She felt the press of his organ, thick and blunt. He rubbed it across her most sensitive place. Once. Twice. And then he tilted his angle and thrust inside.
The penetration ripped through her consciousness. Not pain, exactly. She was stretched. She was full. And she was ecstatic.
Pierced. Deflowered.
Amazed.
“Iseabail,” he gasped as he dropped down upon her. His weight made it better somehow, and she lifted her legs to cradle him deeper.
He moved inside her. In and out while she held on.
With every thrust he ground down against her.
With every breath, she thrust up toward him.
And soon the tempo increased. Faster and faster.
Frenzy.
Light!
A burst of light exploded through her entire body. It spread pleasure everywhere. Joy suffused her. Delight consumed her.
He was there with her, shuddering with his release. He whispered her name as he gave her his seed. And she smiled.
This was what it meant to be a woman. Not everything that was womankind, just the part that was denied to virgins. And now, she knew.
Now, she…loved?
The thought didn’t frighten her, which was a surprise. In her experience, love was something that could be exploited and few women ever got the good end of that. Perhaps it was a remnant of the bliss that still suffused her body, but for now, she allowed the idea of love. She could let it live in her mind for a time and see what came of it.
For now.
Chapter Twenty-Two
They cleaned eachother up in the stream, washing away the dirt. Iseabail regretted allowing the water to take away his seed, but she knew it was only some of what he had given her. She could still bear his child, and that thought pleased her.
He used his shirt to dry her off, then helped her with her gown. She brushed away the dirt on his backside, and he caught her hand with a laugh, drawing her to him to share a kiss.
The moment was playful, but she felt a simmering desire beneath the delight. She wanted to do everything again, and so, apparently, did he. The more she looked at him, the more the bulge in his pants grew. And he laughed.
“I had not thought to be so fortunate in my marriage bed,” he confessed as they headed back toward the inn.
She did not tell him what she’d expected in her marriage bed. He could probably guess, and she was too sparkly happy to even think of such things.
They strolled calmly back to the inn only to hear the raucous sounds of drunken men singing bawdy songs. She didn’t have to ask to know where they were. The men were outside her bedroom, and they clearly thought she and Reuben had been inside this whole time.
“I blocked the door with the furniture to be sure they couldn’t get in,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. It would not be good for anyone to know she had run out the window on her wedding night.
“Can you climb up?” he asked, as they got to the base of the tree.
She laughed, pressed a kiss to his lips, then scampered up. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do in a skirt, but she had managed worse. He followed behind her, ready to catch her if she fell. She didn’t, and soon they were both inside the room and he was shutting the window before crossing to the bed.
“Quickly, now,” he said. “Undress.”
She did, oddly embarrassed now to be naked inside. She pulled on a wrap and grabbed a brush for her hair, but he stopped her.
