Medieval Ever After (11 page)

“If you do not mind.”

He gave her a smirk as if it didn’t matter whether or not he minded. She was going to keep it anyway and he would let her.

“I do not,” he replied, facing his wife with his hands on his hips. “You have done an exceptional job with both the meal and this room. I am impressed with your accomplishments and your foresight to duty.”

She smiled happily. “Thank you, my lord.”

“What did I tell you about addressing me in private?”

“I meant, thank you, husband.”

He winked at her. “Good,” he said with a heavy sigh as he made his way back to the door. “I have duties to attend to before I retire for the night, but I will be back. You will stay here and not leave this room. Is that understood?”

She nodded. “I will not leave.”

He moved to the door and she scooted past him, opening it for him. He smiled down at her, the cornflower blue eyes glittering with warmth.

“Good eve, husband,” she said softly.

His gaze was steady. “I shall return,” he replied. Then a hand came up, gently grasping her face. “Perhaps you will still be awake when I do.”

She knew it was a request no matter how he phrased it. Her belly quivered with excitement, the heat of his touch sending waves of delight rippling through her body. It suddenly didn’t matter anymore that this man was an enemy, a stranger she had been forced to marry. He was proving himself to be an exceptional man regardless of his loyalties. She was coming to like him just the slightest. She smiled, her lips quivering because her body was quivering from the thrill of having him so near.

“I will be awake all night,” she told him, “watching for the hordes of women who follow you around like a wolf pack. I told you I would fend them off, did I not?”

He laughed softly and his other hand came up, cupping her lovely face between his two enormous palms. His smile faded as he gazed intently into her pale blue eyes.

“You did indeed,” he murmured, somehow moving closer to her as he spoke. “I will hold you to that.”

Not only was he moving closer to her, but she was moving closer to him as well. Joselyn didn’t realize that she was fairly collapsing against the man, his enormous height and bulk filling every corner of her mind. She could see his full lips looming over her and feel the heat from his hands as if he meant to scorch every inch of her. She couldn’t even think of a witty answer as he loomed closer still, his hot breath on her face.

Before she realized it, his lips were on her soft mouth, gently kissing her with the very first real kiss she had ever experienced. She had never been kissed on the mouth, not even by her father or mother, and she froze for a moment, evaluating the feel of his powerful lips upon hers. But her lack of reaction lasted only a fraction of a second. Without thinking, her natural instincts took hold and she returned his kiss, tasting his lips and suckling him gently as he carefully probed her soft mouth. It was apparently all of the encouragement that Stephen needed, because before Joselyn realized it, he had wrapped his enormous arms around her slender body and had backed her up against the wall.

She heard the door slam, unaware that Stephen had kicked it shut the moment his arms went around her. Her arms found their way around his neck and he lifted her up off the ground, bracing her against the wall as his tongue licked at her lips, demanding entry. Her mouth opened slightly and it was all the inducement he needed to invade her mouth, tasting her sweetness and gorging himself. Through it all, Joselyn held him tightly around the neck and mimicked his actions, passionate instincts she had never known taking hold. The more demanding he was with her, the more demanding she was in return.

While one massive arm held her against the wall, one hand moved freely down her back and across her torso, acquainting himself with the feel of her. She was petite yet curvy, healthy in the right places, and it aroused him enormously. He remembered her naked body from the night before when she had stripped in front of him and he was not at all pressured to admit that his lust had the better of him. He had told Edward and Tate that he would wait until the time was right to consummate his marriage. He knew that the time was now. In any case, he was going to take the opportunity.

But he was in battle armor, restricting him and no doubt biting into her although she’d not uttered a sound about it. Gently lowering her to the ground, he continued to kiss her as he used one hand to unlatch his armor. Joselyn, distracted from his probing mouth by the fact that he was no longer holding her close, pulled her swollen lips away from him to note what he was doing.

“Would you like me to help you with that?” she asked breathlessly.

Stephen could only nod. Quickly, silently, he unfastened the protection on his forearms, his breastplate, handing them over to Joselyn, who put them silently and efficiently into a neat pile against the wall. When it came to his mail, he held out his arms and she pulled it free. In little time, he was down to his tunic, heavy breeches and boots. He sat down on the bed and pulled his boots off, removed his tunic, and then looked up at his wife.

She was standing next to him, staring at his bare chest with the expression of someone who had never before seen such a thing. There was awe and fascination in her features. Stephen was powerfully built, with thick shoulders, neck and arms, a broad chest and slender waist. His chest was covered with a fine matting of dark hair and he sat patiently while she visually inspected him. He didn’t want to rush her, not now when the experience was thus far such a gentle and passionate thing. As he sat and watched her, she moved toward him and reached out a hand, touching the hair on his chest.

Stephen closed his eyes at her delicate touch. Never in his life had he known anything so tender or erotic. Joselyn put two hands on him, running her fingers across his skin, experiencing the texture of his body for the very first time. Then her hands moved to his shoulders, inspecting the sheer size of them, before moving to his arms. They were toned and smooth. Her hands moved back to his chest and he reached out, pulling her against him.

Neither one of them said a word. They simply gazed at one another. Joselyn’s hands came up from his chest, her fingers moving across his chin before lingering on his smooth lips. She was openly curious about him and he welcomed it. It was far better than the naked fear she had shown the night before. But Stephen couldn’t stand it any longer and he leaned forward, capturing her lips with his own.

In a flash, he flipped her from his lap and onto her back, smothering her with his enormous body. His lips gently ravaged her as his hands went to work removing her from the cranberry colored surcoat. Joselyn was so focused on his lips that she was not paying much attention to what his hands were doing until he pulled off the surcoat. The shift followed shortly. When she was stripped down to her undergarments and hose, she began to grow apprehensive.

