Medieval Ever After (90 page)

Alex did not know what to do. “Maddie, did I hurt you?”

“Nay!” She was crying now.

“Do you trust me?” he asked quietly as he stared at the ceiling.

“Aye,” she whispered as she tried to cover her body.

“Then, come back to me, wife. I will not hurt you.”

It was a long minute before Maddie returned to the side of the bed.

“You will be on top,” he said as he lifted her on top of the length of his body. Tears still stained her cheeks, but she did not fight him. She swiped them off her face with determination.

“I want you on top so you know you can leave any time. The choice is yours. Mayhap having you underneath me is what frightens you so. I will never force you, lass. You always have the right to refuse me and take yourself away. You need to believe in me.” Alex caressed her neck as he spoke, then ran his hands down the soft skin of her back to her bottom, feathering her soft mounds. His arousal grew in response.

They positioned her arm, and he arranged her as best he could to make her comfortable without hurting his erection.

“Lass, you need to trust me,” he said softly as he kissed her brow.

“I know. I am sorry, Alex. I do not know what makes me do such things.”

Alex thought hard before he made his next move, but he thought it might be the only way. Taking her nipple in his mouth, he suckled her as he slipped his fingers along her opening, caressing the very heat of her to gauge her response. She was still wet and her soft moan indicated she desired him. Softly grasping her hips, he easily thrust inside her with a shift of his pelvis. He did not think it would hurt her.

“Nay, Alex, nay!” she screamed. She pushed against him hard.

He held her hips gently in place, trying to let her get used to his invasion.

“Maddie, stop! I will not hurt you. I love you. Please, I do not know what else to do. I have tried everything!”

Maddie stopped struggling when she heard his declaration of love.

Shocked at his own confession, he recognized the truth of it. He wanted her more than anything, and he wanted their marriage to work. He considered various paths he could take from here to help her accept him, and he chose the riskiest of all. “Do you trust me, lass?” he whispered. He was still buried deep inside her.

“Aye.” She nodded.

“Then stay where you are for five minutes. I promise not to move. If you do not want me at the end of five minutes, we will stop, and I will not touch you again tonight. You need to see that this will not hurt. You are no longer a maiden, sweeting, so there should be no pain. Can you do this for your husband?”

Maddie peered at him and slowly nodded her head. She then lowered her head down to his chest. He stroked her back and she started to relax a little
.

***

Five minutes
, she thought.
I only need to do this for five minutes.

She could feel his hardness inside her. She did not like it. It reminded her of Niles. She wanted him out. Alex was big and hard and as soon as he moved, he would probably hurt her as Niles had done. She tried to slow her breathing, tried to stop her feeling of panic.
Only five minutes.

She reminded herself that it was Alex, her husband, not Niles. This was the man she loved and trusted. Just as he had promised, he was not forcing himself on her. What if she moved away? With a strange ache, she realized she did not want him to completely stop touching her. She liked to be in his arms, just not this way.

She turned her head to the side and sighed deeply.
I need to focus on something else.
She was twirling her pearls slowly between her thumb and forefinger, so she decided to focus on her mother’s pearls. As she rotated them, they grew warm against her body. She closed her eyes for just a moment and thought of her mother. What would her mother tell her to do? She glanced across the room and caught a shadow.
Mother?

Her vision was blurred from tears, but the woman appeared to be her mother. Was she dreaming? The pearls were still warm.
Mother, what should I do?
She thought hard as she stared at the vision of her mother. Her mother smiled at her.
Help me, Mama
, she thought as she reached for her in her mind.

“
We have, child. Your father and I sent this man to you. Now you must help yourself.”

“
But I cannot do this, Mother. I just cannot.”

“
Do you love him, Maddie?”

“Aye, I do, with all my heart.”

“
Maddie, he loves you, too. Love him back, and trust him. You will not regret it. Your father and I are anxious to see your bairns. We will always be near.
”

Her mother started to fade.
“Wait, Mother!”

But her
mother was gone.

Alex was still inside her, and suddenly she realized there was no pain.

She lifted her head and gazed at her husband.

“Alex?”

“What, love?” He brushed a tear from her cheek.

“It does not hurt. Oh, my goodness, it is not uncomfortable at all!”

“I know it, Maddie, I am shrinking.” Alex rolled his eyes in frustration.

She wiggled her bottom and he instantly grew hard again. Then she pulled herself across the length of him and thrust him back inside. Alex groaned. She did it again. Alex groaned again.

“Maddie, you are killing me. If you do that again, we will finish this, I promise,” he said to his wife.

