The Saxon Bride (The Norman Conquest Series) (4 page)

H
is mouth was warm and pleasurable, and his tongue insistently coaxed her to open up to its invasion. His caresses were hot on her skin where his hands slipped under her breasts, fondling, then slid around to grasp and lift the same derriere she’d thought just adequate. He seemed to think it was splendid, and molded her tight up against him. Her body melted into him in response. Heat spread up through her core and she moaned. For better or for worse, her husband had come to make good his vows.

§

If he'd had aught to drink, John would have believed he was drunk. The sight of this sensual creature was making a mockery of his tightly held desires. He needed to leave not gawk at this stranger. This was unseemly. But he could not. Not knowing who she was seemed of little importance to his urgent need to have her.

Wetting his lips, he was
ready for whatever she offered with her Siren's call. He wanted to take her and bury himself in her till morning. Her skin was slick and soft. Her full breasts begged for his attention, heavy in his hand. He pulled her close. Her taut nipples pressed through his tunic. He coaxed her lips apart, dipping his tongue into the warm recesses of her mouth. He teased her tongue, urging it deeper into his mouth, and at the sound of her moan, his own desire grew, his senses reeling.

"Oh, my lady, you are like a ripe peach ready to be plucked."

Assaulting her with his mouth, he suckled her, grazing her with his teeth. Her quickening breath urged him on. He pressed her firmly against his length, molding her to him, her every curve fitting perfectly. Kissing her deeply, he rubbed her hips against him, conveying his urgency.

"
I want to fill you."

Bending slightly, John slid his hand along her satiny thigh and stroked her
center lightly at first, then delving deeper and deeper. She was damp with desire, begging him to take her, but her tightness gave him pause. Looking down into her face, her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. She was thoroughly aroused. Slowly he caressed her, mesmerized by the apparent pleasure she was taking from him. His own deep moan surprised him when his passion-numbed mind finally registered the implication of her tightness.

"My love," his voice was horse with the struggle to keep his passion from overwhelming h
er, "please tell me you are not a virgin."

Her eyes flew open and he was pierced by a pair of silver
gray eyes, first confused and then accusing.

"Of course I am a virgin."

His wife!
How stupid could he be to not have recognized those eyes?

She shoved
him away and ran to the bed. Pulling her gown up to hide her nakedness, she turned on him. "Who did you think that I was?"

John was near to bursting with desire
for her, and the reality that this beautiful, passionate woman was his wife cut him to the quick. Her own eyes cried out in pain at his callous advances against her, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the screaming banshee he'd left alone all these years reared her ugly head. But she was his wife. He could have her if he wanted. The fact made him brazen.

"I know you to be my wife."

"You know me not." Her voice was tight.

"I have been remiss." John could afford to apologize, he was desperate to have her
. "Let me rectify the situation."

He
stepped toward her but stopped short his advance. Her supple lips, sweet as honey but a moment before, were pressed into a hard line. She dragged in a shaky breath. Her hand trembled where she clutched her gown tightly against her breasts.

"Are you such a lecher to come across a naked woman and force yourself on her?"

"Methinks you were not being forced."

"So you seduce naked women you do not even know?"

"No!" He bellowed his answer, dragging his hand through his hair, but his defense would not hold up. He didn't know her as his wife…and he was seducing her. "That is not my way."

"Methinks your way is more than clear."

"No," John's voice was quiet again. How could he convince her he was not like other men? "You called out to me as sure as a Siren's song."

She shook her head, her lips in a tight smile. "So now you are a hero that legends are written
of?"

He searched her face before he spoke, "I came across a beautiful woman I would rather die than not have."

Her lips parted with her quiet gasp, her silver eyes rounded with the longing he'd sensed in her response to him.

John stepped toward her and continued, "I was a
drowning man and you were refreshing water."

Rowena seemed to lean toward him as well.

A knock at the door startled him, breaking the spell.

"Who is it?" They responded at the same time.

After a long pause, a woman's timid voice answered. "It is Joan."

"Come in." Rowena's voice held a note of desperation.

"Go away!" John commanded.

At the sound of the retreating steps
, a crest-fallen look swept across Rowena's face. He had hurt her yet again. But she was not screaming at him or beating his chest. She glanced at the ground.

John fought the need to take her into his arms and finish what he'd started. His hands clenched at his sides to stop from reaching out to her
.

Her eyes finally met his
, the look of longing replaced by anger. "Why have you come back?"

"I have come to be your husband."

"Why?"

Because the
king ordered me here...but now I want you in truth.

"Because we are wed," he said.

He walked toward the bed and tried not to notice her tensing.

"Sit." He
settled himself on the bed and indicated the spot beside him. "We have things to discuss."

"Is that why you came in here? To talk?" There was an edge of bitterness in her tone, and she remained where she was. He was immensely glad she didn’t know he hadn't been lookin
g for her at all but for her man, Arthur.

"I have wronged you, my lady." He took her hand, and she didn't resist. He pulled her gently toward him, looking up into her eyes. "
Verily."

She sat beside him finally, a bit farther away than he would have liked. He glanced at her hand, caressing it as he spoke
, her skin so soft beneath his calloused fingers. "Would you always have been willing as my wife?"

