Taming the Highland Bride (10 page)

Her voice was hard and cold, and Alex responded as if she had physically slapped him, rearing up enough that they could peer at each other. He was scowling, she saw in the dim light, and scowled right back. She would not pretend to believe his lies.
He might fool himself, but she would not allow him to think he fooled her.

They stared at each other silently for several moments and Merry saw several expressions flash across his face. Disappointment, resignation, unhappiness. For one moment she thought he might roll away from her and leave off what he had started, and she was surprised to find that part of her was actually disappointed at the prospect. Then his expression turned determined and he said, “I was indeed drunk the day you arrived. Very drunk. The blacksmith insisted on it before pulling my tooth, but it was a singular occurrence. I do not usually drink.”

Merry started to shake her head in disbelief and opened her mouth to tell him what she thought of that line, but he covered her mouth with one hand and said solemnly, “’Tis the truth. I am not sure what is happening, but I can assure you that I have not been drinking myself to drunkenness each night. In fact, the way you watch me, surely you have noticed that I have no more than one ale each night, and that twice these last weeks I have not had anything at all to drink, even mead during the meal, and yet am experiencing some slurring in my speech and disorientation.”

Merry considered this silently. She had indeed noticed what, and how much, he was drinking, and had wondered over it briefly, but then had decided that he must have been drinking with the men before coming inside for the meal so that he was drunk before joining her at table. “Then what—?”

“I think I may be fighting off what the men have
been suffering. ’Tis the only explanation I can come up with for the symptoms when I have not been drinking,” Alex said solemnly, and then admitted a tad wryly, “At one point I thought perhaps someone was drugging my drink, but I did not drink at all for two nights and it changed nothing, so…” He shrugged helplessly. “Exhaustion and fighting off an illness seem the only reasonable explanation.”

When her eyes narrowed at the suggestion, he added, “Merry, I realize you do not believe me. And I am not trying to convince you, I am just telling you what I think. Hopefully, this disorientation and slurring will pass now that the illness is passing and I will return to normal. Just…give me a chance, Merry. Let me prove to you through my actions that I am neither a drunk nor the rough animal that I acted on our wedding night.”

The words were not a plea, but a solemn request, and Merry stared at him silently, wishing there was more light in the room so that she might better see his expression. At table that night he had slurred and twice missed his mug when reaching for it. She had assumed that he was once again in his cups and yet he claimed he wasn’t, and he had kissed her most thoroughly and there was no hint of alcohol on his breath. Besides, he had not been a rough animal on their wedding night as he had just said, so that part, she knew, was not true.

Merry peered at him for another moment, her thoughts in a whirl, but truly there was little to think about. He was her husband and as such had the right to her body when he chose. As for the rest of it, only time would tell if he was a drunk or not.

Letting her breath out slowly, she released her hold on his hand and forced some of the stiffness from her body, but that was the best she could do. The warm, fuzzy excitement he’d stirred had already died and she was now growing anxious at what lay ahead.

Alex seemed to realize this and didn’t react to her silent acquiescence at first. When he slid his hand from between her legs, she thought he would roll over and leave her alone after all, but she was wrong. Instead, he shifted slightly to make room on the bed and then urged her onto her back.

Merry didn’t resist, but allowed him to turn her over. However, her eyes were wary as she watched his head lower. When his mouth brushed over hers, she lay still, waiting, but he didn’t deepen the kiss as he had the first time. Instead, his mouth trailed away across her cheek to her ear, and she blinked in surprise and clenched her fingers again as he began to nibble at her ear and neck, stirring a lazy excitement in her once more. So distracted was she by the reactions he was causing with the simple caress, it took Merry a moment to realize that his hand was moving again, running lightly along her hip and stomach. She had barely become aware of that soothing caress when his mouth returned to hers again. This time he brushed them lightly with his own once, twice, and then urged her lips open so that his tongue could explore.

