He observed her take a deep inhale and flinch, but she soon opened her eyes and looked up at him. There was a softness he hadn’t expected. She rolled and flexed her hips, adjusting to the new sensation, then nodded. Liam eased back and nudged forward as gently as he could.
“It burns a bit, but it’s not unpleasant,” Elene admitted. She bent and raised her knees, bracketing his hips. “You can move more.”
Liam heard the need in her voice, even if she phrased her request as a statement. Without drawing back, he rocked forward, pressing his cock deeper into her. Elene’s head tilted against the pillow, her neck bowing. Liam kissed hungrily at her throat as he eased a few inches of his length out of her before surging forward. Her fingernails dug into his back, but her throaty moan and squeezing thighs told him she wanted more. Their pace increased, a silent agreement that they both wanted to oblige their urgent need.
Their kisses once more conveyed their lust as Liam rested on his forearms, and Elene’s hand roved over his chest. Her other arm wrapped over his shoulder, her nails grazing his back. It sent a shiver along Liam’s spine, urging him on. He pressed his left hand under her shoulder, then slid it along her back until he reached her hip. He grasped her buttocks and lifted, angling her so he could dive deeper still.
Love and lust swirled in a savage storm as they moved together, colliding together, then retreating over and over. The sounds of their lovemaking filled the chamber. Neither remembered a world existed beyond their chamber door. Neither thought to care if people heard them. They centered all their attention on each other. Liam watched a flush rise from Elene’s breasts and course up her neck before her core spasmed around him. Her body tensed, her inner muscles milking him with more strength than he imagined any part of a woman could possess. He slammed into her twice more before he felt his seed fill her. He pulsed inside her, leaving her body still needy. When she continued to move beneath him, Liam obliged. He pistoned his hips until she shattered again, once more tilting her head back with a carnal moan.
As they fought to catch their breath, their hands roamed in now tender touches. Liam leaned back, his arms hooked under her shoulders, and drew her up with him. He shifted, so he sat with her straddling his hips. She settled her head against his chest, her eyes closed. Liam rested his cheek on her crown, his eyes drooping closed too. They held one another, the calm after the storm. The intimacy of sitting together, still joined, was as powerful as their cataclysmic coupling. When their hearts no longer raced, their mouths sought one another. The kiss was languid, love flowing between them.
“Are you all right?” Liam asked as he ran a gentle hand over her shoulder and back.
“When can we do that again?” Elene giggled.
“Give me five minutes. I’m still catching my breath.”
“I shall count and not give you a second more.” Elene nipped at his jaw before she once more leaned against his broad chest. With heavy arms draped over her, and his broad shoulders rounded, she’d never felt more petite and feminine than she did in that moment. She’d spent years protecting her younger siblings and providing for her family. She’d thought herself fully independent and self-reliant. But the moment she met Liam, she realized two things. She was as she believed, and she didn’t need someone else to help her survive. She also knew she no longer wanted to shoulder her burdens alone, and Liam was the only man—only person—she knew with whom she felt comfortable being vulnerable.
“Do you know how much I admire you?” Liam said as he leaned back. When Elene’s brow furrowed, he continued. “When we met, I was impressed how you kept your voice calm even as you surely lost your temper with your mother. You were never rude, but you made sure I knew you didn’t appreciate me listening and not making it known that I understood your argument. I saw you in the fields working alone. I watched you with Katryne and Johan. I learned what you’d endured after your father died. I worried you thought I wouldn’t see all that, that I just wanted to swoop in and fix what I assumed you couldn’t. Part of me wishes I could have, but more of me was so bluidy impressed with your strength, inside and out. When I realized all of that, I knew I could marry you. I knew that I would have a partner when it’s my turn to lead. I feared having to walk away from you because of duty to my clan. I wish I’d understood sooner what I do now.”
“What’s that?”
“The reason I fell in love with you was because you’re everything I have ever wished for in a wife. I never wished for a particular clan to ally with mine. I always imagined a wife I could confide in and trust, a wife I could share my life with. I regret I didn’t put it all together sooner. I would have found a way to get you and your brother and sister away from Rousay without you running away first.”
Elene studied Liam’s emerald eyes, touched by the honesty she saw and heard. “Do you think you let me down?”
“I did.”
