Eoin kissed his way down her belly to the hollow between her hipbones, praying one day his seed would take root and they would build a family together. He sank to his knees, hooking her legs over his shoulders as he savored his first taste of his wife’s honey. She was his wife now before God rather than their own false word, and she would soon be his wife in deed.
Eoin swept the flat of his tongue along her, from stem to stern, feathering his teeth over her nub before unexpectedly drawing it in with enough pressure to make her hips buck. He worked her with his mouth and his hands until he felt her tense, her muscles spasming around his fingers. As she settled back against the bed, she watched him, her eyelids dropping. He licked his fingers clean as he prowled toward her and climbed on the bed. Eoin wondered if Cairstine would need a moment to catch her breath before he dared continue his onslaught, so he was unprepared for her attempt to push him over. He let her, curious to see what his bonny bride had in mind.
“That’s twice you’ve done that. I may have turned out to be an innocent, but my ears aren’t.” Cairstine lost her confidence for a moment as she confessed, “I’ve heard what you like.”
Eoin was on her in a flash, rolling her onto her back, but he was tender as he brushed the backs of his fingers along her temple. “Cairrie, that’s the past. It bears no relevance to now, or to our future. There is no one but you, and there never ever will be. Whether we make love today or never, there will only be you. I can’t change what I’ve done, but I can swear to you that what we share will only ever be with you.”
“I believe you, Eo. But you didn’t gain the skills I marvel at by being a hermit. I may not have the experience you’re used to, but I want to.” Cairstine frowned, uncertain that her words sounded how she meant them. “I mean, I want to learn the ways to bring you the pleasure you bring me. You give me everything, Eoin. Without reservation and without expectation. I want to give to you.”
Eoin saw the sincerity in her gaze and heard the earnestness in her voice. He understood that if he turned her away, the rejection would hurt her and bruise the trust they’d developed, and if he were being honest with himself… “St. Columba, I have dreamed of your mouth on me, all over me. But Cairrie, it’s not something all women enjoy. I told you, I know I’m a sizeable mon. I don’t want to scare you, and I don’t want you to feel pressured into aught. The only thing I expect from you is that you enjoy what we share.”
“I told you, my ears aren’t so innocent. Many of the women at court don’t care if they’re overhead by the ladies-in-waiting. I think they take pleasure in flaunting their knowledge and their conquests.”
Eoin shifted, uneasy thinking about what Cairstine had heard about him. He and Ewan hadn’t gone to court often, but they had earned their reputations. She ran her hands over his chest and nuzzled his neck. Before gazing patiently into his blue eyes.
“I heard more than enough aboot you, but as you said, it’s in the past. Neither of us imagined we would be where we are today,” Cairstine shrugged, but her cocked eyebrow was a silent reminder that while she might not have lain with any men while at court, she’d kissed more than a few. “As the Bible says, ‘A gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.’ I intend to benefit from all the things those women boasted aboot.”
Cairstine once again pushed at Eoin’s shoulder, and he relented. Once he lay on his back, Cairstine rolled to her side. She walked her fingers down the valley of his chest and over the ridges of his abdomen, fascinated by how they flexed under her touch. She grazed her nails over the skin where the tuft of hair began. Eoin drew in a sharp breath, and Cairstine retreated to caressing his chest. She toyed with him again as her fingers meandered toward his cock, and Eoin feared he would expire before she ever touched him.
“Kiss me,” Cairstine whispered, and Eoin was only too happy to oblige. As their tongues swept against one another’s, her hand wrapped around his rod, slowly stroking him, experimenting with feel and Eoin’s reactions. When his breathing shortened, and she felt him twitch within her palm, she looked at his rod. It had fascinated her the last time they’d lain together on her bed, but he’d abruptly dashed to the window and finished himself. She’d felt robbed, and she didn’t intend for that to happen again. Cairstine slid from the bed, taking the same position Eoin had earlier, except his legs were far too long and heavy to place over her shoulders. She took him in her hand again, before flicking her tongue across the tip of his cock. Eoin inhaled a whistling breath as he strained to see her. Her tongue swiped over the entire head before she drew away, a curious expression on her face. “I confess I want to know if you taste as pleasurable to me as I seem to taste to you.”
She continued to stroke Eoin until she noticed he pulsed slightly in her hand. Her own need to explore and pleasure Eoin drove her to lower her mouth onto his length as her lips gripped the scorching, satin skin. Cairstine refused to panic as his length brushed her teeth, the roof of her mouth, and the back of her throat. She reminded herself that this was what she wanted, and Eoin had even tried to dissuade her. Her curiosity and desire to please him outweighed her trepidation.
“I won’t last if you continue to torment me. You’re far too seductive for my own good,” Eoin murmured as he drew Cairstine onto the bed beside him and propped himself on his elbow. He massaged her breast, and as the ache that began within her core intensified, she feared she would expire from need. She became restless with a need to discover what it felt like to be joined.
“I know,mo chridhe. Soon.” Eoin reassured as he eased the tip of his rod into her channel and stopped, but Cairstine encouraged him to continue, her fingers biting into his shoulders as she squirmed, trying to bring their bodies closer. Eoin held himself above her, refusing to rush what he feared would be more painful than pleasurable for Cairstine in the beginning. Eoin moved tentatively, fearful of harming Cairstine or bringing back her anxiety. But she rocked her hips up to accept more of him. “I don’t want to hurt you,mo ghràidh milis.” My sweet darling.
