Once the wolves had dispersed Tamsin ran to him. She knelt at his side and cradled his head in her lap tenderly. He was glad she was not afraid of him though in his current state he knew he was not a threat to anyone.
It took a moment for him to realize that Tamsin had an odd smell. He noticed it only fleetingly when she had pulled his head into her lap but now he inhaled as deeply as his condition would allow.
Tamsin had a hint of the scent of werewolf on her. It wasn't his scent rubbed off on her. The scent, small as it was, came from her.
The alpha of the other pack might have wondered why a woman in human form scented vaguely like a she-wolf but even if his wolves had been in a blood rage from their kill he could not harm her. To kill another wolf, except under the direst of circumstances, would unleash the wrath of their pack. No alpha worth his salt wanted to start a pack war without the very best of reasons. Killing a she-wolf was even more unthinkable. The scent on her was faint which was why he had not noticed it at Hampton Court. His human nose was too weak to make it out. Only his wolf nose could smell the hint of wolf on Tamsin.
If he had ever doubted she was Wolstenholme's daughter he did not doubt it any longer.
Walter let Tamsin stroke his head as he rested on her lap. Dawn was not far off now. Knowing that Tamsin was safe from his wolf Walter stopped fighting control. If he let his wolf self overtake him he would heal at a faster rate.
Chapter 17
Tamsin felt relief as the light of dawn breeched the tree line. It didn't take long after seeing the first rays of sunlight for Walter to turn from a werewolf into a man.
She watched in fascination as the wolf that had been resting on her lap turned into the face of her husband along with his very human and very naked body.
He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again and licked his lips. She could only guess at the pain he was in. It was a wonder they were both alive.
"Can you walk?" she whispered.
Walter closed his eyes and then opened them again. He nodded and then grimaced. She watched him struggle to sit up and she placed a hand tenderly on his back to help him. Once he was sitting up she slung his arm around her shoulders and used her body to help hoist him into a standing position.
The progress back to the cave was slow. Walter's breathing was labored and several times during the walk Tamsin wasn't sure if they would make it.
Once back to the cave she lowered him down onto the cloak. It was dirty but unlike her clothing it had suffered little damage in the attack the night before.
She found the costrel and held it to his lips. With effort he took a few sips of water before turning his head away from her.
She lay down beside him careful not to touch him. She didn't want to cause him any further pain. She was surprised how exhausted she felt. After the events of the night before she was sure that she would never fall easily into slumber again but she awoke with a start to find darkness surrounding her. She could hear Walter's breath beside her. Cautiously, she reached out a hand in his direction. He nuzzled it with his muzzle and then licked it gently. He moved closer to her and she snuggled against him. She felt safe with Walter beside her even in his wolf form.
It didn't take long for sleep to claim her once again.
***
Walter opened his eyes. The light of dawn was visible at the mouth of the cave. His body ached terribly but he could breathe comfortably. He was confident his body had healed the worst of his injuries. In another day or so he would be back to his usual self.
Tamsin stirred beside him and he looked over at her. She had tossed aside the rags of her kirtle and gown. She was wearing only a chemise. The cloth of it was thin and he could feel heat radiating from her body.
Still not fully awake she reached her arm out to encircle his chest. A moment later she pulled away and sat up beside him.
"It does not hurt," he said. His breath was coming fast but for an entirely different reason. Her arm around his chest had made his cock stir. It was quickly becoming hard and hungry.
"You are feeling improved?" she asked apparently also noticing his body's reaction to her.
"Very," Walter said softly. He could hear the huskiness in his voice and he knew it was not for want of water.
"I think we should stay here the last night of the moon. You might still be weak," she said.
"I do not feel weak," Walter said. Tamsin looked down the length of his body to where his cock was now fully erect.
On a whim, he reached out his hand and took hers. Slowly, he brought her hand down the length of his chest and placed it around his cock. He moaned at the warm softness of her hand touching him.
"I have never touched a man before," Tamsin whispered.
"We are easy to please," Walter said. He moved her hand up and down his shaft showing her what he wanted her to do.
He would have loved to roll over and bury himself inside of her but he was still too weak for that though only just.
***
Tamsin was surprised at how his cock felt. She had never held one in her hands and it was an odd contrast of soft and hard. The skin itself was velvet but underneath the skin it was stiff and strong. The movements of her hand made Walter groan and she watched in fascination as he closed his eyes and bit into his lip as she gently pumped her hand up and down him.
She drew her face lower so she could see his cock better. The night they had made love she had not taken a close look at him. She had been desirous and that desire had fueled her in their love making. She still felt desirous but it was not the same eager and scared feeling she had on her wedding night. Now, she was curious about her husband. She wanted to understand how his body worked so she could give him pleasure all the days of their married life together.
She looked in fascination as her downward stroke revealed the head of his cock which was pinker than the rest of his cock and shaped much like a mushroom with a tiny slit in the center.
