Chapter Nineteen
Between the music and the feast and the overall joviality, Marion had plenty to distract her from the man sitting beside her.
Except that it didn’t. She was keenly aware of every inch of him and each movement he made.
He’d moved his foot so that it rested alongside hers, and he was now leaning on the arm of the chair so that his arm touched hers. Her skin tingled where they touched.
“Are you enjoying the feast?” he asked in a low deep voice that sent shivers through her.
A part of her wanted the evening to last forever, but a much more visceral part, that part of her as a woman who knew instinctively what she wanted from a man, wanted him to fling her over his shoulder and carry her off to their bed.
Their bed.
Marion turned to him and mustered up whatever courage she could find.
“I am, my lord. But I am hungry for something else.”
She almost giggled as the words came out of her mouth at the sight of his eyes dropping to her lips and back to meet her gaze. He drew a shaky breath and leaned in close to her ear.
“Do you wish to leave the hall?”
His hot breath on her neck made her belly tighten and wetness pool between her legs. What did she want? She wanted to feel his skin on hers. She wanted him kissing her everywhere and most of all, she didn’t want anyone to bear witness to the wantonness that conflicted her.
“Do you think our hosts will be offended if we leave the feast early?”
“I am certain they will understand.”
Alexander turned to speak with the king and then back to her.
In a low voice, he said, “The king said he is surprised we are still here.”
In the next moment, the king was on his feet and addressing those gathered.
“My lords and ladies, I urge you to raise your cups as we celebrate this joyous union of two loyal houses. To the earl and his new countess, slainte!”
A booming, “Slainte!” erupted from the crown as Alexander pushed back his chair and held out his hand for her.
Marion took his hand and together they left the hall to much applause echoing through the hall. They walked slowly through the courtyard and onward to their chamber, each step loosing more sensations within her body.
The only thing stabilizing her was his warm hand holding hers. She was grateful for the silence as they ascended the stairs, as she didn’t trust her voice and she didn’t want him to think the shaking that would surely be present in her voice was from hesitation.
Outside of their chamber door, he placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her toward him. For a few heartbeats, he merely gazed upon her without speaking, making the tension within her draw even tighter.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“Nay, Alexander, I am not cold.”
She was rather the exact opposite.
“I want to tell you something, but I do not really know how.”
Icicles of dread crept into her heart.
“What is it?” she whispered.
He opened the door and waited until she was inside before closing it.
“My passion for you,” he whispered, “is so strong, I fear—”
Alexander stepped back from her for a moment and raked his hands through his hair.
“What is it you fear?” she asked as she took a step toward him.
“I do not wish to hurt you, but it will be your first time, and it may be unavoidable.”
Waves of relief washed through her. She feared he was about to tell her he did not really want her or some such madness her tortured mind had created in the moment.
Marion drew in a deep breath. She did not want half of him, just the reserved bit.
She wanted to experience his passion unleashed as she wished to do with hers.
So, she did the only thing she could think of. She turned around and asked, “Will you untie my bodice, my lord?”
She smiled as she heard him draw a deep breath and step to her. He pushed her hair over one shoulder and kissed her neck as he tugged at the strings beneath her bodice. She was pleased he didn’t have to ask how or where the ties were located.
Marion imagined there were various kinds of torture one could endure while waiting for pleasure, but she had to admit to herself she had never known any such as this, as with each movement of Alexander undressing her, his lips found a new and more potent spot on her neck.
When her bodice and skirt were on the floor, he turned her around and reached for the fine ribbon that held her shift together above her breasts.
He gazed deeply into her eyes as he pulled it, letting loose the knot and allowing him to slowly open it so that he could slide her shift down her shoulders.
Her hard nipples were the only thing keeping the garment from falling to the floor.
Alexander placed his thumbs on them and drew tantalizing circles, making her body pulse in ways she’d never known possible.
Her head fell backward as he squeezed one nipple and reached to the small of her back to press her hard against him.
