Page 57 of Picking Up the Gauntlet

“Well, I don’t know.” She hesitated, not sure she should do it. Especially since he was looking so naked to her right now, and she felt so naked under the cloak.

“It’s fine. You won’t have to undress. You can try it on right over your gown.” He took the edge of her cloak, moving it. When he did, her grip slackened on her covering. The cloak was resting on her shoulders and fell off, pooling around her feet on the ground. “Oh,” he said, his eyes fastening to her chest. “I’m sorry, my lady. I thought you were fully clothed underneath, and not in your night clothes.” He bent over to get her cloak, but she reached out and touched him on the arm.

“Continue. Please. I want to try it on,” she said, giving him the permission to move forward. Slowly, he stood back up, looking the other way.

“I think it would be better to do this at a later time.”

“Nay,” she objected, reaching out for the plackart. “I’m here now, and you need to get my exact measurements, so let’s do it.” She tried to put the piece on, but didn’t know how it went.

“Nay, my lady. Not like that.” Jonathon reached out and took the plackart from her.

“Please,” she said in a half-whisper. “Just call me Raven when we are alone. I’d like that.”

He suddenly felt as if his tongue were too big for his mouth. All he could do was nod. Carefully, he put the piece on her, reaching around her waist to buckle it from the back.

“It seems to fit?” she said, more as a question than a statement.

“It isn’t too snug, is it?” His hands encompassed her waist. And when he did that, he realized because of where it ended, it made her breasts even more noticeable as they stuck out over the plackart. Her night rail was thin and white and very sheer. The plackart pulled the material taut. In the firelight from the forge he saw her hardened pink nipples poking forward, which instantly caused his groin to tighten.

Damn, he wanted her bad. In his bed, on the floor, on the table, it didn’t matter. All he could think about right now was making love to this beautiful woman. He couldn’t stop wondering how it would feel to plunge his length into her tight, warm…

“Jonathon?” she said, breaking him from his thoughts. His arms were around her waist, and his eyes were still fastened to her breasts.

“I think that’s good.” He removed the plackart and turned and headed over to the table. “Mayhap it would be better if you left now.”

With his back to her, he didn’t even hear her coming. She slid her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his bare back. He could feel her hot body pressed up against his, and he felt as if he were going to combust.

“I don’t want to leave,” she said in a half-whisper. “I want to spend the night with you.”

“What?” He spun around so fast that she fell against him. He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. Looking into her eyes he could see her need for him and wondered if she could see his need for her as well. “Nay. You can’t stay. If you do, I’m only going to end up doing something we’ll both regret in the morning.”

“I promise you, I won’t regret it. I want to couple just as much as you want to,” she boldly came out and admitted.

“Raven, no,” he said in a half whisper, shaking his head, using her name without the title. His arms slid from her shoulders. “I can’t take your virginity. It’s not right. Especially so close to your wedding day.”

“I’m not a virgin,” she said, surprising him even more.

“Y-you’re not?” he asked, running a hand through his hair. What kind of little vixen was she?

“I’m not a whore, either, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Nay! I’m not. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” He slowly reached up and cupped her cheek in his palm. Her eyes closed and she leaned in to his touch.

“I only made love once before,” she told him. “It was a few years ago with the son of a visiting noble.”

“You did?” He didn’t know what to think of that, nor how to respond.

“I was seduced,” she told him.

“So he forced himself on you?” he asked, needing to know.

“Nay,” she said, shaking her head. Her eyes remain locked with his. “We both wanted it. I was curious and so was he. I thought it would be exciting and satisfying, but it wasn’t.”

“It-it wasn’t?” he asked, causing her to shake her head.

“I didn’t feel anything for the man, and ended up feeling used. Afterwards, we both realized we meant nothing to each other, and that was the end of it.”

“Did your father ever find out?”