by Eliza Knight
They asked her questions, most of which she couldn’t remember, and she answered them quickly or not at all. She thought that perhaps they were more overwhelming than the wedding night itself.
Finally, her mother pressed her hands to Eva’s face and bent over to look into her eyes. “Are you ready, my child?”
“Aye, Mama.”
“Do you want to ask me, us, anything?”
Eva shook her head. “I’ll be all right. Strath is… He is sweet.” She didn’t want to say that he’d already introduced her to pleasures of the flesh, and that the only thing she was pretty sure they’d not done, was the deed itself.
Which, instead of being scared, she was excited for. This was Strath. Her Magnus. Her love and her lover.
Eva beamed a smile at her mother. “I love him, Mama. I trust him. And I’m so happy.”
The ladies in the room cooed at her for having said it.
Lady Arbella, as beautiful as she was funny, pulled her into an embrace. “I’m so pleased to have you as my daughter-by-marriage.”
“That means the world to me, my lady.”
“Oh, please, my dear. You married my son, you must call me Ma, as he does, or Arbella.”
“All right, I will.” Eva hugged her once more, and then every lady in the chamber wanted a hug, too.
At last, Lady Northwyck shooed them all out. “I love you, my child.”
“I love you, too, Mama.”
A few minutes later, Strath quietly entered the room, the grin falling from his face as his gaze swept the length of her. “Good God, lass… That gown is…my new favorite.”
Eva blushed but didn’t avoid his stare. Strath sauntered closer to her, eyelids growing heavy with that look she knew so well. His I-want-to-kiss-you look. When he reached her, he slid his fingers up her arm, dancing through the long locks of her loose hair.
“Ye’re beautiful, and I canna believe ye’re mine.”
Strath cupped her cheek and bent closer to her, pressing his lips softly against hers. Not a demanding, nor a frantic need, but one that Eva felt was full of love and overflowing with promise. He slid his lips over hers, touched his tongue gently to the seam between. Without hesitation, she opened, allowing the warm velvet of his tongue to touch hers.
They kissed like that for some time, swept up in desire. Their bodies were flush against one another, and heat cloaked them. But when Eva untied the leather queue holding his hair back, threaded a hand in his locks and used the other to caress the muscles of his chest, their kiss took a different turn. Strath tickled a path up her ribs, leaving shivers of anticipation in his path. His thumb caressed the side of her breast, and she gasped, her nipples hardening into tingling knots. Oh, the things he did to her body. Hunger for him and knowledge of the pleasure he could bring made her ache with anticipation.
Eva arched her back, searching out the heat of his hand, nipples aching for attention. She wanted his touch…wanted him to put his mouth on her. Heavens, but she was a wanton. Wicked in every sense of the word. But even knowing that, she wasn’t going to stop. She wanted him to touch her. To experience the pleasure she knew he could give her.
And Strath didn’t deny her.
A gasp of pleasure fell from her parted lips when his hand covered her breast. Warm with just a bit of pressure, he massaged her. Her nipple was taut and rubbed against his palm. The friction of the sensitive flesh brushing against the material of her thin chemise and his palm was intoxicating.
“Mo chreach, lass…” he murmured against her mouth. “I love how passionate ye are, how your body reacts to just the slightest touch.”
Eva gripped Strath’s shirt while he kissed a heated path over the column of her neck. Her head fell back when his lips grazed her collarbone and then drifted over her nipple. She gripped him tighter, the wait near agony. Eva arched her back again, pushing her breasts up toward his mouth. The heat of his tongue flicked out over the fabric covering her nipple, followed by his lips as he nibbled and teased her. Eva’s breath came in shallow pants, and she leaned up on tiptoe to get closer, unsure of anything and everything except for the heady bliss of his mouth at her breast.
“I’ve wanted to taste ye so bad I ache,” Strath said, flicking his tongue over the tip of her nipple as he spoke. “Waiting has been torture.”
“Oh, aye…”
His hardness pressed against her hip, and Eva knew exactly what it was. She recalled the way his soft velvet cock had felt in her hand. His arousal, thick and pulsing. She sank closer in his arms, loving the feel of that restrained passion pressed to her hip. Strath growled and gently nipped her flesh. Eva responded instantly, with a mewl of her own, her body bowing with the demand for more.
“Ye’re driving me wild, lass…”
“I want you,” she crooned, pressing both hands to the sides of his face, lips tingling and swollen from his kisses. “Dinna make me wait any longer.”
Strath touched his forehead to hers. “Och, lass, nay…” He nibbled at her lips. “’Tis your first time, and we must take it slow.”
They stared at one another, the crackle of the fire the only sound against the beatings of their hearts.
Eva pushed Strath back toward the bed until the mattress hit the back of his knees, and he sat. She stood quivering between his deliciously naked knees. Nervous and excited all at the same time.
With trembling hands, she circled her finger on the hard curve of his knee, trailing up just a few inches over his thigh until he groaned.
“I do love how improper you Scots are.” She bent forward and pressed her lips to his knees.
