She returned his smile, kneeling by the tub and getting her yellow surcoat wet from the water on the floor. “You are worth everything to me,” she whispered. “But… but I think perhaps that you should compete. With everything that has happened over the past few weeks, perhaps it is important for you to.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Why would you say that?”
She shrugged, averting her gaze and beginning to scrub his chest. “Because you said that you had ruined your reputation when you swore allegiance to de Montfort. Perhaps you need to regain some of that honor in the eyes of your peers and perhaps this is a way to do that.” She suddenly shook her head. “Forgive me; I do not know what I am saying. I do not mean to tell you how to conduct your business.”
He gently pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look up at him. The hazel eyes were intense. “Your wisdom is astounding,” he declared. “You do indeed understand my business well.”
She sighed. “If I had my choice, I still would not want you to compete,” she said. “But I understand if you must.”
He leaned forward and kissed her, a sweet gesture quickly turning in to something hot and lusty. Whatever attraction flowed between them was quickly sparked and his mouth began doing wicked things to her neck, collarbone, and ears. Wet hands found her breasts through her yellow surcoat but just as quickly as he fondled her, he abruptly stopped.
“I am sorry,” he straightened her bodice. “I know we cannot… well, that I cannot touch you for a few more weeks but I must say that it will be the most torturous wait of my life. I want you so badly that I can taste it.”
She touched his cheek, thinking of the child so recently lost and of Kerby’s instructions that she be given several weeks to heal before they resumed intimate relations. In truth, she wanted him to touch her more strongly than she could explain. Perhaps it was the need to feel his love for her after such a devastating loss, reassuring her that she was still wanted and needed. As she pondered her thoughts, tears filled her eyes.
“I do not care what he says,” she wrapped her arms around his damp neck. “I need to feel you, husband. I need to….”
She trailed off and lowered her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. Davyss put his big hands on her face, forcing her to look at him.
“What is wrong, sweetling?” he whispered, kissing her cheeks. “Why do you weep?”
She burst into soft sobs. “I do not know,” she wept. “All I know is that I feel… I feel rather useless as your wife. My only purpose in this marriage is to bear children and….”
He’d heard enough. Abruptly standing from the tub, he swept her into his arms as water sloshed out all over the place. He carried her back into the bedchamber, holding her tightly as she wept against his neck. Wet and all, he lay down on the bedwith her, holding her against him as tightly and as closely as she could go. His heart was breaking into a million little pieces as he listened to her tears.
“Devereux,” he whispered against her hair. “I have told you before that I do not need for you to bear me a child in order for me to love you. Do you believe that?”
She nodded, her weeping deep and sorrowful. “But that is not fair to you. You must have an heir, Davyss. If I am unable to provide that, I am worthless to you.”
He gave her a squeeze. “Do not say that,” he rumbled. “I do not ever want to hear you say that again. You are my shining star, the heart that beats within me. Without you, I am nothing. If I must choose between children or you, I would choose you every time. Your ability to bear children has nothing to do with my feelings.”
She lifted her head to look at him, her gray eyes watery and red. But the sobbing had eased. “But you need a son. Davyss, it simply isn’t fair to you.”
He smiled, kissing the tip of her nose. “’Tis not as if we know for certain that you cannot bear children,” he said. “There still may be sons in the future. Remember that my mother lost several children before I was born. There is still every chance in the world that we will end up with twelve children, all female, and all driving me to the brink of madness.”
She returned his smile, realizing how fortunate she was to have married such a gracious and compassionate man. The day she met him, she would have never believed he was capable of such depth. In one of her darkest hours, he was a beacon of comfort and hope. She put her small hands on his face, stroking his cheeks tenderly.
“Thank you,” she murmured, kissing him sweetly. “For everything you have done for me, I thank you. And I love you very much.”
His smiled broadened as he dipped low, kissing her passionately. Devereux didn’t care that the physic told her she needed to wait a few weeks before having relations with her husband; she threw herself on the man, taking the offensive and returning his kisses lustily. She began to pull off the wet surcoat, not letting him speak when he tried to voice his opposition. Soon enough, the surcoat and shift were off, her naked body against his, and Davyss knew that he was lost.
Still attached to his mouth, Devereux parted her legs and pulled him down into intimate places. Davyss, having been seriously aroused since the bathtub, buried himself deep inside his wife, trying not to be rough with her but unable to rein his passion. Devereux threw her arms around his neck and held him fast against her, moving with him as he thrust into her, climaxing twice before he spilled his seed deep. As he grunted in the throes of release, she whispered hotly in his ear.
“Give me all of it,” she hissed. “Give me your son, sweetheart. I can feel your seed even now seeking root. I feel it hot and deep within me.”
Her words sent his heart to racing, eroticism as he had never experienced it. His mouth fused to hers, kissing her so ferociously that he drove her teeth into her soft gum, drawing blood. He lapped at the blood, his body buried in hers, feeling himself growing hard again in little time. Something about the woman drove him out of his mind with lust and he began to thrust into her again, releasing himself a second time as she begged for his seed in his ear.
Their passion, their lust and love for each other, went well on into the night.
*
Hugh, Andrew, Edmundand Philip were in Davyss’s solar when the man finally arrived just before midnight. He looked exhausted but elated, an odd combination. He grinned sheepishly at his men as he went to a sideboard that held a pitcher of wine and several fine cups. He poured himself a measure of wine, drinking deeply as he approached the map table.
“Well?” Hugh asked, peering closely at his brother. “Where have you been? Or dare I ask?”
Davyss cleared his throat softly, glancing at Andrew as he did so. “I have been with my wife,” he focused on the map table. “I apologize on keeping you waiting.”
Andrew snorted and slapped him on the shoulder while Edmund looked rather lost. He was still very young, his focus on the knighthood at the moment and not women, so he was fairly oblivious to the innuendos. Hugh studied his brother’s expression, his body language.
