Epilogue

EPILOGUE

A week later…

Maura leaned on the kitchen windowsill looking out, then sighed. It was one of those rainy, misty grey days, for which the Scottish dialect had a wonderful word.

“It’s fair dreich today,” she remarked, with a sigh.

“It is,” Morag agreed, “an’ your face looks dreich as well, Maura. What is wrong, hen?”

Maura turned from the depressing view of the weather and smiled at Morag’s kind, tender expression. Morag had been the closest thing to a mother that Maura had had since she lost her own, and she knew she could share all her secrets with her and know they would be safe.

“Nothin’ is wrong, Morag,” Maura said with a smile. “I was just thinkin’ because I have made a big decision.”

The old lady sat down on a worn wooden chair and looked at Maura with anxious anticipation.

“I am leavin’ the Goose an’ Gander ,” she said firmly. “I have put away a wee bit every week over the years an’ I have quite a bit saved up now. I want tae start another orphanage, but I want tae make it even better than the one in Duncairn that Laird Forsyth is buildin’. I have found an old house that the owner will sell me at a good price. It will need work done on it, but I think I have enough tae pay a couple o’ men tae help me for a while.”

“The bairns have got tae eat an’ ye will need cleaners an’ suchlike. Ye cannae dae everythin’ yourself.” Morag pointed out anxiously.

“I will probably ask Laird Jamieson for some help” Maura’s tone was determined. “But I am going tae dae this because I have made up my mind, an’ I never change it once I dae that. Ye have known me for years, an’ ye know this is true.”

Morag nodded slowly. “Aye hen, I dae.” Her voice was infinitely sad, and Maura went to embrace her. “I will miss ye somethin’ awful, Maura.”

“An’ I will miss ye too, Morag.” Maura kissed the top of the old woman’s head. “But I will be back tae see ye an’ get some o’ the best shortbread for miles around.”

Morag laughed, but it was a sad sound.

The two women carried on with their activities, and Maura smiled as she scrubbed the floor, remembering Gavin’s efforts. She had to admit that the floors had not been the same since he left, since his muscular arms could wield a scrubbing brush with more power than any three other people combined.

It had been months since they had last seen each other, and the pain of their parting was beginning to fade a little. One of the local lads, the son of a seamstress in Carmalcolm, had shown an interest in her while visiting the tavern for a drink. Maura had not discouraged him, but she was hesitant about pursuing the relationship, although she told herself, she had to move on. Perhaps it was too soon after Gavin, she thought. But when would it not be too soon? How long would she have to wait to be ready?

Maura’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, and she cursed herself for not locking it after she had gone out to empty the rubbish bins. It was nowhere near time for them to serve food, but someone was obviously very impatient!

“We arenae open yet!” she called. “Come back at noon!”

She heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards them, then a thrill went through her as a familiar deep voice called her name. Then a moment later, the tall, imposing figure of Gavin Forsyth filled the doorway.

“Maura,” he said, more quietly this time as he smiled at her. “How are you?”

Maura looked him up and down, drinking in the sight of him like a thirsty person seeing a glass of water. He was just the same, except that his hair had grown longer and was more tousled and more boyishly attractive. She had forgotten how he set her senses afire, and how his presence seemed to fill the whole room. He was still the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

Gavin could not keep his eyes off Maura; as soon as he saw her, he wanted to scoop her up in his arms and carry her away somewhere they could be alone and undisturbed. His rebellious body was telling him that he needed to do more than just look at her.

She was dressed in ordinary working clothes and had a scarf tied around her head and a scrubbing brush in her hand, but she still managed to look magnificent.

“Have ye come tae hear me say congratulations on being a Laird again?” Maura asked, smiling wickedly and hoping to dissipate the tension in the air, even as her heart was hammering a wild tattoo. Why was he there?

He shook his head and stepped forward, then took Maura’s hands and raised them to his lips. “No,” he said tenderly as he looked into her eyes. “I have come to claim the woman I love—if she still wants me.”

For a few seconds, Maura thought she must be dreaming. “But you are betrothed,” she said, puzzled. “Does Elspeth know ye are here?”

“Elspeth and I are no longer together,” Gavin told her. “After we liberated my home, and she saw me building the orphanage, she knew that I was still in love with you. She told me that she would not be happy to be my wife since I was still in love with you. She almost threw me away!”

“You love me?” Maura asked, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“I have loved you almost since the first night we met,” he replied. “Do you not love me back?” He looked anxious, and she hastened to reassure him.

“Oh!” She threw herself into his arms, laughing with joy. “Aye, Gavin—I love ye with my whole heart!”

“Thank god,” Gavin breathed. He looked down into Maura’s blue eyes for a moment, then slowly lowered his lips to hers.

