Chapter 22

Ava wore a simple cream cotton dress to her wedding, one which she had commissioned from one of the farmers' wives in Kilcarron, who had been very thrilled to be chosen for such an important task. Her sisters' dresses had been made by local women too, although Rona and Janet were quite capable of making their own.

Ava had insisted that all the work for the wedding should be given to the villagers, and everyone who lived there was invited to the simple but moving celebration. The little church was packed to the rafters, and after the wedding, some of the stronger village men hoisted the bride and groom onto their shoulders and carried them to the castle. This was a source of great hilarity!

The feast was magnificent, and there was more food in one place than the people of Kilcarron had ever seen in their lives, but Ava and Cameron were only hungry for each other. They waited for what they considered was a decent time then tried to sneak away, but they were ambushed by half a dozen tipsy villagers at the bottom of the stairs.

"M'Laird, M'Lady!" One of the children, a little boy called Angus, ran up to them with a bottle of whisky. "We got this for ye!"

Cameron looked at the bottle. It was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive, but it had obviously been bought with contributions from all the people of Kilcarron, since whisky was an expensive commodity.

"Thank you all so much!" Ava's eyes were full of tears as she looked at the little gift. Whisky was consumed by the gallon at every banquet, but this bottle came from the hearts of people who had so very little that they had to have sacrificed something to buy it for them.

There was a massive round of applause and many ribald comments as they ascended the stairs to their chamber.

"I have never been so happy," Ava said, wiping tears from her eyes.

Cameron gave her a wicked grin before he swept her off her feet and into his arms. "I will make you even happier," he promised.

Ava was spellbound as she gazed at her new husband. She had seen his upper half before, but that was before he had belonged to her. She did not realize that she was staring at him, or that her mouth had dropped open with amazement. "You are so beautiful," she breathed as she stepped up to him and placed her hands on his chest, which was lightly dusted with silky fair hair. The feel of it under her palms gave her a thrill of pleasure that went straight to her core.

"A man cannot be beautiful!" he said, chuckling as he put his arms lightly around her waist. "That is what you are, sweetheart."

"Why not?" she countered. "Not in the way that a woman is. We are small, soft and smooth, but you are big, muscular an' hairy, still beautiful, but in a different way." She ran her hands down his powerful upper arms, then returned them to his chest, before caressing the bumpy little muscles on his abdomen. His skin was soft, but the muscles underneath had a rubbery handness that barely yielded to the pressure of her fingers.

When Ava looked at the shape of him, his broad shoulders, wide chest, narrow waist and hips, she could not believe that this enormous man was hers, all her own for the rest of her life. She reached up and ran her fingertips over his Adam's apple, which made him swallow involuntarily, then laugh softly. After that she swept her thumb over his soft full lower lip, then raised her eyes to his and gazed into them, mesmerized.

They were still the most stunning eyes she had ever seen, a ring of cobalt blue surrounding a circle of turquoise, fringed with golden lashes and shaded by thick blond brows.

"What are you thinkin', you wicked woman?" he asked mischievously. His voice, throaty and deep, made her quiver with desire inside, and she took a step towards him to close the distance between them. The naked skin of his chest was pressed against the barrier of her dress, but even though he was still clothed below his waist, she could feel the hard bulge of his arousal against her.

"I am thinkin' that I want all our babies to have blue eyes like yours," she murmured. "Sometimes I cannot believe they are real."

Cameron laughed softly. "They are, an' they work very well, which is why at this moment I can see the woman I love and desire more than any other in my life standin' before me waitin' to truly become my wife."

When he had set Ava down on the bedroom floor, Cameron had wanted nothing more than to tear her clothes off and take her right there and then. Every primitive instinct that he possessed as a male animal wanted her, but he knew he must take things slowly.

She was an innocent lass, and as such she needed to be led carefully, not pushed. He could not force her to enjoy the delights of love, but he knew that if he took care to be gentle, to ease her into the throes of passion, she could experience complete ecstasy.

"Come here," he whispered, pulling her more closely against him. "You know that I want to kiss every inch of you. I want to suckle your breasts and lick you in places you have never imagined any man's mouth had any business touchin' you. I want to make ye scream wi' delight because you cannot imagine that anythin' could feel so wonderful. Would you like that?"

Cameron could feel her trembling against him as if she had a fever, and her voice was thick and husky as she whispered, "I would love that."

He certainly had a fever; he was on fire with it, and holding back from achieving what he wanted most was torture of the worst but sweetest kind.

"I think we have waited long enough," he remarked, his turquoise eyes dark with desire. He turned her around and began to undo the laces at the back of her dress, kissing his way down her back as he did so, tiny, feather-light touches that made her moan and sigh with pleasure. She could feel a delightful tension building up inside her, and knew that something momentous awaited her.

Cameron sensed that she was almost ready to be pleasured even further, so he turned her around to face him and kissed her lips hungrily. He thrust his tongue inside to tangle with hers, then heard her whimper and felt her strain against him.

The pressure of her body against his was making his erection throb almost painfully, and he drew back from her, panting, as he pushed her dress from her shoulders. Now she was standing in front of him clad only in a filmy shift, through which he could see the outline of her rosy nipples, peaked with desire.

"You are wearing too many clothes," he growled.

"Then take them off, husband!" Ava ordered. She lifted her arms above her head, and Cameron leaned down to the hem of her shift then pulled it over her head, baring her to his gaze.