Strath reached for her, gripped her hips, and massaged lightly. He tugged her closer so her knees hit the edge of the bed, and his thighs pressed to the outside of hers. And then he started to skim his own hands lower, over her rear and to the backs of her thighs. She shivered, sucking in a deep, heady breath of his masculine, spicy outdoor scent.
“I’m going to remove your night rail.”
Eva swallowed. “All right.”
Strath grasped the loosely knotted pink ties and unlaced them, sucking in a breath when the fabric fell to the side to reveal the swells of her breasts. “Mo chreach.” His gaze grew serious as his gaze hungrily roved over her. “I am the luckiest husband in Scotland.”
Eva tugged the fabric off one shoulder and then the other, until it fell to her waist. Strath blew out another breath, its warmth touching her skin like a kiss. It was as though he’d not seen her breasts before. But she supposed he’d not seen them in the light, for when they’d lain together and he’d shown her passion before, they’d been in the dark.
Strath’s desire for her was obvious, and it only urged her on.
“Will you make me the luckiest wife?” She shimmied so the night rail fell in a pool around her ankles.
Sliding his palms up over her bare bottom, he groaned. “Och, lass, I can promise ye more than luck. I can promise ye happiness, and bliss, endless hours of bliss.”
Strath’s pride and guarantee of pleasure only endeared him more to Eva. She loved his confidence, and she knew from experience he would make good on his promise.
“I expect nothing less, husband,” she teased, running her hands through his hair.
Saints, but she’d been blessed when he laid siege to her father’s castle—for it was then he’d laid siege to her heart. And now she was going to let him lay siege to her entire body. And as much as she teased him about her expectations, she was truly grateful. Not only because he’d saved her life when he’d allowed her to go with him, and not only because with one look he made her skin tingle with burning need, but because he encouraged her to be herself and loved her for it. It was a gift she couldn’t be more grateful for.
Eva used to believe that it was a lie that every English lady looked forward to her wedding day. To her, marriage used to be a death sentence, but now it was a sentence of love. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe they wouldn’t have their ups and downs, but she was confid
ent the two of them could conquer whatever life tossed at them.
Strath gazed at her with something akin to wonder. His lids were lowered, heavy with desire, and she was certain her own expression mirrored his.
He touched his fingers to her shoulder, skimmed lower over her breasts, around them, never quite touching her nipple. Her skin burned where he touched, and she shifted restlessly between his legs in an attempt to ease the urgent pulse between her thighs. Every inch of her skin was suddenly alive, over sensitized, and her mind hummed with a thousand incoherent thoughts.
Strath shifted her body around so that his thigh was now between her legs. He pulled her forward, and that place that pulsed slid deliciously along the length of his muscled thigh. Goodness… She slid closer, and their bodies molded together in a tantalizing mix of raw, potent sensuality.
Strath murmured as he nibbled her lower lip, hand cupping her breast, thigh rubbing the very heat of her. “I burn for ye.”
Eva’s eyes closed in pleasure as he teased a path with his lips from her shoulder to her neck, pausing just over her heart, which pounded frantically.
Eva tugged at the pin holding his plaid in place, and he eagerly tugged off his leine shirt and tossed it somewhere behind her. He was all glorious muscle connected in lines and dips and a sprinkle of dark hair.
Boldly, she traced her fingers over his collarbones, down the center of his chest, and over the thick muscles. Crisp hair tickled her palms as she explored, and the sudden need to taste his skin, to breathe in his scent, took over.
Eva pressed a kiss over his heart, feeling rather than hearing the pulse beating there. Strath sucked in a breath, his muscles rippling beneath her kiss. He cupped her face, drew her up, and kissed her tenderly before sweeping her into his arms and laying her down on the bed.
He smiled as he came down on top of her. “God, I love ye so much.”
“I love you, too,” she said on a sigh.
Strath rested with one thigh on the outside of hers and the other between her legs, pressing gently to her heated center. He held himself up on his elbows as he leaned forward to kiss and tease her mouth. At the same time, he caressed her breasts, her ribs, and with each passing moment, she grew hotter, her moans more frantic with need.
He splayed his fingers on her bare thigh, moving to stroke the inside, edging closer to her heat. And then he was there, fingers sliding between her folds, over that knot of flesh that had her gasping, hips involuntarily bucking.
“Aye, lass, let me know what ye like.” He nibbled at her ear, kissed her mouth, all the while rubbing small, fiery circles over her slick flesh.
Eva could hardly breathe, could barely control her own movements. She jerked, hips rose and fell, thighs opened. Pleasure radiated throughout her limbs. Strath tugged a nipple into his mouth as he slid a finger inside her.
All sense left her. “Oh!” she cried out, her insides pulsing, quickening, reaching for something. She threaded her fingers into his hair, tugging, pushing, wanting the pleasure she knew would come from this.
“Let go, love, let me feel ye climax around my finger,” he murmured against her mouth.
She let out her breath only to gasp as he quickened the pace. Not two breaths more, and she was crying out as something inside her shattered, firing off potent waves of pleasure in every direction. Seconds passed where all she could do was feel, riding out the storm of ecstasy. Finally, the waves subsided, and yet she was eager for more.
Strath positioned his knees between her thighs, and Eva wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Lift your legs, love,” he whispered against her ear as he teased the sensitive flesh there.
