Chapter 18 #4
It started to rain again, the gentle trickling over the thatched roof bringing her back to the present.
Steinar was lying by her side, still panting hard, indicating that she could not have been lying on the edge of consciousness for as long as she’d thought.
Smiling, she gathered the last of her strength to come nestle against his flank.
Mm, so warm… Incredibly, given what had just happened, her body started to heat up in response.
“Are you all right, my love?” she whispered, lifting her head to him.
“More than all right.” He gave a long sigh and moved a strand of hair from her brow. “But this was like nothing else I’d ever experienced, and almost too intense to be allowed.”
Cwenthryth chuckled. What should she say if this had been too intense for him? She was no warrior made of stone. And yet, somehow, she had survived the assault, and was even ready for more.
“I seem to remember being promised more before the sun went down,” she teased, pressing her breasts tighter against him.
He groaned and gave a supple jerk of the hips. In the blink of an eye, she found herself lying under him, her back on soft furs, her front pressed against a hard masculine body.
“Don’t think I have forgotten what I told you, ast min.
And you will get more. But you will have to give me a moment—I’m only a man.
” He kissed her stomach, then her navel, and she whimpered when she understood where he was headed.
“Fortunately, there are things we can do while we wait for me to turn to stone again.”
Cwenthryth woke up with her breasts plastered against Steinar’s back and her arm draped over his waist.
His chest was rising and falling slowly, his even breathing betrayed the fact that he was still asleep.
Little wonder, given how he had exerted himself to fulfil his promise to take her over and over again, in every possible position, before they fell asleep.
Foregoing the original plan, he had carried on well into the night, despite her half-hearted protests.
Smiling to herself, she started stroking his naked skin, as smooth as finely tanned leather. How did he get to be so soft when he was the most masculine man she’d ever met? It wasn’t fair. By rights he should feel as rough as tree bark.
She rounded his muscular shoulder, descended slowly along his spine, splayed her fingers over the taut buttocks that probably still bore the trace of her nails. The night had truly been wild, and she had needed more than once to hold him tight, for fear she would break apart if she didn’t.
Taking her hand over to the other side of his body, she followed the trail of downy hairs gracing his lower abdomen.
Mm, so soft. So perfect. Then her finger met something that was anything but soft, if admittedly just as perfect.
Time for an even more intimate exploration.
Amazed at her own daring, Cwenthryth wrapped her hand around the shaft that had given her so much pleasure the night before, but stopped herself before she could give a squeeze and wake him up.
A low rumble made his chest vibrate, which she felt against her whole body.
“Don’t feel you have to stop here, lovely.”
Oh, the wretched man! “How long have you been awake?” she asked, bringing her mouth to his ear.
He clasped his fingers over hers before answering, giving himself the squeeze she had shied away from giving him. He groaned, then brought the roaming hand to his mouth to kiss her thumb. “Long enough to enjoy the most decadent moment of my life.”
Cwenthryth couldn’t help a laugh at this answer. “After all we did last night, this was the most decadent moment of your life?” It had been very tame in comparison. All she had done was stroke him. True, she had left no place untouched, but still…
“Yes. Because I cannot remember ever feeling so close to a woman. I know that most men are only interested in fucking, but I’ve always been different in that regard.
I told you, I’ve always wanted more. And you just gave me exactly what I’ve always been looking for, all this without me asking or even hinting at it.
” He turned to face her, eyes ablaze. “If this doesn’t prove that you are the woman for me, I don’t know what does. ”
Oh. As declarations went, this one was pretty perfect.
“And you’re the man for me. Do you know the moment I understood I was destined to fall in love with you?” she asked, rubbing a hand on the soft chest she loved to pet.
“I don’t. Though I suspect it was not when I asked if you wanted Haakon to ram his— Well, I’m sure you don’t need me to repeat what I said that night,” he growled.
“No. I remember it very well.”
Heat flooded Cwenthryth’s cheeks. Not at the memory of what he’d told her the day of Rowena’s wedding, but of what she had done the previous night.
Lost in a haze of pleasure, freed of all her doubts and inhibitions, she had wanted to see how it would feel to suckle a man she had chosen and taken him into her mouth.
It had been a revelation and she knew that Steinar had liked it as well.
She brought her mouth to his ear, ready for a scandalous confession. “But you were right, after all. If it’s with the right man, I do like having a cock down my throat.”
“Bloody hell, Cwenthryth, give a man a chance. Tell me the moment you fell in love with me,” Steinar rasped, sounding on the edge of his control. “Now. Before I lose my mind and beg you to take me in your mouth again.”
All in good time, she thought wickedly. First, she would answer him.
“It was when I saw you with little Frida in your arms.” She remembered thinking then that he looked born to have babies. “I wondered if I could one day know the happiness of having a man look at a child of mine in that way.”
A big, warm hand landed on her stomach. “You will, and I hope to be that man.”
She chuckled again. “Me too, since we are going to marry. Or have you already forgotten about that?”
“Hardly. As you know, I’ve always wanted a little girl.” He brought his nose in contact with hers as he spoke. “And I hope you’ll give me one very soon.”
“I would like nothing more.”
He was still cradling her stomach. Cwenthryth placed her hand over his and closed her eyes. Outside, rain was still hammering down on the straw roof. She didn’t care. She didn’t have anywhere else to go. She could stay in Steinar’s arms all day, if she wanted, giving both of them what they needed.
So that was what she did.