Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Time dragged for Verna as she waited for the second bell.
After her maid prepared a bath and helped her out of her gown, she gave her the rest of the night off. Then she added rose water to the tub, and lowered herself in to soak.
While the water helped with the tension in her shoulders, it did nothing to settle her.
She got out of the bath before she lost her nerve, and slipped on the nearly translucent silk nightgown she’d bought in Castine several years ago and never worn.
For a minute or two, she stood in front of the polished bronze mirror examining herself closely for the first time in years.
Not the quick morning check to make sure her hair was pinned and her gown straight.
This was trying to imagine how Kalen would see her, and it was considerably more unsettling.
The nightgown hid nothing in candlelight.
She was narrow-waisted, fuller at the hip than was fashionable, which had never bothered her until this moment.
Her breasts were firm and more than a handful, then she felt her face heat at the thought of Kalen fondling them.
Her neck was long and her fair hair fell in curls past her shoulders.
She had been told many times that she had her mother’s beauty, but Kalen was used to women from her own world.
Women like herself, strong and vibrant, entirely at ease in their bodies.
Not like Verna, who stood with slightly trembling hands, worrying if she would be woman enough for Kalen.
The thought was terrifying.
It was also the most alive she had felt in years.
She turned from the mirror before she could talk herself out of the night, and went to lie on the bed to wait.
Her bedchamber was the largest in the house, at the corner of the upper floor where two walls held windows, one over the vineyards and one directly west of the sea.
It had been her grandmother's and her great-grandmother’s room before her.
The mosaic floor was old and worn smooth in places, the vaulted ceiling painted in pale ochre with a border of waves at the cornice.
The bed was a four poster, with a feather mattress and soft white sheets.
Though it had been hers after her mother died, tonight it felt like somewhere foreign.
She lit four scented candles and placed them in the corners of the room.
After that, she set a cone of pressed herbs on the hearthstone and watched the thread of fragrant smoke begin its slow spiral upward.
The candlelight gathered in the stone walls turning the room amber.
The saffron drapes above the bed glowed in the light.
Then she sat on the edge of the bed and wondered what she was doing.
Not with any real uncertainty. The decision had been made in the arena and she had meant every word she said to Kalen.
Rarely did she revisit decisions once she made them.
It was more a general wondering, the kind when a person was about to do something they had never done before and found themselves outside familiar territory.
She was good at many things, something she knew without vanity. At managing an estate, at reading people, at making difficult decisions and standing behind them.
She had no idea if she would be good at this.
The thought almost made her laugh. She pressed her fingers briefly against her lips and felt the smile there and let it stay.
It was better than the alternative. She had spent enough of the last twelve days lying awake in this same bed craving Kalen’s touch.
Tonight, she wanted her to be here rather than wishing it.
She lay back on top of the sheet, her hands folded over her stomach, looking up at the flickering shadows on the ceiling.
The anticipation moved through her like wine. And when the second bell finally began to toll, it arrived both too early and not nearly soon enough.
Verna closed her eyes to wait.
When a soft knock came at the door, her heart lurched into her throat. "Come in," she called.
The door opened and Kalen stepped inside. Verna stared up at her. She stood taller than most men, and radiated the muscular strength of a fighter. She wore a simple tunic belted at the waist, and her hair was loose.
She looked down at Verna on the bed as if she was committing every curve to memory.
Verna held the gaze, quashing down the urge to pull up the sheet.
Her eyes on Verna the entire way, Kalen crossed the room without a word. When she reached the bed, the candlelight caught her face and to Verna she looked magnificent.
She reached down and pushed the hair back from Verna's face. "You're beautiful," she said quietly.
Then she put one knee on the bed, leaned down, and kissed her.
It was nothing like the one in the arena. This was slow and deep, and made Verna's hands grip the sheet beneath her. Kalen kissed her like she had all night and intended to use it, and Verna gave a strangled gasp against her mouth.
Kalen drew back just enough to look at her, breathing harder now, her eyes dark.
She reached for the ribbon at Verna's waist and pulled it loose, then pushed the nightgown from her shoulders and over her breasts, looking at her with an expression that dismantled what remained of Verna's composure.
Without another word, she stripped off her tunic and climbed onto the bed.
She propped herself up until she was half over her and whispered, "Just relax. I want you to enjoy everything I do."
Then she pressed her lips to her mouth. Verna sank into the kiss, her hands finding Kalen's shoulders and pulling her closer against her.
She was swept away in the storm, stiff at first, then surrendering with abandon to the kisses.
When Kalen teased her lips with her tongue and slipped it into her mouth, Verna welcomed it.
She had no idea there were so many places in her mouth that sent tingles through her.
