Chapter 15 #3
He trembled from the force of it and from the need he had to possess this woman who was the closest thing to heaven he would ever know.
He pulled back and stared into her passion-dulled eyes. “You are beautiful,” he whispered.
She answered his words with a kiss.
Her boldness amazed and thrilled him. He pulled back slightly as she placed her lips to his jaw, and stroked his skin gently with her tongue. Draven closed his eyes as a thousand chills went through him.
Emily gasped as he pulled her gown from her. Never before had anyone seen her unclothed. The sensation was titillating, exciting and it left her breathless. Self-consciously, she tried to cover herself with her arms.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
She did as he ordered.
He took her arms in his hands and spread them wide while holding her gaze with his eyes. “I don’t want you to hide from me. Ever.” He reached out and cupped her breast with his hand. “I’ve waited far too long to see you for you to cover yourself now.”
She licked her dry lips. “It seems to my memory you were the one who did the running, milord.”
“Draven,” he corrected her as he nuzzled her neck. “I never want to hear you call me anything but that and I am through running from you, Emily.”
He nipped playfully at her earlobe, sending chills the length of her body.
Her head swam as he backed her up against the wall and shed his clothes. He seized her in his arms, and she moaned as her naked flesh collided with his. The hard planes of his chest pressed against her breasts which hardened as they brushed against his soft curls.
Draven moaned against her lips as his hands pressed her hips closer to his. He could feel the soft curls at the juncture of her thighs against his swollen shaft as she ran her hands down his back.
His eyes darkened as he reached out and cupped her breasts in his hands. He dipped his head and took her right breast into his mouth.
Emily hissed in pleasure as tendrils of pleasure shot through her. He trailed kisses to her other breast.
“Draven,” she moaned, marveling at the mixture of pleasure and desire he stoked.
He returned to her lips as his hands ran the length of her body, stroking and exploring everywhere they went. She ached for his touch.
Draven ran his hand down her stomach and touched the center of her body.
Emily jerked at the unexpected contact.
“Shh,” he breathed in her ear. “‘Tis fine, trust me.”
She relaxed as his fingers separated her tender folds and began to stroke her in an intimate caress. Never had she felt anything like it as all the heat in her body pooled to the point where her legs met.
She felt Draven’s body stiffen and he pulled away from her with a curse.
“Did I do something wrong?”
He shook his head. “I can’t wait for you, Emily,” he whispered. “I want you too badly.”
She didn’t understand his words as her gaze ran down his body. Heat flooded her face at the sight of him bare before her with him jutting out like a lance.
Then he returned to her. His eyes were apologetic as he pressed her back against the wall.
“Draven?”
He kissed her, then separated her thighs with his knee. Emily moaned at the feeling of his hard thigh pressing against the part of her that ached for him and instinctively she rubbed herself against the hard muscles of his thigh wringing a deep moan from him.
Her body afire, Emily delighted in the feel of his body completely against hers. Until he drove himself into her.
She gasped as pain overrode her pleasure. “You lied to me,” she whispered. “You said it wouldn’t hurt.”
He kissed her cheek. “‘Tis your maidenhead giving way, Emily. I promise once you get used to me, it won’t hurt anymore.”
She didn’t know if she could believe him.
He lifted her legs up from the floor and had her place them about his waist. He tilted her head up to where he could stare down into her eyes.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
She did.
“If you will suffer me for the next few minutes, I swear to you when you leave here, you won’t be afraid.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will.” And then he started moving against her hips.
Emily clenched her teeth, trying not to cry out from the pain of him thrusting inside her.
Draven buried his lips against her throat, hating the way she remained tense.
“Relax,” he breathed in her ear. But she didn’t. If anything, his words seemed to distress her more.
He cursed himself for not knowing what to do to alleviate her discomfort, but he’d never before taken a virgin and his few encounters with women left him sorely lacking.
With a curse, he pulled out of her.
Her legs fell to the floor as she took her weight back on her own feet. She didn’t say a single word as she retrieved her dress from the floor and clutched it to her breasts.
It was then he saw the tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Emily,” he sighed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Joanne was right. It hurts terribly.”
