The Laird's Choice

by Amanda Scott

  “The bed is huge!”

  “Aye, we had to rearrange things quickly, because we wanted Magnus to sleep comfortably, without his feet hanging out. So the men built a larger frame, and we increased the size of your featherbed and bedclothes to fit it. Annie and I added fabric to the bed curtains, too, so they will close when you want them to. You still lack curtains for your window, but you like to sleep with the shutters open, and I hear that Magnus leaves his open, too.”

  The room was near the top of the tower, just under the ramparts. Andrena knew that in winter, a number of their men had slept on the floor there.

  “Is that why Father has built more cottages outside the wall?”

  “ ’Tis one reason. He also wants to increase our guard near the high passes. It concerns him that those three men of Parlan’s suffered little for their trespass. Ways do exist at either end of the ridge, after all, where small parties of men might slip through the passes. In winter, men guarding those passes will need warm cottages near their posts. But make haste, my dearling. You do not want them to catch you out of bed when they bring Magnus to you.”

  “We’ll hear them coming up,” Andrena said.

  Lina laughed. “We may hear them, aye. But if they’ve stripped his clothes off on the way, he’ll have no reason to enter that room across the way. So hurry!”

  She and Murie helped Andrena undress and gave her a robe to wear while she sat and let her mother brush her hair. Although she was nervous, she made no protest when the women slipped the robe off her and urged her into the huge bed.

  No sooner had she drawn the coverlet to her chin than clamor erupted in the stairwell. Wishing she could dive under the covers and hide until the noisemakers went away again, she remained stoical. But her heart pounded in her chest.

  The door to the bedchamber banged open, and multiple hands and bodies thrust Magnus through the opening. He clutched a ragged sark to his loins.

  Lina and Murie shrieked and covered their eyes. A roar from the priest, following close behind the men, silenced everyone. Even so, many of the men accompanied Magnus and the priest into the room. Others crowded in the doorway.

  “Ha’ the goodness tae recall their ladyships’ presence here!” the priest bellowed fiercely. “Ye’ll silence yourselves till I’ve said the blessing. Then ye’ll clear a path so their ladyships can depart with dignity. And ye’ll take your own leave when they go, or I’ll put the curse o’ me ancestors on every one o’ your gallous souls! D’ye hear me now, the lot o’ ye?”

  They fell silent so quickly that the one who said, “Aye, the devil hisself could hear ye,” stirred a chuckle or two.

  Andrena noted that one such chuckle came from her newly wedded husband.

  The priest hastily blessed the bed and the couple about to share it. Then men who had entered the room made way for Lady Aubrey, Lina, and Murie to leave, then followed them, revealing Andrew near the door as they did. He lingered long enough to say while the priest shooed men from the landing, “Ye’ve my blessing, too, the pair of ye. We’ll no look to see either of ye afore midday tomorrow.”

  Then the door shut, and Andrena was alone with her naked husband.

  She was his. The thought was a heady one, because she was beautiful and he liked her. One part of his body liked her so much that it was already eager to merge with hers, so eager that he feared he might frighten her. One look at the lass told him that she was not frightened yet, despite the recent din and rowdy company.

  She had propped herself against a pile of pillows. She had also pulled the coverlet up so far that it covered her to her chin. But she regarded him calmly.

  Late afternoon sunlight still lit the small room, although now that they were alone, he saw that it had just seemed small with so many crowded into it and because of the large bed. He supposed he should be grateful to the priest for shooing everyone out so quickly and not allowing the ruckus to grow as wild as it might have. It was not unheard of for a bedding audience, usually all men by that time, to demand that the couple perform for their entertainment. Not that Mag would have allowed that. He was just glad that no one had suggested it.

  Eyeing his lady wife thoughtfully, he said gently, “D’ye ken what we’re expected to do here, lass?”

  “Aye, Mam told me.”

  “What did she tell you?”

