Chapter Ten
She’d died and entered the eternal plane.
There was nothing more to it. The things he made her feel were surely not for this realm.
William had taken her to a height she never knew existed until that moment.
She now understood how much tension she’d been under really since the moment they met.
Her body had known what it wanted all along.
William’s broad chest covered her, and he’d shifted his hips so that he was wedged between her legs, though he still wore his trews. But she could feel every inch of his hard member and longed to know what it would feel like when he did enter her.
He kissed her mouth with such passion she could scarcely draw breath and though she’d just been pleasured, his mouth and hands and body on her quickly set her pulse racing again.
When he pinched her nipple, hot desire shot to her core.
She could feel wet heat between her legs, and she couldn’t resist raising her hips to his in invitation.
“Not yet, my wanton wife,” he whispered. “I have more to show you first.”
William rolled to his side and took one nipple into his mouth sucking hard. At the same time, he drove two fingers inside her again making stars form behind her eyes. He alternated between nipping and thrusting and just as she was about to climax, he stopped.
She opened her eyes long enough to see him kick off his trews and a heartbeat later he was between her legs with the tip of his hard member pressing into her. He hovered above her and she looked down to see the size of him.
“Put your legs around my waist,” he said as he pushed in ever so slightly.
The pressure was great, but her desire tempered the discomfort. William scooped his arms under her shoulders and held her head in his hands. He kissed her softly as he entered her a little bit at a time and then pulled out only to enter a little more each time.
She was grateful he’d been gentle and by the time he had fully entered her, her desire raged again. She moved her hips in time with his and increased her tempo when he wasn’t moving as fast as she would like.
“William, please,” she said as he was still agonizingly slow.
“I do not wish to hurt you,” he said.
“I am not hurt,” she said and placed her hand on his cheek. “I want you to love me the way you want to.”
He smiled and kissed her hard as he thrust deep within her. She couldn’t help the groan that escaped her lips or the way she clung to his shoulders, and he thrust into her faster and harder with each passing moment.
The moment was upon her again and she felt the sensation low in her spine which spread throughout her whole body. William tensed above her then shook for a few moments for what seemed like an age as he hovered over her, still inside, his breath ragged.
He lay by her side and pulled her close to him. Her heart still pounded hard and her breathing ragged for long moments after their release.
She had no words. For what could be said of what they had experienced? Was it like that for everyone, or did they possess something rare and timeless? Would it always be that way between them or was it just because it was her first time?
“Tell me what you are thinking,” he said.
“I am thinking what we have shared is some kind of magical spell.”
“It is of a sort,” he said.
“Does that mean not everyone finds this?”
“It means that most people have a version of this, but not to this degree, no. This is special. You are special,” he said and kissed the top of her head.
She shivered as the night air cascaded in through the open window.
They pulled back the covers and crawled beneath them, curling into one another.
She loved the way their bodies melded one into the other and how his arms felt wrapped around her.
She drifted, feeling more satisfied and more safe than she ever had in her life.
Waking sometime later she realized he was not wrapped around her anymore, rather with his head between her legs and his tongue doing all sorts of wickedly delicious things. The arousal she thought she’d been dreaming of hit her hard in her awakened state and she climaxed within seconds of waking.
She was still pulsing as he pressed into her with his rigid member. This was not the slow start from earlier; he rammed into her, driving her higher and higher and to her shock, she climaxed again as he stiffened above her. She’d not thought that was at all possible.
“By God, you will be the death of me,” he said as he lay by her side.
“Shouldn’t that be the other way around?” she asked and slapped his buttocks. She didn’t know what possessed her, but she couldn’t resist anything about him.
“Give me ten minutes, woman, and then you can have more,” he said through a sleepy yawn. Moments later he was snoring.
She turned on her side to snuggle into his side as he lay flat on his back. In his sleep he put his arm around her and pulled her in tight to him. How long she lay there wide awake and staring at the lines on his face in the moonlight she didn’t know.
Her fingers traced the straight bridge of his nose and then his full lips. He was such a treasure she wanted to memorize him in any way she could, for surely this was too good to last forever. People didn’t get to have this and keep it too. Otherwise, they would never leave their chambers.
Twice more he woke her like that during the night, and she was certain she would not walk the next day, but she didn’t care.
Her soreness was worth the connection their passion forged.
For she’d never been so connected to another human being in her life, and she was not sure it was even possible any other way.
Now she understood what love was. And she was well on her way to loving him. She doubted she could function in a world where there was no William.
How silly her fantasies had been as a maid and before going to Stirling. She hadn’t even known what she’d been wishing for and thanked all the forces that had brought the two of them together.
“Are you not worn out yet?” he asked.
It was only then she realized he was awake and staring at her. He brushed some of her hair from her forehead and kissed the cleared spot.
“I don’t want this to end.”
“What makes you think it will end? We are married and will have our whole lives together.”
“Aye, you say that, but what if something happens to you? I could not bear it.”
“Shh, love. Nothing is going to happen to either one of us. We have many years ahead of us to torment one another as your parents do.”
“Do you promise?”
“Aye, I promise. Nothing will happen to me or you. Now close your eyes. We have to break our fast with your parents in just a couple of hours, and my wanton wife kept me up all night begging me to pleasure her again and again. Truly, woman, you are most demanding.”
She did as he asked and closed her eyes, but sleep would not come quickly. She had a foreboding sense that in the balance of the world, something this good would come at a price. That was the way of things and who were they to test fate?
Agnes curled into him once more and slid her hands across his thick chest then closed her eyes. His irresistible scent of clean air and leather drew her toward slumber and at some point she did manage to sleep.
*
Her words haunted him as they dressed to meet her parents. He threw on a fresh pair of trews and leine and fastened his regular tunic and belt before donning his boots and moving to the bed to see how she fared.
He understood the fear, for he too had never experienced what they had shared but they could not treat it as though it were a fleeting gift. They’d found one another against all the odds in the world, and he planned to spend his life being grateful and living for the here and now.
Her hand reached over to his side of the bed, and she sat up after swiping it back and forth and finding it empty.
She blinked at him a couple of times then grinned through her sleepy expression. “I thought you had left.”
“Never,” he said. “I was just about to go see about arranging a bath for you.”
“That sounds glorious,” she said and leaned back to stretch, her breasts jutting upward. How was it possible that the sight stirred his loins after the night of lovemaking they’d had?
“If you keep doing that, I will not be leaving this chamber for the day, and you will need more than a bath to soothe you.”
She laughed and pulled the sheets up to cover herself. “Very well, go see to a bath, and can you see if there’s any food about. I’m ravenous.”
“We are to break our fast with your parents this morn.”
“Aye, but Cook always leaves a platter out for early risers. His name is Connor and he will be in the kitchen already. Tell him I asked and he will look after you.”
“Is this the same cook you stole sweet treats from all those years ago?”
“Aye, the very one!”
William kissed her again and left the chamber. He was pleased to see a tub waiting outside the chamber and quickly lifted it inside then went in search of hot water. He could kill two birds with one stone if he found the cook and a couple servants in the same place.
He was not disappointed. The din in the kitchen could be heard well outside of the structure, which was joined with all the others, but like the hall, could only be accessed from outside.
“I am told to come find Connor,” William said as he entered the kitchen.
A round aging man with a kind face shot forward. “I told ye. I said our wee one would want a plate come the morn. Welcome in, m’lord. We will see ye tended to. Is it a bath ye be needing? Ale?”
The man seemed like he couldn’t do enough for him.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Connor. Is it possible to get some hot water for the lady’s bath? And aye, she requested a plate.”
“The water is already hot,” he said. “I saw to that first as I thought she would like that too.”