Cairstine prayed Eoin would call her that countless times over the years to come. His cock slipped further within her slick sheath. As her muscle gripped the invading length, it felt more like her body was inviting him in rather than pushing him away. Eoin listened to her soft pleas for more, so he rocked his hips forward until he brushed her barrier. “Cairrie, I’ll stop if it hurts too much.”
Cairrie made to shake her head, but suddenly it felt as if someone had knocked the wind from her lungs as Eoin surged past her maidenhead and buried himself. They both moaned, but only his sounded like pleasure. He held himself still as Cairstine blinked several times. Part of her body wanted to reject the invasion, the sting still hurting, but most of her body begged for them to continue. She slid her hands from the back of his shoulders to his chiseled buttocks, pressing him into her as she once again rocked her hips, her legs falling open.
“Saints and angels, Cairstine. You feel better than even my most vivid imaginings. I never want to leave. I want my body buried deep within you from now until eternity.”
“I won’t stop you. Eo, how could I have shied away from this, from you for so long? Why didn’t you tell me it would be like this?”
“Would you have believed me?” Eoin smiled.
“I don’t suppose I would have, but you aremo ghaol mòr.” My one great love. Cairstine meant it. She couldn’t imagine ever feeling for another man what she did for Eoin. As their bodies moved together, she gave herself over to the sensations that seized control of every fiber in her body. She felt it respond the same way it did to his hand and his mouth, but this was a far more powerful drug. It gave her both strength and weakness as she discovered what she’d nearly forsaken. Her body raced toward the finish, but she fought the wave of pleasure, wanting their first time together to last longer.
“Give in to it,mo chridhe. Women can experience their release multiple times. It’s men who need a little time to recover in between,” Eoin grinned. His handsome face was as much a thing of beauty as his body. As she gazed at him, her body fell over the precipice, shattering as waves upon waves washed over her, the tightness in her core finding the release only Eoin offered.
“Eoin!” Cairstine cried out, but there was no fear in her voice this time. Anyone who heard wouldn’t doubt that she was being well loved. Eoin continued to thrust, struggling to rein in his need to spend. He wanted Cairstine to experience those multiple climaxes he’d just promised her. He refused to short change her or make her question herself. He understood how her mind worked. She would assume it was her flaw rather than Eoin’s inability to resist her. He shifted and circled his hips, grinding their pelvises together with each thrust. Cairstine became frantic, and Eoin feared she was panicking, but the flush that began at the top of her breasts and blossomed along her neck to her cheeks, and the strained cords in her neck as she arched her back told him her frenzy came from her imminent release. He tweaked her nipple, and she shattered beneath him, screaming his name as he bellowed hers. He was certain the entire keep knew what they were about, and he didn’t care.
As they floated back down to Earth, Eoin was careful not to press his full weight against Cairstine. He feared crushing her much smaller frame, and he wasn’t sure whether it would trigger an unpleasant memory. But he breathed easier when she tugged him down to her, locking her arms and legs around him. He rested most of his weight on his forearms but relented when the feel of their bodies pressed together reminded him of the last bite of dessert, the perfect finish.
Cairstine ran her hands along Eoin’s back, mesmerized as much by the feel of his body as the reverence he’d shown as he worshipped hers. She felt loved and complete, a new and profoundly serene combination. Despite the heavy weight of Eoin pressing her against the mattress, it was as if she were boneless and weightless, floating on a cloud of joy. When Eoin’s body no longer cooperated with his mind, withdrawing to their mutual groans of frustration and disappointment, he rolled to his side, bringing Cairstine onto hers. Their arms entwined as they clasped hands between them, and they laid in silence for a long time just staring into one another’s eyes.
“Tha gaol agam ort, Cairrie.” I love you. Eoin never imagined those words combined could have such overwhelming force. He loved his brother and his father, and he’d grown to love his sister-by-marriage, but nothing compared to the all-consuming love he felt for Cairstine.
"Chan eil barrachd na tha gaol agam ort,Eoin.” No more than I love you. Cairstine’s face radiated her joy, and Eoin thought she’d never looked lovelier. Not in all her courtly attire, not when they were beneath a bright blue sky. But that moment, when it was only the two of them. It wasn’t long before they drifted back to sleep, only to wake to make love several times throughout the rest of the night and well into the morning.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Eoin deflected the bone-jarring slice from his brother’s sword as it landed against the targe strapped to his arm. He was pleased to be sparring with Ewan once again, since his time at Freuchie was the longest the twins had been separated. But he would confess that he was exhausted. The emotional strain of Cairstine’s nightmares, along with the tumultuous emotions of making love to her for the first time, were taxing Eoin’s strength. He was aware Cairstine was in the ladies’ solar with Davina, Fenella, and Allyson, but he felt himself growing anxious about not having her in arm’s reach after such a momentous night.
“Shall I take your head off along with both arms?” Ewan drew back. “You’re lucky I love you, even like you most days, and these are blunted swords. Eoin, are you even listening?”
“Huh?” Eoin turned away from the keep and looked at his twin, unsure of what Ewan just said.
