by Lynn Wood
His wife moaned again, louder this time, his name emerging from her parted lips on a breathless whisper. He trailed a fiery path across her breasts, down her stomach, her shyness no barrier to him now as he sought to taste the heat beckoning him so tantalizingly. His tongue replaced his probing finger and his wife lifted her hips forcefully to him.
“Please Nathan, don’t stop. God what are you doing to me?” He didn’t pause to see if her eyes were open or still closed. God’s truth he couldn’t stop. The taste of her drove him to the brink of his own needs, but he held on to the tight leash of his self-control, even as his body’s urging bucked against the restraint. He was becoming drunk on his wife’s response, on her desperate pleas for more of his lovemaking. He knew she was close to losing control when she arched up against him, her breathless whispers became a disjointed string of ‘please, please, please…’
He wanted to watch as he sent her over the edge. He felt her tighten around him. His fingers replaced his tongue and he lifted his head as she rose off the bed, a breathless scream on her lips, his name, God’s name, her head thrown back, the light from the fireplace giving her skin a golden glow as she surrendered to the release rippling through her. He continued to stroke her gently as she drifted back down, smiled as her eyes, dazed with passion, slid slowly open. Their eyes met and she whispered softly. “I need you, Nathan. Promise me you’ll never leave me.”
“I’ll never leave you, Rhiann.” The ‘God willing’ he tacked on in silence. Surely God would be merciful to his young wife and not demand any more sacrifices of her.
“I understand now. I was angry at her for leaving me alone, but I understand now.” Her voice was dreamy, as if her thoughts were far off.
Since he had yet to find satisfaction in her lush body and she was basking in the afterglow of her release, he was having a little difficulty following the trail of his wife’s thoughts.
“Who were you angry with and what do you understand now?”
“My mother. I was angry at her for leaving me alone.”
“That’s understandable, Rhiann.”
“Now I understand.”
His hand was between his wife’s soft legs. The ripples of her release still massaged his fingers. Her hips were beginning to move again. He was uncertain if she was aware of her body’s natural inclination. He struggled to hold onto the tattered remnants of his control because he thought his wife might be confiding in him something important. “What do you understand?”
“Why she…why she couldn’t bear the thought of…I wouldn’t either. I couldn’t either.”
“Rhiann…” He thought he understood what she was saying. His mind rejected her conclusion, even as his heart was pleased at the thought she was unwilling to consider giving herself to another man. “No Rhiann. Life is harsh. You must promise me…Wife, you need to be reasonable about this…”
Her hips began to move more forcefully against his probing hand. He couldn’t wait any longer. Promising himself he would correct his wife’s foolish but romantic conclusion in the morning, he removed his hand. His wife tearfully protested his absence.
“Nathan? I need you…”
He spread her legs further and settled himself at the opening of her heat. “Yes, wife. I know you need me. I’ll give you what you need.” He surged into her with one powerful thrust. Her legs closed around him, wrapping around his waist. She came off the bed to pull him towards her. His mouth took possession of hers in an almost savage joining as his passion finally broke through the reins of his self-imposed restraint. He surged into his wife again and again, giving little thought to her inexperience, to the fact he was not careful with her these first few nights as he initiated her into the intimacies a man and woman could share.
Now, with his body riding him hard he gave no thought to her innocence, to finesse, to a gentleman’s concerns. He rode her hard, as he would his war horse in the thick of battle. He thrust again and again. She raised no defense against his surging attack. There was no parry to his desperate assault. No. He drove into her over and over claiming her as his own possession. No other man would ever know her as intimately as he did, no other man would experience her softness, hear her beg him not to stop touching her, driving into her, pushing her higher and higher until she screamed her satisfaction.
Her response to his rough treatment of her was to draw her legs up higher, beckoning him deeper. Her soft pleas urged him higher, harder, until on a soft moan he felt her body close snugly around him, and with one final thrust he exploded within her, shouting fiercely as his release tore forcefully through him and he collapsed against his wife’s still trembling body.
He was still trying to get his breathing under control when his wife protested his weight and with an effort he rolled off of her and onto his back. She immediately scooted up close to his side and rested her head against his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her in an instinctive protective gesture. Sighing contentedly, Rhiann squirmed a little closer, kissed the bare skin of his chest and drifted back to sleep. Nathan was just following his wife’s example when her soft voice whispered against his skin, “I love you, Nathan.”
At her words, his hand paused in mid-air, and then hovered above her head, before dropping down and continuing to stroke the silken strands and free the tangles his less than gentle treatment of her had caused. Instead of berating him for his harsh handling of her, she tells him she loves him. And his wife believed he was stuck with her. He shook his head and decided he would have a long talk with her in the morning to straighten out her misconceptions, particularly in regards to the kind of wife she seemed to think he would prefer over her.
