Then Fergus roared for privacy and the villagers departed, laughing and shouting what must have been friendly advice as they did so.Margaret took the purple kirtle as well as the cloth and needles, with Mhairi helping her to carry it all.Fergus left the bed and locked the portal behind them, even as the music began from the hall once again.
He leaned his back against the door, his eyes gleaming as he regarded Leila.“And so we are alone at last.”
Leila could see no reason to pretend the situation was other than it was.“And yet not the wedding night you had expected.”
“Nor the one you anticipated,” Fergus said, crossing the floor with measured steps.He sat on the side of the mattress.“This is your last opportunity to change your thinking.”
“It is too late.I would not disappoint your father.”
Fergus took her hand in his.“Do you know what to expect this night?”
“Well enough.”Leila closed her hand over his, seeing that he was torn.“I am not Isobel, and I never will be.I will not pretend to be.But I will try to be the best wife to you, Fergus, that I can.”
“That is the most one can expect from a marriage of convenience.”
“Is it?”Leila dared to challenge him a little.“Gaston and Ysmaine wed for mutual convenience, and I would argue that they found much more than a child in their union.”
Fergus smiled sadly.“I would not have you aspire to what may not be, Leila.My heart is given and lost forever.Even though Isobel has wed another, she will always be my beloved.I will be as good a husband to you as I can, but that and a good home may be all I can offer to you.”
Leila rose to her knees and framed his face in her hands.“The heart heals, Fergus.”
“I am skeptical.”
She smiled.“Then I shall have to be so beguiling that I convince you otherwise.”She gave him no opportunity to argue, not this time, but leaned against him and kissed him sweetly.
Fergus caught his breath, a delicious sign of his awareness of her, then caught her around the waist.He drew her against his heat with one arm, even as he slanted his mouth over hers and deepened his kiss.
He tasted of mulled wine and Leila opened her mouth to him in capitulation, pushing her fingers into the thick waves of his hair.He eased her to her back, following her down to the mattress, and she loved the way his weight pressed her down into its softness.His hand rose to her breast and he brushed his palm across it, the fleeting touch making her ache for more.Leila gasped and arched her back, surrendering completely to him and whatever he desired of her.
He was her husband and her lord.
He was the captor of her heart.
And she would do whatever was necessary to persuade him that there was too much merit in this match to put it aside.
Fergus was awedby Leila’s trust of him.
He had admired her bravery before, but on this night, it was inescapable.That she met him abed as a maiden without hesitation was as sure an indication as he could imagine of her resolve to make a home for herself in Scotland.She had said she would bear him a child and reminded him of Gaston and Ysmaine finding love in their sensible match.
Yet Fergus was aware of the differences.He was not as practical as Gaston, nor was Leila as inclined to surrender to duty as Ysmaine.That pair had found love unexpected, while Leila sought to love in marriage.Indeed, she had left everything she knew behind to seek it.
But the other difference was that he also had already fallen in love, as neither Gaston nor Ysmaine had before their marriage.His heart was no longer his to give.
The fact was that he and Leila had a handfast and he was determined to treat her with every dignity.He pushed Isobel from his thoughts.He refused to compare the two women, not on this night, and concentrated instead upon learning all he could of the lady who had put her hand in his.Fergus broke his kiss and surveyed Leila, wanting to savor every moment of their first night together.
Leila was so tiny compared to him.She was considerably shorter than he and weighed much less.All the same, she was strong, and he thought her power was buttressed by her resolve.She did nothing by half-measures and flung herself whole-heartedly into any endeavor.He had only to think of how she had defended the reliquary on their journey to be reminded of that.
She would still defend it, which he respected.
Despite the difference in their size, there was no doubt that she was a woman and not a child.Her curves were enticing, her waist tiny and her breasts full.Her lips were ripe and ruddy, and her eyes so beguilingly feminine.When she smiled at him, as she had many times this day and did again now, Fergus could not deny his desire.
He opened her chemise and bared her flesh to his view.She watched him, still smiling, content to let him explore, so confident in her trust that he was humbled.Her skin was a rich gold and her nipples were a deep rose.As he brushed his fingertips over one, the nipple hardened to a point and she caught her breath.He bent and took that peak in his mouth, teasing it so that it tightened even more, liking how she moved her hips and gasped.He reached for the hem of her chemise and slipped his hand under it, letting his palm slide up the silk of her thighs.She anticipated him, parting her legs, and his fingers slid into slick heat.
He caressed her, slowly at first, letting her become accustomed to his bold touch.She whispered his name and opened her thighs wider, her fingers knotted in his hair.He abandoned the nipple and captured her mouth again, kissing her thoroughly as his caress became more demanding.She met him touch for touch, clutching at him as she let him summon the tide within her.
Trusting him completely.Fergus was more than humbled—he was awed.He felt the race of Leila’s pulse and smelled her arousal.He teased her relentlessly, wanting to ensure that she was ready for their union.She was so tiny, and he had no desire to hurt her, or much less reward her trust with pain.She tore her lips from his and whispered his name, but Fergus did not surrender.He braced himself over her and caressed her more boldly, sliding his fingertips over her as her agitation rose.
“I thought pleasure was to be savored together,” she managed to say.
