Chapter Fourteen #2
She shook her head, feeling nervous at the sight of him. Was he glad they had married? Did he regret making such a life-changing decision? Her stomach was in knots with apprehension and excitement. She smiled timidly.
“I woke up a few minutes ago,” she said. “What time is it?”
“Mid-morning,” he said, coming into the room and shutting the door behind him. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded as she quickly finished packing. “Quite,” she said. “But I am ready to leave when you are. I am sorry I slept so long. You really should have awoken me earlier.”
He smiled, drinking in the sight of her, still in disbelief that he had actually married her. “You were exhausted,” he said understandingly. “Besides, it gave me time to purchase some things when the merchant stalls in town opened.”
She cocked her head curiously. “What did you purchase?”
He nodded, digging into a pocket in his tunic and pulling forth something small. Cathlina didn’t see what it was until he held it up into the light. Then, she could see that it was a golden band encircled with pale green stones. It was exquisite.
“I wanted to get you this,” he murmured, reaching out to take her left hand and making a point of sliding the ring onto the third finger.
“I was ill-prepared with a wedding band last night when we were married so I wanted to make amends. My father picked this out, actually. He said you would like it.”
Cathlina looked at the ring, astonished. “It is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen,” she whispered. Then she looked up at him, her big brown eyes glittering. “For me? You would really give this to me?”
Mathias cupped her beautiful face in his big hands, swallowing up her head. He simply stared at her, drinking in every contour, every line of her face.
“I hardly slept last night,” he admitted, “because I found myself awake, watching everything about you. You slept like the dead, with hardly a move or sound, and the entire time all I could think was that it was difficult to believe that you finally belonged to me. Cathlina, I have not even known you for a full week. Do you realize that? But it does not matter because I cannot remember when I have not known or longed for you. You took a knight who was dishonored and resigned and ignited something in him again. I cannot explain it any more than that. You have made me want to live again.”
His words were so deep and so touching. Cathlina instinctively reached out to touch his face, feeling his flesh against her fingertips.
When she came close to his mouth, he kissed her fingers gently but that was not enough.
He wanted to taste her lips and he did, slanting over them tenderly at first but then hungrily.
The more he kissed, the more he wanted. It was their first real, true kiss, better than all of the first real, true kisses in the history of the world because it was with her and she was the sweetest thing that had ever walked the earth. He knew that and he loved her for it.
Cathlina had never been kissed by a man in such a fashion. Their marriage last night had consisted of a chaste kiss to the cheek and any other kisses from Mathias had always been to her hand, so this roaring suckle of passion was something that sent her head spinning.
Caving against his heat, his maleness, she was completely under his control as he dominated her.
His lips were warm and firm, and she mimicked him as he suckled her lips.
When his tongue gently pried its way into her mouth, she experienced it curiously, then passionately, and tasted him as he was tasting her.
When his mouth finally left hers, she nearly collapsed, breathless.
“If we keep going, we shall never leave this place,” he said hoarsely. “Unfortunately, we must leave immediately but rest assured that we shall take up where we left off tonight. I have a new wife and I intend to know her.”
Cathlina knew what he meant and, as she tried to catch her breath, managed to blush.
Her mother had been frank with her and Roxane when they had crossed over into womanhood about what was expected from a husband and being extremely na?ve and curious at that time, she had gone so far as to seek out an experience to find out what, exactly, her mother had meant.
He had been a young knight, no longer serving her father, and their tryst had been over before it began when he had spilled his seed over her shift in his excitement.
After that, her curiosity had been sated and she never thought about such things again until this moment.
Now, with a husband she was quickly coming to adore, she was rather apprehensive about the event and the fact that there more than likely wouldn’t be blood on the sheets. She wasn’t sure what to tell him.
“Then let us leave right away,” she said, going to gather her satchel. Mathias took it from her as she collected her cloak. “Do you suppose it would be all right for me to take a piece of bread with me while we travel?”
Mathias smiled as he ushered her out of the door and into a very narrow corridor that led directly to an uneven flight of stairs leading to the main room of the inn.
“Better than that,” he said, “I have had the innkeeper pack a basket with food for us.”
Cathlina turned to look at him, gratefully, as they descended the stairs. “You have thought of everything,”
“I have a wife to tend to. I must see to her comfort.”
She smiled sweetly at him once they reached the bottom of the steps.
Mathias set her satchel down and helped her on with the heavy cloak, politely securing the stays around her neck.
The activity brought out the innkeeper and his wife, who had a big basket packed with bread and cheese and other things.
As Cathlina took the basket and peered into it, hungrily, Justus and Sebastian entered the structure from the street.
They approached Mathias but their focus was mostly on his new wife, whom they only saw fleetingly the night before.
“The horses are ready,” Justus said. He dipped his head at Cathlina when their eyes met, smiling hesitantly. “My lady.”
Cathlina grinned at the man. “That seems rather formal considering I am now your daughter.”
“I have never had a daughter. I am not sure how to behave.”
She laughed softly. “Pretend I am one of your sons, only prettier and nicer.”
He chuckled along with her. “I will try to remember that,” he said. “Welcome to our family. I pray you find us agreeable.”
Cathlina cocked an eyebrow. “Agreeable or not, we are all going to get to know each other very, very well over the next few days, I would suspect. I will tell you now that I like flowers and hate the taste of fish, that I can cook somewhat, and that I demand a clean and orderly existence. My mother taught me to be a frugal chatelaine so I do not like to spend money unless it is absolutely necessary. Is there anything else you wish to know?”
By this time, all three of them were looking at her with varied degrees of amusement. Sebastian was even snorting.
“I did not even know those things about you and I am your husband,” Mathias finally said.
She shrugged flippantly, although it was in good humor. “That is the risk you take when you marry someone after having only known them a week. Now, you will tell me something about you that I do not know so I can see what I have gotten myself into.”
Sebastian burst out laughing as Mathias fought off a grin.
“I like to spend money, I love the taste of fish, I hate flowers, and I demand everything around me be as disorderly and smelly as possible.” His grin broke through when he saw her laughing.
“Sebastian has a temper and fists of steel, my father likes to complain, and I believe we are all a big, bloody mess. Will you help right us, my lady?”
Cathlina shook her head at him. “It sounds as if you are all quite hopeless.”
“That is true.”
Mathias winked at her, took her elbow and, with his brother and father, escorted her to the door of the tavern.
It was raining outside, turning the road into a great boggy mess.
The humor faded from Cathlina’s face when she saw the state of the weather but she didn’t say a word.
She simply pulled her hood over her head and allowed Mathias to lead her out into the rain.
Two steps into the soupy avenue and Mathias handed her satchel over to Sebastian so he could pick her up.
He swung her into his arms and carried her across the road to where the horses stood, tethered beneath the shelter of a big oak.
He placed her on his saddle as Sebastian and Justus went to their horses to prepare them for departure.
As Cathlina pulled her cloak more closely around her, Mathias dug around in his saddle bags and came up with a length of oiled cloth, a rain cloak, which he wrapped tightly around his wife.
Then he mounted behind her and collected his reins, motioning for his father and brother to follow.
And so they were off, riding north into Scotland as the gentle rain fell and the soft wind blew.
The roads were in fair to poor condition because of the rain so it was slow going as they went.
The road had a few travelers on it, mostly farmers moving their stock or wagons, but they stayed well away from the party of three big men and one small lady.
With the cold gray mist over the landscape, it was a quiet and lonely journey.
Early on in the ride when the rain had turned to mist that was far wetter than the rain, Cathlina had covered her head up with the oil cloth in a vain attempt to stay dry while she dug around in the basket that the innkeeper had given her.