Lynn Wood - Norman Brides 03 (28 page)

Michel’s lips curved in a gentle smile as his eyes roamed over her flushed skin, the way her chest rose and fell rapidly in response to her rising passion she was unable to hide from him and then finally met her tearful glance. “Elena, love, why would I seek out another when my wife so generously shares herself with me?” 

He bent his head to capture her lips in a deep kiss, sealing his vow of fidelity much as he had sealed their marriage vows to each other the previous evening.   Then just as she was beginning to relax in his arms, his lips slid from hers and began their purposeful descent along her soft skin.  Now understanding the object of his search, his bride tensed in anticipation and her breaths dissolved into breathless pants.  She spread her legs eagerly for his attention and when his mouth closed over the most secret part of her femininity she trembled beneath him and begged him in a soft, breathless voice for more of his lovemaking.  When long moments later her breathless pleas turned into an awed cry of feminine release, Michel slid along her damp flesh and buried himself deep within his wife’s welcoming body.

When he had gathered himself to the point he was able to speak again, Michel braced his weight on his arms and asked, his lips brushing against her sensitive skin, “Are you pleased with your husband’s instructions, wife?  Give me your truth, for I have no intention of allowing you to seek similar instruction in another’s arms.  Is there is some further lesson you would like me to focus on this morning? You have only to tell me what area of the subject matter I have been remiss in covering.  I assure you, I am very eager to continue your training in this gravely important area.”

“There’s more?”  His no longer quite so innocent little bride was staring up at him with a curious speculation he found incredibly arousing.  Knowing after his long fast, he was far more willing to continue pursuing the subject than his young wife could possibly comprehend, he sighed reluctantly and answered her truthfully.

“There is indeed far more for you to learn of your intimate duties, Elena, and I am anxious to continue your tutoring this evening.  But for now, I think it best if I rise and see what fresh crisis awaits me this morning.  I would prefer you rest and gather your strength for further lessons this evening.”

Elena blushed and giggled at the absurdity of his suggestion.  “Really, Michel, I cannot possibly remain in bed all day.  What would people think?”

Michel grinned at her embarrassment and answered her concern with brutal honesty.  “Likely they would conclude I was less than gentle with your innocence and you are unable to rise from our marriage bed.”

Her blush flamed even brighter over her fair complexion, and laughing, Michel reluctantly removed himself from between her legs and rose from the bed.  He crossed the room to glance out the window on his domain. Elena wasn’t aware until Michel pushed the window covering aside and the bright sunlight streamed through the opening that the day was already well-advanced.  Although she understood it was expected for a newlywed couple to linger in their chambers the morning following their wedding, until this morning she had not completely comprehended the true nature of the activities that kept a couple so intently engaged and willing to tarry away from their usual duties.  The thought that everyone she encountered today when and if she finally summoned the nerve to leave her husband’s chambers would no doubt comprehend exactly what is what that delayed her, made the prospect of Michel’s suggestion she rest in his bed all day a not unappealing one.  Then regrettably acknowledging that would only give rise to worse gossip as to the activities they engaged in over the course of their wedding night, and would no doubt force the servants to speculate that Michel had indeed been overly brutal in his treatment of her, she knew she was just going to have to brazen through her embarrassment and resume her duties as the mistress of her husband’s home.

She glanced back at the window to see Michel grinning at the evidence of her embarrassment, as if he was privy to her thoughts.  She marveled at the way he stood naked in front of the window as if unconcerned at the prospect of someone seeing him.  Elena grinned at the thought of an innocent young maid wandering by and catching a glimpse of her new king in all of his true glory.

“What has you grinning, wife?  Am I too bold in hoping your smile is in anticipation of your further instruction this evening in the matter of your wifely duties?”

Elena laughed at Michel’s teasing and then quickly pulled the sheets up around her naked flesh when he crossed the distance between them with a purposeful look in his eyes she was already beginning to recognize.  It required little more than a swift, effective tug on his part to rid her of the barrier between them, and then he came down on top of her and with a devilish glint in his eyes told her, “Perhaps we’d better go over some additional remedial material now so you are not completely overwhelmed this evening when we return to your lessons.”

Elena sighed blissfully as the door closed behind her now fully clothed husband and she collapsed back against the sheets, willing to revel in her laziness for a few moments longer before summoning Lissel to attend her. She considered herself the luckiest of women. Surely no other woman had ever had so magnificent and attentive a teacher to instruct her in her wifely duties.  She sighed dreamily at the thought of the cherished moments she had shared with Michel, and knew no matter how long she remained on this earth; no other day and night would ever compare to the one she just spent.  At the promise of further such instruction this evening, a trembling longing and intense anticipation filled her, causing her cheeks to heat up in fresh embarrassment.  Chiding herself that the keep was not going to run itself, she forced herself to put her daydreams aside and begin her first day as a married woman.

