The warm, scented waves rolled back and forth against her sides and splashed across her back with every wondrous thrust. Even with him deep inside her, teetering on the pinnacle of ecstasy, she had to know before shuddering bliss took her to the point of telling him anything he wanted to hear. “Why, Valan?”
“Because ye are mine,” he growled, spinning with her in the oversized tub and settling her back against the reclining end. “Mine,” he repeated, driving into her. Water splashed and slopped over the sides. “Mine to have. To protect. To love.” He shoved in deep and held fast, bringing his mouth close to hers. “Say yes, damn ye. Yes, to all that a future together could hold for us.”
“Yes,” she gasped. This was madness for certain, but how could she refuse him? The decision made, she gave over to the delicious sensations refusing to remain second to conversation any longer. “Yes, Valan!” she said much louder, but for a very different reason.
Her answer appeared to feed his already raging drive to possess her. He surged like a great sea god determined to show her the wonders of pleasuring in the water. She arched upward, shattering into shards of pure rapture.
Valan’s unearthly roar quickly followed, echoing off the sides of the copper tub. He collapsed into her arms and pressed his forehead against hers. “I fear I have greatly decreased our water level, m’lady,” he gasped, still struggling to catch his breath.
“A good thing,” she murmured, then pressed a kiss to his temple. “If not, I wouldha surely drowned.”
His deep laugh rumbled between them. He lifted his head and stared into her eyes. “Ye meant it, aye?”
“Aye,” she said, still fighting her fears and worries. She touched his cheek. Gently. Fearfully.
Even in the candlelight, the man missed nothing. Brow furrowing, he drew so close, she thought she would surely drown in the blue of his eyes. “What is it, my own?”
She didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
“Elspet. Tell me.” He turned them in the tub again, sloshing out even more water. Gathering her atop him, he settled her so her head rested in the dip of his shoulder. “I see it in yer eyes, dear one. What troubles ye?”
“We have known each other but a little while.” That wasn’t what truly worried her, but perhaps it would be a good enough reason so he wouldn’t keep after her. She wished more water remained. Even though it was summer, the air against her damp skin felt too cool. “We should move closer to the fire.” She pushed up to climb out of the tub.
He caught hold of her arm and held her fast. “Truth, Elspet. Always truth between us, remember?”
With a smile, she bowed her head and released a heavy sigh. “We have already spoken of it, my fine sir. I fear only time will bring me the reassurance I need. Ye have reassured me as much as ye can. Now, I must live it to believe it, ye ken?”
His hand slipped away from her. “Ye fear being abandoned. Left alone again.”
She climbed out of the tub, hurried around the screen, and over to the hearth to wrap herself in the linen cloth Dullis had hung there to warm. “There is another drying cloth hanging beside the chain. Do ye see it?” After wrapping the soft weave around her body, she secured it with a firm tuck under her arm. Coming back around the screen, she held up the cloth as she padded through the puddles. “The maids willna be pleased. We have covered the floor with water.”
“I have noticed something about ye.” He rose from the tub and distracted her with a magnificent view of his fine taut buttocks as he reached for the cloth on the peg.
“What is that?”
“Ye try to distract me when ye dinna wish to discuss what ye truly feel.” He wrapped the linen around his trim waist and knotted it at the side. He came to a standstill in one of the larger puddles spreading across the bedchamber floor. “I willna hurt ye, Elspet. Not ever. Do ye think ye will ever come to trust what I tell ye?”
She went to him, took hold of his little finger, and led him to stand with her by the fire. How could she make him understand? “Harping on and on about my fears and what caused them does little to make them go away.” She leaned close and kissed his wet shoulder. “Time and experience are what I need to wipe away my doubts, ye ken?”
He gathered her into his arms and kissed her with such fierce protectiveness, she had to clutch him to keep from falling. “We will make our happiness,” he promised when he lifted his mouth from hers. “Ye will see.”
It was then she noticed some of the day’s grubbiness still clinging to his face. It brought her a smile. She ran a fingertip through one of the sootier spots and showed it to him. “Ye distracted me, so I failed to notice ye needed a wash as badly as I did.”
With a devilish look, he dropped the cloth to the floor, proudly baring himself and revealing his renewed hardness. “Perhaps I should return to the water, m’lady. Care to join me?”
“Ye may join me in the bed, my fine lover.Afterye have washed.” To provide incentive, she let her wrap fall away, sauntered across the room, and seductively situated herself among the pillows.
When he took a step in her direction, she held up a finger and shook it. “Nay, m’love. Wash first.”
His victorious smile made her realize what she had just called him. Apparently, Valan wasn’t the only one in this room who had little control over his tongue. With a failed attempt at looking stern, she pointed at the bathing area.
After a self-satisfied tip of his head, he disappeared back behind the screen. A great deal of splashing told her an ample amount of water remained for his needs.
“Ye dinna have to worry about William,” he called out from behind the screen. “The lad has a good conscience and during our five years of fighting together, I have never seen a hint of cruelty in him.”
“Fighting together is not the same as marriage.” Although, she supposed it could be, knowing Beitris’s temper. “I want my daughter happy in this union as well as in overseeing these lands that are rightfully hers.” She sat up and leaned over, combing her fingers through her wet hair. ’Twould be a wavy mess without combing it dry in front of the fire. The thought made her smile. Wavy hair was a small price to pay for an afternoon in Valan’s arms. “Do ye think the things I said before leaving the room filled him with enough guilt to do as we wish?”
Valan laughed. “Sly minx. I wondered about that desperate speech ye gave.” More splashing followed by a loud snorting. Poor man must have gotten water, soap, or both up his nose.