Elene shook her head. “I knew how I felt about you, but I never imagined who I am is who you would look for in a wife. I believed you would look for an alliance, and the wife would come with it. You couldn’t let me down because I didn’t expect you to save me. I wished there was a way you could, but I never felt like it was your responsibility. But when I climbed into that wagon, I just knew I could trust you.”
“I didn’t do well by you when I found you. I told you I didn’t trust you.”
“And you’ve explained and apologized for that. Does it still bother you?”
Liam nodded. “I spoke without thinking. I think I scared you, and that wasn’t my intent. I hate thinking I ever scared you, ever made you doubt for a moment that you could rely on me.”
“I think your mother and aunts would argue with me, but I shall go to the grave knowing I have the best husband. I never doubted I could rely on you, Liam. I wish this still didn’t bother you. You’re holding yourself to an expectation of perfection that only you see. I didn’t blame you for being angry. I tricked you. I did what I wanted and assumed you’d deal with it. I deserved your anger. I even expected it. But it was knowing deep within me that I would still be safe with you—that you wouldn’t abandon me—convinced me to take the chance. If aught, I feel guilty that I used you. I manipulated you and forced your hand.”
Liam pressed a quick kiss to Elene’s lips. “It wasn’t our finest moment, but I can tell you I’ve never been so tempted to maul a beautiful woman as I was with you in those stables. Sweet heaven and fiery hell, I wanted to do with you what we just did.”
“I don’t think I would have stopped you. I was hoping you would because I was too scared to be the first to start something.”
“I hope you know now that you never have to wait for me to be the one to initiate our coupling.”
Elene beamed. “You shall regret that when I chase you around this keep, flipping your plaid up and riding you like a stallion.”
“Stallion,” Liam chuckled. His body had withdrawn from Elene’s while they talked, but the thought of them finding secret places to make love throughout Varrich, and even at Dunbeath, made his cock thicken. Elene rose on her knees, guiding Liam back to her sheath. She sank onto his sword, mesmerized at how different it felt in a new position. Liam scooted them, so his back rested against the bed poster. He encouraged Elene to set the rhythm and motion, watching her breasts bob as she rode him. She rested her hands on his shoulders as she tested different movements, finally settling on circling her hips and rocking back and forth. It wasn’t long before Liam’s hold on her hips pressed her down on to his shaft as he thrust up.
“More,” Elene demanded. Liam flipped them, so they lay with Elene beneath him. He drew her hands above her head, holding her wrists in one of his as the other scooped her breast and brought it to his mouth. He suckled like a man starving, and his wife was an oasis. Their movements grew wild and uncoordinated as Liam and Elene threw caution to the wind. She encouraged him to be rougher, and Liam gratefully obliged. Neither cared that the bed scraped along the floor, shifting from its regular position as it rattled against the wall.
“Fuck,” Liam hissed. “I’m going to hurt you, Ellie.”
Their eyes locked, both surprised by the diminutive, but a moment later, it spurred them on further. A damn broke between them, both needing to feel like their partner desired them more than their next breath. Both straining to show their partner that they could never get enough of the other. They reached a precipice and teetered there as their hearts pounded and air burned their lungs. Then they plunged over the side together, soaring as their bodies tautened together, release engulfing them. But they coasted back to Earth, clinging to one another, hands cupping one another’s cheeks as they exchanged tender kisses.
When he was certain his legs wouldn’t give out beneath him, Liam crawled from the bed and wet a linen square in the basin with cool water. He wrung it out and came back to the bed, where Elene watched his every movement. He placed the cool compress between her thighs, easing some of the tenderness already aching. Elene would never complain, but she knew he’d been right that their roughness would hurt. But she cared not. She couldn’t imagine a more perfect wedding night than the one they were sharing. They’d made love and talked, both bringing them closer together.
Once she felt more comfortable and took over her own ablutions, Liam wetted his own cloth and cleansed the evidence of her maidenhood from his cock. They drew the covers around them and snuggled close. With their arms around one another’s waists, and Elene’s leg once more over Liam’s hip, they sighed contentedly in unison. It was only moments later they were both asleep. Exhaustion kept them in the land of Nod until midmorning. True to his word, Liam only opened the door to food trays and baths. And in keeping with tradition, the newlyweds tucked themselves away for a sennight, just as Liam forecasted. They talked, played chess and other games, slept, bathed together, and made love. But eventually, they both admitted they could no longer ignore the outside world, and Elene feared the impression she was making on her new extended family.