His hot mouth on her neck and hard body tight to hers was her undoing.
Marion dove her fingers into his hair and drew his head upward to find his mouth.
She kissed him with such abandon, seeking and finding his tongue for a dance like he’d done with her before.
In the next instant, he hoisted her so that her legs straddled him as he carried her to the bed.
Laying atop her, he drew her shift to below her breasts and cupped one, squeezing hard.
Marion’s body bucked upward as jolts of pleasure washed through her body.
Every movement he made brought her higher and higher on a plane she could not understand nor fathom.
Alexander shifted and took one nipple into his mouth while his hand slid down across her fluttering belly and on toward the source of her excitement. He grazed his hand across her slick heat and then drove his fingers inside her, curling them as he moved them in and out.
Marion was nearly wild with need. She tugged on his shoulders, wanting more and not knowing when and how this would resolve.
“Alexander, please,” she whispered.
“Tell me what you want,” he said.
“I want you, all of you.”
As he drew his fingers in and out of her, he placed his thumb on the most pulsing part of her and within seconds stars burst behind her eyes and a flood of the most delicious ecstasy washed through her veins.
Her body bucked and trembled as the sensation continued for what felt like an age.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her.
His fingers were still inside of her and moving in tantalizing circles, coaxing her to continue to squeeze around him.
“Such passion,” he said in a voice that was almost a growl. The sound of it touched something deep within her which grew her excitement to build yet again. How that was possible, she did not know, but she was more than willing to find out.
Somehow with him, she found a boldness that was safe to explore.
Marion tugged at his doublet and that appeared to be enough for him to remove it and the leine he wore underneath.
She marveled at the light hair that dusted the thick muscles of his chest and wondered if his nipples were as sensitive as hers.
She pushed him onto his back and sat atop him, immediately noticing a part of him she’d not realized had changed. She spread her hands over his chest and flicked his nipples with her fingertips.
Alexander grabbed her hips and ground himself against her. “I need to be inside you, Marion.”
He flipped her onto her back and tugged her shift off then stood long enough to untie his belt and drop his trews to the floor.
She caught sight of him then, tall and lean and fully erect which made her swallow hard.
Now she understood what he meant by hurting her.
His fingers had not, but this was something entirely different.
Alexander slowly crawled on top of her and shifted her so that her legs were around his back. He kissed her sweetly and a part of her ached as he brushed the tip of his erection against her. She wanted this, wanted everything he had to give her.
“Please, Alexander. I want to feel you inside me.”
“Oh God,” he whispered and pressed himself against her.
Marion felt a heat that was surprising, and she was glad at first he moved slowly so that she could adjust to him. But as he pushed himself all the way in and then out and back in again, her excitement returned.
She didn’t want him to be careful with her any longer. She wanted him unleashed.
*
He was hanging on by a thread but was determined to make her first time as easy and pleasurable for her as possible, even if it did mean foregoing his own pleasure.
But she kept squirming beneath him, making it more and more difficult to hold on to the control it took to keep from pounding into her which is what he wanted to do.
Marion planted her feet on the bed and thrust upward hard.
He took in her state. Head back and grasping at his shoulders, she groaned when he pushed deep within her and held her there, pinned to the bed by his hard cock.
She pulsed, and he knew she would soon find her pleasure once again and that was all he needed.
Hooking his arms under her knees, he lifted his hips then thrust hard into her again and again.
She was wild beneath him as he neared his own climax but waited until he was sure she had fulfilled her own.
On and on he went, thrilled that her body was able to respond to his intense passion with a vigor of her own.
Only when he was sure her quivering had ceased would he allow himself to succumb to his need.
He felt the familiar tightening as his climax spread through him and his body shook in all the delicious ways he’d known before, but this time elevated him to such a sense of euphoria he didn’t know was possible.
He had never felt so powerful and vulnerable at the same time, like his very soul had been exposed in that moment for only her to see.