She stroked up almost covering the head of his cock and stretching the skin upward to allow her to admire the balls below them. It was fascinating to her that all life could spring from those two small sacks of flesh. She reached out and cupped them gently with her hand making his cock jerk and making Walter gasp.
He rocked his hips slightly as she returned her attention to the shaft of his cock. She moved her hand up and down it as he had shown her but while she did she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on his scent. She knew the scent of a woman could change with the changes in her monthly cycles and even with her arousal. She had noticed it of her own body. She didn't know why but she hadn't expected his arousal to change the way he smelled. If she had been a wolf and had their senses she might have noticed it but she had expected the smell of his desire to be imperceptible to her human nose. That was not the case. The change was subtle but it was there. He smelled more masculine. More dangerous. More wild. The smell radiating off of him filled her with desire. She felt her core growing warm and wet as she continued to stroke him.
She opened her eyes and had a terribly naughty thought. Curious, she flicked out her tongue and licked his cock.
"God Almighty," Walter groaned. He opened his eyes. They were so hot with desire Tamsin thought he would roll her over in that moment and fill her with his cock. Perhaps that was exactly what he would have done if he was not recovering from his injuries.
"I had not expected it to taste so pleasant," she whispered. His cock tasted slightly salty but mostly it tasted like the scent of his arousal.
"Some women use their mouth to do what your hand has been doing," Walter gasped as she took a longer lick from the head of his cock, down his shaft, and to just shy of the patch of thick hair at the base.
"Shall I try it?" she asked.
"Only if you wish," Walter said.
"Is it something you like?" Tamsin asked. She wanted to please him. She wanted to bring him all the pleasure a woman could bring to a man. She was not skilled like many women at Hampton Court. Surel
y, Joan would already have known how to please a man with her hands and with her mouth. Tamsin felt foolish. She did not know how her father and mother could ever have sent a girl as innocent as she was to Hampton Court. How could they think that someone like her could seduce King Henry? Hampton Court had women vying for Henry's attention who had enough skill to make a courtesan blush.
"I have never had it done but if your tongue is any indication I believe it will be a great pleasure," Walter said.
She liked the idea of doing something to him that no woman had done before. As a man who had fathered seven children she had not thought there could be anything new for him in their wedding bed.
Tentatively, she opened her lips and slid them over the tip of his cock. He let out a gasp and he arched his back. She pushed her mouth down until his whole length was inside of her mouth. Then, she brought her lips back up his shaft until only the head of his cock remained in her mouth.
She did it a second and then a third time. She looked up to see that Walter's eyes were squeezed shut and he was fisting the cloak beneath him. She was surprised at how touching him in such a way made her feel. There was something empowering in it.
She kept using her mouth to attend to his cock until Walter touched her face. She stopped for a moment and looked up at him.
He was panting.
"You should stop now. Otherwise I will fill your mouth," Walter said.
"That cannot result in a child, can it?" she asked remembering how he had chosen to spill his seed outside of her each time they had made love.
"No, but you might not find it very pleasant," he said. His face was red and she could only guess he was blushing. In this matter, he might be almost as innocent as her.
"Can I try it?" she asked. She had come that far. She didn't want to stop.
Walter let out a deep moan and she knew that he had been trying to spare her discomfort but he wanted to erupt in her mouth and she was going to let him at least this one time.
She brought her mouth back over his cock and continued to move her lips up and down his shaft as hard and fast as she could until she felt his body tremble and she heard him cry out. She could feel his cock pulsing under her tongue and a moment later salty hot liquid filled her mouth and she swallowed it.
She could not honestly say she liked the taste but it was not unpleasant. For the pleasure it gave Walter she was sure she could grow accustomed to it.
Walter lay panting for several moments and she hoped he was deep in the pleasure she had given him. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at her. His look was serious and it gave her a momentary rush of panic.
"When we get home I will repay you," he whispered. She wasn't sure what he meant but she smiled up at him. They would be home soon and she would be able to make love to her husband in their own bed.
He offered her water from the costrel and she took it.
"I should go and find my clothes. We also will need food and water to get us through the night," Walter said.
"Should I come with you?" Tamsin asked.
"It is better if you stay here. I will not be long," Walter said.
***
Walter's body ached as he stepped into the sun. He found his clothes easily. Water and fruits took more time but he was glad for the precious time alone to get his lust under control.
Tamsin had nearly driven him mad with her hot wet mouth on his cock which came to life as the thought barely tickled his brain.
If he had remained with Tamsin in the cave he might have asked her to continue pleasuring him until the moon accosted the sun.
Mary had been a good wife but she was not a woman full of passion. She had done her duty without complaint and at times he could bring her to her pleasure peak but it never seemed to matter much to her. Tamsin was different. Walter could only guess that King Henry had seen that hidden passion in Tamsin and that was why he had wanted to make her his mistress. Passion mixed with her innocence was enough to drive any man to the brink of madness.
