A Midsummer Night's Kiss (Howertys #1)

Chapter 32: I Will

She had never realised how much of the solemnisation of marriage remained after those words, but as she stood beside Nathaniel, knowing she was now his legal wife, it didn't matter that she had to stay in the church a while longer. Once the psalms were sung and the rites said they were asked to sign the register, and she realised with a little nostalgia that this would be the last time she would sign her maiden name on anything ever again.

Outside the church in the courtyard, their family and friends stood on both sides of the path leading down to the gates. Several cheerful shouts of good luck and well done echoed around them, but Nathaniel ignored them as he led her to the open carriage that would take them to Davenhall, where the festivities would continue. After assisting her into the vehicle, he jumped up and sat down next to her as they began moving with a servant from Davenhall at the reins.

"You look beautiful," Nathaniel said, sliding a little closer on the bench to caress a lock of hair that had fallen out of her elaborate hairdo.

"Thank you," she mumbled as her cheeks heated. How was it that she was now a married woman? It didn't seem real.

She ran her hands down the skirt of the wedding dress, smoothing out imagined creases. Mrs Grey had helped her choose the garment, and she was so very pleased with it. While a simple cut, it suited her well. She'd gone for a lovely white, which she had favoured over the blue and silver that were also popular. A red rose had been pinned to the chest on the left side with a few more roses tucked into her hair, which was gathered in a mass of curls and braids at the top of her head.

"It's a pretty dress," Nathaniel said before leaning closer. When he was close enough that she felt his hot breath on her ear, he whispered, "I can't wait until I can take it off."

If she thought her face had been hot before, it was nothing compared to the furnace currently burning her cheeks. She threw a quick glance at the driver, but he didn't appear to have heard them.

Nathaniel touched her chin with his fingers and turned her head to meet his gaze. "Has anyone ever told you how adorable you look when you blush?"

"No." Her voice was little more than a whisper as she tried to calm her racing pulse. "And when you do, it makes me even more embarrassed."

He chuckled. "I don't mind. It just makes you more adorable."

"I was so very nervous during the ceremony," she said, hoping to change the subject. "You didn't seem the least bit nervous."

"Oh, I was," he said while playing with a lock of hair at her temple. Every time his knuckles brushed against her, tiny jolts travelled across her skin. "I just hid it well."

"Well enough to fool me."

He smiled at her dry tone but seemed a little preoccupied as he looked down at her. "I beg your pardon," he said after a moment. "It seems I am having trouble keeping my thoughts from travelling forward in time."

"How so?"

"I keep thinking about tonight," he admitted in a voice so low the driver wouldn't hear him. "Can't we cancel the breakfast and just be alone already?"

While talking, he'd twisted a little and his arm now rested on the top of the seat behind her. His fingertips traced simple shapes on her neck and nape, and shivers of pleasure travelled down her spine. She sighed. "You know we cannot do that."

"I know." He gave her a lopsided smile. "But I still wish we could. I want to do nothing but touch you."

"You are touching me," she said reasonably, making him laugh.

Bending closer again, he whispered hotly in her ear, "I want to touch you everywhere," he confessed. "I want to take off all your clothes and caress every inch of you."