Kalen eventually left her mouth to ghost her lips over her jaw and down her neck.
She had never felt anything like the heart-pounding arousal that burned low in her belly when Kalen moved to her breasts with her hot mouth.
As she sucked and nibbled the nipples while she massaged her breasts, Verna’s anxiety over her inexperience faded.
The expression of raw desire on Kalen’s face was enough for her to know that this woman wanted her.
"Beautiful," Kalen murmured. She continued to suck as her right hand slipped under the bottom of her nightgown and cupped her sex.
"Oh, dear God," Verna sizzled out a groan as her arousal climbed higher. With her eyes closed and lost to everything but the sensations roaring through her, she clung to Kalen’s solid body.
Kalen removed her hand and Verna felt the loss of it acutely.
"Don’t stop. I liked that," she whispered.
"Patience, lovely," Kalen murmured, then took off the gown and proceeded to kiss and lick all the sensitive parts of her body, right down to her toes.
She was thorough and focused, entirely present as if nothing outside this room existed or mattered.
She learned what pleased her and what made her squirm with pleasure, until Verna, who had spent her adult years composed and contained and carefully managed, came completely apart under her hands.
She finally moved to her upper thighs and slid her fingers into the folds between her legs, bringing Verna slowly to a heightened arousal that was almost painful. Verna groaned, arched her back and begged for relief, "Please—oh, please, Kalen, I need..."
"If I go inside, you will get more pleasure. May I?"
"Yes," Verna whispered, then without a qualm, dropped her legs apart. There was a slight uncomfortable feeling as Kalen eased one finger in, then two, but when she began to slide them in and out, it became pleasurable. Her hips involuntarily moved with Kalen’s thrusts.
Slowly, the pressure building inside her was at fever pitch, and she was babbling incoherently.
Kalen kept her hovering just a breath away on the edge of ecstasy, and when Verna cried out that she couldn’t take any more, she took her over the top. When the exquisite wave of pleasure hit every nerve in her body, she screamed out Kalen’s name.
And then a strange thing happened. In the throes of her orgasm, a light within Verna exploded in a torrent of sparks. What it was, she had no idea, but it didn’t feel foreign, more like something coming home to roost.
When the final throb ebbed away, she lay still, her chest rising and falling, staring at the ceiling while the candles guttered in the warm air. Kalen lay beside her, her head propped on one hand, watching her with that dark steady gaze.
Verna turned to look at her.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"I had no idea," Verna said finally.
Kalen's mouth moved into that rare, unguarded smile, the one that changed her face entirely. "No," she said, with a warmth that held no arrogance at all. "I know."
Verna looked at the ceiling again, feeling the quiet settle through her bones, deep and complete, like the stillness after a long rain. She smiled and said languidly, "That was wonderful."
"I haven’t finished yet," Kalen said and quickly slid down to position herself between her legs.
When she slipped her tongue between the folds and began to lick and suck the sensitive spot, Verna gasped.
By the Gods, she’d never experienced anything so mind-blowing.
She writhed. Her fingers twisted the sheets.
She gasped, moaned, whimpered and begged.
And then she came apart as another climax hit, this one longer and harder than the first. She was almost sobbing when she came down off her high.
Verna lay spent, sprawled in wanton abandonment across the middle of the bed. Kalen lay propped on her elbow, softly stroking her fingertips along her arm.
"Thank you," Verna said. "That was… oh, I haven’t the words to tell you how wonderful it was."
Verna reached over to touch her breast, but Kalen sat up abruptly. "I’d best not stay longer. It wouldn’t do to fall asleep and the maids find me in your bed in the morning."
Verna frowned and levered herself up onto the pillow. "I want to pleasure you too, Kalen."
When she ran the tip of a finger down the scar on her cheek, Kalen jerked back and snatched Verna’s hand from her face. "Don’t. I must leave."
After a couple of heartbeats, she released her hand and moved to the edge of the bed. Verna grasped her arm. "Please, Kalen. Stay a while longer."
Kalen froze at the touch but didn’t turn around. "I’ve done what you wanted me to, My Lady. You needn’t fear your wedding night. You’re a passionate woman and very responsive to touch. You will have no trouble satisfying a husband."
But it wouldn’t be Thom’s touch she craved, Verna thought bitterly. As soon as she let go of her arm, Kalen climbed off the bed. As she listened to the door click shut behind her, Verna was already planning how she would get Kalen back into her bed.
She stretched out contently, remembering their lovemaking. She had never felt more alive or fulfilled.
Just before her eyes sagged shut, she remembered she hadn’t put out the candles. Without thinking, she pointed a finger at each of them and the flames snuffed out.
She drifted into sleep.