Elena was tempted to look behind her when Lissel, responding to her summons as if she’d been waiting anxiously for it, addressed her nervously, “Yes, Your Highness, you sent for me?”

Elena supposed she was going to have to get used to the ‘Your Highnesses’ from now on as upon her marriage to the king she had not only become Michel’s wife, but his queen.

The initial weeks of her marriage flew by in the same idyllic as her wedding night.  She eagerly sought the chambers she shared with her husband each evening and Michel seemed just as eager to continue her instruction in her wifely duties as he had on their wedding night.  She was not so naïve she didn’t comprehend that Michel did not feel about her the way she felt about him.  She wasn’t even certain it was possible for a man to feel the depth of love and the longing to be in his presence she felt for Michel, but at least he seemed to harbor no regrets about being nudged into marriage with her.  She could only hope that in time his feelings for her would grow beyond the rather amused affection he seemed to regard her with presently.

Now that she was his wife, it was a relief to her to be able to offer him something of value in return for all the happiness he gave her.  She knew he was grateful to her for taking on the day to day running of the keep and seeing to the numerous social niceties among the ladies of the nobility and his other subjects that seemed completely inexplicable to the male of the species.  She didn’t have to guess at whether or not her efforts pleased him because he made a point to express his appreciation to her regularly.  His approval only made her more diligent in her efforts to at least remove such small burdens from the grave weight of the responsibility he bore as king.

As time passed, and they settled back into the closer, more unstructured relationship they had enjoyed before Michel became king, she no longer worried over whether or not he was pleased with her in the matter of the more intimate nature of her wifely responsibilities.  Michel remained a most attentive husband and appeared quite eager to broaden her knowledge of the subject at every opportunity that presented itself.  Elena, eager to be a dutiful wife, was ever his avid student. 

So it came as no surprise to her when barely two full months into her marriage, she suspected she was already carrying her husband’s child.  She kept her suspicions to herself until she was certain. She planned to tell him in the quiet of their chambers one evening so she could share her joyous news with him privately. It was no easy task as the babe she carried within her seemed overly fond of early nights.  Elena struggled valiantly to keep her eyes open after her bath, and the fresh, scented oil she worked into her skin, while she waited up for her husband to join her. 

Since her marriage Elena had adopted her husband’s habit of sleeping nude, as it seemed a silly waste of time to don a gown only to have Michel remove it as soon as he joined her in the large bed.  In the early weeks of their marriage there had been a few occasions when in his impatience to instruct her more completely on the contents of a particular lesson, he’d torn the gown off of her, causing her to hide the tattered remnants in the bottom of her chest the following morning, rather than risk having Lissel come across the shredded garment when she came to straighten their chambers.

Despite her intention to remain awake, Elena fell asleep soon after she slid between the fresh sheets of the bed. That was how Michel found her when he retired to his chambers later that evening.  His glance roamed appreciatively over the enticing picture she presented, with one hand flung over her head drawing attention to the fullness of her breasts and the delicacy of her skin.  He had already been in a semi-aroused state as he strode down the hallway leading to his chambers.  His body had grown accustomed to its nightly feast and was eagerly anticipating its evening repast.  Michel was sometimes astonished with the ease in which he’d fallen into the routine of married life, though he supposed he should give credit where it was due. 

His new bride was so eager to please him he would have to be an ogre indeed to find fault with her.  His eyes roamed over Elena’s lovely face, thinking no other had ever appealed to him as much, nor aroused his manly passions so completely.  He stripped out of his clothes and in his haste left them on the floor at his feet, before sliding into bed and turning to where his wife slept on undisturbed by his arrival.  He gently pushed the sheet aside and drew her naked flesh against his, closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breathe of her appealing, feminine fragrance, while letting his hands roam where they would over her soft flesh.  By their eagerness to do so one might reasonably conclude it had been months rather than mere hours since they’d traversed the familiar territory.

“Michel?”  His name passed her lips in a faraway whisper in a manner that suggested she was loath to wake from her own fantasies and would prefer it if he joined her in the misty dreams he disturbed. He was more than willing to do so, since he suspected by the rhythm her slender hips now set against his straining flesh; their purposes were one and the same.  He drew her closer and bent to whisper his response against her ear tantalizing his drowsy wife with dark, seductive promises of the pleasure they would bring to each other.

She reached for him then, and slithered over him, covering him, all her natural shyness forgotten in sleep as her body’s urgent needs pushed aside the shy feminine defenses she was wont to raise against his driving lust.  He watched with rising desire the dazed confusion in her glance as she stared down at him from her place perched above him, straddling him, as she drifted in and out of her dreams, seemingly drugged by the passion that rose between them.  When his hands reached up to cup her breasts, she cried out softly and urged him to take more of her tender offerings.  His lips closed over her and then he used his teeth to bring her to a fresh peak. She moaned and reached up to cup her breasts as she rose above him and took him inside her already damp heat.

