Highlander's Kiss

Chapter 1 - Gavin

The highlands had been gentle that fall, with only some patches of the vibrant green starting to fade into orange and gold. The weather had been surprisingly warm, almost too warm to bother with thick furs and blankets when Gavin and Elyn tucked into bed together. It was a Tuesday morning, and Gavin could already pick up the frustrated tone in Elyn's voice, even though she appeared, through his blurry eyes, to be fine.

"Gavin, wake up," Elyn said. She pushed his shoulder and nudged him awake.

"Good mornin', runag," Gavin said, touching Elyn's cheek. She let her guard down for a moment and let her face rest against his palm, before snapping back to her irritated tone. Gavin saw she was already fully dressed, wearing the regal clothes he had made for her as soon as she moved into the castle. Her family had also stayed in the castle, taking up room in one of the empty chambers left over from the attack. She stared at him, her face blushing from her moment of weakness.

"Gavin," she said, "when are we getting married?"

Gavin sat up and pushed the blankets off his legs and stared hard at Elyn. The sun warmed his skin and he took a deep breath. Her eyes flicked down over his strong chest and she breathed hard for a second. "Tomorrow. I promise this time," he said.

She sighed and looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry, I just..."

Gavin touched her arm before pulling her close. He embraced her and whispered in her ear. "I'm not going to lose you again, Elyn, donae worry so much. I've been lookin' fer ye for years, and I'm not gonna let ye go now."

She nudged him and chuckled a little as his stubble scratched her neck. He scooped her up and dragged her back down to the bed with him, bouncing her weight against the bedding. The sheets rumpled under their bodies and he wrestled her under them, their quiet laughter only growing as they jabbed and poked each other, the tension slowly dissipating into warm passion.

They had been forced to push back the wedding due to repairs to the castle needing Gavin's attention. They weren't able to put aside time to either complete the preparations or make sure that the MacDonalds could make it to Eilean Donan for the ceremony. Elyn was frustrated, Gavin knew that much, but so was he. He was sick of putting it off, but his duty as Laird forced him to make sacrifices for his people.

But he could only put off the wedding for so long. He had instructed Alec and Barron to take up the rest of the slack on finishing the repairs and getting the villagers of Dornie back in their homes. The weather had been so nice over the last week that farmers were actually seeing crops starting to bloom, but it remained to be seen if the impending frost would be put off long enough to provide any yield.

Gavin had to make sure the wedding would happen tomorrow.

After their blissful morning, they made their way down to the dining hall to have some breakfast. It was early afternoon still, so only a few other highlanders were milling around the halls, all with bright and cheerful dispositions. Each one seemed to be overjoyed that they would have a new Lady in the castle, since the late Angus had been so lonely for the last decade or so.

Alec, Barron, Sheena and the lads were gathered in the hall, the boys looking bleak and irritated at being forced up so early. Gavin and Elyn joined them at one of the tables. Gavin stole some food off of Neil's platter, who was barely touching it.

"Hey! I was gonna eat that, ye know!" Neil said, suddenly lifting his chin from his hand.

"I donae know about that, lad," Gavin said. He pointed the bread at Neil and took a bite in defiance. "Looked like ye were sleepin' to me."

Neil shook his head and turned back to his plate, pushing the food around with his fork.

"So, when's the wedding' gonna take place already? Everyone is asking," Alec said. Sheena was sidled up next to him, looking just as sleepy as the boys. Alec lifted his arm from her shoulder and she stirred. She shot up when she saw Elyn and Gavin, her face quickly turning red.