"Oh, god," he breathed as his eyes roved over her. "You are adorable, Ava." He took in the creamy globes of her breasts, her softly rounded hips, and the long shapely columns of her legs. Lastly, he looked at the little bush of russet hair at the top of her legs, and became even harder, if that was possible. He hungered desperately to be inside her.

Feeling his eyes upon her, Ava had to resist the instinctive impulse to cover herself with her hands. She felt her cheeks growing hot before she realized that she was the only one of them who was naked.

Trying to project an air of confidence, she reached out and unbuckled his kilt, but she held it up for a moment, afraid to let it drop to the ground. It was Cameron who took the fabric from her hands and let it drop to the floor, and this time it was Ava's turn to stare.

She had been told by Mary, her maid, who was married, what to expect when she saw a man's erection for the first time, but nothing really prepared her for the reality. She stared in horrified fascination at the rigid piece of Cameron's flesh that was pointing towards her like a weapon.

When she finally looked up, Ava saw that he had a slight smile on his face. It was fond and indulgent, telling her silently that he understood.

"Don't be afraid," he said gently. "We were made to fit together, my darlin'." He stepped forward and took her in his arms again, and Ava felt the hard ridge of his flesh pressing against her belly. It was both delightful and terrifying, but she was filled with an unfulfilled need, one that was becoming stronger and stronger by the second.

She pressed herself against him and ground her hips from side to side, driven by some primitive instinct she had not known she possessed. She heard Cameron's animal growl, then he swept her into his arms and laid her on the bed before lying down beside her.

"What do you want, my love?" he asked tenderly. "Tell me an' I will give it to ye."

"I want you," Ava replied simply. "An' I don't want to wait any longer, Cam. I-I heard that there are things a man does to a woman to make things - well…" She ran out of words and was unable to express herself properly.

"Pleasurable?" Cameron supplied. "I will do nothin' that is against your wishes, Ava. I am at your command. I am your slave. Do with me what you will. Enjoy me as I will enjoy you, because comin' together is not somethin' we do out o' duty, but somethin' that binds us together in love. Now, do you want me as much as I want you?"

"Oh, yes," Ava felt herself flooding with warm wetness and a sweet fluttering sensation pulsed between her legs, but it was stronger now than it had ever been before. "I am ready for you. Take me now - I don't want to wait another second."

She saw Cameron frown. "Are you sure, Ava? There are many things we can do first that will make it even better for you."

She nodded frantically. "Now, please, Cam. Not a second longer."

She watched him as he settled between her legs, pushing her wide open for his entrance, but he hesitated at the last moment.

"Are you sure, Ava?" he asked. "I could make things so much more -"

Ava felt a surge of irritation, but crushed it at once, knowing that he was trying to make sure that everything was perfect for her. "Now, please, Cam." She felt him at her entrance, then he eased forward slowly, looking into her eyes as he did so.

Ava felt herself stretching, then there was a sharp stinging pain that made her tense involuntarily, but it was over in seconds, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Cameron kissed her lips, and any lingering discomfort was immediately chased away by the soft warmth of his mouth. As she breathed in the indefinable scent of his body and felt him fill her, something heavenly began to happen. She arched her hips up to him without her own volition, as if her body had a will of its own.

Then, it was as though she was climbing towards the top of a mountain, and every thrust of Cameron's body inside her was pushing her further upwards, towards the peak. There was a second when she thought she would never reach it, then she was there, and she screamed as waves of almost unbearable ecstasy washed over her again and again. Ava had never felt anything so glorious, and as she came down to earth, she clung to Cameron, burying her face in the nook between his neck and shoulder till she had stopped shaking.

Cameron roared out Ava's name when the fiercest climax he had ever experienced slammed into him. The moment he buried himself in the soft moistness of her body and felt her flesh closing around him, he knew that his whole life had been leading up to this moment.

Ava was warm, wet, and she welcomed him with cries of rapture, raising her body in a rhythm with him that was as old as time itself. God, how he loved this woman!

When they had both come down to earth, they lay smiling at each other while recovering their breath, warm and sated in the afterglow of passion.

"I love you so very much," Cameron whispered, pulling her against him.

"I love you more," Ava countered, chuckling.

"Was it what you expected?" he asked. "I am no' asking you for praise, Ava, just honesty, because I want every time we make love to be something you enjoy and look forward to, as I will. I want to make it better every time."

Ava looked into his shining eyes and saw love mixed with a little uncertainty. "It was better than I expected, Cam. It was the most wonderful experience of my life."

"I want to make it better still," he declared tenderly.

"How can it be better?" Ava asked, puzzled. "Cam - I have never felt anything so astonishing!"

Cameron's heart was touched by her reaction. She was so innocent, and she knew so little about the ways a man could pleasure a woman to madness. He climbed out of bed and padded across to a table where a bottle of wine stood with two crystal glasses.

He poured a drink for both of them while Ava admired the play of his strong back muscles and his firm, shapely backside. She could already feel her body awakening, readying itself for his embrace once more. None of her female friends had told her what to expect from her first experience, but she suspected it was because none of them knew how glorious it could be.

Cameron handed her the wine and clinked his glass against hers. "To you and me, Ava, my love," he said tenderly. "Slàinte Mhath."

"Slàinte Mhath," Ava replied, smiling. She felt as though she was drowning in love, and as she watched Cameron licking his lips after drinking his wine, she wanted to beg him to take her again. So she did, and this time it was even better.