Stephen could feel her tense beneath him and he kissed her tenderly, pulling the hose off each leg gently while murmuring against her mouth.

“No worries, sweetheart,” he whispered. “This is nothing to fear.”

Joselyn’s heart was pounding with both passion and fear. She gazed at the man’s face even as he kissed her cheeks, her nose, and his touch as gentle as a butterfly’s.

“I am not afraid,” she breathed.

It was a lie and he knew it; he could feel her body tightening. So he stopped kissing her and looked her in the eye, his blue eyes soft with desire.

“You are very brave,” he murmured. “But perhaps you did not consider that I might be afraid, too?”

Her brow furrowed as a smile played on her lips. “I do not believe that.”

“You don’t?” he lifted her hands, kissing the palms with great reverence. “I have never had a wife before. What if I do something wrong? You will be sorry that you married me.”

Her grin broke through. “You are not doing anything wrong yet.”

He nodded as if to concede the point, kissing her wrists and forearms. “I am not?” he kissed her left elbow and put her arms down, moving to her torso. He kissed her ribcage, just under her left breast. “What about that? Is that still good?”

She lifted her head slightly to watch him as her heart began to pound harder. “Aye.”

He smiled seductively, lowering his head to kiss her across her ribcage, ending up just below her right breast.

“Is that still alright?”

“Aye,” she could barely speak.

He lifted himself up slightly, kissing the skin immediately below her right breast. He was so close, in fact, that his nose brushed against her breast, causing the nipple to harden into a taut little pellet. His kisses moved nearly to her armpit before coming up again. This time, he was kissing the underswell of her breast, working his way up. When his lips closed over a peaked nipple, he suckled strongly.

Joselyn bit off a moan as his hot mouth worked her distended nipple. A big hand came up, gently fondling the breast as he continued to suck. Her arms, having lain inactive at her side, suddenly came up and her fingers intertwined in his black hair, pulling at the inky strands. He began to work both breasts, suckling her nipples with increasing strength until he was positively merciless with his attentions. Beneath him, Joselyn writhed and groaned with awakening desire. Then suddenly, he pulled himself up from her breasts and enclosed each one in a massive hand. His mouth found hers once more and he ravaged her with his lips as his hands massaged her warm breasts, damp with his saliva.

“Was that still good?” he breathed against her mouth.

She nodded incoherently and Stephen’s hands left her breasts, removing her undergarments swiftly. His mouth blazed a heated trail down her neck, back to both breasts momentarily, before working its way down to the dark fluff of curls between her legs. His enormous hands moved to grasp her tender white buttocks, holding her pelvis to his mouth as he devoured the flesh of her lower belly. But when a hand touched the tender junction between her legs, she stiffened like a corpse.

His head snapped up, gazing into her fear-filled face. He stroked her cheek, her hair, gently.

“If I have not done anything wrong so far, will you still trust me?” he whispered.

She nodded although he could see tears in her eyes. His eyes grew intense.

“I know that the last time a man was this close to you, unspeakably horrible things happened,” he murmured. “You did not deserve that and I will do all in my power to show you that the intimacy between a man and a woman is anything but horrific. It can be the strongest, most binding experience you will ever have. It will be pleasurable and it will be wonderful. Do you believe me?”

She nodded her head, breaking down into soft sobs. “Aye,” she squeaked. “But… but you are not disgusted with me?”

His brow furrowed. “Good God, why would you ask that?”

“Because another man has touched me before you.”

“It was not your fault,” he said. “That soldier may have taken your innocence, but that is a very small part of what we are about to do. I am showing you what joy there is in intimacy between a man and a woman. No one on earth has ever shown you that, have they?”

“Nay.”

“Then that, my dear lady, you have indeed saved for me, whether or not you knew it.

She began to weep more deeply and he lifted himself up, gathering her into his arms and pulling her close. His lips were on her forehead as he spoke.

“Hush, sweetheart,” he murmured. “There is nothing to fear. I know you are terrified, but I promise you, there is nothing to fear. Please believe me.”

She nodded and he held her face between his two enormous hands, kissing her forehead, her damp eyes, soothing her gently with his tender touch. When he moved back to the dark curls between her legs, he made sure to do it calmly and sweetly so she would not be overly startled. He began by gently caressing her inner thighs.

“What we are about to do is as old as man himself,” he told her, kissing her breasts as he stroked her skin. “It is something every woman goes through, unless she is ugly and destined to be an old maid.”

That brought giggles. But those giggles were quickly quelled as he began kissing the skin of her inner thigh. Joselyn realized quickly that she liked it very much. His mouth moved to the dark hair between her legs and he gently opened her legs wider, kissing the spongy curls and gently running his fingers over the thick lips. He felt her tense again and he lowered his head, gently suckling on the outer flesh of her Venus Mound.

From fear to utter delight and back again, Joselyn’s head was spinning with a variety of sensations. Stephen’s touch had her distracted and his bass voice had her lulled into contentment.

“A woman’s center is quite lovely,” he murmured. “’Tis pink and pretty, like a flower unfurling.”

As he spoke, he gained a good look at her most private area. His fingers pulled her exterior lips apart and he was greeted with a scar that ran from her birth canal all the way to her anus. It was a thick, nasty scar and he could see immediately what she had been talking about;
the birth tore me asunder
. From the look of the scar he was surprised she hadn’t bled to death. His stomach lurched at the thought of pain and anguish she undoubtedly went through. To think of such a lovely, sweet creature being subjected to such horror filled his chest with rage but he fought it. He calmed himself by knowing he would protect her from all things from now on. And more than ever, he was determined to seek justice for the crime against her.