Seeing her womanly hands caressing her own softness set his raging passions aflame. Unable to wait any longer for the promise of satisfaction he read in her glazed eyes, Michel drove urgently into her again and again until long moments later he surrendered to the force of his body’s insistent need with a loud satisfied shout.  In the silent warm moments following their coming together, Michel lay replete with his wife sprawled across his chest, unsure if she was awake or still dreaming until he heard his name on her lips in a hesitant whisper.

“Michel?”

“Yes, love.  So you’re awake?  I wasn’t certain.”

Elena hid her blush against his chest at his teasing then lifted her head so she could see his face.  “I tried to wait up for you, but I guess I fell asleep.”

“I assure you, I am not the least bit disappointed with how things worked out.”

She smiled at his jesting but immediately her expression turned serious.  “I waited up for you to tell you something important.”

“What is it?” he asked, letting his fingers trace a trail along her soft skin.  He didn’t think he would ever grow tired of the feel of her against him, beneath him, above him… When he realized the direction of his thoughts, and the fresh tightening in his loins, he reluctantly drew his attention away from the consideration of what new lesson he would introduce to his eager bride tonight and forced himself to concentrate on her serious expression, curious as to its cause.  “Elena?”             

“I’m pregnant.”

Her soft confession shook him to the core and he sought to escape his sudden discomfort in denial.  “Elena, it’s too soon.  You cannot possibly be certain.”

“You’re not pleased about the baby?”

Her wide-eyed dismay forced him to gain control over a feeling previously unknown to him, but which he recognized as swiftly escalating panic.  “Yes, of course I’m pleased, but it’s so soon.”

“Not so very soon,” his young wife contradicted him gently and he was compelled to concede her point.

“No, I suppose not,” he agreed distractedly, but his thoughts were already far from his wife and the comfort of the chambers they shared.  He cursed himself for his carelessness in not taking precautions to see to it that Elena did not find herself with child so soon, at least not until after he’d solved the riddle of the curse on his heirs.  As things stood he was no nearer to unravelling the mystery that beset his blood than he was on the day he first learned of its existence.

“Michel, if you’re not displeased with this news than what troubles you?”

Michel considered lying in answer to his wife’s direct question, realized immediately Elena knew his moods well enough to recognize a lie on his lips when she heard it, and then decided she deserved the truth.  Better even for her to understand he was truly concerned about the effects of an ancient curse on the child she carried, than to have her believe he was not happy about the blessed news she just gave him.  He reached up to brush a gentle hand through her hair.  “Elena, you have lived in Calei long enough to know the details of the plague on the royal blood.”

Michel was amazed by the look of relief that crossed his wife’s face at his words. He couldn’t come up with a single explanation for her odd reaction and concluded she did not truly accept that the curse was more than just an old legend without any real ability to hurt them or the child she carried.  He only wished he could share her certainty.

“Oh, that’s why you reacted the way you did.  I thought perhaps you had decided, like Uncle Barnabas, that you did not wish to become a father.”

Michel exhaled a deep sigh and protested, “I imagine your Uncle Barnabas would have been pleased to become a father if he did not already have a child.”

“What do you mean?’ Elena’s brows furrowed in confusion.

Michel replied gently, “Your uncle told me himself that no child of his body could be more precious to him than his beloved niece.”

Michel watched tears fill her eyes.  “He was the only father I have any memory of.”

“I know, and I will do my best to be as worthy a father to our children as he was to you.”

“Of that I have no doubt.”

At the serene certainty in her face, Michel could not let the matter of the curse rest unacknowledged between them.  When her terror for their unborn child threatened to overwhelm her, he did not want Elena to feel she must conceal her fears from him.

“Elena, it is all right to be afraid.  We will not long be able to hide your condition, and then you can be very certain the topic of the curse will be on everyone’s minds even if they restrain their lips in our presence.”

Her serene expression remained unchallenged by his dark truth.  At the puzzled expression on his face, Elena leaned towards him to smooth away the fierce frown line between his eyes.  “Michel, I will not waste whatever time we have together with worries of when it will be taken away from us.  Haven’t I known loss in my life? The one thing I have learned from my grief is to live in each moment, to be grateful for every blessing we are given, and to clutch to my heart every moment of each day and each hour we have together, and rejoice in these precious moments between us.”

Awed by her peaceful acceptance of the invisible threat hanging over them and the life of their unborn child, Michel thought to hide his own unreconciled rage at the burden he had inherited from some nameless, unknown ancestor.  He would gladly risk life and limb to protect his wife and the child she carried within her.  If he thought abdicating his throne and fleeing with them away from the place where the curse began would save them, he would not hesitate to do so.  But he feared even if he was willing to take such an unprecedented step, and he was successful in carving out a new life for his family far away from Calei, he would then only be passing along the bane of the curse to the very child he was desperate to protect.  No, he would not run away.  He would contest his destiny here where it began and God willing remove the stain of the threat from his blood.