Chapter Six #4
He liked hearing her use his name. It was the first time she’d ever used it, and he found it very pleasant to hear it in her sweet voice. Turning to the hearth where the fire was dying, he knelt down and picked up more wood from the box.
“I used to,” he admitted. “You already know that Keeva is my cousin. When she married de Winter, I came as part of her dowry. Daveigh gained Irish lands through Keeva, so I was the exchange – I was to come to England with her and swear fealty to de Winter, thereby swearing fealty to him on behalf of all of his Irish lands. I really had no choice in the matter.”
It was true that Eiselle knew he was Keeva’s cousin, but she hadn’t known the circumstances of his service in England. She watched him as he put more wood on the fire and stoked it.
“But why you?” she asked. “Why not one of your brothers?”
“Because I was the greatest.”
Eiselle couldn’t argue with that. “Then I am glad it was you,” she said. “Otherwise, I would have never found a husband.”
He looked at her as if she were mad, but then he ended up breaking down into soft snorts of laughter.
“I suspect that is not true,” he said. “You would have found one, eventually, but I am glad the one you did find was me, thanks to your cousin. Instead of wringing his neck the next time I see him, I do believe I shall thank him.”
Eiselle smiled at him and, for a moment, they simply looked at each other, drinking in the sight of one another and absorbing the situation.
They were married now and on this night, certain things were expected of them.
Eiselle knew that. Averting her gaze, she moved over to the neat stacks of trunks against the wall and opened up one of the smaller cases.
She pulled forth something, something Bric couldn’t really see until she came close and held it out to him.
It was a sash of some kind, made from dark brown wool and embroidered from end to end with very beautiful patterns that looked like shields. As he peered at it, she spoke.
“I made this for you,” she said. “It is a belt for your tunic. I did not know what to give to you on the event of our wedding, so I made this. If you do not like it, I can make you something else. But I wanted to give you a gift and this was all I could think to do.”
Bric stared at it. Then, he reached out and took it from her hands, inspecting the detailed quality of it. After a moment, he simply shook his head, awed.
“It is astonishing,” he said in a tone she’d never heard before. “I have never had anyone make anything for me, at least not like this. Thank you, Eiselle. It is beautiful.”
“Then you like it?”
“I have never had a finer gift,” he said. “I shall carry it with me, always. But that brings me to a very embarrassing admission.”
“What?”
He looked at her as if afraid to tell her.
“I did not get you anything,” he said. “I have not had the time and… nay, that is not entirely true. I told you I was resistant to this marriage and the thought of giving you a gift on our wedding day… I could not bring myself to do it. It was going to be my statement to you of how unhappy I was with this arrangement. Now, I am deeply ashamed that I was so cruel about it. I pray you are not too angry with me.”
Smiling faintly, Eiselle shook her head.
“We have a pact, you and I,” she said. “All we ask is honesty between one another. You have been honest with me about your feelings and I cannot become angry with you about it. But… but I do hope you shall change your mind. I will do all I can to ensure that you do.”
Bric was feeling terrible about the fact that he had no gift for her. He was feeling about as cruel and nasty as he possibly could, so very cruel to this beautiful and delicate creature who only wanted to please him.
“You have changed my mind,” he said quietly. “I told you I was no longer resistant to our marriage, and I meant it. I will make you this promise – I will purchase a gift for you, something wonderful and lovely and deserving of you. It will be the best gift you have ever received.”
She smiled bashfully. “That is not necessary,” she said. “I did not give you the gift so that you would have to reciprocate. I gave it to you because I wanted to.”
“You gave it to a man who did not deserve it.”
She looked at him, seeing that he was being very hard on himself. A thought occurred to her.
“There is something you can give me,” she said.
“Tell me what it is and I shall get it for you, no matter what the cost.”
She shook her head. “It costs nothing and you can give it to me right now.”
His brow furrowed. “What is this mysterious thing?”
Eiselle felt rather bold with what she was about to say, but something in her wanted very much to say it. He was her husband, after all. Perhaps he wouldn’t think she was being too bold.
“Since we’ve met, all has been quite formal between us, as it should be,” she said.
