Chapter Three #2
He frowned at both his doubts and her sister’s questionable tutelage.
“You’re lovely,” he said, wanting to compliment her as a husband should.
In truth, she was more enticing than he’d expected.
Her brown hair rippled over the pale skin of her bare shoulders, with strands of copper glowing in the firelight.
The slight slope of her hips enticed him. “I would like to see you, wife.”
Her hazel eyes glittered in the candlelight.
As he removed his shirt, she watched with blatant curiosity.
She stood before him in nothing but her shift and bravely reached down to loosen the tie, but he stopped her.
Because something had stopped him. The way her hands trembled made his breath catch.
He would be a gentleman and wait until she was ready and not rush her, despite the need growing under his kilt. “If you would rather wait…”
“Nay. We would know it wasn’t a proper marriage,” she said more steadily than she’d seemed.
“Aye, we would.” He gazed at her for a long moment, watching the emotions play out in her eyes. Under everything else—the fear, the worry, and the doubt—he saw something else. Something that had him reaching for her shift and pull it over her head.
Excitement.
She wanted him. She might not know why or for what, but she had a womanly desire for him.
Having tried to delay her twice to no avail, the only option was to move forward. He stepped closer and bent to press his lips to hers. It took only a moment for her to respond in a way only Brenna Innes—make that Brenna Grant—would.
She wrapped both arms around his neck and hauled him to her. She didn’t seem to do anything gently or in a ladylike fashion. And yet he found that in this particular activity, he was grateful for her fire, though he still worried about hurting her.
“I’ve never taken a maidenhead or been with anyone inexperienced before,” he admitted as they moved to the bed.
She bit her lip again as she looked down at herself nervously.
“I think it best to be done with it so the pain is quick. What do you think?” he asked, feeling like a dolt. He might have asked one of his grandfather’s men for advice. He’d have to deal with their jests, but at least he would know the easiest way to remove someone’s virginity.
She nodded. “Aye. When I needed to be stitched last fall, I wished they’d hurry it up so the pain would be over faster.”
He smiled at her example, wanting to ask why she’d needed stitching.
Had she been thrown from the beast horse she rode?
Had she fallen from a tree? No doubt it was something as adventurous as she was.
“I hope the pain isn’t so bad as stitches,” he said, letting his kilt drop to the floor.
He heard her quick gasp and expected her to look away with a maidenly blush, but not Brenna. She stared, gaping at his cock.
“I’m not so sure…” She pointed uncertainly at him and swallowed. “I know people have been doing this all the time, but… Do you think that will fit?”
He pressed his lips together so as not to laugh at her question. “We’re about to find out.”
She climbed awkwardly on the bed and scooted up to lie stiffly in the center.
With a sigh, he slid into bed next to her.
He kissed her again, softer this time, and allowed his hands to roam over her subtle curves.
Her fingers clenched in his hair, pulling him closer as he invaded her mouth with his tongue, and she eagerly responded in kind.
Whatever she lacked in experience and seduction, she made up in courage and pure exuberance.
He moved between her thighs and began to have his doubts as to whether he’d fit.
There was barely room for his hips between hers.
He reached down to the thatch of hair and touched her gently to determine her readiness.
She was wet for him and made a soft noise of pleasure as he ran his thumb over her heat a few more times.
He considered taking the time to taste her and kiss her skin in places other than her mouth, but she was new to these things, and he didn’t want to frighten her further.
He paused to gather his courage when he was lined up where he should be.
He’d never been the one to push someone into womanhood before.
He paused at her warm entrance, loathe to cause her pain.
She smiled up at him. “I’m ready,” she said in a soft, more convincing voice than when she’d shouted her willingness earlier. Her encouragement made him smile.
Here he was, a man of experience, and this slip of a lass had to encourage him to continue. With a sharp nod, he moved his hips forward and pushed inside her the entire way. He felt the breach of her maidenly defenses and shuddered.
“Are you well?” he asked when he was fully seated. He couldn’t bear it if she wept. It would kill him. Fortunately, she smiled up at him.
“Aye. It wasn’t so bad as the stitches.”
He returned her smile and kissed her lips and her neck as he began to move inside her.
To his surprise, she moved beneath him, writhing upward against him to meet each stroke.
The sounds coming from her made his blood heat.
He’d felt women take their pleasure before, but they’d not been so uninhibited about it as his new bride. He found he liked it very much.
In that moment, he could see how a man might give up his will to a woman. He might wish to do all that was necessary to make her happy. Was this how it began? The first deceit? The way a woman twisted a man to do her bidding?
He wouldn’t have thought someone like Brenna was capable of such grand planning. She was no seductress. But her innocence was part of the ploy. He found it appealing enough that he wished to bring her pleasure and earn her smiles.
He didn’t know what she was up to, having married him when she knew the truth. She didn’t seem one to care for jewels. But perhaps that would have been easier. She'd be disappointed if she’d married him with some hope of earning his heart.
For she would hate him come morning.