  Blushing rosily, she said with a calmness that seemed careful now rather than natural, “She said many things. Above all, she said I must let you guide me and trust you to be gentle with me.”

  He nodded, wondering what details Lady Aubrey had provided and deciding they did not matter. His cock strained under the wadded-up sark he held against it.

  “You should get rid of that thing,” she said.

  He bit his lower lip to stifle the laughter that surged within him at the first “thing” that came to mind, and which he definitely meant to keep. He thought he would be wiser not to explain that he had been thinking of anything other than his sark, though. His bride might not appreciate the humor.

  Instead, he obeyed her, tossing the sark onto a nearby stool.

  Andrena gasped at the sight of him. Surely her mother was wrong. Something that large could never… Thought ceased.

  He was about to get into bed.

  She scooted nearer the wall side of the bed to make room for him.

  The bed shifted with his weight until he was near enough for her to feel his warmth despite his body’s having been unclothed for some time. Late afternoon sunlight brought no heat with it, but his body, still inches away from her, radiated warmth as if someone had slipped a huge hot brick into the bed.

  When he slipped an arm behind her shoulders and eased her closer, she welcomed his warmth.

  “I heard you gasp, lass. Art fearful?”

  “Nay, just concerned that we won’t fit together as Mam says we should.”

  “Men and women are made to fit together,” he said. “Sometimes it takes a bit more work and patience than other times, but we’ll find our ways.”

  His deep voice was like a low-pitched, comforting hum near her ear. She had not realized how tense she was until she felt her body begin to relax.

  “What else did your mam say?”

  She tried to think and wished her memory for discourse were as reliable as Murie’s was. The things her mother had described to her had seemed difficult to imagine doing with him. At last, remembering Lady Aubrey’s primary advice, she said, “Why don’t you just show me what to do?”

  Mag’s body leaped at the suggestion. The most eager part of him had relaxed as they’d talked. Now, if possible, it seemed more eager than before.

  “Art comfortable as we are now?” he asked her.

  “Aye, you’re as warm as a hearth fire.”

  He smiled. “I would like to make you feel warm all over,” he said.

  “Don’t you think you should kiss me first? You did not do so when the priest presented us to everyone. My cousins’ husbands kissed them straightaway.”

  “Did they? I warrant their priest told them they might. When ours did not, I decided to wait. Forbye, the men in the hall were already rowdy, so it seemed sensible to follow the priest’s lead. I can make up for that lack now, though.”

  Looking into his eyes, she pursed her lips expectantly. The very way she did it made him smile. It also told him that no one had ever thoroughly kissed her. He looked forward to remedying that lack as well.

  Leaning up on his left elbow, he bent toward her and touched his lips to hers.

  “Good sakes,” she muttered against them. “Your lips are even warmer than the rest of you. You may well bake me in this bed.”

  “Shhh,” he murmured back. He kissed her more firmly, then teased her lower lip with his tongue while he moved his free hand under the covers to cup one breast. When she gasped, he slipped his tongue between her lips, just far enough to give her a hint of his intent. When she responded by pressing her lips harder against his, he eased his tongue in further and moved h
is thumb over the tip of her breast.

  Her body arced upward, and her lips parted.

  Keeping her mouth occupied with his, he waited for her to relax, then moved his hand to her belly and then slowly, tantalizingly, back up to her other breast. Both were firm and silky, and each filled his hand as if God had meant for them to do so.

  Andrena savored every movement of that teasing hand, astonished by the sensations that its slightest motion stirred in her. Never before had she felt such things. Lady Aubrey, although having declared that coupling could be pleasurable for both parties, had not begun to describe how pleasurable it might be.

  His kisses stirred similar sensations, making her body feel as warm all through as his did… even warmer. It was as though hers caught fire here, there, everywhere, from just the slightest touch of his lips, tongue, or a finger.

  When he’d thrust his warm tongue into her mouth, although she had never heard of anyone else doing such a thing, it seemed right for him to do so.

