Amber said, “Oh my God, what is it? I’m dying to know now!”
Kate giggled and lifted the linen. The plate contained a significant pile of doughnuts.
“Doughnuts!” Amy and Amber cried in unison.
“Oh my, how I miss coffee…” Amy said through a mouthful of a doughnut. “These are divine, Katie!”
Amber bit a doughnut and closed her eyes in sheer bliss. It tasted as good as the ones she remembered. The men were also helping themselves, and everyone let out orgasmic sounds, moaning and humming in delight.
“How did you make these?” Amber said. “Can you even make them with the ingredients of medieval Scotland?”
“Yes! The ingredients are all the same, save sugar. But honey does the job perfectly. Also, wheat flour is a bit of a challenge, but Ian splurged a little for me. And here we are.”
“Katie, for ye… For this”—Ian gestured appreciatively with a piece of doughnut in his hand—“anything.”
Kate giggled. “You certainly inspire me to bake”—she winked to Amy and Amber—“some buns”—she waited—“in the oven.”
Amy got it first. “Oh! Congratulations, you two!” She clapped her hands and hugged Kate. Owen and Craig exchanged a puzzled gaze.
Amber grinned. “They’re expecting a baby,” she explained to the two Highlanders, and smiles spread across their faces. She looked at Kate. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.” Kate and Ian exchanged a gaze full of tenderness and love.
“Honestly, the doughnuts were more for me than for you guys. I’m craving carbs!” Kate giggled again
Amber thought she had a delightful, infectious laughter, and she laughed, too.
“’Tis a joy to see Ian so content,” Owen said to Amber quietly, a grin on his face. “He came back from Baghdad broken and desperate. Now look at him. A husband. A future father. Happy. Whole.”
Enjoying Ian and Kate’s happiness, she pressed herself against Owen’s side, and even the brush of his skin sent a charge of electricity through her. She’d gotten used to holding back on touching him in public, and she was actually enjoying the secret touches under the table, or the occasional brush of a hip, or a stolen kiss.
“Welcome to fatherhood,” Craig toasted. “May yer family grow, strengthen, and prosper. Happy for ye, Ian.”
The five of them, save Kate, clunked their cups of ale together.
“What about you two?” Amy winked. “Any news of more little Cambels to come?”
Amber exchanged a glance with Owen. They’d talked about it and decided they weren’t ready. Amber followed her cycle strictly for birth control. Although that method was not guaranteed, and they’d be happy if she got pregnant, for now they both wanted adventure.
“Not yet,” she said. “And there won’t be for a while.”
Amy threw her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. “All right. All right. Got it. No more questions.”
“Though I dinna mind practicing,” Owen said.
Amy closed her ears with her fingers. “Don’t even want to hear about practicing.”
The six of them laughed warmheartedly.
Dougal appeared behind Owen. “Son, I wanted to greet ye. How was the journey?”
Breaking all conventions, Own stood and hugged his father, both clapped each other on their backs. “Good, Da, thank ye.”
“Amber”—he nodded to her—“ye look well.”
“Hello, Dougal.”
Dougal liked her, though there was a little awkwardness between them, but Amber was sure it was only because he didn’t know her very well.
“How are ye both?” he said.
“Well. We’re heading south to visit the Bruce.”
“Oh, aye. ’Tis good. He has the highest regard for ye. The war isna over yet, so be careful. King Edward still refuses to acknowledge Scotland as an independent kingdom, and the Bruce its king.”
“Aye.”
Dougal clapped Owen’s shoulder amicably. “Ye did well, son. I couldna be more proud.”
He walked away, and Amber saw Owen’s gaze follow, and that his eyes were wet.
He came back to sit next to her, and Amber tangled her fingers with his under the table. “I couldn’t be more proud of you, either,” she whispered. “Of us.”
“Oh, lass, ’tis I who is proud to be the husband of such a wonderful woman as ye. Ye’re my treasure.”
And even though people would stare, she leaned to him and kissed him. She couldn’t wait a second more without showing him how much she loved him.
Because the biggest treasure in her life was her Highlander’s love.
* * *
THE END
* * *
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed Owen and Amber’s story. Read Angus Mackenzie and Rogene Wakeley’s story in Highlander’s Desire
Also by Mariah Stone
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More instalments coming in 2022
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Scottish slang