Draven pulled her against him. His body still needed hers and it was all he could do not to cry out from the pain of his pent-up desire, but he wouldn’t hurt her again.
He would never be that selfish again.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he whispered, then kissed her.
At first, she tensed and then she relaxed. Draven breathed a sigh of relief. He would help her through this if it was the last thing he did.
Emily didn’t know what to think as he buried his lips against her throat. On the one hand, she was terrified of him entering her again.
Wasn’t it supposed to be over once a man did that?
Yet the feel of his lips on her was pleasurable enough. If only it didn’t lead to the other.
He breathed in her ear and then ran his tongue over her lobe. Emily moaned in pleasure and ran her hands over his ribs.
And then she heard it, a little ripple of laughter from him.
They both froze at the sound.
Emily pulled back to look at him. “Did I hear what I think I did?”
Draven frowned. “I think I may be ticklish.”
“Shall we find out?”
Before he could respond, she reached for his ribs again.
He shot across the room, putting the table between them. Emily shifted her gown over her to keep herself covered as she stalked him.
They circled the table three times with him making sure to keep it between them. Then he dashed to the bed, but she caught him before he could flee.
Falling upon him, Emily set upon his ribs with a vengeance. He threw his head back and laughed aloud as she tickled him mercilessly.
Emily cried out in triumph.
He squirmed to avoid her hands, but she would have none of it. Determined to make him laugh until his sides ached, she continued tickling him.
“Stop, lady. Please, I yield,” he said, grabbing her hands in his.
Emily looked down at him and realized that in her haste to tickle him, she had dropped her gown and climbed upon him. Now his hard, flat stomach rested between her legs.
She gulped at the strange sensation of his rippled muscles beneath her. Of his tiny hairs tickling the damp flesh between her legs as he breathed.
The laughter faded from his face to be replaced by a dark hunger.
He trailed his hands up over her body to her breasts and up to her face to cup it gently.
“You are mine,” he said possessively.
“Aye, Draven, I am yours.”
Draven stared at her as he heard the most precious words on earth to him. He pulled her head to his and kiss her soundly. Her hair fell forward, brushing his chest and arms with her golden curls. He could feel her supple form against him as she surrendered herself to his touch.
His body burned with need, but having so botched his earlier attempt with her, he made himself move more slowly lest her hurt her again.
Emily moaned as he deepened his kiss and stroked her breast with his thumb. To her dismay, he left her lips, then nibbled a trail down her cheek to her neck, then up to her ear. She writhed in pleasure as her body shook in response to his tongue as it swirled and darted around the tender flesh.
His warm laugh echoed again. “Like that do you?” He rolled her over onto her back.
“Aye.”
And he moved lower with his kisses. To her breasts, her stomach. His warm breath tickled her while his whiskers gently scraped her skin as he licked her all over.
Emily closed her eyes and savored the feel of his warm skin against hers while he moved to nibble her hip.
She buried her hands in his hair and moaned as he nibbled the sensitive flesh over her hip bone.
He pulled back from her and placed his body between her thighs.
“Draven—”
“Shh,” he whispered against her thigh. “I promise you it won’t hurt.”
Reticently, she allowed him access to her. He shifted his body and she tensed expecting him to enter her again. But he didn’t. Instead, he gently parted her tender folds and took her into his mouth.
Emily cried out as pleasure ripped through her. Never had she felt anything more wondrous than the sensation of his tongue doing the most wicked things imaginable to her body.
Her head spun.
Relentlessly, he teased her, making her body hotter and hotter. Her pleasure greater and greater.
And to think she had been fearful of pain!
She reached down and buried her hands in his hair, and still he pleased her. Ecstasy mounted until she was sure she’d perish from it, and just as she was certain she would, her body exploded with pleasure far greater than anything she had ever experienced.
Throwing her head back, she cried out in release as her entire body shook from a force unimaginable.
Her body still quivered as Draven crawled up her and then slid back inside her with one strong, masterful stroke. She moaned at the foreign sensation of him deep inside her.
There was no pain this time, only a sense of fullness.
“Are you all right?”