“Oh, Alex, I am so happy! I like this! What do you want me to do?” She kept moving up and down, slowly picking up her rhythm.

“Lass, are you sure you are all right?”

“Aye, Alex, this is starting to feel nice.” Maddie’s face beamed.

Alex groaned again. “Can I roll you over, lass? I am about to explode.”

She nodded and Alex rolled them over so he was on top of her.

***

He moved slowly at first to make sure she could handle him, but then instinct took over and he thrusted hard until he was in agony. He searched his wife’s eyes, trying to gauge if she was enjoying it. She was not breathing hard, but she was not screaming in fear either. He kissed her roughly because he did not know if he could hold out much longer. He was sheathed deep inside her wetness and almost lost all control. He forced himself to focus so he could hold out long enough for her to find her pleasure. He took her nipple in his mouth again and sucked hard. She gasped and arched toward him as he drove into her again and again. She was so tight, it was sweet torture. Lifting his head, he caught her blue gaze as she whispered, “I love you, Alex.”

That did it. With two more thrusts, he exploded his seed into her with a loud roar. His wee wife had put him over the edge with four words. What was this lass doing to him? He had never experienced an orgasm anywhere close to one this powerful.

Of course, he was upset with himself. He had gone ahead of her when he always pleasured a woman first. No lass had ever made him lose control. Balanced on his elbows, he tried to level his breathing as he looked at her in confusion. She was smiling a glorious smile.

“Oh, Alex, I am so happy. That did not hurt at all.”

“Good, I am glad.” He played with a curl around her face. Still not capable of thinking clearly, he nuzzled her neck.

“I am ecstatically happy, but, husband, you do not act happy. Is something wrong?”

He sighed. “Maddie, I am not happy because you did not find your pleasure. I will not be happy until you find your pleasure.”

“But I did find my pleasure, Alex. It did not hurt me, and it made me happy to make you happy!” she exclaimed.

“Nay, Maddie, you did not find your pleasure.”

“Yes, I did. I told you I did.”

He groaned. “Sweeting, you did not find the same pleasure that I did. A man and woman should both find pleasure before they are done. I could not hold out for you. You drove me over the edge with those blue eyes.”

Maddie bit her lower lip before adding, “I do not understand what you are talking about.”

Alex whispered into her ear, “I promise you, you will understand before we leave this chamber.”

He rolled onto his back and pulled her into his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder.

She lifted her head briefly to peer down at him. “Alex, did I not please you?”

He kissed her softly. “Aye, you pleased me very much. Go to sleep, sweeting. You have had a long day.”

“Alex?”

“What, love?”

“Did you really mean it when you said you loved me?”

“Aye love. How could I no’ love you? You drive me to madness!”

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “I love you, too.”

***

Maddie fell asleep quickly in her husband’s arms. All her fears were gone.

RESCUED BY A HIGHLANDER

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The new couple
awoke to banging on their door. Alex grunted and rolled out of bed, threw on his plaid, and unbolted the door. His two brothers were gaping at him with huge smiles on their faces when he opened the door.

“How goes it, brother?” Robbie said as he and Brodie tried to peek around him at Maddie in the bed.

“Everything is fine. There better be a good reason you interrupted my sleep,” Alex growled.

“Sleeping a bit late, are you no’?” Robbie grinned.

“We just came to get you for the feats of strength. Are you no’ coming?” Brodie asked.

“Nay, I will not be there. I am busy today. You both can act in my place.”

The brothers chuckled as they turned to leave.

“Busy! I like that,” Robbie said.

“Wish I was busy today!” Brodie laughed.

“Send Fiona up,” Alex yelled at them as they left.

Alex closed the door and turned to his wee wife, all wrapped up in a cocoon in the covers. He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. “Good morn to you, wife.”

Maddie sat up, the covers dropping from her chest. She quickly grabbed them and covered herself.

“Wife, it would please me if you would stop hiding yourself from me. I like your beautiful body.”

Maddie blushed. “Alex, it is daylight. You can see me.”

“Och, ‘tis the point, Maddie. Your body is glorious. I ache to see it in the daylight.”

A knock sounded on the door and Alex opened it to address Fiona.

“May I bring something to break your fast?”

“Aye, Fiona, we need lots of food, some mead, and a tub for my wife.”

“Aye, my laird.” Fiona turned to do as she was bid.

“A tub? Where are you going? I thought you told Robbie and Brodie you were not going to the tourneys.”

“I am not going anywhere. I am staying here with you all day. We will not leave until you find your pleasure.”

“But I told you, Alex, I
did
find my pleasure.”