Becoming the Whiskey Princess (4 page)

I close my eyes as I shake my head. “Ah, Amberlyn, later on that. I couldn’t imagine that right now. My need for ya is so fuckin’ wild, I’d probably tear ya to pieces.”

She giggles beside me. “Isn’t that the point?”

I shake my head against hers, my cock throbbing in my shorts as I gaze into my future wife’s eyes. “A week. Give me a week and we’ll talk everything out.”

“So if I got naked right now, you wouldn’t take me?”

I groan loudly as her laughter fills the room. I smile widely and look over at her. “You wanted a laugh.”

“I did.”

“At my expense?”

She nods, cuddling into me. “I just want us to feel normal.”

Taking her tightly in my arms, I kiss her fully on her lips and then smile against them. “It feels great for sure, my love. Thank you.”

She grins, running her fingers through my hair. “I love you.”

“I love you more, sweetheart,” I say against her lips. “And if you were naked right now…”

“Yeah?” she asks with a teasing grin.

“I think I might die from the pure beauty of ya.”

She giggles and shakes her head as I continue, “But if I don’t, then I’m hightailing it out of here. Your uncle is sure to have me killed if he caught us.”

That has her dissolving in giggles. Which is what I want. I want her happy.

Because she is everything to me.

L
ike I wanted, Amberlyn falls asleep with her nose against my neck. It’s cold, but I don’t mind; hopefully, she’ll warm up a bit. Closing my eyes, I want to fall asleep too. I’m so damn tired. It’s been a long two weeks. Worrying constantly if she is okay and praying that she would heal. By the grace of God, she is, but still I’m finding it hard to sleep. My mind is going a hundred kilometers per hour.

She is so set on marrying me, but I can’t help but think I did this all wrong. I was wrong for holding that part of me from her. I should have told her about the deadline, but I didn’t. I was wrong to ask her when she was drugged out of her mind, even if she wanted it. I just feel wrong. I didn’t even ask Mr. Maclaster if I could marry her. I went about this completely wrong, and I just have this dire need to fix it.

I honestly wish I could go back and change everything. I wish I had made Lena and Amberlyn go inside. I wish I would have taken care of Casey myself, been done with him and then gone inside to confront the issue at hand. She had every right to be mad at me. I was wrong to hold that from her, and I needed to make it right. But it all went to shit. And now I am going to marry a girl that when we get older, our babies running around us, she’ll go, “Your da and I got married after I was shot. And he asked me in the hospital because he was gonna lose his distillery, and I couldn’t let that happen.” I don’t want that to be the memory of my asking her. I want it to be beautiful and to blow her away.

Detangling myself from her, I kiss the side of her mouth before slowly getting out of the bed. When I look down, she is still sleeping blissfully. I pray she doesn’t have those dreams she’s been having. They scare me, but at the same time, comfort me. I believe in spirits and all that, and to know her ma came back to say she approves of me is straight wicked. But still, they upset Amberlyn and have her on edge. I just want her to sleep soundly, with no cares in the world. I need her to heal. I want to make a life with her.

Making sure she is covered well, I head out the door, and when I shut it, Fiona opens hers. She looks at me and then behind me, her brow raised. “Whaddya doin’?”

“I’m gonna go talk to your da.”

Her brows don’t move as she asks, “For what? Do you want me to sit with her?”

“You can, but she is dead to the world.”

“Okay, what you want with my da?”

“Wanna ask him if it’s okay to marry her,” I say slowly, my eyes trained on hers. “She already said yes, but I feel wrong about it. I want to mend my wrongs with rights.”

She nods, crossing her arms across her chest. “He’s mad that you didn’t ask.”

“I figured.”

“And the fact that she blocked a shot for you.”

“Again, I know, and while I wish I could take it ba—”

“Ya can’t, and she wouldn’t want you to. She loves ya, Declan, and she did it because of that.”

I look down, running my fingers through my hair with a nod. “I love her.”

“Good. Go on then, ask my da. I’ll keep my door open in case she wakes up.”

“Thank you,” I say, sharing a long look with her. She is so good for my best mate, Kane, it’s insane. I always believe that people were born for other people, and Fiona is that for Kane. As my Amberlyn is for me.

Turning to go downstairs, I pause and look back at her. “Do you think we’re mad?”

She smiled. “Yeah, I think it’d be mad to get married now, but she told me about the distillery and she isn’t budging. I tried,” she says sheepishly. “She’s so young, but like I said, she loves you, and I believe in yous two. She doesn’t make careless choices. She believes that she is making a sound decision, and I believe in her.”

I know she is right and it does derail me a bit, but then I know we are going to have a good life together. We are young, yes, but it will work. I pray, at least, it will. “You know I’ll love her until I die.”

