Chapter Twenty-nine Giving In
Chapter Twenty-nine
Giving In
LEOFRIC STARED AT her, lost for words.
“You want me to kiss you?” he finally asked, certain he had misheard her.
“Aye,” her voice trembled slightly, betraying her nervousness. “If you want to, that is …”
He gave a soft, incredulous laugh. “You do realize what you’re asking?”
“I do.”
Leofric gazed at her before reaching out and stroking her cheek. “I don’t want to scare you.”
“You won’t.” Her voice was sure, although he felt her tremble under his touch.
With a sigh he leaned down, his mouth covering hers. The kiss started gently, as it had back inside Cynn’s hall, but with no one looking at them, it quickly deepened.
Aelfwyn’s lips parted under his, the tip of her tongue teasing his. Leofric groaned and pulled her hard against him, savoring her mouth like the finest feast. His hands reached up to her hair, unfastening the wifely braids and letting her soft blonde locks tumble down. His fingers tangled in it.
She groaned against his mouth, the soft sound releasing something within him. He gently bit her lower lip, enjoying her whimper of pleasure. Their bodies were pressed against each other now. Leofric was rock hard, and he knew she would be able to feel his arousal pressed against her belly.
But this time it did not frighten her. She reached up, her fingers gently tracing his face as she kissed him back with abandon.
When they finally ended the kiss, Leofric was shaking. This woman was his undoing. It took all his self-control not to throw her down in the snow and take her right there.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he whispered, struggling to regain his composure.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry for making things so difficult,” she murmured, “after Ecgfrith I was so hurt and confused.”
He reached forward and cupped her face with his hands. “Don’t ever apologize to me for that. I’d gut that bastard for what he did. You do realize I’d never harm you—don’t you?”
She nodded. “I trust you.” She paused then, her gaze holding his. “I want you.”
A heartbeat passed, and then Leofric pulled her back into his arms. Their kisses were ravenous now as the floodgates opened, and they released the need they had both spent the past few months denying.
Leofric knew he would not be able to hold back. He wanted their first time together to be slow and tender. He wanted to explore every inch of her body upon the furs, and see her naked skin bathed in the firelight.
That was not going to happen.
Her hands moved feverishly over his chest, digging in as she tried to get past the layers of clothing to his skin beneath.
When her hands dipped to his groin, and she stroked his straining shaft, he let out a long groan in response.
She gasped against his mouth and fumbled at his breeches, eager to release him, to touch him.
Cold air caressed his skin as she freed him, although the feel of her cold silken fingers, gently caressing his inflamed cock, unraveled the last of his self-control.
Leofric gathered her up in his arms and carried her across to the nearest tree—a tall beech that loomed over the path through the woods.
He pushed her up against it, his mouth covering hers once more.
His hands slid down her body, cupping her lush breasts.
Her nipples were hard pebbles through the linen undertunic and woolen over-dress she wore.
He longed to rip those clothes off her and bury his face in her breasts, but there was no time for that—not now.
His hands delved deeper, hiking up her skirts so that he could touch naked skin beneath. He parted her trembling thighs, caressing the silken skin, before he touched the wet heat between them.
“Aelfwyn,” he groaned her name. “I want to go slow, but I—”
“Leo, please,” she panted, widening her thighs and pressing herself against his fingers. “Take me … now!”
Leofric needed no further invitation. He entered her in one smooth motion, sheathing himself to the hilt inside her satin heat. The sensation nearly tipped him over the edge, and he cried out.
In answer, she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him hard against her.
Leofric took Aelfwyn there, against the tree trunk, grinding into her until she shuddered and cried his name. Then he plowed her in long, deep strokes, cupping her buttocks as he thrust.
By the time he emptied his seed within her, he was shouting her name—his cries echoing high into the treetops.
In the aftermath, Aelfwyn stirred first, lifting her head off his shoulder and reached up to stroke his face.
