Ian had gathered Beth into his arms, and they'd celebrated with passionate, warm, lovemaking. Ian's desire and love tangled inside him, blotting out all that was terrible and brutal in the world. Now, he trailed open- mouthed kisses down Beth's body, loving her softness.
'Ian?' Beth prompted, her voice low and sleep-filled.
Instead of answering, Ian reached into the drawer in the bedside table and pulled out the tissue-
wrapped package he'd been saving to give Beth for Hogmanay. He laid it on her bare chest and pressed a kiss to her breast.
'You didn't have to get me anything,' Beth exclaimed, though her face softened in pleasure. 'You did so much with that wondrous surprise for Jamie.'
'Open it,' Ian said.
Beth undid the wrapping, which fell to the sheets, and drew a quick breath when she saw what lay inside. A locket of heavy silver rested in her hand. Beth pried open the locket, her eyes shining.
Inside were pictures, drawn and colored by Mac, of the two children, Jamie on the left, and Belle on the right. The pictures were tiny, yet Mac had executed them in fine detail.
'Ian, it's perfect.'
'The locket was my mother's.'
'Oh.' Beth's expression went quiet. She closed the locket and held it close. 'Then I'll treasure it all the more.'
Ian had very little from his mother, but he'd always kept the locket safe. But Beth should have it. His mother would have liked that.
Beth laid it and the wrappings carefully on the bedside table. 'Thank you, Ian.'
'Mmm.' Ian lowered his head back to her breast, licked around her satin areola, and drew it into his mouth.
'You didn't answer before,' Beth said, her voice going soft. 'Do you feel you've changed? Being a husband and a father?'
Of course he had. She knew that--why did she need to ask? 'It's better now,' Ian said. He licked her nipple until it stood up in a fine point. 'Much better.'
'I'm inclined to agree with you.'
Ian's thoughts went back to the funeral they'd attended the day Beth had broken the bowl. Death, sorrow, the loss of something he treasured. Instead of sinking into darkness and despair, Ian had walked forward, moving to what had been important--Beth, Jamie, Belle.
Beth had let him do that. He'd never have been able to sort out his thoughts or focus on what was vital in his life without her.
'Much better,' Ian repeated. He kissed between her breasts and moved to her lips, sliding over her body to enter her again. 'Thank you, my Beth,' he said, echoing Hart's words to Eleanor.
Beth's beautiful smile spread over her face as Ian looked straight into her eyes. 'You're welcome, Ian Mackenzie.'
End Want more Mackenzies?
Read on for a preview of
* * * * *
by Jennifer Ashley
Chapter One
The matron of honor, Ainsley Mackenzie, tried to keep up Juliana's spirits, as did Juliana's stepmother, Gemma, in her own way. But Juliana knew in her heart that something was terribly wrong.
When Grant's friends returned, embarrassed and empty-handed, and Ainsley asked her husband, a tall brute of a Scotsman, to go, the. The result was different.
Lord Cameron Mackenzie opened the vestry door wide enough to stick his head around it. 'Ainsley,' he said, then shut the door again.
Ainsley pressed Juliana's hands, which by now were like ice. 'Never you mind, Juliana. I'll discover what has happened.'
Juliana's stepmother, only ten years older than Juliana herself, was angry. Gemma said nothing, but Juliana saw rage in every movement she made. Gemma had never liked Grant Barclay and liked Grant's mother still less.
Ainsley returned in a short time. 'Juliana,' she said, her voice gentle. She held out her hand. 'Come with me.'
When a person spoke in that tone, terrible news was certain to follow. Juliana rose in a rustle of satin.
Gemma tried to follow, but Ainsley held up her hand. 'Juliana alone, I think.'
Gemma, of the volatile temper, started to protest, but Gemma was also intelligent. She gave Juliana a nod and squeezed her hand. 'I will be here for you, dear.'
Juliana had a temper of her own, but as she stepped out into the gusty rain of the church's courtyard, she felt nothing but a curious numbness. She'd been engaged to Grant for several years now. The wedding had always been so comfortably far away that it had come as something of a shock to finally reach the day. And now . . .
Was Grant ill? Dead?
Mist and light rain cloaked the city, obscuring the sky. Ainsley led Juliana in her finery out and through a tiny yard, mud soaking Juliana's new white high-heeled boots.
They reached an arched breezeway, and Ainsley started down this, away from the main church. Thank heavens, because all the guests were in the church, waiting and watching, speculating about what had gone wrong.
Under an arcade, but still in the chill, Lord Cameron waited alone, a broad-shouldered giant of a man in a Mackenzie plaid kilt. When Ainsley and Juliana reached him, Cameron looked down at Juliana with flint-hard eyes. 'I found him.'
Still Juliana felt nothing but numbness. None of this seemed real, not Cameron, not the lowering skies outside the church, not her wedding finery.
'Where is he?' Juliana asked.
Cameron gestured with the silver flask in his hand. 'In a carriage behind the church. Do you want to speak to him?'
'Of course I want to speak to him. I am going to marry him . . .'
She noticed the look Ainsley and Cameron exchanged, caught the glimpse of anger in Ainsley's eyes, the reflected anger in Cameron's.
'What is it?' Juliana squeezed Ainsley's hand. 'Tell me before I go mad.'
Cameron answered before Ainsley could. 'Barclay eloped,' he said, syllables blunt. 'He's married.'
The arches and the courtyard, solid Edinburgh stone, spun around and around her, but no, Juliana was standing upright, staring at Cameron Mackenzie, Ainsley's warmth at her side.
'Married.' Juliana's lips were stiff. 'But he's marrying me.'
She knew that the last thing in the world Lord Cameron Mackenzie had wanted to do this day was hunt down Juliana's groom and then tell Juliana that the man had run off with another woman. But she kept staring at Cameron, as though if she looked at him hard enough, he'd change the story and tell her a different one.
