Quinn could not find the words.
Evidently, his silence tempted his bride to guess.
Melissande arched against him, pressing her breasts against his chest.She rubbed them there, a move that she clearly found pleasurable, then ran her hands over his shoulders and chest with proprietary ease.She explored him more boldly and Quinn welcomed her touch.
“Does that please you?”she whispered.She tightened her legs around him.“And this?”
Quinn’s pulse pounded in his ears, his chest was tight and still she coaxed him further.
“Melissande...I...”Quinn could not form a coherent thought to save his life.
“This?”Melissande stretched up and kissed his ear.The gentle touch of her tongue, the sensation of her breath there, the brush of her lips, all combined to make his blood nearly boil.She ran a line of kisses down to his nipple, then teased it as he had teased hers.Quinn was on fire.He ran his hands down her back, locked his hands around her waist, and moved deeply inside her.
She smiled, a siren with her gleaming hair beneath her and a thousand promises in her eyes.Quinn gripped her hips and claimed her with a trio of strokes, each deeper than the last.
Melissande drove him onward, rising against him with a passion he had not dared to share.Her legs tightened around his waist, her arms locked around his neck.Quinn was trapped within her, captured by her, enfolded and encircled by her warmth.She urged him to a frenzy with a determination that stole his breath away.
His eyes flew open as her nails dug into his shoulders once more.Quinn realized that she was reaching the crest again.Her eyes were glittering and he nearly laughed aloud that they should find such harmony unexpected.
Melissande was his bride and partner for all time.She was his and his alone—and Quinn would pleasure her until his dying day.
At that realization, Quinn’s release swept through him in a torrent and he roared with satisfaction.He moved against her, ensuring that she would find her pleasure, and smiled as she gasped in wonder again.They clung together then fell to the mattress, still entangled in each other, still breathing heavily.
Quinn lifted a hand and pushed a stray tendril of hair back from Melissande’s cheek.It twined around his finger, as if to hold him fast to his lady’s side, and he kissed it.
“Melissande,” he whispered, awed that she was his wife.“My lady Melissande.”
She opened her eyes and granted him a sleepy smile that warmed him through to his soul.She curled against him and slept, even as he marveled at his good fortune.
He had feared this mating might be a trial.
He could not have been more wrong, and he was glad of it.This was a sign that their future was bright together.They might have started badly, but all would improve from this night onward.They would have sons and rebuild Sayerne and rule their estates in wealth and harmony for decades.They would have every blessing and every joy.
Quinn could not wait.He rose from the bed with reluctance, knowing that they would sleep better with some minor alterations.He washed them both, then retrieved the lady’s chemise and managed to tuck her into it without awakening her.He watched her sleep as he donned his own.He extinguished the lanterns, put a little more fuel on the brazier, then climbed back into the great bed.He pulled the covers over them both even as he tucked Melissande tightly against his side.
He did not miss that her lips curved in a smile.
He did not doubt that he was responsible for her satisfaction.
Before he slept, Quinn resolved to prompt her smile each and every night.
Against every expectation, he was the most fortunate man in all of Christendom and he would ensure Melissande never doubted his joy in that.
The bloodon the linens was a rude awakening the next morning.
Melissande blinked but the incriminating red spots remained.She had awakened alone in the great bed and had peeked, guessing what she would find but startled at the brilliant red stain on the white linen.
Her maidenhead was gone.
She and Quinn were wed beyond any dispute.
What would happen to Annossy?Would this marriage lead to the destruction of all her family had built?Of all she had defended?What did her new husband know of administration?And how much would he take from Annossy to rebuild Sayerne?
She was not certain she wished to know.
Worse, she had broken her own pledge to await Arnaud.It was true that Tulley had compelled her to do as much, but she had not needed to meet Quinn abed with such enthusiasm.How could she have forgotten herself?How could she have heeded sensation and ignored all else of import?What manner of wanton was she becoming?
How much more base would she become in this man’s company?
