She shook her head, her breathing coming in fast little pants. “You did not,” she said, meeting his half-lidded gaze. “But you… you did startle me.”
“If you do not want me to touch you there, I will not.”
She blinked as if she did not understand the question. “As my betrothed, it is your right.”
He smiled faintly. “I know what my rights are. But I do not want to make you uncomfortable.”
Toby didn’t know what to say. She looked at him, half in apprehension, half in passion, until he gently held her face between his two enormous hands and kissed her cheek.
“Here,” he said softly. “Let me show you what I was about to do. If you decide you do not like it, then I will never do it again.”
Toby nodded unsteadily, watching his reassuring wink. The shift was laced between her breasts; without a word, Tate began to carefully unlace the bindings. One by one, the holes were unlaced until the string was cast aside. The shift was now nearly open to her navel. As the fire snapped softly and the kitten purred at the other end of the bed, Tate very gently pulled her shift off her shoulders, exposing tantalizing flesh inch by inch, not saying a word as the lamb’s wool garment fell away. He watched her breasts become more and more exposed to hishungry eyes until the edge of the fabric was just at nipple level. He could see her taut nipples straining against the fabric. Then he looked at her.
“May I?”
Toby was breathing so heavily that she could hardly speak. It was a terrifying experience for a virgin yet an extremely arousing, intimate one. He was undressing her inch by inch and her body was on fire for reasons she did not understand. When he asked the question, she merely nodded.
He smiled faintly, lowering his head and tenderly kissing the top of her breasts. It was a slow, warm, provocative gesture. When he finally gave a little tug, the right side of the shift pulled away and her entire right breast was exposed. The nipple hardened with the sudden movement. Tate was still kissing the top of her breasts but he moved to the right one, gently suckling on the flesh surrounding the nipple. He made no move to actually touch the puckered pellet. Toby let out a harsh exhale that was something between a gasp and a groan, feeling lightheaded with the flames he was stirring within her. For a moment, he stopped kissing altogether. Then, she felt something warm, wet and firm against her nipple.
Toby couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips. That primal noise was all Tate needed to unleash the lust that had been building in his veins for the past several minutes; he pulled her against him once more, tightly, and his mouth began to suckle her nipple furiously. Toby cried out at the pleasure of it, her arms going around his head as if holding a starving child to her breast. The tighter she held his head, the harder he suckled and the more firmly he held her against him. They were engulfing each other.
For as gentle as he had been, Tate was very quickly deteriorating into mad oblivion. He’d never had anything so sweet and strong and delicious. The shift came off completely ashe laid her back on the bed, his hands and mouth doing things to her that made Toby oblivious to all else. She was gasping for every breath as his mouth moved between her breasts, licking and suckling with a vengeance. His hands were on her thighs, moving up to cup her heart-shaped bottom with both hands as his passion overwhelmed him. She was soft and warm, and he was raging out of control.
Tate forgot himself as his mouth moved down her torso to her navel; he ran his tongue around it, listening to her gasp with pleasure. He was in a fog and vaguely remembered peeling off his own tunic and removing his breeches. He couldn’t stop himself, not if God himself had appeared and demanded he cease. Everything about Toby was perfect and delectable and he was consumed with the feel and taste of her. He wouldn’t stop; more than that, he couldn’t.
He lifted himself back up so that he was face to face with her, his enormous body atop her slender one. His mouth fused with her lips, once again tasting the honeyed tongue that had driven him mad with desire. Toby grunted when his weight came down on her, instinctively parting her legs so that a good portion of his weight slipped onto the mattress below them. Tate felt her legs part for him and he was lost; he knew what he was about to do and he furthermore knew that he shouldn’t. But what he felt for this woman overtook him until he could think of nothing else. He knew he was in love with her; he’d known that for a while. But he could not bring himself to verbalize it. He realized that his body was about to say it for him and he could not stop it. He did not want to stop it. He wanted her.