She gasped at his hard words but he needed to know. There was a long wait for her answer. "I take my vows
to heart." Her voice sounded small. "As my husband, you have rights."

His gut wrenched at her admission. He had been a coward, but no more. He looked her squarely in the eyes. "I have rights as your husband…but I would prefer that you would give willingly."

"My lord, I believe I have been exceedingly willing with you. Speak plain. What is it you want from me really?"

H
e traced his fingers lightly up her arm to her shoulder, her silky skin responding with tiny goose bumps. Slowly, he urged her closer, pushing his advance. She stiffened in response, but he chiseled away at her resistance with gentle kisses, along her cheek, her jaw, willing her closer to him.

"Please." Her voice was quiet.

He pulled back reluctantly, tamping down his desire. "Shall we talk first?"

The knock at the door startled them both.

"Who is it?" John's voice was harsh.

"Arthur."

Color spread across her face.

"Not now, Arthur." John's voice brooked no discussion and yet the man's footsteps did not retreat and a few seconds later there was another knock.

"My lady?" Arthur's voice sounded concerned and gentle.

John watched Rowena's color deepen when she opened her mouth to answer. He was filled with some heretofore unknown emotion. He interrupted whatever she might have said with his command. "Go away, Arthur."

This time footsteps led away from the door. They were alone again.

"You have grown into a beautiful woman." His finger traced her cheek as he spoke quietly, her high color receding. With his lips close to her ear, he whispered, "I find you much to my liking." He put his lips against her cheek, and his hand slid up the gown she still gripped.

She released the garment.

His body responded with anticipation. With the tip of his tongue, he traced her luscious red lips. So sweet. Her breath fell soft against his mouth. He opened his eyes slightly and was surprised to find her watching him. "Let me love you
now
, Rowena."

"H
ow do I know you speak the truth? How do I know you do not often sneak into women's chambers?"

"
Because I am here, not somewhere else. My desire is for you and you alone." He spoke the truth but could not prove it was so.

"Not so on our wedding night."

"I was Norman scum to you." Her jaw dropped, clearly mortified at the reminder of her own words, true though they were. "I thought you might kill me in my sleep."

"I had just been told that I would be shared by your men."

John pulled back, distressed at the obvious lie. "Who told you such a thing?"

The only reason for
the lie would have been to frighten her. It had worked.

"The guard who brought me into the church, John."

It was the first time she'd said his name, and it brought him pleasure to hear it from her lips.

"I beg your forgiveness." She stared blankly back at him as he spoke. "I had no idea you were being so cruelly treated. It was not our intent."

"Your intent was only to force my marrying you so that you could leave me here to rot away of old age?"

That hadn't been his intent but rather his
reaction to her crazed behavior. Her point was well taken. If he had known of her mistreatment, things would have progressed quite differently.

"Clearly we have both wronged you—William in his choice of husband for you and myself in abandoning you."

He wanted to take her and show her how repentant he really was, but her eyes flashed a warning. He had missed his golden opportunity. She was now wiser and it would be an uphill battle for him to gain her acquiescence again.

"I believe William knew what he wanted when he forced this marriage upon us. You on the other hand, I have no sympathy for."

In all her bare splendor she stood beside him.

His breath caught in his throat. She was
perfection in every sense, and he was a very blessed man. His hand itched to pull her back to him, but she continued behind the wooden screen.

"You may leave now and please send Joan to me
," she said.

Duly chastised, he grinned at her commanding tone. The screen, however, did nothing to suppress his knowledge of every detail of the beauty that stood on the other side and the longing it enflamed. John tamped down his desire. For now.

"I will get Joan for you, my lady, and thereafter you will attend me at supper."

§

When the door closed behind her husband, Rowena slid to the small stool, still shaking at her bold behavior. He had allowed her to walk away from him when she had feared he would pull her back to him. She knew it and he knew it. That he would be returning for her said it all. He would return for her and…expect what? Was he going to stay and be her husband in every way? Was he going to expect her to share her bed with him? After all this time, she wasn't sure what she wanted. He had walked away from her and left her alone. Not just alone but untouchable as his wife.

"Humph." She had crumbled under his attention after determining to be strong and show him she had no need for him. Did she need him after all?

Rubbing her arms, she could still feel the heat from his body and her own response to it. That had taken her aback. She had been treating this as a child's game. If he did not want her, then she wanted him even less. But in his arms she had come alive, feeling things she'd never imagined. She wanted more.

She smiled. It appear
ed the attraction was mutual.

"My lady, what has happened here?"

Rowena stood behind the screen, startled from her thoughts by Joan's entrance.

"Are you well? Arthur was beside himself. Please come out and show me you are
well."

"Calm yourself. I am not clothed and wish to dress for dinner. Will you assist me?"

Joan's look of worry quickly turned to a knowing smile when she came around the screen to help her with the gown. Her presumptuous expression made Rowena bite her lip to keep from smiling. Yes, her husband found her pleasing. There. It was out and even Joan knew it. How much Joan knew would be left up to her imagination. That was until Rowena saw the mark that held Joan’s attention. A love bite. Proof of what had transpired or almost transpired.

"You can stop smiling." Rowena
tightened her lips to convey her disapproval. "I am a virgin still."