Chapter 6 #2
Mary announced them to her father, who was working at his desk. He stood and nodded to Fiona, then to him. “Ross, ’tis good to see ye returned. I’m certain yer wife is relieved at yer presence, too.”
Well, it wasn’t the warmest welcome Erik had ever received, with the Rose’s hint that Erik might have chosen to abandon Fiona, but given the circumstances under which he’d left a few days ago, he shouldn’t be surprised.
“Fiona never had and never will have any reason to doubt my devotion to her,” Erik told him, not daring to look away from the laird to see the effect his words had on her.
“I wouldna be disturbing ye now, save that I have wish to express my gratitude for yer and Mary’s care of my lady, and to tell ye we willna impose on ye more than this night.
My men will pass the night on our birlinn.
” He considered bringing up the missing missive again, but he wanted to cut this encounter short.
He had a more pleasurable encounter with his wife more urgently in mind.
Rose glanced at Mary, then nodded. “Aye, well, if that is what ye wish. But be welcome for as long as ye need or wish to stay.”
“Yer men are welcome at our table. And ye are welcome to return to visit whenever ye can,” Mary offered Fiona, always more polite than her father. “Surely ye, too, will sup with us this eve?”
Erik damned politeness as he looked to Fiona. “’Tis up to ye, my wife.” He gave her a steady look, but wished he could tell her the last thing he wanted was to spend hours at table, kept from time alone with her.
“Perhaps ye could have Cook send supper to my—our—chamber instead,” Fiona told Mary. “I have some last-minute…”
“Packing to take care of. Of course,” Mary said, the twinkle in her eyes making it clear she understood Fiona’s hesitation.
Erik took that as their permission to leave the solar. “We’ll wish ye a good evening then and see ye in the morning before we go.”
In moments, they were in their chamber, behind a closed and bolted door. Erik wasted no time taking Fiona into his arms again. “If anyone bangs on that door again, I’ll hurt them,” he promised her, recalling their aborted wedding night. “Especially my men.”
“I’ll help ye,” Fiona answered. “Mary will see them fed, so forget them,” she added, then pulled his head down to hers and kissed him.
Surprised at her sudden boldness, he hesitated for only a moment before returning her kiss, deepening and prolonging it until they both gasped for air.
Then he picked her up and carried her to the bed, setting her on her feet beside it.
“I must ask ye again, my wife, if this is what ye truly want. I willna force ye, no matter how I hunger for ye, and for what we can be together.”
“’Tis, husband. I do want ye, but I will ask ye the same. Are ye certain I am the wife ye need?”
Instead of answering with words, Erik took her mouth again then trailed kisses down her throat as he untied and unlaced her dress, then slipped it from her shoulders.
At the same time, she reached for his belt.
The heavy leather fell to the floor, taking his trews with it.
He stepped back to kick off his boots and step out of the trews, then stripped his léine over his head.
Then he divested Fiona of all she wore and paused to look at her.
“Exquisite,” he said on a breath. “Yer beauty is stunning.”
She kept her gaze on his face. “As is yers, Erik.”
“Ye may look at all of me, Fiona. And touch me as ye please.” He lifted a hand and cradled her cheek. “I will do everything ye wish and naught that ye dinna.”
Her gaze dropped then to travel over his shoulders and down his chest, then lower. Her eyes widened, then closed before she looked back up at him. “I ken what ye will…I dinna ken if I…”
He lifted her chin with a curled finger and kissed her softly. “I will make certain ye are ready, wife. After this first time, I will never hurt ye again, no’ on purpose. But this first time may be uncomfortable for ye.”
“I ken that.” She laid her hands on his chest and traced each ridge of muscle before letting them slide lower, and lower still.
His belly contracted as she stroked a finger around the tip of his manhood then grasped it fully.
“Ye will never fit.”
“I promise ye, I will, and after the first time, ye will come to enjoy our coupling. I will do all I can to make it so.”
Determined to keep his promise, Erik seduced her slowly, stroking and kissing every part of her body, pausing and lavishing attention on any area where his touch or his kiss elicited moans and pleas for more.
By the time he made her his, he had brought her to her peak and over it, but still she held him as if she would never let him go.
After it was over and they both were sated, Erik stroked Fiona’s back as she lay in a luscious sprawl across his body. “Tell me ye dinna hate me,” he murmured softly in case she’d succumbed to exhausted slumber.
“I dinna. I couldna hate anyone who took such care with me,” she murmured in reply, not looking up at him.
“Then I can rest, and ye should, too. Morning will be here before we are ready for it.”
“Pray for rain, then. ’Tis our only hope.”
Fiona woke to the sound of thunder and of rain pelting the window. She reached for Erik, glad they would not be going anywhere this day. She needed more sleep after the night they’d shared. But he wasn’t in the bed. Her eyes flew open in time to see him returning to her from the window.
“’Twas starting to blow in. I closed the shutter or we’d drown in our chamber.”
She held out her arms to him. “Thank ye for saving me. Now come keep me warm.”
“As ye need, Fiona.”
He settled beside her, but his presence failed to soothe her when she recalled the Rosses who’d traveled with him. She rolled onto his chest. “Yer men! Ye said they’d sleep in the birlinn. They’re likely half drowned by now.”
“The storm hit no’ very long ago. I would guess they are in the great hall breaking their fast and drying out next to the hearth.”
“I hope so. Should ye check on them?”
“If I didna have such a siren in my bed, I might be willing to dress and make my way downstairs, but she holds me captive and willna give me leave.”
“Ye are a wise man to obey her.”
“Wise, aye, and hungry for her more than food.”
He pulled her fully onto his body and set about seducing her again. Then he paused. “Ye are nay too sore?”
“Let’s find out.”