Lachlan (Dangerous Doms #5) - Jane Henry Page 0,88
she says, before she drags her tongue along my shaft. “So much.”
“And I missed you,” I whisper. “Bloody hell, woman. How long’s it been? Am I Rip Van Winkle?”
“Long enough,” is all she says.
A knock comes at the door and I tuck myself away with reluctance.
“Later,” she whispers.
“Do not answer the door unless you bloody well know who it is,” I order, as she heads for the door.
“We’ve sorted the guard, Lach,” she says over her shoulder. She squeals when she looks through the peephole. “It’s Tiernan!”
She yanks the door open, and Tiernan comes in. He looks exhausted.
“You alright, brother?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m alright. How about you?”
“I’m fine,” I say, sitting up in bed.
He rolls his eyes. “Went to see your bloody friend,” he says to Fiona.
She furrows her brow. “Aisling? Why would you see her?”
“She decided she needed to come home for a visit. I suspect she’s worried about you. Got her last night.”
“Thank you,” Fiona says.
“Got a question for you, Tiernan.”
He looks to me. I swallow hard.
“I’d like your sister’s hand in marriage. Would you grant your blessing?” She has no father, so it’s only right.
He’s gone from sober to angry to sober again.
“Of course I would,” he says. “Any fool could see you two maniacs were meant for each other.”
“I like how you run your mouth when I’m laid up in bed and can’t kick your arse, eh?”
“Oh,” he says with a shrug. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to try to anyway.”
“Soon,” I promise.
“You’ll have to ask Keenan, too, of course,” he says.
“Oh aye.”
“On it!” Fiona announces from the kitchen where she’s putting on the kettle.
“On what?”
“Asking Keenan’s permission,” she hollers. “When you were unconscious, I practically pinned him to the wall in the dining room and said, ‘I don’t know what his obligation is to you, but you’re not keeping us apart.’ At which point he assured me that not only would he not, but he never had.” She comes in with a tray of cups and a pot of tea. “And so, he’s given his blessing.”
“As do I,” Tiernan says. “And Nolan and I have already discussed it as well.”
“As have we.”
“You did not,” Fiona says in astonishment. Her jaw drops. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Not yet,” I tell her. I drink the strong, bracingly hot tea, and smile. “Thank fuck.”
“Let’s do it today,” she says. “We’ve waited this long. I don’t want to wait another bloody day.”
I blink. “What about your… dress and things?”
She waves a hand. “Oh, whatever. I’ll find something real quick. I don’t care about the dress.”
“And the party?’
“You know I hate parties.”
“What about the children with those little baskets of… I don’t know, flower petals or something?”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t want any to-do, Lachlan. I want your ring on my finger and your name. I want to know that every member of the Clan knows I belong to you. I don’t want pomp and circumstance. I want you.”
“He’s bloody fucking pomp and circumstance,” Tiernan mutters, then he laughs out loud when I piston myself out of the bed and deck his arm.
“Jesus,” he says. “Relax. And yes, I’d be honored to be your witness.”
And so I manage to get out of bed and amble to my living room while Fiona makes the arrangements. I can hardly believe this is happening. She’s home. And soon, she’ll be mine.
Chapter 23
Fiona
I don’t quite get my way. What I want to do is marry Lachlan right here, right now, but he makes me wait until he’s more stable on his feet and he and his brothers have made absolutely sure that the Clan fortress is once more secure.
I knew when I heard he was injured—no, I knew before then, the day the bomb went off and I thought I lost him—that Lachlan and I are meant to be together. No matter the hardship. No matter how difficult things are between us. No matter the risks, the rewards will always, always prevail.
On a chilly day in early October, Lachlan and I take our vows in perhaps the smallest wedding ever known to the McCarthy Clan. I don’t want a big to-do. I wear a simple white dress loaned to me from Cormac’s Aileen, a little satin thing that’s casual enough I could wear it to dinner if I wanted to. Father Finn’s summoned to perform the ceremony, and the dining room in the mansion’s arranged for us to take our vows inside, for the wind’s blowing and rain falls