The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter sixty-seven

What else was left but to eat, dance and make merry?

And for Kieran and Elena’s first dance of the night, Joshua used his vocal talent to sing for them as they took to slow waltzing on the dancefloor.

“Do I look lonely?

I see the shadows on my face

People have told me I don’t look the same.”

He was genuinely happy for the newlyweds. He’d never seen his brother as blissful as he was in Elena’s arms. He agreed that Elena was charming; so charming she’d made him feel things too. But those feelings were something worth sacrificing if he got to see Kieran like this every single day for the rest of his life.

Joshua’s voice reverberated off the walls and through the hall, vividly impressing the people who heard him hit those high notes.

“Happily ever after, how could I ask for more?

“A lifetime of laughter at the expense of the death of a bachelor.”

*****
It was time to sleep.

Elena had been so swept up in celebration that she’d forgotten at the end of it all, they had to sleep. It was inevitable.

Some of her luggage had already been moved into Kieran’s bed-chamber, but she wanted him to be comfortable with where she placed all her belongings. Thus, she decided they would sort out the arrangement together.

Kieran was not in the chamber with her. He’d chosen to have a relaxing soak in the communal bathhouse with his father and brothers. He would return to his – their bed-chamber later.

Elena stared at the tiny strappy piece of nightwear she’d laid out on the bed. It was hardly a piece of clothing and more a handkerchief with holes. The flimsy thing had no purpose as clothing whatsoever, yet it is what Marissa had encouraged her to wear.

She picked it up and examined the sheer black material with a grimace. Couldn’t Marissa have just said, ‘Lie there naked’ instead of playing these games and beating about the bush?

Elena crumpled up the ‘cloth’ and made for the walk-in closet. She shoved it in the bottom most drawer of the dresser where it would never see the light of the day.

Kieran should never find that.

Instead, she clad her thick cotton nightgown whose hem practically swept the floor, and the neckline rounded her throat. With it covering up her entire form, Elena felt slightly less nervous.

She walked back into the main chamber. Kieran had not returned yet.

The longer he took, the more her nerves built. She had had a most uncomfortable and embarrassing talk with the females on her wedding eve about this particular moment. They had done most of the talking while she sat there wide-eyed and blushing.

Remembering it made her skin heat, and her choice of nightwear didn’t help. Maybe she shouldn’t have worn it after all.

She sat down on the bed and faced the doors. Would she wait for him like this?

She climbed onto the bed and knelt, sitting on her heels. Or like this?

She fell back on the bed, spread-eagled. Or like this?

She jolted up and sat upright on the bed. What was she to say to him?

She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and attempted a seductive look with a pout, narrowed gaze and an arched eyebrow.