“Leo?” she queried softly. “Are you well?”
He gave a soft laugh. “Never better.” He leaned forward and nuzzled her neck before groaning. “You taste better than the finest ale.”
Aelfwyn smiled at the comparison. “I should hope so. I have no wish to remind you of a mead hall.”
He nipped her neck gently in response and she shivered with pleasure.
Her body still felt weak in the aftermath of their encounter.
He was still buried inside her, and she had locked her legs around his hips to keep him there—however, the night’s chill was invading upon their private world, and her thigh muscles were starting to cramp.
She ran her hands lightly up his back, to avoid disturbing the scabs there, and threaded her fingers through his hair. It was still much shorter than most men’s, but she could see it would grow into a thick auburn mane.
He pulled back slightly from her then, his face all sharp angles in the dappled moonlight. “I hope I wasn’t too rough? I … forgot myself.”
“No, you weren’t,” she assured him. In truth, the way he’d scooped her up, carried her across to the beech tree, and then taken her there had excited her beyond words. She wanted him to do it again—only next time she wanted them both to be naked with sunlight on their skin.
To think her first experience with a man had nearly ruined things for her.
She had never imagined it could be like this.
Her coupling with Leofric had been natural, wild, and consensual.
Never again would she hold back her instincts with this man.
Never again would she let Ecgfrith cast a shadow over her happiness.
“Come, let’s get home.” Gently Leofric set her down on the ground. Aelfwyn felt a pang of loss as he slid out of her. She let her skirts fall over her naked legs and drew her cloak back around her, while Leofric laced up his breeches.
He then placed an arm around her shoulders and steered her back to the path. Aelfwyn leaned against Leofric, breathing in the scent of him, and they walked back to the hut in companionable silence.
Aelfwyn stirred in the furs, stretching languorously as she slowly awoke.
Faint shafts of pale light filtered into the hut through the cracks in the doorway and shutters, alerting her that it was well after dawn. They had slept in much later than usual.
A smile spread across Aelfwyn’s face. She had slept little but had never felt better in her life.
She glanced over at the slumbering man beside her, and the smile widened.
She and Leofric had spent Mother Night pleasuring each other.
Her body felt weak in the aftermath with a pleasant ache between her thighs.
No longer would she spend each night alone in the furs, yearning for the man who lay sleeping just a few feet away.
Leofric slept deeply, as if he had just spent days felling trees without rest.
Loath to wake him, Aelfwyn propped herself up on one elbow and let her gaze travel over his naked body.
He was delicious to look upon: tall and broad-shouldered but with a long-legged grace that many men lacked.
Long auburn eyelashes lay against the pale skin of his cheeks.
He had a proud face with high cheekbones and a slightly aquiline nose.
Aelfwyn’s lower belly tightened. She would never tire of looking at him.
As if sensing her stare, Leofric stirred. His eyelids fluttered, and he gave a soft moan before stretching his long body like a cat. He then opened his eyes and looked up into her face.
A cocky smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Morning, princess.”
“Morning? I think we’ve slept it away—I’d say it’s coming up to noon.”
“See what you’ve done,” he grinned. “You’ve worn me out.”
“Oaf.” She went to give his chest a playful slap, but he caught her wrist and pulled her down on top of him. Aelfwyn squealed and pushed against his chest, but he held her tight. “Have I really worn you out?” she asked, raising a taunting eyebrow. “I’d hoped to spend the day naked in the furs.”
“Had you?” He raised an eyebrow. “And there was me thinking you the shy, blushing type.”
Aelfwyn stilled, her playfulness fading. “Would you prefer I was?”
Leofric reached up and stroked her cheek before his finger traced her bottom lip, bee-stung from all his kisses. “I want you as you are,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”
Aelfwyn smiled down at him, her throat constricting. She had never thought it was possible to feel as if your heart might stop from joy—but this moment, this man, and those words made her believe in happy endings.