“And what would that be?” she asked as she looped her arms around his neck.
“Weel, it will depend upon how sore ye are?”
“Oh, the few blows dealt by Sir Fergus dinnae bother me any.”
Artan touched the bruise upon her cheek. “I wasnae talking about these abominations.”
“Oh.” Cecily felt herself blush, but still took a minute to think about how she felt and was a little surprised to find that she did not feel much of anything at all. “Nay, nothing.”
“Ah, lass, ye cannae believe how glad I am to hear that.”
“I think I am rather pleased myself,” she murmured, and slowly eased her hand down over his hard stomach and gently wrapped her fingers around his hardness.
Artan closed his eyes and savored the feel of her soft little hand stroking him. “I was a wee bit worried about hurting ye,” he said in an increasingly husky voice.
“Nay as worried as I was,” she said, and smiled when he laughed. “What do ye call it?”
“Mine,” he replied, and winked at her when she giggled. “And now yours.”
Artan proceeded to make love to her. The last time the fear of hurting her had lingered in his heart and mind, controlling him in some ways. Now he could simply make love to her. He quickly discovered that she, too, seemed more at ease now that that hurdle had been leapt. In far too short a time he knew he had to be inside her and sensed that she had reached that point as well.
Turning onto his back, Artan pulled her on top of him. He smiled a little at her look of confusion and then showed her what he wanted. As she eased her body down on his he was sure his face held the same delighted expression as hers did. She quickly learned the perfect way to ride her man, and it was not long before they were both shuddering from the strength of their release. He held her close as she collapsed on top of him, breathing as heavily as he was.
When he felt sleep creeping up on him, he gently set her back on the bed and fetched a cloth to clean them off. Afterward, he climbed back into bed and pulled her into his arms, her back tucked up against his front. He would not be surprised if he soon found it hard to sleep unless she was in his arms like this.
“Is our wedding night over?” she asked in a sleepy voice.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I fear so, wife. We have both had a verra busy day. Aye, and we had best be returning to our journey ere the sun finishes rising.”
Cecily groaned but made no other complaint. “Aye, between ye fighting off an army and me being kidnapped by Sir Fergus and then running away as fast as we could, it has been a verra long day.”
“It wasnae exactly an army, although I was hard-pressed. I fear the Donaldsons and the Ogilveys dinnae have too many well-trained fighting men.”
“There isnae such a great need for them where I live.”
“Weel, it worked in my favor. I am nay sure insulting Sir Fergus as ye did worked in your favor, however.”
“Nay, but at first I was just so verra angry. I also thought ye might be dead and, weel, getting angry with him was better than thinking about that. After a slap and a kick, I decided it might be better to temper my words. Then I saw your knife.”
“Ye saw it?”
“A wee bit of light glinted off it at first and then I lost it, but by looking verra carefully, I caught sight of it again.” She sighed and stroked the arm he had wrapped around her waist to soothe the fear for him that was still too fresh. “I hoped it was ye coming to rescue me if only because it meant ye had survived Sir Fergus’s attempts to kill ye yet again. But I felt that anyone trying to slip into his tent so stealthily couldnae mean him any good.”
“And that made whoever it was your friend.”
“Weel, at least someone who would help me. To keep Sir Fergus from seeing the knife, I kept his attention on me.”
“If it hadnae been me ye could have been killed.”
“I was so hoping it was ye, but I also hoped that whoever it was might be a thief, but he wouldnae just stand there and let a mon kill a woman. Truth is, I suspected him to slap me or kick me again, nay try to strangle me.”
“Weel, ye did tell him that his manhood was the size of a bairn’s. Tends to enrage a mon.”
“I thought that was a verra good insult. I worked hard to think of that one and have been waiting to use it. I thought up the spineless cretin one right then. It has a nice flavor, so I think I will keep it.”
“Ye think up insults?”
“Weel, I am too small to fight anyone and have ne’er learned to use a weapon, so I decided I needed a good supply of insults. Something to make me seem fierce and daring. I also think of them when I am angry but cannae show it. That happened a lot at Dunburn.”
