'Jeannie…' I heard the tension in his voice and saw the shadows flitting across those normally-steady eyes.
I kissed him, full on the mouth.One soft, lingering kiss with my mouth closed as I pressed my lips against his.
He pulled back with his eyes wild and his breathing ragged.'Jeannie…'
I do not know what he was going to say.I did not want to know what he was going to say.It was not a time for words.The Tweedie Passion was upon me, urging me on, forcing me to act.I suddenly had no wish to control my actions; I acted out of instinct.Stepping back, I stripped off my clothes as we stood there within the circle of ancient stones, releasing my hair so it flowed dark as my own midnight around my shoulders and down my back, so the end kissed the upper curves of my buttocks in a faint hint of the pleasures I wanted.
The expression of Hugh's eyes altered.The shadows merged together so his eyes darkened, the pupils dilating until they dominated.His breathing became as ragged as my own as he reached out for me.
His hands caressed, cupping my face and moving down to my shoulders, smoothing my skin, and then he slid them down to my breasts.His breathing roughened more until he was almost panting.
My hands were shaking as I reached forward, unfastening the ties of his jack, pulling it from his chest and stomach, dropping it heedlessly on the ground.His shirt was next, the stiff linen no obstacle as I hauled it over his head, so his face emerged, tousle-haired, ready for my next kiss.
The Passion took over my tongue as I thrust it within his mouth in untutored lust.His teeth were even, his own tongue eager to meet me, his chest hard against my breasts, his stomach cobbled with muscles as we pressed against each other, man to woman and woman to man, each equal in passion and desire.
Untaught, I gyrated my hips, pressing hard, feeling the swell and bulge of his manhood against me as I swept my hands down his shoulders and over his back and around the swell of his hips, to urgently unfasten his breeches.I eased them down, manoeuvred them less than carefully over the essential part of him and allowed them to drop around his ankles.
His buttocks were taut and hard as marble with skin surprisingly smooth.I dug my fingers in and pulled him to me, feeling his desire eager against me.
We sunk to the ground together, uncaring of the dangers all around us.His mouth sought mine, his hands were on my bottom, caressing, fingers gentle yet urgent, my legs apart, opening, welcoming him within as his mouth dipped, his teeth nibbled at the breasts that I proffered for his attention.
There was a moment of welcome pain as he penetrated me and I felt him within, warm and welcome as my body took control.The Tweedie Passion had me in its grasp and there was nothing I could do to resist.I had no thoughts of Robert or of anybody else.Only salacity, desire, carnality, fervour; call it anything you wish, but you cannot capture the urgency with which I embraced that, my first taste of love.I knew it was wrong; I knew that I was breaking my decade-long promise to Robert and I cared not the fraction of a whit.
At that moment, I wanted Hugh's body more than anything else and I would have my desire whatever the church, God, Mother, or the Laws and customs of the Border ordained.Something was in control that was far more fundamental than any man-made or God-ordained stricture, something over which I had as much control as I had over the passage of the Moon or the ordering of the tides.It was the nature of Woman, the eternal search for reproduction and the lust for a man: it was the Tweedie Passion that controlled me and at that moment I was utterly determined to enjoy every last second of what I was doing and to hang with the consequences.
I lay on my back as he thrust within me.I rose to meet each movement of his hips, my hands on his buttocks, nails digging deep, demanding more and more, and he met each demand with skill and energy.Then I was astride him, laughing, shrieking with joy as my hair descended to his face like a damp curtain over which the rain wept tears of pleasure.His face was mine; his body was mine; his pleasure was mine as I was his as we united in a union surely blessed by the Gods of Love or at least the Gods of Passion.
I explored him with my mouth as he did the same to me, probing every curve and cavity, every indentation and protuberance with tongue and hand and lips and nothing but joy and intense stimulation as the rain failed to cool our desire and the circle of ancient standing stones retained our energy, enhanced it and watched silently as we lost ourselves to everything but sensual pleasure; or perhaps to love.
Until all energy was spent, and we lay there, side by side on the rough, damp grass, watching each other as the sweet madness eased and the panting slowed with the hammer of our hearts.
And sanity returned together with a realisation of the awful, incredible things that we had done.
'Oh, dear God,' I said softly as I sat up, belatedly trying to cover all that I had revealed with such abandoned glee.
'Oh, Jeannie…' Hugh stared at me.'Oh, Jeannie: I should not have…'
We stared at each other.Now I knew what Mother had meant by a full woman and now I knew what she meant by a full man.I was a woman now; no longer a girl and Hugh was undoubtedly a man.Of that, I had incontrovertible proof.
'I have broken my oath.'I backed away in a half crouch, covering my womanhood as if that would help.'I have betrayed my trust.'For a second, I hated Hugh and sought ways of blaming him for what had happened.I knew that was unfair and wrong.The fault was not with Hugh.The fault was with me, with the Tweedie Passion.
Hugh did not cover himself.He stood naked in the rain, looking at me through those very clear eyes.'I allowed this to happen,' he said.'You are in no way to blame.'He bent down, unsheathed his sword, reversed it, and handed me the handle.He placed the point against his chest, directly in line with his heart.'If you believe I have wronged you, then I invite you to press the blade home.'
Still as bare as any new-born baby, I took hold of the handle.It was rough in my fist, with the yard-long blade heavy.I held Hugh's life in my hand, and he was a willing participant.Life or death; I had the power.I pressed slightly, holding his gaze as the point of his sword bit into his skin.
'Push if you will.'Hugh did not flinch as a tiny drop of blood appeared at the tip of the sword.Rainwater diluted it to a pinkish fluid that dribbled down the blade, spreading out as it neared the guard.'I have only one thing to add.I regret any insult or damage I have said or done to you.I do not regret what happened between us.It was a sweet, joyous experience that I will remember for the rest of my life, whether that be one minute or one hundred years.'
I could not press the point home: I had no desire to take revenge on Hugh.
I dropped the sword with a clatter.
'I cannot kill you, Hugh,' I said, wiping away the blood that seeped down his chest.
'If your Robert seeks retribution,' Hugh said, 'I will meet him willingly, wherever and however he wishes.'
I took a single step back.The sky was beginning to lighten with the promised onset of dawn.I could see the circle of stones plainly now, thrusting their message of mystery to the mourning clouds above.I would fain have blamed them for my weakness and forgotten this whole sorry episode if I could, but I knew my own hot blood had been the cause.I could not escape that.Nor could I escape my feelings.
I looked across at this naked man.
