Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ONE YEAR LATER

M aeve rushed down the stairway when she heard Archer's voice from the first landing. "Ye have returned," she observed with excitement as she flung her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his for a warm hug.

Archer's travel to the neighboring Highland clans for trade lasted for a fortnight, and in that time, Maeve kept dreaming of the day he would return.

"I missed ye," he whispered against her hair as he kissed her there. When she pulled back, he sealed their lips together for a passionate kiss, lifted her in his arms, and twirled her around without swaying on his feet.

She had missed his strong arms and the feel of his moist lips on hers. Maeve missed riding out with him into the moors and watching the sunset in the far horizons.

"Archer," Lauren greeted from behind them, and Maeve drew away to allow her hug him too. Quinn greeted Archer when she came out of the nursery where their daughter lay, and her hand rested on her large abdomen.

Quinn smiled weakly, and Archer greeted her before he hugged Jensen too. After the reunion, he joined Maeve in the nursery to check on their little girl.

Maeve and Archer held hands as they watched little Amelia sleep in her cot. She looked peaceful, her red hair spread out on the pillows and her right hand stuck in her mouth as she suckled.

"She is perfect," Archer whispered and faced Maeve. "Just like ye."

She smiled at him, her heartwarming as she experienced the thrilling rush of energy that surged through her each time he was near.

"I have to discuss with Jensen and the councilmen now, but I shall join ye in our bed chamber once I am done."

Maeve nodded, and he kissed her briefly again. "I will be waiting."

She stayed in the nursery a long time after he left, and she nursed their daughter when she awoke from her short sleep. When Amelia fell asleep again, Maeve joined Quinn in the healing chamber and worked with her to prepare herbs for the soldiers that returned from travels with Archer.

Their clan now allied with most of the Highland clans for trade and protection. They had nothing to worry about because the Highlanders now trusted Archer's judgement and honesty.

After all that happened in the past year, Maeve trusted that he would keep on providing for and loving their family. Just as I love him.

It was hours after sunset when he finally came into their chamber and found her standing by the window, her attention focused on the stars outside.

Archer enveloped her in a warm hug from behind, kissed the side of her neck, and circled his arms around her waist. He placed kisses down the side of her neck, got to the swell of her breasts, then spun her around to face him.

"Please tell me that ye dinnae have to travel again anytime soon," Maeve whispered as his kisses ravaged her senses and filled her with an aching need for him.

She had never stopped wanting him in all their time together, and she knew she never would. He is the love of my life. No one could replace the spot he held in her heart.

"I miss ye soo much whenever ye travel…Yer daughter misses ye."

Archer stole her words away with another kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth, caressed, and stroked till she moaned, melted into him, and pressed her body against his harder one.

"That is why ye should come with me the next time I need to travel. Ye and Amelia should come with me. We can explore the Highlands together. There is so much to fall in love with."

She chuckled when he kissed her again then lifted her into his arms and carried her to their bedding.

"Tempting," Maeve commented as his kisses moved down her body, and his hands parted her earasaid to free her skin.

"Then say aye," he urged, and she laughed some more when he nuzzled the side of her neck. She allowed the heated moan ease out of her lips. Archer's groan prompted heat to spike down her skin, and Maeve wanted more of his touch, so she kissed his lips and wrapped her hands around his body to pin her to him.

Maeve felt the brush of his erection against her abdomen, and she smirked. "Show me how much ye missed me."

She didn't need to say anything else. Archer swept her into the tides of mindless pleasure as he parted her thighs and made love to her with his tongue.

Maeve writhed beneath him on the bed. Her thighs quivered, and her lips sang the melodious rhythm his tongue and lips set. She climaxed hard and trembled in his arms before he thrust into her fully.

Every stroke of his erection deep inside stirred the flames of her undying desire for him. Being in his arms was perfection. Maeve could never get used to how her breath quickened when he dipped into her warmth and sheathed his full length in her.

When she muffled a moan with her hand, he drew it away and kissed her chin. "Look at me," he ordered softly.

Her eyes flew open, and she stared into his depths, shaking as her pleasure heightened to sky peaks. Archer linked their fingers and took her lips for one more kiss before he plunged into her one last time and lured them to the brink of climax.

They stumbled over together, and she squirmed beneath him. Her legs wheeled around his waist, her core sucked him in, and Archer murmured loving words in her ears as he rode the waves of his climax with her.

They lay spent in each other's arms after that. All was perfect to Maeve, and she fell asleep in his arms, loving the steady pace of his heart beneath her ears.

Archer spent the days with his wife and daughter. Amelia was still a suckling child, and she played in her cot, gurgling and laughing at the same time.

She was the most beautiful girl in the world to him, and Archer fell deeper in love with her every day.

He picked her up gently, loving how tiny she was in his arms as he cradled her. Archer's days had been busy since the Highland clans united with his again. As he rocked her into his arms, he sang a low lullaby until her lids fluttered close, and she fell asleep in his arms.

Hearing her light snores filled his heart with joy and melted him. He had visited almost all of the clans in the past year and allied with them for trade, but he planned to spend the next few years with very little travel, so he could watch his little girl grow and enjoy every moment.

Archer did not want to spend any more time away from his child.

He kept rocking her till she was fast asleep then he kissed her forehead and lowered her into the cot again. Maeve hummed to herself as she walked around the room, and he stole a kiss when he drew close and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Do ye want to ride out to the moors with me?" he asked after releasing her lips so they could both come up for air. When she grinned at him, her eyes lit up, and his heart picked up a faster pace.

"I would love that," she replied.

They rode out together that evening and sat by the castle's cliff to watch the sun set in the horizon. Archer sat behind Maeve, cuddled her close to his chest, and inhaled deeply to fill his lungs with her scent.

The serenity around them was what he longed for each time he traveled away from home. Every moment spent without her was torture and being in her arms filled him with an everlasting warmth he never wanted to let go of.

"Me heart," he murmured against her neck in Gaelic, kissed her neck, then waited till she angled her head to one side and kissed him deeply too.

"Tell me about yer travels," she said to him after some time, and he spent the rest of their time outside telling her of his time away from Devlin.

"Ye shall come with me on my next trip, and I will show ye the world outside of the Highlands. We will reach the Americas and the French colonies…"

Archer envisioned what his life would be like traveling with her, and when she smiled at him, he knew that she saw it too.

"We will spend our days travelling and exploring all the lands. It will be the best time of our lives, and then we will have another little one after Amelia, and she will be magical."

He linked their fingers, and she kissed him again before he rested his chin on top of her head. This was bliss, and he wanted it to last forever.

The End?