“Seek me out if ye need aught, ma lady.” Nora peered around Dominic’s broad shoulder. “Give her some good loving before ye expire.”
Nora left just as a train of servants arrived with the tub and steaming buckets of water. Dominic let them in once he noticed Emelie had the bed curtains pulled. Not having to look at his wife made some of his embarrassment settle. He couldn’t believe Nora said he was in love with Emelie. He was certain he was well on the way, but he hadn’t wanted someone else to declare his feelings for him. He didn’t want to correct Nora or say anything about it to Emelie, but he knew she wouldn’t forget.
When the door closed behind the last servant, Emelie pushed back the curtain and emerged without a stitch on. “You’re overdressed, husband. The healer says I need a good loving to keep me healthy. I agree.”
“Em,” Dominic croaked as he watched Emelie saunter to the tub. She bent over and swirled her fingers in the water. He couldn’t tear his eyes from her body. Her breasts swayed over the lip of the tub, and her lush behind made his palms itch to touch her. He ripped his clothes off and hopped around as he kicked off his boots and peeled down his stockings. Emelie stepped into the tub but waited until he followed her and settled before she eased into the water. She sat between his legs and leaned back. With a sigh from them both, Dominic’s hands slid over Emelie’s breasts.
“Do you have to meet with Brodie tonight?”
“I dinna care what he wants. I amnae leaving this chamber until at least two days from now. And neither are ye.”
“Promise?”
“Och, aye, sparrow. I’m only opening the door to let food in.”
“Then let’s hurry and get clean.” There was no rush, though, as they ran wash linens over each other’s bodies, heightening their arousal. They scrubbed each other as Emelie straddled Dominic’s hips. His eager cock slid along her seam. As the tip of his sword pressed into her sheath, Emelie grasped the rim of the tub behind Dominic’s back. He met her gaze. When she nodded, he eased his sword further into her sheath until he was seated to the hilt. Neither moved, luxuriating in the feel of finally joining their bodies. It had been five weeks of unspent need and unsatisfied curiosity.
“Em.”
“I know, Dom. This feels…”
“Sublime.”
“Aye. I never imagined it could feel this good, and we aren’t even doing aught.”
“Yer body is doing plenty to mine. I never want to leave this chamber. I never want to let ye go.”
“Then don’t, wolf.” Emelie flicked her tongue against Dominic’s lips before sinking into the kiss. They moved together as the water lapped around their chests. But it wasn’t long before the tub forced limitations, making it difficult for Dominic’s massive frame to maneuver. With Emelie’s arms and legs wrapped around him, holding her in place, he rose and quickly toweled them dry. They laughed as he walked to the bed with her still hanging on. He moved as if there was no extra weight attached to him. Emelie eased back onto the pillows as he lowered himself. “You won’t squash me.”
Dominic nodded as he pressed a fraction of his weight against Emelie. She pulled him closer as they moved together. It wasn’t long before urgency made their movements less graceful as they thrust against one another. Emelie clawed at Dominic’s back as her sheath spasmed around him.
“Dom!” Emelie screamed before moaning her release.
“Em!” Dominic howled as he thrust once more, the tight muscles of Emelie’s core milking him. With shaking arms, Dominic rolled off Emelie but pulled her over his body. He fumbled around as he reached for the covers.
“Am I really your wife now?” Emelie asked softly.
“Ye’ve always been ma wife. Even before we met. Ye were meant to be ma wife, just as I was meant to be yer husband.”
Emelie propped herself up as she rested her forearm on Dominic’s chest. “Dom, I will never pretend to understand why the Lord guides us as he does. But He brought us together, and there is nowhere else I want to be but with you.”
“Good because I amnae letting ye out of ma reach.” Dominic kept his word. Throughout the night, they moved together. Each time Emelie shifted, Dominic followed. They woke nestled together and blissfully happy.
Twelve
Emelie stretched as her belly rumbled. Calloused fingers tickled her belly as a bristly jaw rubbed against hers before nuzzling her neck. She rolled toward Dominic and eased beneath him as he came over her. Her legs fell open as he nestled between them. They’d coupled throughout the night, but it had sated neither of them yet. Emelie reached her hand between them, stroking Dominic’s morning arousal. She’d woken to the feel of it pressing against her backside. She’d rocked her hips back and sighed when Dominic pulled her against him and thrust. Her stomach rumbling brought a moment of levity, but neither would deny a different type of hunger. Dominic’s slid along her entrance and stoked the embers of desires that smoldered from the last time they joined, just before dawn.
Emelie guided Dominic’s sword into her sheath, another sigh escaping. They relished the first moments of being one body. They moved with a synchronicity that surprised them both. They’d only truly been man and wife for one night, but intuition and attentiveness made their coupling natural and fulfilling. With each thrust, each moment they gazed into one another’s eyes, Dominic and Emelie felt the bond growing between them.
Emelie knew she’d never imagined such a thing could happen—should happen—between a married couple. She suspected she never would have found it with Henry, and she wouldn’t have been any the wiser to know what she would have missed. Dominic tried to keep Colina from his mind, and he usually succeeded when he was with Emelie. But as he made love to Emelie, he knew that his three-year marriage never held the genuine partnership that he was discovering with Emelie. As devoted as he’d been to Colina, as much as he’d enjoyed making love to her, he never once found in her what he already felt with Emelie.
Both Emelie and Dominic realized their pasts were slipping away. No longer did their experiences with other partners matter, nor did they form who they were or who they would be. It was their time together, the intimacy Dominic and Emelie shared with their bodies and their quiet conversations that were making them into the individuals they wanted to be. While they’d only spent a night making love, they’d spent weeks getting to know one another. They realized separately that they’d taken more time to get to know one another than they had the people they once planned to spend their lives with.
During Dominic’s brief courtship with Colina, he’d hung on her every word. He’d showered her with compliments and been at her beck and call. He’d done everything he could to please her, enamored with her and stunned that a woman he believed was so beautiful welcomed his attention.
Emelie knew all along that she and Henry weren’t well acquainted, but his effusive praise and quick promises led her to believe she would have years to get to know him better. She saw the blessing that they didn’t marry, and she was grateful that she had an opportunity for a life with Dominic instead.
After they reached the edge of the cliff together and catapulted over it, they lay in one another’s arms panting and smiling. They exchanged soft caresses and gentle kisses as they coasted back down to Earth. Dominic tucked Emelie beneath his chin as they faced each other. Her contented sigh felt as though the very breath she exhaled filled his heart. Someone knocking on the door shattered their peace.