No, when William informed him of his decision to award the duke’s estates to him, he said the lands he earned, the woman was William’s gift to him. At the time Nathan nodded his agreement with the king’s declaration, thinking it a romantic but foolish comment to compare the worth of a single woman to the abundant wealth and security being master of his own lands would provide him. Now he recognized the truth behind the king’s words. Lands were a fitting and just reward for a man’s loyal years of service to his liege lord, but it was not possible for any man to earn a woman, especially a woman like Rhiann. She was indeed a precious gift…a kingly gift, but his wife’s love for him was worth more than a king’s ransom. Her love could only be heaven sent, a gift from the almighty and his gentle wife to soothe his savaged soul.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rhiann spent the following day with Father Bernard at the church, and then returned early to the keep hoping to catch a much needed nap before the evening meal. She was still embarrassed about falling asleep the night before in her husband’s arms. Since she could not recall offering her gratitude to the king and queen for the privilege of dining with them, nor bidding them a peaceful slumber, she concluded she fell asleep at the king’s table and Nathan was forced to carry her to their room. She blushed at the thought of the spectacle that must have caused, and she was hoping if she could catch up a little on her sleep this afternoon she could avoid a repeat of the embarrassing lapse tonight.
Nathan returned to the keep in the early evening hours and stood at the door of his room watching his sleeping wife. Watching her, he decided he needed to find a way to gain some control over his seemingly insatiable lust for her lush body else risk causing her some grave illness. Each evening when they retired to his quarters, he promised himself he would forego his husbandly rights that evening. He reminded himself Rhiann was still fragile and had yet to recover from the loss of her family, that she needed rest to fully recover from her ordeal. He would vow silently to himself he would act the part of a gentleman, at least until she regained her strength, then he would strip out of his clothes, slide between the sheets and be confronted with the temptation of his wife’s soft skin lying so close to his own. He could no more resist the indulgence he knew awaited him than a starving man could resist a banquet laid before his eyes.
So he was both relieved and happ
y his wife slipped away to return to the keep in the early afternoon to rest. He would therefore not be forced to be considerate of her fragile, exhausted state later this evening. Nathan decided he was going to insist Rhiann take a nap every afternoon when he was occupied with other matters. She was his wife. It was her duty to make sure she did not exhaust herself with other trivialities to the extent her husband must concern himself with the possibility of forgoing his husbandly rights. A concern that even if he was the kind of considerate husband who would consider doing so, he apparently lacked the self-control to resist the allure his wife held for him.
He debated letting Rhiann dream on through dinner, thinking she would then be particularly well rested for a night of passion in his arms, but regretfully rejected the appealing notion. Matilda seemed genuinely fond of Rhiann and would no doubt assume some illness kept her from the king’s table, as there was no other acceptable excuse for absenting oneself from the privilege of dining with the king and his wife.
Nathan crossed the room and sank down beside his sleeping wife and slid a tender hand through her hair, his lips curving at the sound of the bells tinkling in the silence of the dim, late afternoon room. At his touch, Rhiann turned in her sleep to curl closer towards him, then not finding him by her side, forced her eyes open seeking some explanation for the inconsistency. Seeing her husband staring so tenderly down at her, she smiled.
“Is it time to dress for the evening meal?” She whispered sleepily.
“Yes. It pleases me wife you returned to the keep to rest this afternoon.”
A fine blush stained her cheeks at his words. Nathan was just puzzling through the source of the color when his wife confided, “I didn’t want you to have to carry me up the stairs again tonight. Is that what happened last night, Nathan? I don’t remember climbing the stairs to our room. Is the king very angry with me for falling asleep at his table?”
Nathan laughed at his wife’s concern, and the dread and embarrassment he heard in her voice. The confusion with which she regarded his amusement only made him laugh all the harder. Rhiann took objection to him laughing at her and pulled away from his hand to sit up in bed. The firelight danced off the thin material of her chemise and the laughter died in Nathan’s throat. Aware of where his new interest lay and the direction of his thoughts, Rhiann tried to subtly back away from her husband’s reach towards the far side of the bed.
Smiling at her attempt to escape him, Nathan easily captured her retreating form between his hands before she could climb out the other side of the bed. Seeing the wary expression with which she now regarded him, and her continued efforts to escape his hold on her, he was reminded of her similar attempt to escape his lustful intent on their wedding night. Remembering what transpired afterwards led his thoughts in a similar direction. His hunger must have been evident in his expression for Rhiann began struggling in earnest against his hold on her. He probably should enlighten her to the truth that her efforts to escape his hold on her were having the exact opposite of the effect she intended, but he was enjoying himself too much to put a halt to their game too quickly. He found their unequal contest highly arousing and his grin widened as her struggles loosened the ties of her chemise and bared her full breasts to his avid gaze. Becoming belatedly aware of the richness of her display, Rhiann stopped struggling against her husband’s hold and instead used her hands to cover her breasts, as she pleaded with him.
“No, Nathan, we mustn’t. We’ll be late for the king’s table.” Seeing her plea was having no impact on her husband’s manly desire, Rhiann resumed her futile attempts to ward him off by slapping his hands away from her flesh.