Walter wasn't sure how he had ended up lucky enough to be married to a woman like Tamsin but he knew that he never wanted to let her go.
He had meant the vows he said to her but things were different now. He craved her like some men craved ale. He knew he would never have enough of her even if they lived together as man and wife for a hundred years.
Chapter 18
Tamsin's concern when they left the cave in the morning had been focused on Walter's welfare. He was slower than usual in his movements but his injuries did appear to be mostly healed.
As the day progressed his movements seemed improved and she was able to feel the nerves start creeping up her belly.
Walter had assured her that they would be on the Crake estate before nightfall. Once there, she wasn't sure what would happen. She looked a mess and beyond that she was an unexpected visitor. Worst still, she was the wife of a pack member who had married without the permission of his alpha. All of those things were very serious in the werewolf world and she would not have wanted to approach her father in such circumstances if their positions had been reversed and she had been bringing Walter to Wolstenholme. Once they reached Crake estate her parents would need to be notified and that was a whole other reason to fret. The most likely response she would get would be none at all. Her letters home had gone largely unanswered. She was their non-werewolf daughter and so barely worthy of her father's time.
Still, he could feel humiliated that his daughter had married a werewolf without his permission or the proper customs being followed.
She decided that there was no use worrying about that now. The Crake alpha might not even accept the marriage and that would cause much larger and more immediate problems for both her and Walter.
"We are on Crake land now," Walter whispered. Tamsin could sense the change in his demeanor. He was a man returning home.
He looked as dirty and tattered as she did. They looked more like vagabonds than the children of land owning aristocracy and werewolf pack alphas.
They began to pass thatched roof cottages and Tamsin could only assume they belonged to the Crake tenants.
The first house they passed had three women outside hanging clothes. The women glanced at them but then nervously turned back to their lines.
The next house they passed had a gnarled old man and a young boy. The man hurried the boy into the house. Perhaps he thought the two tattered travelers would try to take the little that they had. Tamsin couldn't blame them for their fear. She might have felt the same in their shoes.
She was impressed by the Crake land. Her father was a kind land owner who treated his tenants well but she knew that was not always the case.
The Crake tenants’ houses were clean and well kept. None appeared desperate for upkeep. Everything was reasonably repaired and there was no squalor though it was obvious that the tenants were poor farmers and shepherds.
"Master Crake?" a woman called. Walter and Tamsin turned to see a thick woman with black hair streaked gray cautiously approaching.
"Esther," he said nodding his head.
"What has happened to you?" Esther asked.
"It is a rather long story. Could I trouble you to allow us to clean ourselves at your table and perhaps borrow some clothing for my bride," Walter said.
Esther looked at Tamsin and blinked several times before cautiously nodding. She turned and they followed her to one of the largest tenant cottages.
Inside the cottage a woman cut vegetables while a small child, likely her daughter, shucked corn.
"Master Crake needs to borrow a gown for his new wife," Esther called to the woman. She looked up, startled, and then hurried to a trunk near the wall.
"My Sunday best," she said handing it to Tamsin along with a kirtle. It probably was the best she had but it was plain and worn. Tamsin's poorest gown was better than her finest which made her all the more grateful to be allowed to borrow it.
"Thank you," Tamsin said. She wished she had a farthingale and busk
as well however she knew she should be pleased to meet her new family in anything more than the tatters that she had arrived in.
The woman and Esther led Tamsin to a private area of the house and helped her into the kirtle and gown.
"I am the midwife that brought Master Crake into the world. Brought all his children into it as well," Esther said.
"She is likely to bring any new ones in as well," the younger woman said. Her hair was light in color and Tamsin did not see any features she shared with Esther. She could only guess the woman was the daughter-in-law rather than daughter of Esther.
"I doubt there will be any more children. Seven is surely enough," Tamsin said.
"It is very unusual to have so many that live," Esther said.
"Especially in a were-family," Tamsin said. She was taking a risk but surely the midwife who had brought pups into the world must know what the Crake's were.
"He has told you about us," the woman asked exhaling sharply.
"I already knew. I was born Thomasina Wolstenholme," she said. She knew that even if her own name meant nothing to them Esther should recognize the Wolstenholme name.
"My husband is the Crake physician," Esther said.
"Mine is his son and apprentice," the younger woman said.
They brought Tamsin back to Walter who had found water to wash with and now looked slightly less wild.
"Is your brother expecting you?" Esther asked. Walter shook his head.
"I suppose we had best hurry. It will be dark soon," Tamsin said.
Walter took her hand and she followed him out of the cottage and to a house set high up on a hill. There was a brick wall around the estate with an iron gate. Atop the gate was a bell. He pulled the rope on it and it rang sharply into the night air.
"Who goes there?" a voice called.
"Walter Crake and his new bride."
They waited for several long moments as a servant rushed forward and opened the gate for them. By the time they were on the doorstep a man, a woman, and seven children were waiting on the threshold.
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