  His hand moved lower, nearing the fork of her legs. He stirred her feelings more with each new thing he did until she was writhing with desire for more. But when he slipped a finger inside her, her body tensed.

  “Easy, lass,” he said.

  “I’m not a mare,” she said with an unexpected chuckle that she knew came more from taut nerves than aught else. “I did not know you were going to do that.”

  “You worried about our fitting together,” he murmured. “It will help if I stretch you out some before we try more passionate things.”

  “My father did say that we should stay abed until midday tomorrow,” she reminded him. “Will it take as long as that?”

  “Nay, it will not,” he replied. “Not only will I be starving long before then, but you will be, too. Also, I must be up and about before midday, because I must leave early Friday morning for—”

  “Leave!” She stared up at him in astonishment. “Where are we going?”

  “We are not going anywhere, but I must go to Glasgow and mayhap some distance beyond,” he replied calmly. “Your mother knew. I thought you did, too.”

  His finger had stopped moving, and she wished it had not. He had said only that he could buy her a ring in Glasgow. But Glasgow could wait until the morrow.

  “You will do as you must,” she said. “Mayhap you will tell me more before the time comes. Meantime, prithee, teach me more.”

  He needed no further invitation but used his lips, mouth, hands, and fingers to stir her passions until he knew she was as ready as any maiden could be for her first coupling. Moving gently over her, keeping his weight on his elbows and knees so he would not crush her, using one hand, he eased himself in. Then, positioning himself carefully, he made sure that his right hand retained access to her enticing breasts.

  Once in, determined to cause her as little pain as possible until her body had time to adjust to his, he fought his own urges for stimulation and release, to remain gentle. She was breathing heavily and too quickly. To distract her, he bent and touched the tip of his tongue to her left ear, tickling it until she wriggled.

  Moving more purposefully then, he attuned himself to her movements and expressions, hoping that Lady Aubrey had not told her she must never complain if he hurt her. He knew that many mothers told their daughters to endure their connubial duties. He wanted Andrena to enjoy them.

  When she showed no sign of pain and began to arc against him, he slowly increased his pace until instinct took over. The sounds she made then told him that he was causing her some pain, but she moved with him and her actions encouraged him to let himself go. After he reached his peak and plunged over it, he lay back against the pillows, sated, and pulled her close again.

  Andrena snuggled against him, although she was thinking that, like the wedding, their physical coupling seemed shorter than it ought to have been.

  “Ah, lassie,” he murmured, “I hope I did not hurt you too much.”

  “ ’Tis a strange aching only,” she said. “You are so big; it astonishes me that it did not hurt more. You must be gey good at such coupling.”

  A new thought occurred to her, and she turned her head to look at him. “Have you done this with many women?”

  “That, lady wife, is a question that no bride should ask her husband. Content yourself with your belief that I am good at it, and be done.”

  He was smiling as he said it, so she smiled back. But once again, she wished she could understand him the way she understood most other people. How ironic that she should marry a man she could barely read at all. How unfair!

  “What is it?” he asked abruptly, his smile gone.

  “ ’Tis naught,” she said. “I doubt you would understand.”

  “Perhaps I would not,” he admitted. “I know I will not if you do not at least try to explain it to me.”

  “Not tonight,” she said. “I want to think more about it first. I am no longer a maiden now, am I?”

  “Nay, lass, you are my wife.”

  “And you are my husband, sir. But I feel all sticky. Is it permitted that I get up and cleanse myself?”

  “Aye, sure,” he said. “I’ll help you, and you can help me afterward.”

  “The ewer and basin are on the washstand yonder,” she said, pointing. She could not easily get out of the bed until he did.

  He got up and strode across the room, and she watched him, enjoying the play of his backside and thigh muscles as he did. His body was magnificent.

  He glanced back and grinned at her. “You coming?”