Despite her worries about what sort of husband she had, Merry found herself melting under the combination. She was just about to kiss him back when his mouth drifted away and slid down along
her throat to her collarbone. Merry turned her head to give him better access, and then bit her lip on a gasp when his hand found and began to caress her breast once more. It appeared her earlier excitement had not died as she’d thought, but the fire had merely been banked for their brief conversation. Now it flamed back to life wherever he touched and kissed her. Pleasure shivered across her collarbone and followed the trail of his lips as they moved over the mound of her breast. It then sparked white hot as his mouth closed over her nipple and he showed her that it was good for more than feeding babies.

Without realizing how it had happened, Merry found her fingers curled in his soft hair, holding his head close as he suckled at one breast. When his now displaced hand moved to the other breast and began to knead and squeeze there, she had to bite her lips hard to keep from moaning at the double assault. Nothing, however, could keep her body from arching and twisting beneath his ministrations.

By the time he finally raised his head and kissed her again, Merry’s mind had given up her worries about her marriage and what sort of husband she had. This was all so new and overwhelming, she had trouble holding on to a thought, so simply let them go and kissed him back. She wasn’t entirely sure she was doing it correctly, but emulated his actions to the best of her abilities and hoped that enthusiasm would make up for whatever she lacked in skill.

Alex’s response was encouraging. He moaned into her mouth, and she felt his hand slide into her hair, holding her firmly and tilting her face as his kiss became harder and more demanding. Merry re
sponded by opening her mouth further and clutching at his shoulders as her body began to quiver and cry for more. When she felt him shift and his leg slide between both of hers, she thought he would mount her then and instinctively opened her legs to make room for him, but that one leg was all he placed there. Merry was, at first, confused, but then he slid it up to rest against the very center of her and her hips bucked, pressing her against him as a fire burst to life there and began to grow with every movement of his leg.

He was still kissing her, and his hands had returned to her breasts to find and tweak and pluck her nipples. The three things together had Merry in a tizzy of excitement, her body arching and twisting under the assault as she was driven toward something she didn’t understand. Need was pulsing through her, making her crave an end to this madness and—forgetting about their wedding night—she reached instinctively for the hardness pressing insistently against her hip and grasped it, somehow knowing it could end this sweet torture.

Alex stiffened at her touch and broke their kiss on an alarmed gasp. He also reached down to catch at her hand. It was too late, her fingers were squeezing around his shaft and it responded as it had on their wedding night, thrusting in her grasp and—like a cow’s udder—producing milk.

Merry stiffened, her eyes shooting to her husband’s face even as he jerked and threw his head back with a shout that ended on a curse. It was the curse part that told her she had done something wrong, and Merry released him and bit her lip as
she watched him in his throes. She very much feared she’d hurt him and silently berated herself for ruining what had been—up until then—a very exciting experience. And then Alex collapsed against her, his head buried in her shoulder as he regained his breath.

Merry lay still, afraid to move and ruin things further. When he finally lifted his head, she eyed him warily, sure he was about to give her hell, but much to her surprise, the first words out of his mouth were an apology.

“I am sorry, Merry,” he whispered with a wry shake of the head. “This has never happened to me before.”

“’Tis I who should be sorry,” Merry said quietly. “I didna mean to hurt ye.”

His eyes widened slightly at her words. “Hurt me?” he asked with disbelief, and shook his head. “You did not hurt me. That was wonderful.”

She must have looked as confused as this claim made her feel, because he shook his head, and then said, “I fear the excitement was too much for me. I have been sporting an erection ever since our wedding night and unable to do anything about it, and your touch…” He grimaced. “It was just too much. I should have warned you not to touch me, or—”

“Ye mean ye liked that?” she asked with amazement. “But ye looked to be in pain. I thought I’d—”

Alex silenced her with a kiss and then whispered, “Forgive me. I forget how innocent you are. I know your first time must have been painful and you probably think it was for me, too, but I will show you it does not have to be and that what I just expe
rienced was anything but pain.” He paused and offered her a wry smile and then added, “Unless you mean painfully embarrassing. I have not given such a bad showing since my youth. But now that it is out of the way, I can concentrate on you.”

