“No, but he was old. Died in his sleep. My mother passed last winter. It comforts me to know they are together once again. They loved each other very much.” He knelt and started working his boots off, then sat beside Claire on the bedroll. “They were strangers on their wedding day too, but they eventually came to hold one another in high regard.” He watched as she twisted a jeweled ring around her finger and he felt an unexpected pang ofjealousy, even though she lawfully belonged to him now. “Did Diterich give you that?”
She shook her head. “No. It belonged to my mother.”
“Is she still alive?”
“She died when I was yet a child, and my father died not long after I wed Lord Diterich.” She chewed the inside of her lip. “He perished leading a battle against one of my husband’s numerous enemies while Lord Diterich sat in his castle deep in his cups.”
Galien wasn’t surprised. Lord Diterich had been a snake of the worst kind, and he suspected the days of his family’s reign were numbered. One day their enemies would band together against them, just as Princess Susanna’s and her uncle’s enemies had banded against Hohenzollern. “We have both suffered losses, my lady, but we have each other now. I swear on my mother’s soul I will never mistreat you.”
She shot him a suspicious glance. “Am I your first wife?”
“Yes. I was betrothed to a lady in my youth, but she perished during an illness that swept through the very castle your brother now resides in.” He placed a hand atop hers, stilling her fidgeting. “I met her but once as a child, and back then I was too careless to give a single thought to the future. Now that my father is gone and I have inherited his title, I cannot think of anything but. I hope we have many children, Claire, sons and daughters alike.”
She withdrew from his touch and balked at him, her eyes growing wide and her lips parted. “I-I am very tired, my lord, and I wish to rest now. I bid you goodnight.”
Galien sighed. The mention of children had likely startled her into worrying about the consummation of their marriage. Her reluctance resembled that of a maiden, or so he imagined. He’d never lain with a maiden before, but enough of his men had plundered an innocent and boasted later to give him an idea.
She burrowed under the blankets, turning on her side and facing the opposite direction. After spending the day with her bottom pressed against his groin, Galien wanted nothing more than to strip her dress off and pound into her. He stared at her small form, watching as the covers rose and fell under her rapid breaths. He ran a hand through his hair, his frustration mounting. He’d never bedded a reluctant lady before. Well, he’d never bedded aladyat all. His prior conquests only included willing servant girls and skilled tavern wenches.
He tugged the blankets off Claire and picked her up, situating her on his lap. She kept her head bowed, and he rubbed his hands up and down her arms in hopes of easing her fears. “We are husband and wife now,” he said, tipping her chin up.
Her eyes fluttered to the left and then to right before finally settling on him. “Do you intend to claim your marital rights now, my lord?” Her voicetrembled along with her body, and he wondered if perhaps it best to get the deed over with.
“Aye, my sweet Claire. I do.”
“I cannot persuade you to delay until we reach Minrova?”
His hard cock pressed up against her as she squirmed on his lap. “Does it feel like you can persuade me to delay?”
The reddening of her face proved she had indeed detected his excitement. “Very well.” She scooted off his lap.
Galien watched as she lay down on her back and lifted her skirts partially up to expose a hint of flesh above her hosen. His heart thudded and his cock hardened further in his leggings, because he thought for a moment she intended to play the role of a seductress. He watched for an inviting smile and a wink, but instead she placed her arms straight at her sides and shut her eyes. She turned away from him and remained still.
He cursed inwardly. The poor girl had braced herself as if for an attack. He hoped Lord Diterich had found no peace in death for all the hurt he had caused Claire. Galien doubted she realized what they were about to do could be pleasurable for them both, and he vowed to see that she enjoyed his touch even if it took until morning.
He stood and shrugged off his surcoat and tunic, tossing them atop the blanket she’d kept wrapped around her during their travels. Keeping his leggings on, he crawled onto the bedroll atop Claire and turned her face, bringing her out of her hiding.
“My wife,” he murmured, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. “My sweet Claire.” He coaxed her mouth open and ever so slowly delved his tongue in to meet hers.
Rigid to the point of holding her breath, she allowed his kiss but offered no response. That is, until he traced her hip and moved upward over the flat of her stomach to cup one breast. A shudder rippled through her and she gasped, her middle rising up against his for one small instance, and she at last began to breathe through her nose and released a faint moan as he kissed her. She tasted of wine and something else much sweeter, and he drank her in and thrilled when her tongue brushed along his lips. He felt her soften underneath him, and once again her hips rose up to meet his, her center grinding into the hardness still encased in his leggings. Aye, she was sweet, and he rejoiced that the tremors racing through her body were no longer born out of fear. He sensed her calming in his arms, and when he withdrew from what had become a most thorough kiss, she graced him with a coy smile.
“You make me feel different than any other man has,” she said with a hint of confusion.
He grinned down at her, taking in the sight of her kiss-swollen lips and the flush that had spread down to her chest. “I shall take that as a compliment, my lady.” He toyed with a lock of her hair, choosing his nextwords carefully. “I don’t wish for you to close your eyes and hide from me. I enjoy your responses to me, Claire, and it pleases me that you want me.”
He almost checked to see if he’d sprouted a second head, because the look she gave him was one of pure shock. “How do you know what I want?” She wriggled underneath him and pulled at the edge of the bedroll, trying to slip from his hold.
Galien captured her wrists and pinned them above her head in one hand, and with his free hand he explored the swell of her breasts before tugging the ribbon tie of her bodice loose, exposing her further. “I know you are afraid, because that bastard husband of yours never showed you the proper affection you were due in the bedchamber, and you don’t understand why your breaths are coming fast and your face is growing hot. Nor do you understand the aching in your loins, my lady, the reason you have thrust so wantonly against my hard cock twice already.”
An outraged cry left her lips and she struggled to escape his hold, but her center only pressed against his manhood harder while she fought him, and her eyes soon grew wide and she stilled beneath him, once again holding her breath.
“Stop that,” he scolded. “No more holding your breath. I don’t want you fainting on me, Claire.”
Challenge sparked in her eyes and she didn’t release the breath she was so stubbornly keeping in, and her face reddened with each passing moment, eventually taking on a bluish tint.
“Claire. Enough. Breathe in and out, my lady, this instant. Stop this childish nonsense at once or I will give you a good thrashing.” The obstinate girl held her ground until he had no choice but to jerk her upright. The quick movement prompted her resumed breaths, though not before she dug her nails into his arms in retaliation.
He waited until her face paled to its normal ivory shade as he battled with himself over whether or not to follow through with his threat to chastise her. When her eyes flashed with insolence, he came to a decision. “Turn over on your hands and knees, Claire, and present your bottom for punishment. If you cooperate, I will only give you ten strokes with my sword belt.”