Maura felt the familiar hardness of his body pressed against hers as he pulled her closer, and closer still. The soft caress of his lips became something more insistent, something that thrilled Maura down to her very core. He was finally hers, and her heart beat for him. When they drew apart, he leaned his forehead against hers, breathing heavily.

“I had almost forgotten how good it feels to kiss you,” he whispered. “How good it feels to have you in my arms. Maura, I never want to let you go. You are my everything.”

“An’ you are mine.” She smiled as she looked up into his green eyes, an ocean she would love to drown in. “I thought my heart might break when I knew ye were marryin’ Elspeth, an’ I never dreamed ye would come back tae me.”

“There is just one more thing I have to ask of you,” Gavin said.

Maura smiled. “Anythin’, my love.”

Gavin knelt down on one knee and said tenderly: “Maura Hislop, will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”

Maura gasped, for a moment unable to believe what she was hearing, then a beaming smile spread across her face. “Yes, Gavin. I will marry ye.” Her eyes were full of tears of joy, and she kissed him again until they were both breathless.

“I cannot believe this.” Gavin shook his head and his eyes shone with love as he looked down at her. “You—my wife. It’s all I’ve dreamed of almost since the first time I met you.”

Maura’s throat was choked with tears as she looked up at him; the happiness inside her was so intense she thought she might burst into flames. She leaned her head on his chest, feeling his solid, hard bulk against her cheek, like a rock—her rock, which she would lean on and depend upon for the rest of her life. Then she felt something she had not felt since her parents died; she was safe, protected, and sheltered. Whatever happened from now on, she would not be alone.

“Maura,” Gavin said tenderly as he stroked her hair. Morag had tactfully disappeared, but he wanted to be somewhere private and secluded with her so that he could show her just how much she meant to him. “Let me make love to you.”

Before Maura could answer, he swept her off her feet and into his arms. She gave a little squeal of surprise, then smiled at him lovingly. There was no need for words.

The room Maura led them to was not her own, but one of the guest rooms in the tavern.

“Why are we here?” he asked, puzzled.

“Look at the bed,” she replied.

Gavin did so, then laughed. The bed was twice the size of Maura’s, like the one in which they had made love before. He laid her down tenderly on it and kissed her, caressing her breasts as he did so. Maura moaned with delight, and Gavin felt his manhood stiffen instantly. God, how he wanted her!

Maura began to undress him, becoming clumsy in her eagerness to see him properly naked for the first time. Their first coming together had been in a cold room, and they had kept themselves partially clothed. This one was little better, but the residual warmth from the smouldering fire in the grate took the worst of the chill away.

Moreover, they were too absorbed with each other to care about the temperature, and knew that the heat of passion would soon banish any trace of discomfort.

As the last of his clothing dropped to the floor, and she looked at him, Maura’s eyes widened, witnessing his glorious nakedness.

Gavin smiled at the expression on her face. “Time you were naked too, Maura,” he told her, reaching for the fastenings on the front of her dress. He kissed her again, and Maura felt his fingers tickling her flesh through the thin fabric of her shift.

“Why do women wear so many clothes?” Gavin growled in frustration.

Maura laughed. “The more ye talk, the longer it will take ye,” she said. “Get on wi’ it!”

Gavin did so, muttering to himself. “I really think I should just tear this dress off,” he threatened.

“Did I no’ tell ye tae stop talking?” She looked at him mischievously.

“You did,” Gavin replied, then bit his lip, a gesture of agitation. At last, he pulled her shift over her head and her body was revealed to him.

He could not keep his eyes off her breasts. They were perfect, as round as ripe melons, and he bent to suck her erect nipple. She groaned in pleasure and held the back of his head so he could suck her harder.

Maura was breathing heavily; her wetness was beginning to become uncomfortable. Up till now it had been bearable, but now she just wanted him inside her, filling her up and driving her to ecstasy.

The tip of his arousal was touching her navel, and she found its light touch amazingly erotic. He was massaging her breasts more firmly now, and she ground her hips against him. Maura reached down to take him in her hand. He was stiff, and his skin’s velvety surface stretched under her hand as she pulled it up and down.

Maura felt him tense in anticipation, and then he kissed her passionately, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, tangling with hers. They fell onto the bed, and she rolled on top of him, then she straddled him.

She took his manhood and thrust it inside herself. He cried out with shock and delight. Maura had never seen such an expression of joy before as she did when he moved his hips up to thrust into her.

He pushed, gently and slowly, building up the pace and the pressure till she could feel herself about to reach her climax. When it came, it was utterly overwhelming, an explosion of delightful sensation that was almost too much to bear.

Then Maura watched Gavin’s face as he thrust harder till at last his face spasmed in sheer ecstasy. Then they lay, flesh against flesh, warm and content, looking into each other’s eyes.

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