Eva did as he asked, lifting them up around his hips. The thickness of his erection pressed hotly to her center.
Strath reached between their bodies and began to stoke her fire once more. His mouth found hers, and he kissed her with such fierce passion, she felt the stirrings of release once more. And then he was pushing against her, the thick tip of his shaft pressing at her opening.
“This may hurt a little,” he murmured against her lips. But he didn’t give her a chance to question him.
He pushed against her slickness and surged forward. A painful pinch made her cry out and stiffen, digging fingers into the skin of his back.
Strath stilled, leaned back, and stared down at her. Concern etched his features.
“Does it pain ye much, Princess?”
Eva wiggled beneath him, noting that not only had the pain almost disappeared, but that she liked the feel of him inside her, stretching her.
“Not anymore,” she said, smiling up at him and trailing her fingers up his back at the same time she lifted her legs a little higher.
The shift had Strath sinking deeper inside her, and Eva moaned. “I think I’m going to like this.”
“Aye, love, me, too.” Strath slid out slowly, every inch he moved sending ripples of pleasure through her.
When he pushed back inside, his pelvis tucking into hers, she raised her hips, crying out at the sudden, wicked sensation. He took her mouth in a heated kiss as he continued to move slowly in and out of her.
The friction made her dizzy with need, desire. Every movement pushed her closer and closer to that pinnacle point she’d reached before. Now she understood what real desire was, what the bards and minstrels sang about. The deeper meaning beneath their words was revealed to her in Strath’s arms. Pleasure was intoxicating, delicious, and what made it more so was that she shared it with a man she loved beyond reason.
He buried his face in the crook of her shoulder, kissing, licking, nibbling on her skin. His pace increased, and Eva found it even harder to breathe. Blood rushed through her ears, and spark after radiating spark fired inside her.
“Strath… Magnus!” she cried.
Her back arched of its own accord, and she locked her ankles around him, writhing as a climax even more powerful than the one before rocked her. A cry of pleasure tore form her throat.
“Oh, Eva, aye, love, let it come,” he growled, thrusting faster.
Wave after wave washed over her, drowning her, until she was finally able to catch her breath. But Strath didn’t cease his torment. Moments later, he seized her hips as he pounded harder, shuddering and moaning. He collapsed over her, resting his weight on his elbows until both their breaths began to quiet.
“That was stunning,” Eva murmured.
“Incredible,” Strath replied. He kissed her gently on the lips and stroked her cheek. “Ye’re a passionate lover, Princess.”
“As are you.” She grinned at him, satisfied for having been able to please him as he’d pleased her. “I love you.”
“I love ye, too.”
Epilogue
Two months later
Eva woke to the feeling of softness stroking against her cheek, along with a purring in her ear.
“Strath?” she murmured, not having heard him make that kind of sound before. And what could he possibly be putting on her face?
She reached up, and her hand connected with silky fur and the tiny body of a kitten. Eva’s eyes flew open then, and she let out a yelp of delight. “A kitten.”
“For my princess.” Strath sank down on the bed beside her wearing only breeches.
“Where did he come from?”
“He was just weaned from his mama. A barn cat.”
“For me?”
“Aye, love. I remember how much ye loved those kittens in Glasgow.”
Eva held the little kitten to her face, and it nipped gently at her nose. She nuzzled him and then laid him on the bed. He batted at her with his paws, letting out little mewling sounds that had to be the cutest thing she’d ever heard.
“I love him,” Eva said. “And I love you.”
Strath leaned over their wee kitten and kissed her softly. “I would do anything for ye, Eva. Anything.”
“I probably can’t bring him with us on our journey to see my sister.”
“Aye, but the
stable master has already promised to have one of the lads take good care of him while we’re away.”
“All right.”
“Are ye already packed?”
“I am.”
Over the last couple of months, they’d had a chance to settle in at Dornoch. Now that it was summer, it was the best time to travel south. A letter had been sent to Jacqueline, and her reply had been received. She was going to meet them at Berwick Upon Tweed, and just to make certain she arrived safely, Strath’s uncle Samuel had deployed half a dozen of his English spies to help her. Jacqueline’s husband had died of a fever, which had also made her ill, though she was thriving now. Her husband’s holding had gone to his nephew, so she had been planning to return to Northwyck where their father’s ailing health and lack of ability had caused the holding to fall into disrepair. But Eva had convinced her to return to Scotland with them. Their father could prevail upon his cousin who was set to inherit the holding.
“Is mother here yet?” Eva asked.
“Aye. She’s verra pleased ye thought to include her.”
“I didn’t want to tell my sister in a letter. I thought it best they see each other in person.”
“Aye. I think she’ll appreciate that.”
“’Twill be a long journey, made all the better with your company,” he said.
“I couldn’t do it without you, Strath. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
“Och, love, ye need never repay me for anything. I love ye. And loving ye means making ye happy.”
“I hope I make you happy.”
He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. “I’ve never been happier.”
Eva tickled the belly of her kitten, laughing when it tried to attack her hand.
Happiness filled her heart. She looked over at her husband who lounged back in bed, his tanned skin carved with muscle.
