Bond of Passion (14 page)

Annabella gasped as she felt his warm tongue licking its way up her spine, across her shoulders, and finally reaching the nape of her neck, which he bit gently. “Oh! Oh!” It was all too delicious. He claimed that she had a talent for kissing? Certainly he far surpassed any budding skill she might have, Annabella thought, relaxing beneath the warm mouth that seemed to enjoy her body. When he turned her over again onto her back she hummed a small protest at the loss of his kisses.

Her eyes were closed, and he admired her lovely long, thick eyelashes.

“Surely I haven’t put ye to sleep, Annabella,” he teased her, and delighted in the color staining her cheeks. She was adorable. Delectable. He was amazed at his own patience in waiting to possess her, for his cock was hard and ready.

“Nay,” she answered him, opening her eyes again. “I find I am enjoying yer kisses and caresses perhaps more than I should.”

He laughed softly. “With passion, enough is never enough, my sweet.” He began to stroke her as he might a small cat. His hand moved down her torso until he was brushing her plump mons. She watched him, shyly fascinated, but then his palm pressed down upon that mound of flesh. A bolt of sensation shot through her, and she stiffened.

“Ahhh,” he said, seeing the look of both panic and curiosity in her eyes, “now, sweet wife, ye’re beginning to understand passion.” Leaning forward, he began to kiss her again, delighted when her lips met his eagerly.

She felt just the tiniest touch of fear as he ran a finger along the slit dividing her nether lips. She tried to distract herself from what he was doing, because she knew he would not harm her, yet that finger was unnerving. The finger pushed between the slit, seeking, seeking. Seeking what?
Mother of mercy!
“Ohhh!” What was he touching, and why did it feel so exciting, so wonderful? “Ohhhhh!”

He had found her love bud and caressed it gently, and then with a stronger stroke.

Her little cries excited him. Unable to help himself, he bent low, kissing that sentient nub of flesh. Her gasp was audible, but then he was burrowing his finger deeper, and finding the opening of her love passage, and gently inserted his finger to the first joint.

She gasped again, and bucked beneath him.

“Dinna be fearful, Annabella,” he reassured her as he pressed his finger into her to his knuckle. His voice was thick with his desire.

“I’m not,” she lied, pressing her lips together to keep from screaming.

He moved the finger back and forth gently. His own cock was so hard now that he feared a simple touch would shatter it into a thousand pieces. He had to take her soon. “Yer love juices have begun to flow, sweeting,” he told her. “Ye’re ready to be mounted.”

“So soon?” she whispered, realizing that the moment had come.

Without another word he withdrew his finger from her. Swinging himself over her body, he looked down into her plain little face. Her lack of beauty meant nothing to him. He wanted her as he could never recall wanting another woman. He had to have her.
Now!
Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Her beautiful body was tensed and braced for his assault. He almost wept at this last sight of her innocence. He leaned forward and began to kiss her—deep, soft kisses to distract her from what was to come.

His lips!
Holy Mother!
His lips were wonderful. She had never imagined kissing could be so incredible. She lost herself in those kisses, his tongue dancing with her tongue. It was heaven! Wait! What was happening? He was pushing himself into her love sheath. He was too big! Too big! Annabella’s eyes flew open. “Nay! Stop!”
Oh!
He was pushing himself deeper into her body, tearing her asunder, invading her very soul. “No! No! Angus! No!” she cried, struggling beneath him, her small fists beating at his chest and shoulders.

God forgive him, but he could not cease now. Her untried sheath was very tight, but it was yielding to him. Her pleading almost broke his heart. There was nothing for it. He had reached the barrier of her virginity. He could feel how tightly lodged it was. Drawing back, he quickly thrust himself through it and deep into her body. Her shriek almost brought him to tears, for he was not a man to visit pain upon a woman. Having torn her maidenhead asunder, however, he rested a moment, kissing the tears on her cheeks. “It’s done now, sweeting,” he murmured in her ear. “The worst is over, and’twill be better now; I promise ye.”

She didn’t believe him when he said it, but as he began to piston her, his long, thick cock flashing back and forth within her, the burning, stinging pain quickly dissolved, to be replaced by a new sensation that could almost be called pleasurable. Annabella made a small sound of enjoyment. When she did, his big body stiffened atop her. He groaned as she felt his seed being expelled into her. It was at that moment that Annabella realized she was no longer a bride. She was a wife.