He pushed into her gently, swallowing her gasps of surprise with his amorous kisses. He withdrew and thrust again, pushing further into her tender body and feeling her tense beneath him. He kept his kisses warm and insistent, hoping to relax her as his arms wrapped tightly around her body. When he withdrew athird time and thrust once more, he slid into her wet folds with a great deal of ease. Another thrust and he was seated to the hilt. A ragged sigh came from his lips as he savored that moment, the joining of their flesh. The feel of her fed him like nothing he had ever known.
He withdrew fully and thrust again and he could hear Toby panting. But she was no longer tense; in fact, he could feel her sweet body relaxing beneath him. His hands began to move, roving her torso, into her hair, against her breast as he thrust again and again, gently at first but increasing in power and passion. He moved into her, against her, feeling her body as it began to respond to his onslaught. More thrusts, more friction, and Toby was moving with him, gasping softly with ecstasy. Her legs wrapped around his hips and he held her buttocks tightly, his pelvis against her, his thrusts powerful and measured, her hips responding in rhythm.
Tate’s mind was consumed with a white sort of fire that seemed to be filled with Toby’s light. He could see her nude outline in the weak light, the flare of her hips and the ripe swell of her breasts. His lips continued to kiss her passionately as his body thrust into her again and again, feeling himself approach complete fulfillment and not wanting to see the glory end so quickly. It was one of the most powerful emotional moments of his life, coupling with this woman that had quickly come to mean so very much to him. He thrust into her hard enough to rattle her teeth, grinding his pelvis against her Venus Mound and acutely aware when her slick walls began to tighten around him. He held her tightly as she experienced her first release, listening to her weep with joy as he took his own.
As fast as the storm rose, it banked swiftly but did not die completely. Tate continued to move within her long after their passionate climax, still wanting to be a part of the woman as he had never been a part of any other. When the gaspingand heaving died away, she fell asleep in his embrace and he succumbed shortly after.
They slept deep into the night, the best night’s sleep either one of them could ever recall.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was justbefore dawn as Tate made his way out of the keep and headed towards the building that housed the knights; he was going with a particular purpose in mind. Having just left Toby sleeping soundly, he was determined to find Stephen and clear the air between them. But his thoughts inevitably kept drifting back to Toby, her delicious body in his arms and the myriad of emotions that continued to assault him.
It was true; he felt as if he was suffering a gentle onslaught of emotions that he never believed himself capable of. It was something terrifying and wonderful, something that caused him to lose control as if he was a weakling. Whatever power Toby had over him, it was stronger than all of the might he had ever faced. All she had to do was give him a word, a look, and he surrendered like a fool.
But he had to get a grip on himself as much as he was able to. The first step would be to straighten out whatever odd situation had evolved between him and Stephen. And the second would be to determine the next course of action with Mortimer on their heels. Still, thoughts of Toby filled his mind and it was an effort to concentrate on issues that he knew must be the priority.
The knight’s quarters was a stone building built against the side of the outer wall. It was a badly lit structure with small,cell-like chambers. Tate entered the building and into a small common room with a muted fire burning in the hearth. He’d barely closed the door when one of the cell doors flew open and Kenneth appeared with a sword in his hand. When he saw it was Tate, he lowered the weapon.
“’Tis you,” he muttered.
“Aye, it’s me,” Tate replied. “Where’s Stephen?”
Kenneth yawned, tossing the sword back onto his bed. “He relieved me upon the battlements about an hour ago.”
Tate turned for the door but Kenneth stopped him. “Is something amiss?” he asked.
Tate paused after opening the panel. “Nay,” he said after a moment. “I simply must speak with him.”
Kenneth wisely kept his mouth shut, suspecting that whatever it was did not involve him. If it was a private conversation between Tate and Stephen, there was little doubt as to the subject. As Tate shut the door behind him, Kenneth wondered if he should follow to make sure there was no bloodshed with the undoubtedly volatile subject. On second thought, however, he decided to stay his course and simply remain an uninvolved bystander. With a woman involved, it was the safest course to take. Or so he believed.
