“We do indeed,” she assured him. “Even if I did not adore you, you are still my husband and I would never so much as look at another man. You are the only man in my world, now and ever more. What I did those years ago… as I said, I was very young and very foolish. I did not understand the gravity of it. I have grown up since then.”
“Say it again.”
“Say what?”
“That you adore me.”
Cathlina smiled, her eyes glimmering. “I do adore you,” she said confidently. “Did you not realize that?”
He smiled in return, a genuine smile, somehow feeling closer to her after her heartfelt and astonishing confession. He’d never felt so close to a woman and as the moments passed, he could feel himself being sucked deeper and deeper into her world. Leaning forward, he captured her face in his big hands and his lips slanted hungrily over hers.
By the light of the fire, Mathias kissed Cathlina as passionately as he had ever kissed a woman in his life. She was so very soft and sweet, pliable to his whims, and soon enough he picked her up and set her on his lap. It was a rough movement but one of extreme excitement. She ended up straddling him, still in her shift and hose. But other than those items, she wore nothing underneath.
Mathias knew that and it excited him almost beyond coherency. Cathlina’s arms were around his neck as his big arms encircled her, his mouth suckling the breath from her. His hands began to roam, feeling her slender torso through her shift before moving to the flesh of her ankles. As his mouth moved toher jaw, her neck, his hands moved up her silky legs until they came to rest on her knees. He couldn’t even remember feeling anything so wonderfully soft and it fed his desire.
She didn’t flinch as his hands snaked down her thighs and came to rest on her hips, but he did feel her tense. When his fingers danced up her torso, he felt her shudder, and he couldn’t resist gently groping her breasts. When he did that, she tried to pull away purely out of embarrassment and apprehension, but he stopped her.
“Stay, stay,” he whispered, holding her fast with one big arm while his free hand very gently fondled her. “This is something you will like, I promise.”
Cathlina was torn between overwhelming sensations and natural anxiety. “But… is this what men do?”
He laughed intimately as he kissed her mouth. “This is what husbands do.”
Her eyes were open, watching him as he kissed her. When his mouth trailed down her jaw to her shoulder, she looked down to see his big hand fondling her soft, full breasts beneath her shift. Her nipples were hard and he toyed with them, causing her entire body to tremble. It was curiosity and it was fascination, watching her husband as he touched her body. She should have been very frightened by it all but she truly wasn’t. Something about Mathias’ touch made her feel warm and wriggly inside. When he finally pulled the shift over her head and latched onto a nipple, sucking tenderly, Cathlina’s reaction was to gasp and clutch his head. The sensual sensations were too much for her to contain.
Mathias could hardly believe how responsive she was to him. The harder he suckled her, the more she bucked and groaned, until a hand moved down her belly to the thatch of dark curls between her legs. Since she was straddling him, her legs were already wide apart and he stroked her, feeling her leap. In fact,she put her hands on his shoulders and tried to climb off of him but he wouldn’t let her. He suckled her breasts steadily, holding her against him with one hand while the other went to work between her legs.
She was already very wet and hot, and he carefully inserted a finger into her. Cathlina gasped at the tender intrusion but stopped trying to push away from him because he was holding her too tightly. There was nowhere to go so she sat atop his lap, her head back and eyes wide open to the ceiling, struggling to process everything he was doing to her. She knew she mostly liked it but there was natural fear there as well. It was nothing like her silly tryst with the young knight back at Lincoln Castle. This was an encounter between a man and his wife. This was an encounter between her and Mathias…herMathias.
Therefore, she simply wrapped her arms around his neck and held on fast when he stood up and carried her over to the small rope bed. He laid her down in the soft light of the fire, pulling off his tunic and lowering his breeches between heated kisses. She was wet and ready for him, and he wouldn’t wait any longer.
Very carefully, he edged his phallus into her quivering body, feeling her tense as he gained headway. He nursed at her breasts to distract her as he recoiled and thrust again, listening to her grunt as he seated himself deep. She didn’t cry out or try to push him away, but rather seemed willing to accept all he was doing to her. He found that kind of bravery admirable, adding to his already-strong feelings for the woman.
When he was finally deeply embedded in her, he began to thrust, gently at first but with increasing power. Cathlina lay beneath him, her legs spread wide apart as she welcomed her husband into her body for the first time. He was skilled and he was gentle, and he succeeded in building an odd heat within her loins that made her want to wriggle her hips against him. She learned early on that bolts of lightning surged through herbody every time they came together and she was intent to seek the lightning that seemed to grow brighter with each successive thrust.
Something was building inside of her the more he moved until finally, the thunder rolled and the lightning exploded deep within her. She began gasping so loudly as wave after wave of ecstasy rolled over her that Mathias had to put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. But her pleasure threw him over the edge and in one great and powerful thrust, he spilled himself deep.
Even when he was spent, he didn’t want it to be over. He wanted to remain as they were for the rest of his life. He continued to stroke in and out of her, feeling the warm wetness of what he had put in her, and utterly and incredibly happy for the first time in many years. Beneath him, Cathlina lay still and quiet. He finally lifted his head and looked at her.
“Are you well?” he asked huskily. “Did I hurt you?”
She met his gaze. “Nay,” she whispered. “You did not hurt me in the least. You were quite gentle.”
“I tried.”
“You succeeded.” She grinned at him as he smiled at her. “But… I was thinking….”
“What?”
“The lady of Lincoln was quite wrong,” she admitted. “This was not a dispassionate act at all. She must have had a terrible husband.”
Mathias laughed knowingly. “I hope to never fall into that category.”
Cathlina touched his face, inspecting the masculine lines. “I do not expect that you will,” she replied. “Already, you have proven yourself quite wonderful.”
Mathias kissed her, without all of the blazing passion now that his lust was sated but more with emotion and sentiment. Itwas stronger than all of the lust in the world. What he felt for her was coming from the heart, not the loins. It was both frightening and wonderful. From this moment on, they were irrevocably joined.
When Mathias finally rolled off of her and settled in for sleep, Cathlina stopped him. He had no idea why until she got up from the bed and peered closely at the linen beneath them. When she spied what she had been looking for, she pointed it out to him with a somewhat joyful expression. Mathias grinned when he saw it.