After a few moments he withdrew from her body. “I’m sorry for the pain,” he told her. “It won’t happen again now that yer maidenhead is gone. Wi’ yer permission I should like to remain wi’ you tonight.”

Annabella nodded. “Aye, I would like it if ye did,” she admitted. “After the pain I felt the beginnings of pleasure, Angus. Will ye come to my bed every night now?”

“If it pleases ye,” he told her. “There is more, ye know.”

“What more?” she queried him.

“Ye should feel great pleasure when we come together. Tonight ye were frightened with the newness of it all, but ye say ye felt the beginnings of pleasure, which is encouraging. My own desire for ye was so great tonight that I could not take all the time ye needed to reach yer own delight. I will not let that happen again, sweeting.”

“I felt that if it went on just a bit longer,” Annabella confided, “I might fly.”

He smiled, pleased. “Next time I will see that ye do,” he promised her. Reaching for the coverlet, he pulled it up over them, and they slept in each other’s arms.

When he awoke he could see the false dawn beyond the windows of the bedchamber. He realized he was hungry for her body once again. The fire was burning low. He arose, and fed it generously. Then he attempted to sleep once more, but he could not. Her sweet bottom pressed into his groin, its cleft almost cradling his stiffening cock. He needed to satisfy his passion at least one more time this night.

Turning her about, he kissed her awake. “I need ye again,” he growled in her ear, nipping the tender lobe.

Annabella could actually feel her breasts grow firm, her nipples puckering at the sound of desire in his deep voice. “I have not the right to deny ye, my lord,” she said, meekly pressing herself against his hard body.

“I want ye as filled with lust for me as I am for ye,” he said fiercely.

“Then,” she boldly taunted him, “make me feel that lust!” What on earth had come over her? Annabella thought. But then she pushed all thoughts of propriety aside. This big, handsome man was her husband. He wanted to possess her body, and to her own surprise she realized that she was as eager to be possessed as he was to possess her. She sensed there was a great deal she had to learn from him. She knew she was going to prove to be an apt pupil. “Make love to me, my lord of Duin!” she commanded him.

Her words sent a jolt of surprise through him. To find her so suddenly eager made him more than happy to comply with her whispered wishes. Especially when she wrapped herself about him, her hands boldly stroking his back and buttocks as he had stroked hers earlier. Delighted, he rolled her onto her back, kissing her until she was gasping for breath. His knee pressed between her legs, and she opened herself to him. He groaned when she surprised him further by reaching down to cup him. Her hand began to pull away from him.

“Nay! Nay!” he almost begged her. “Dinna remove yer hand from me, sweeting. I need yer touch.” He caught the little hand, drawing it back down to his cock and balls.

“Ye’re not angry?” she said softly. “I so wanted to touch ye.” Her fingers caressed him ever so gently. “It grows bigger wi’ yer lust, doesn’t it.”

A wave of heat washed over him. “Aye,” he managed to answer. Jesu, he was getting so hard! Had he ever been this hard this quickly? What magic was it that aroused his passions so quickly, so greatly? He now regretted every moment of the last two months when he might have been making love to her—but nay. He had been wise to wait, to give her the opportunity to know him better. The loss of her virginity had opened Annabella to the passion within her.

Her fingers stroking the length of his cock were wreaking an incredible and delicious havoc on him. He didn’t know how much longer he could bear this sweet torture she was inflicting upon him. Finally he took control again, drawing her arms up above her head as he mounted her and plunged into her wet, hot sheath. He groaned as its walls closed tightly about him. Annabella sighed with the intimacy of their contact. She was sweeter and warmer than any woman he had ever known.

Her legs wrapped about him as she reveled in his need. So this was passion. No wonder women were unable to speak clearly about it. It was indeed indescribable. He had released his hold on her hands, and she was now able to hold him closer to her. Her fingers kneaded his broad shoulders.

