Eternal Moon

Chapter 12: The Summer Solstice

*Warning: Explicit adult material. Please read with caution. 

Kane could already hear the uproarious sounds of music and laughter as he left the castle and walked toward the center of town. The shadow of a half-moon hung in the evening sky among a smattering of early stars which poked out amidst the blue expanse. Sunset would still be another hour and a half on this longest day of the year, and most of the town had already started celebrating, but Kane had not been ready to face some of the attendants just yet.

The nightlife sang to him as he took the path from the castle grounds to the center of town. Frogs and cicadas were already preparing their nightly calls on this unseasonably warm day. The lightest breeze swept through his white cambric shirt, rustling the dark curls of his hair as he passed the stream that ran through the village. The bonfire ahead was blazing, standing out about ten feet tall. Donald and his daughter played on their fiddles - the last ones in town who could play the instruments - while Deidra and some of the other women served food and drink. Catrina and Effie were laughing and enjoying their honey mead near the fire with some of the other townspeople and they waved hello as he came up the pathway. Most of them were dressed in traditional solstice garb - white gowns and garlands. Donald and Malcolm were among the men who had opted for kilts. Kane had decided to just stay with his dark trews but he smiled nonetheless at the emblem of Clan Murdock. The mood was lively and carefree and he took an offered mug of mead readily, eager to enjoy himself for the first time in a long time.

Yet despite his desire to relax and relish the evening, he couldn't stop thinking about Jamie. He had not seen her since their talk in the study, the 'Never Have I Ever' game when she had brought up their heated kiss. He could tell from the look in her eyes that she had wanted a repeat, could see it in the way her gaze traveled his chest and his legs. The whiskey had loosened her resolve as it had done him, and he knew she wanted to have him then and there. He felt the exact same way. It had taken everything in his power to deny her; he still wondered if he had made the right decision. The thought that he could have been in bed with her for the last several days instead of working and glowering like a goblin had interrupted much of his sleep. But he had tried to remind himself that it would be for the best, that by the time the solstice came it would be moot. He would never see her again. Better to have never known what could be. That determination had gotten him through the past two days and had steeled him for the festival.

Until he saw her.

She had dressed like the other women, but the apparel was much different on her. Her long dark hair was loose and had a soft curl under her fairy crown, shimmering in the late daylight. She had clearly borrowed another woman's gown and had tied it with a sash around the waist, accentuating the curves of her hips and butt. Her feet were bare and her arms were laden with bangles and jewelry handmade by the women of the town. Her voluptuous breasts strained against the white gown and he could see very clearly that she had gone braless. Aye, she had embraced the garb and culture of the event, glowing like a fae princess from the stories of his childhood. A seductive fae princess that made his cock hard as a rock and his mouth dry as a desert. She laughed sincerely as she served someone food and his heart began a thundering rhythm just at the sight of her relaxed joy.

She fit in here, he could see. She knew and appreciated their culture even if she questioned many strange aspects. She understood the ancient Scottish way of life, taking to it much faster than he suspected most modern women would but then she was exceptional. He'd known that the moment he'd met her. He'd seen it as he watched her interact with Catrina and Effie or Deidra and the other townsfolk. For a modern woman, she took to hard labor and domesticity well yet she kept her keen mind and inquisitive nature. Jamie was still a firecracker, still prone to stubbornness and obstinance, but she had settled in quite nicely among his people. One could almost imagine her as lady.