“Aye.” She wrapped her body around his.
Draven closed his eyes to better savor the feel of her surrounding him.
Relieved he wasn’t hurting her, he moved slowly against her hips. Her sighs of pleasure delighted him and when she began to move her hips against his, he feared he might very well perish from it.
She dug her nails into his back as he buried himself deep inside her again and again.
And when his release came, he thought he’d go blind from it.
Emily smiled as she felt him shudder and collapse on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his hips, and just enjoyed the feel of his skin against hers. The feel of him still inside her.
For the longest time he didn’t move, but simply lay there until she feared he had fallen asleep.
“Marry me,” he said all of a sudden, startling her.
“What?”
He pulled back from her so that he could stare down into her eyes. “I want you to marry me, Emily.”
She looked at him skeptically. “Because I made you laugh?”
“Because you make me happy.”
Tears welled in her eyes as happiness burst through her body. Never had any phrase meant so much to her. “Then how could I say anything save aye?”
He placed a gentle kiss against her lips, and rolled to her side. Emily curled up beside him and draped a leg over his stomach. His contented smile reached deep into her heart.
“Emily?”
“Aye?”
“When I seized the axe, why didn’t you flee the hall?”
She placed a tender kiss on his chest. “Because I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.”
“How did you know?”
She leaned up on her elbow to stare down at him. “I’ve seen enough of your mettle to know you would never strike someone who couldn’t fight back.”
He frowned as he toyed with a lock of hair beside her face. “And you had no doubt whatsoever that I would stop?”
“Well,” she admitted. “I did have a moment of panic when you drew back your hand.”
“What would you have done had I struck you?”
“I would have left and never returned.”
“Then I am glad I came to my senses. For I would never intentionally hurt you.”
“I know.” She laid her head on his chest. “I know.”
Draven ran his hand through the golden strands splayed across his chest. He could feel her chest rise and fall against his as she breathed easily.
If he could, he would make this moment last forever.
But sooner or later, they would have to leave the room and then....
He closed his eyes and sighed.
“I am going to die for this,” he said simply as he realized what their tryst would cost.
Emily laughed, “You are being overly dramatic.”
“Nay, I am not. I know Henry well. There is nothing or no on he values over his laws. Since the day he ascended the throne, he has had to fight for peace in his kingdom and with what I’ve done this day, your father will not be appeased until I’m dead.”
He saw her frown. “But if we marry—”
“Marry how? What priest would dare marry us without your father’s approval?”
“People marry in secret every day.”
“And those marriages are quickly annulled without the guardian’s approval. And there is still the matter of my oath to Henry. I swore to him I would lay no hand on you in lust. The king doesn’t take betrayal easily.”
“That’s not always true. My father recanted his oath to Henry, yet he retains his lands.”
“Your father retains his lands only because your grandfather fought with Henry and died from a blow he received protecting Henry’s back. In payment, he asked Henry to swear to him that he would forgive your father and not leave him homeless.”
She blinked as if unsure whether or not to believe his words. “I never knew that. How do you know of it?”
“I was there.”
“But you saved the king’s life as well,” she insisted. “Will he not forgive you?”
He considered her words. But he knew the truth. Unwilling to hurt her, he said quietly, “Perhaps he might. I can go to him and ask.”
All of a sudden, her face lit up and she raised herself up to look down at him. “I am the king’s ward, correct?”
“Aye.”
“Then as such can he not give permission for my hand?”
“Aye.”
“Then my father would have no choice but to allow our marriage.” Emily smiled and laid back down on his chest. “All will be fine. You will see. The king shall forgive you and my father will learn to accept our union.”
Draven returned to stroking her hair. What he failed to tell her was Henry’s departing words to him.
“Mar her maidenhead, Draven, and we will see you hanged, drawn and quartered for it. ‘Tis our honor you represent. Tarnish it and suffer the consequences.”
He didn’t delude himself for a moment that Henry would forgive him. He knew better. He’d known better the moment he swept her up in his arms and carried her to his room. But that hadn’t mattered to him. He had wanted her and so he had taken her.
His one moment of pleasure with her came at a high price indeed.