Her husband merely grinned wider at her puny gesture of defense. Nathan supposed he should address his wife’s education in that area as well. Remembering the dream she had of her sister being lost in the wilderness, and the thought of Rhiann facing such an encounter, made his heart rate jump in anticipatory panic. Regretfully he would be forced to leave such pleasant instruction for another day. There was no denying his wife’s assertion of the lateness of the hour.
Acknowledging there was no time to indulge himself as he would like, he reluctantly swept his wife up in his arms and swung her to the side of the bed where he set her on her feet between his legs. The tantalizing view of her full breasts and naked flesh beneath the loose ties of her chemise, made his body protest his mind’s intent. His breeches were growing uncomfortably tight in the area of his straining manhood. Seeing him shift position to a more comfortable one, his no longer quite so innocent wife, stole a peek at the source of his discomfort. At the confirmation of her suspicions, her face flamed wildly and he thought he saw tears swimming in the eyes she raised to his.
He smiled tenderly, drew her closer and then brushed a gentle kiss across her forehead. “Get dressed, wife, else we’ll be late for the king’s table.” He tried not to be offended at the relief that flooded her eyes and the happy smile lighting her face as she danced swiftly away from his restraining embrace, lest he change his mind.
Despite his forbearance, they still descended the stairs into the great hall only minutes before the king signaled the start of the meal. Rhiann sent him an “I told you so” look as they made their way to the table. Nathan was unable to resist the urge to bend down and whisper in her ear.
“You may have been saved by the king’s invitation to dine, wife, but there will be no such reprieve for you later in our chambers.” He was gratified by the blush that stained her cheeks as they took their places at the long, well-laden table, thinking it was high-time his wife understood her place in this marriage. He was her lord. She existed to serve his pleasure. He grinned at the thought. Seeing him smile, Rhiann sent an inquiring look in his direction. His grin merely widened. He shook his head, denying her curiosity and stifled a laugh at the thought of his wife’s reaction if he explained the source of his amusement.
After the meal, which Nathan noticed his wife did little more than push around her plate, William interrupted his thoughts and Rhiann’s distraction. “Tell me, Rhiann, how you came to own the black stallion prowling outside my gates.”
Rhiann, still embarrassingly aware of her lapse the previous evening, dutifully turned her attention to the king. “One does not own a Salusian stallion, sire.”
Nathan smiled at the sight of the confusion evident on William’s face, glad his friend and king shared his confusion over his wife’s silly opinions. “So the black is not your property?”
One slender shoulder lifted in a delicate shrug. “No, he is my friend. A partner perhaps, for a while.”
“I still do not understand. How did he come to you?”
“I am the keeper of the stone now.” Rhiann stated as if the conclusion was so obvious she was unable to comprehend the source of the king’s confusion.
“Yes, I remember.”
Rhiann tried again. “Arden is the king of the Salusians.”
“The people?”
“No, the horses.” She appeared to think the king’s questions were dimwitted but was valiantly trying to conceal her opinions from the monarch lest he notice her impatience. Observing his wife’s silent struggle, Nathan’s grin widened. He saw William’s lips twitch in response.
“Forgive me, my dear, I still am not certain I understand.”
“Arden is the king of the Salusians.”
“Yes,” the king agreed.
“I am the keeper of the stone.”
“Yes.”
Rhiann’s brow was furrowed and her voice, when she continued, revealed her puzzlement over the source of the king’s continued confusion. “The two go together. The keeper of the stone and the Salusian king. Arden would not allow anyone else to seat him.”
“Ah… I believe I understand now.”
Nathan grabbed onto another point of his wife’s explanation. “Rhiann you never rode the black before the day Amele brought him here?”
She turned to face her husband. “Amele did not bring him, Nathan. They arriv
ed together.”
Nathan brushed aside the fine point of his wife’s distinction. “Answer my question, wife.”
“No, of course not. How could I ride him before? I was not the keeper of the stone then.”
“For the love of…” At the thought of the risk his wife had taken, Nathan gripped her arms and shook her gently. “He could have killed you.”
“Nathan you’re hurting me.” Nathan loosened his grip at his wife’s complaint. “Why would he kill me?”
He closed his eyes against his growing frustration at his wife’s naivety. Surely no one could have been that sheltered. “Rhiann the black is wild.”
She had the nerve to shake her head at him. “No, he’s not, Nathan. It is unfair of you to suggest such a thing.”
“Unfair of me? Are you under the impression I just insulted him?”
“Of course. There was no need. Arden would never hurt me. It is his duty to protect me. At least until I can find my sister and pass the stone back to its rightful owner.”
“Rhiann…”
“Your sister? I thought your sister was dead.” The king’s puzzled query interrupted the budding argument between his vassal and his wife.
“She is.” There was no uncertainty in Nathan’s response.
“No, she’s not.” Rhiann’s voice was just as certain, forcing Nathan to conclude his wife had yet to learn from their earlier argument she was not to challenge her lord and husband in front of the king, or anyone else for that matter.
William looked from one to the other. “Did the messenger from your grandmother bring word of your sister?”
“Sadly no, sire.”
“My wife’s sister is dead, my lord. She is having trouble accepting the truth because her body was never returned to the family for burial.”