  Her blushes made him smile. He knew she had been watching him and savored the thought that she had wanted to watch. Sakes, just being with the lass brought him more pleasure than he had known in years.

  She got out of bed, and it was his turn to stare, because she made a splendid figure. Her tawny hair fell to her hips in a mass of soft, somewhat tangled waves on which the fast lowering sun’s light danced in golden glints. Her waist was narrow, her breasts full and firm, her hips wide enough to bear many children, and her arms and legs well shaped and strong looking. Her skin, as he knew for himself, was as smooth as satin and delightful to stroke, caress, kiss, or just to touch.

  When they had cleaned themselves, they returned to bed and lay beside each other in comfortable silence until she said casually, “Will you tell me now about this trip of yours to Glasgow?”

  “The reason I go is not one that I should talk about.”

  “Did you tell my father?”

  “Aye, sure, I had to.”

  “Then you should tell me,” she said. “I am your wife, and I understand about secrets. Still, if you don’t trust me…” She left those words hanging in the air.

  He turned onto his side to face her. “What about your sisters? You have told me plainly that the three of you are gey close.”

  “Aye, we are. They know much about me. If I am distressed, they will know and plague me to tell them why. But if I am not distressed, I need tell them naught.”

  “That sounds like a threat, madam wife. But mayhap I misunderstood you. Prithee, tell me you do not mean that if I refuse to tell you why I go, it would distress you so that you would feel obliged to tell your sisters.”

  Her lips twitched wryly, making him want to kiss them again and thus easing his irritation. She said, “I am not petulant, sir, nor petty. They would surely plague me. But I need tell them only that it is not my tale to tell, and they will desist.”

  “Will they indeed?” he said, letting her see his disbelief.

  Andrena knew that Lina would desist. But she also knew that Murie would not stop plaguing her in such an instance until commanded to do so in no uncertain terms, and for once she could see that Magnus was annoyed. “They may not stop straightaway,” she admitted. “But if I promise you to tell no one, that does include Lina and Murie. Is it such a great secret that I must not know it, either?”

  He was silent, giving the question thought. Then he said, “I have a message for the King, one that I mu
st get to him as soon as possible.”

  “Then I should go with you,” she said. “Think how much safer you would be traveling openly as my husband than as a lone warrior. A large one, forbye, who matches the description that Parlan will have bruited everywhere, along with his demand that whoever sees you must return you to him at once. As my husband—”

  “Nay, lass,” he said. “I will go faster without you. That very danger you mention is reason enough for you to stay here.”

  “How then,” she asked, “do you propose to travel?”

  “I will walk if necessary. But Andrew tells me that Colquhoun will provide a horse if he does not transport me to Dumbarton on one of his galleys.”

  “Aye, he might do that, but he’d be more likely to if I were with you. The Laird of Colquhoun likes me,” she added with a smile.

  “I expect that most healthy men of any age would like you,” he said. “But I trust that you will not plague me about this. I may have an even temper, but a lass who pinches and pokes at me to do what she wants me to do will rarely prosper.”

  “I see. Well, I am neither a pincher nor a poker, sir. I am your wife and have vowed to obey you. Still, if you change your mind, I’d be fain to go with you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why is it that your meekness arouses my suspicions?”

  “I haven’t a notion,” she said, relieved to know that she had aroused feelings in him beyond passion and amusement—his suspicion now and his annoyance when he thought she’d issued a threat. “I am all obedience, sir. Mayhap, whilst I am in this mood, you will teach me more ways to pleasure you. I still ache too much to repeat our earlier exercise, but perhaps you know other pastimes just as delightful.”

  “I do,” he said.

  “Good, but I should tell you that I am beginning to sense that I did not eat nearly enough earlier. Do you suppose anyone will think to bring us supper?”

  Mag managed to distract her from thoughts of food for another hour or so. By then he was hungry, too. Since Andrew’s parting words had suggested that no one would intrude on their privacy, he decided to forage for food himself.