“Oh, I know. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be so agreeable.”

She sends me a grin and I can’t help but to throw one back at her. Having Fiona’s approval is almost enough. She doesn’t hold anything back. She lets the world know what she is thinking. She means a lot to Amberlyn, and to know she supports us is good. Real good. Turning to head down the stairs, my heart starts to knock against my chest. I know that the Maclasters don’t think too highly of me right now, but I feel doing this will better their view of me.

I find them downstairs, Mrs. Maclaster in her chair reading and Mr. Maclaster on the computer.

When she sees me, she flies out of her chair, her eyes wild as she asks, “She okay?”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry, didn’t mean to alarm ya.”

She places her hand on her chest, and I notice that Mr. Maclaster stands too, the same look of distress on his face. “You look worried.”

“Oh, sorry, that’s because I’ve come to ask for your blessing to marry Amberlyn,” I say, and I really wish I would have thought that out a bit. They are both taken aback as they look at me in disbelief.

“What?” Mrs. Maclaster asks. “Didn’t you already ask her?”

Mr. Maclaster crosses his arms across his wide chest, his dark eyes set on me as I nod slowly. “Yes, I did. But I don’t feel right the way it happened. I know I am supposed to ask you two first, but with everything that happened, I kind of got lost in the process. I apologize for that.”

They both eye me for a moment as sweat breaks out across my forehead. “She’s so young. Only twenty.”

“Yes, I know—”

“Just because you can lose your distillery doesn’t mean she should have to marry you. You’ve only dated a short time,” Mr. Maclaster says, his voice sharp.

Yeah, this is not going well. Not at all.

“I know. While the distillery issue is the reason that I asked so early, I’ve always known I was gonna marry her. She’s beautiful, smart, and so damn perfect in my eyes.”

“We know all that,” Mrs. Maclaster says. “But she hasn’t lived. She went from caring for her mother and not having any interaction with anyone to coming here, and bam! You are in her face. She hasn’t experienced heartbreak, or university, nothing. She’s still so young and naïve to it all. You come in, a prince of Mayo, and what girl wouldn’t jump at the chance to marry ya? I think yer a sweet man, Declan, I do, but I feel this is rushing it a bit. How do you know that this is going to work? I know you don’t believe in divorce, so what happens when she isn’t happy?”

“I’ll do everything to make her happy,” I say, a little more sharply than I intended, but I feel under attack. Something I don’t care for one bit. “I understand you perfectly, truly, but I love her. So much, and she loves me. I know we are young, I know this is rushed, but I promise you, she won’t ever be unhappy. And if the moment comes when she is, I’ll fix it. I’ll make her happy; I’ll give her the world. If, after all, she decides she doesn’t want to be with me, then I’ll let her go. I’ll lose it all for her. As long as she is happy.”

Silence falls in the room, the only sound the breeze from the window, the curtains smacking against the wall. The TV is on mute, and my heart is pounding in my ears. I swallow hard as Mr. Maclaster clears his throat, looking deep into my eyes.

“That’s the thing, she won’t let you go. She’s a fixer, a caring, sweet soul. She’ll be unhappy before she allows anyone to hurt. And that’s what worries me. Is she marrying you to save your distillery, or because she actually loves you?”

I nod. “I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Maclaster, but if she didn’t love me, then why did she almost die for me?”

His eyes darken as he nods slowly, looking away and falling into his seat. Mrs. Maclaster doesn’t move, her eyes still trained on mine as she asks, “Can you not see if you can get more time? A year maybe?”

“I can,” I agreed. “I planned to anyway, but I’d still like your blessing.”

Mrs. Maclaster looks over at her husband, and they share a long look. I feel like it’s a private moment, so I look away as I fight for breath. If they say no, what will I do? Can I marry Amberlyn without their consent?

Yeah. I can.

I know that is horrible, but I can’t live without her. I just can’t.

“Declan, you are a good man. We know you’ll take good care of her. We’d like for ya to wait a little bit, but if that can’t happen, then yes, you have our blessing,” she says as she comes toward me. Placing her hands on my arms, she smiles. “Thank you for giving us this chance to talk to you.”

“I should have done it before.”

“Yes, but I am thankful you did now.”

I nod and she cups my cheek as she searches my eyes. Clearing her throat, she says, “I think my brother would have liked you. I know that my sister-in-law would have. You remind me a lot of my Tomas, God rest his soul. He was a driven man, to himself, until Ciara came along. She bewitched him from the start, and I know that Amberlyn has done the same for ya.”

“She has,” I agree, holding her gaze. “And to honor her parents, I’ll love Amberlyn enough for them and myself.”

Mrs. Maclaster smiles, her eyes filling with tears as she nods. “Yes, well, on with ya then. You have our blessing.”