defense.
Believing women only want him for his wealth, Finn MacIntyre doesn't trust any woman to love him. When, during Scottish Highland games, faerie magic sends him back in time to avenge the brutal abduction of his time-traveling cousin, he learns he's the subject of a fae prophecy.
Elspeth MacLachlan, the beloved clan seer, is betrothed to a man she dislikes and dreams of the man prophesized at her birth, only to find him in the most unexpected place—facedown in the mud.
With the help of fae allies, they must overcome the treachery set to destroy them to claim a love that transcends time.
Journey from the lush gardens of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to the Scottish Highlands of 1511 with Just Once in a Verra Blue Moon. Click here to get your copy.
Just in Time for a
Highland Christmas
A Highland Gardens Novella
Highland Gardens Series #3
by Dawn Marie Hamilton
Time Travel Fantasy Romance Novella
Can a determined brownie craft a perfect match?
When the Chief of Clan MacLachlan travels to the stronghold of his feuding neighbors to fetch his betrothed, she is gone. A year later, she is still missing. Making life more vexing, a band of reivers are stealing clan cattle, leaving behind destruction. Archibald MacLachlan determines to capture them and administer harsh punishment.
Though once in love with the man, Isobell Lamont refuses to wed her clan’s enemy. After running away she joins the band of reivers set on revenge.
Can Archibald forgive the raven-haired beauty? Will a journey through time bring them together for a Highland Christmas?
Journey from the Scottish Highlands of 1511 to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with Just in Time for a Highland Christmas. Click here to get your copy.
Just Wait For Me
A Highland Gardens Novel
Highland Gardens Series #4
by Dawn Marie Hamilton
Time Travel Fantasy Romance
The third match in the Fae Queen's challenge is in play. Will fae magic change Stephen and Jillian's destiny?
In the chaotic aftermath of the battle of Flodden, an injured Highland warrior makes a vow to a twenty-first century lass cast back in time by a meddling, matchmaking faerie. Stephen MacEwen promises to find a way to send her forward to her own time. But is that an oath he'll want to keep after finding love in Jillian O'Donnell's arms? And after saving Stephen's life, will Jillian want to go?
No matter what the lover's decide, Stephen's wife--a woman who acquired the title through deceit--and an old enemy attempt to destroy the couple's chance for happiness. Only with the help of Fae allies can Stephen and Jillian overcome and earn their reward--everlasting love.
Journey from the trails of West Virginia to the Scottish Highlands of 1513 to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with Just Wait For Me. Click here to get your copy.
Sea Panther
A Crimson Storm Novel
by Dawn Marie Hamilton
Paranormal Romance
2013 Golden Heart® finalist for Best Paranormal Romance
Can love mend a fractured soul?
After evading arrest for Jacobite activities, Scottish nobleman Robert MacLachlan turns privateer. A Caribbean Voodoo priestess curses him to an eternal existence as a vampire shifter torn between the dual natures of a Florida panther and an immortal blood-thirsting man. For centuries, he seeks to reverse the black magic whilst maintaining his honor. Cruising the twenty-first century Atlantic, he becomes shorthanded to sail his 90-foot yacht, Sea Panther. The last thing he
wants is a female crewmember and the call of her blood.
Although she swore never to sail again after her father died in a sailing accident, Kimberly Scot answers the captain's crew wanted ad to escape a hit man. She's lost everything, her fiancé, her job, and most of her money, along with money belonging to her ex-clients. A taste of Kimberly's blood convinces Robert she is the one woman who can claim the panther's heart. To break the curse, they travel back in time to where it all began—Jamaica 1715.
Click here to get your copy.
Future Works:
Time Travel Fantasy Romance
Just Within a Highland Mist
A Highland Gardens Novella
Just His Fae Kiss
A Highland Gardens Novel
Paranormal Romance
Raven’s Revenge
A Crimson Storm Novel
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dawn Marie Hamilton dares you to dream. She is a 2013 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist who pens Scottish-inspired fantasy and paranormal romance. Some of her tales are rife with mischief-making faeries, brownies, and other fae creatures. More tormented souls—shape shifters, vampires, and maybe a zombie or two—stalk across the pages of other stories. When not writing, she’s cooking, gardening, or paddling the local creeks with her husband.
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Twelvetide: Twelve Nights of Highland Magic Page 8