He wanted to be gentle, for she was still newly opened, but he simply couldn’t restrain himself when her legs closed around him. He began to thrust into her. Deeper. Harder. Deeper. Harder, until she was making little sounds of pleasure that only encouraged him to greater efforts. Her nails raked down his back as her body almost rose to meet his every thrust.

He had said it would not hurt again, and it didn’t this time. His fierce, passionate need sent her senses reeling with delight. She could have never imagined that coupling would be as delicious as it was. Her head was spinning. Her body felt as if it were going to explode with pleasure. How could that be? But then it did. Her body seemed to erupt from the inside out, leaving her overwhelmed by a riot of emotions she couldn’t sort out. She soared. She flew. It was simply too much for anyone to bear.

Angus roared with his own release as his throbbing cock exploded its juices deep into her, flooding her secret garden with his lustful tribute. He shuddered, then groaned a deep sound of utter satisfaction.

Annabella burst into tears.

“Jesu! Have I hurt ye?” His cock was still tingling, and he was not yet able to withdraw himself from her.

“Nay! Nay!” she reassured him through her sobs. “It’s just that I have never known such pure pleasure as I have now experienced. Tell me you have known this happiness too, and I have not greedily taken it all for myself. That would be so unfair.”

He laughed weakly. “Oh, sweeting,” he told her, “I cannot ever recall having been so pleased by a woman. I look forward to sharing many more such moments as we have just had. Your innocence last night was a great gift, Annabella. I thank ye for it. But to awaken before dawn to find you eager for passion was a gift I had not expected. I thank ye again.” He was now able to roll off of her, but when he did he drew her into his embrace, kissing the top of her head as he did so. The delicious fragrance surrounding her assailed his nostrils again. Plain of face his wife might be, Angus Ferguson thought.
But what a wife I have been given. I want bairns of her body, and we shall have them.

They fell asleep again in each other’s arms. When Annabella finally awoke she found herself alone. The light outside of her bedchamber window told her it was well past dawn. She realized that she did indeed feel a bit sore between her legs, and her limbs were a trifle stiff. Blushing, she remembered her boldness with him, but he had been content with her behavior. Still, was it permissible for a wife to be so bold with her husband? After the initial shock, Annabella had decided that she enjoyed coupling. She wanted more of him.
Mother of mercy!
Was such desire on her part a natural thing? She had so much to learn, and Jean would certainly be able to elucidate it all for her.

The door to her bedchamber opened. “Ye’re awake,” Jean said smiling, “and none the worse for wear, I can see,” she teased. “The earl would like to know if ye’re of a mind to ride out wi’ him, though it be close to midmorning.”

“Aye,” Annabella said, and she jumped from her bed, heedless of her nudity.

Jean’s eyes widened briefly, for although she had served her young mistress for two months now and seen her in various states of undress, she had never seen her fully as nature had fashioned her.
Oh, my!
she thought. And then Jean chuckled to herself. No wonder Angus had come into the hall whistling that morning. Were men not simple in their needs? Angus had discovered his plain-faced wife had a beautiful body, and it was obviously more than enough to content him. “Ye’ll want a bath,” she said.

“Tonight, but for now I will use my basin. I dinna wish to keep my husband waiting,” Annabella said, already pouring water into the basin.

“Be sure to cleanse the blood from yer thighs,” Jean advised, then turned quickly away to gather up the bloodied sheets from the bed.
Gracious
, she thought at the sight of the brown stains. Angus had indeed done his duty to Duin quite thoroughly, and Annabella did not look unhappy for it. Rather she looked very happy this morning. There was a small smile upon her lips, and she was humming to herself as she bathed using the basin.

Jean laid out a fresh chemise, stockings, breeks, a linen shirt, and a fur-lined, sleeved jerkin. She set her mistress’s boots by the bed, where Annabella was now quickly dressing. “Shall I go tell Angus that ye’ll be down shortly?” she asked.

“Aye, but then come back to help me wi’ my boots and my hair,” Annabella said.

Jean hurried out, carrying the sheets. She brought them to the castle laundress, who, seeing the bloodstains, looked questioningly at the countess’s tiring woman. “Not a word,” Jean warned her. “The deed is now done, and ’tis all that matters.”

The laundress nodded silently. She wasn’t about to gossip, lest she harm her daughter Una’s chances with the lady of Duin.