Merry wasn’t at all sure what he meant or how he could possibly claim it hadn’t been painful. The man had been cursing but moments ago and she knew there was supposed to be blood. How could there be blood without pain? she wondered, but then her thoughts were distracted as he began to kiss her again. Despite his shout and cursing of a moment ago, there was no lack of ardor to his kisses, and Merry felt her own passions shiver quickly back to life as he bombarded her senses. This time it was different. Where before Alex had seemed careful and almost tentative as if expecting her to pull away weeping for him to stop at any moment, this time he was a man on a mission, his concentration and determination apparently on the sole goal of driving her wild with desire.

Alex kissed her hard and eagerly even as he slid his hands to her shoulder and urged her up until she knelt on the bed before him, and then his hands were everywhere. They slid over her back, and then down her arms, and finally up to cup both her breasts at once. Merry immediately sat up a little straighter before him, a little gasp slipping from her lips as her breasts rose and pressed into his caress. In response, Alex merely kissed her more deeply, his fingers squeezing and kneading briefly before he broke their kiss to duck his head and catch one erect nipple in his mouth.

A gasp of surprise slipped from her lips, and Merry clutched at his head as his tongue rasped over the engorged nipple, lashing it in a way that made her toes curl where they rested beneath her bottom. Now free, the hand that had been at that breast immediately dropped to cup her bottom. He used that hold to urge her up so that she was upright on her knees, placing her breast at a more comfortable angle before him. Alex then pressed her lower body forward until her hips and pelvis pressed against his chest.

A little unbalanced, Merry grabbed at his head and shoulders and held on. Her breath was coming in little panting gasps as he laved and suckled her breasts, but it stopped briefly when his hand suddenly slid around and between her legs from behind to brush across the very center of her. When his fingers brushed over her a second time, her breath left her on a little puff of surprised excitement, and Merry found her nails digging into his flesh as he concentrated on driving her wild. Within moments her thighs were shaking and threatening to drop her, and her breathing was a frantic mix of gasps and pants and pleading mewls. This was a part of the bedding Edda had obviously forgotten to mention, and Merry was almost relieved she had. For surely she would have been much more upset with him on their wedding night had she realized what he was depriving her of when he’d knocked himself out.

Alex nipped gently at her nipple, not enough to hurt, but enough to draw her attention back to him and away from her thoughts. Merry lowered her head to peer at him, surprised to see his eyes open
and watching her. Apparently, he’d seen her brief distraction and hadn’t liked it. She opened her mouth to explain, but the moment she did, Alex released the nipple from his mouth and surged upward to claim her. He had to retrieve his hand from between her legs to do so, and Merry felt a moment’s disappointment, but then his hand slid between them to work their magic from the front, sliding urgently over her slick, swollen flesh as he kissed her.

Merry groaned and gasped into his mouth, her hips instinctively thrusting forward. Her eyes popped open with surprise when she reached down to his hip for balance, misjudged, and her hand brushed against a hardness between them. It seemed her husband was excited again, she realized, and then gasped in surprise as he released the hold he had on her head to catch her hand and twist it behind her bottom. The action was to keep her from touching him again, she realized as Alex used their entwined hands to press her bottom farther forward so that her upper body was leaning backward under his and her hips were pushing forward, urging her into his touch. He had her totally in his control now, and Merry found it all a bit overwhelming and almost frightening as her body roiled with the desire he was building in her. A long line of tension seemed to run between her mouth under his and the spot where his hand worked so feverishly and it was growing tighter by the moment. She knew it would soon break and feared what she did not know would happen. At the same time, her body craved it like a starving man craved food. It left her struggling in mind and body, her hips thrusting into his
touch while at the same time twisting in an effort to try to escape the caress.