“Now, we are expected to… to know each other as a husband would know a wife. We’ve really not even had a chance to know each other more than just a day, and in that time, as I said, all has been quite formal.
If you should like to give me a gift, then mayhap…
mayhap you can give me a kiss, as a husband would kiss his new wife.
It costs nothing and it would mean a great deal. ”
Bric couldn’t believe he’d been so blind.
It was, perhaps, one of the better suggestions he’d heard and without a word, he went to her.
But he didn’t touch her right away. He just stood there, his body up against hers, gazing down into that perfectly angelic face.
He’d kissed women before, but never a woman he’d been attracted to.
He was ashamed to admit that any physical interaction with women had been with the kind one usually paid when the physicality was finished.
As a man, he had needs, and it was safer to pay for those needs to be taken care of.
He’d never wanted any kind of an attachment, and women who accepted money for their services were his preference.
No attachment, no emotion. That was how Bric MacRohan had always lived his life when it came to women.
Until now.
Now, he couldn’t resist this beautiful woman in front of him, a woman who was now his wife. She belonged to him and he could do anything he wanted to her, and she would forever and always belong only to him. Aye, he was going to kiss her, just as she’d asked.
But he was going to do more than that, too.
Putting his arms around her, Bric pulled Eiselle against his hard chest, acquainting himself with the feel of her.
She was soft and warm. Dipping his head down, he kissed her forehead, and her cheek.
The fragrances of roses met his nostrils and he inhaled deeply.
But that sweet scent was to be his undoing; it was lush and alluring.
His embrace tightened and he buried his face against Eiselle’s fragrant neck.
Eiselle gripped Bric’s shoulders as his mouth moved down her neck, roving over the soft flesh.
She was somewhat in shock at his bold actions.
Certainly, she’d asked for a kiss, but this wasn’t what she had expected.
She had been moderately nervous for his kiss, praying her stomach would behave, but that nervousness had vanished.
In fact, her momentary shock at his bold action evaporated as her heart began to pound so forcefully that she was positive it was about to burst from her chest.
Bric’s tongue, hot and lusty, lapped at the flesh of her shoulder as his fingers pulled aside that beautiful dress. Eiselle could feel his hot breath on her skin, like nothing she’d ever experienced before. She didn’t even know such a sensation existed.
She could hardly breathe.
The fire crackled softly in the hearth, sending sparks up the chimney as Bric abruptly swept Eiselle into his arms and deposited her upon her bed.
He gently kissed her face, moving to her chin and neck as his fingers went to work on the ties of her gown.
Unfortunately, the ties were tight, and didn’t come away easily.
Bric had to work at it. He managed to get the ones on the left side undone, rolling her onto her left side so he could kiss the exposed flesh.
Eiselle groaned softly with awakening pleasure, realizing that she liked this very much.
The man’s touch lit a fire in her, and she wanted more.
Rolling her onto her back once more, Bric removed the gown slowly, running his tongue over every delectable portion of exposed flesh.
Eiselle stared up at the ceiling as the surcoat came off her shoulders, her arms, baring her breasts against the weak light of the chamber.
She should have been embarrassed at her nudity, but she wasn’t.
She wasn’t embarrassed in the least, not even when he pulled the surcoat over her hips and slid it the length of her legs.
Is this what it means to have a husband?
Eiselle thought as she wallowed in the boneless, lethargic state of her mounting desire.
If this was what being married meant, then she was willing to embrace it completely.
If Bric could make her feel like this, with her heart racing and her breathing coming in unsteady gasps, then she would happily let the man do whatever he wanted to her, forever and ever.
She was more than willing to let him claim her.
As Eiselle found herself consumed by her first sexual encounter, Bric was having a difficult time pacing himself.
Every touch, every kiss, had him wanting to ram his body into hers until he was satisfied.
But he couldn’t do that. He wanted to go slowly with Eiselle because, for the first time in his life, he was building something with a woman and the only way he could think to do that was to be slow and gentle with her.
So far, it was working. But the sight of her nude breasts by the firelight very nearly undid him.