Now that she’d had a taste of his regard and his tenderness, she knew he was capable. Aye, he was more than capable of more tender feelings. No matter what he thought, his heart wasn’t completely closed to love.
It was up to her to show him.
Faster and harder he moved between her legs. Refusing to lie passively as he staked his claim, she returned each kiss and each caress with equal fervor.
He might be claiming her, but she was staking her claim as well.
This warrior was hers. He was her husband. Her lover.
Never would she let him go.
He slipped one hand between them and brushed his fingertips over her quivering flesh just as he thrust fiercely into her once more.
’Twas all that was needed for her to lose all sense of herself. The flash bewildered her. One moment she was drawn as tight as a bowstring and the next she was being flung across the star-filled sky, scattering just like the twinkling lights.
Her mind went completely and utterly blank. All she could process was the incredible pleasure that flooded her veins and slugged like thick honey through her limbs.
She couldn’t draw a breath. She panted, her nostrils flaring with the effort it took to pull air into her lungs.
Above her, Caelen gave a shout and then thrust forward so hard that he collapsed onto her body, driving them both deep into the mattress.
His forehead hit the pillow beside her head and he dug his arms underneath her so that he gathered her tight against his body.
Between her thighs, he flinched and flexed as his big body shuddered helplessly above her.
His chest heaved, and she knew that he had the same difficulty in drawing breath.
With a smile, she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. She closed her eyes and rested her cheek in the curve of his neck as she absorbed the wondrous sensation of their bodies joined so tight that naught could separate them.
CHAPTER 12
Rionna woke to blissful warmth. She was surrounded by heat. She flexed her toes experimentally and sighed when they dug into the warm furs. Lazily her eyelids fluttered open and she saw a fire blazing in the hearth. Waking to a fire was a luxury she was unused to, and she quickly decided that it was one she could quickly grow to like.
She glanced sideways to see the space beside her bare. There was not even any sign that Caelen had lain beside her, their limbs tangled together for most of the night.
She stretched her arm over the furs where Caelen had indeed spent the night and stroked the pillow where his head had rested.
Her body felt the effects of her husband’s possession. When she moved, the tenderness between her legs was more pronounced and there was a soreness in her muscles like she usually felt after a vigorous sparring session.
’Twas the truth she had no desire to move from the bed.
Aye she was sore but it was a delicious soreness. One she’d willingly suffer again and again. She closed her eyes and stretched leisurely, calling back the images of Caelen over her, inside her, stroking deep, his mouth making sweet, sweet love to her flesh.
A sound at the door had her opening her eyes and turning to see who was about. Sarah stuck her head in and once she saw Rionna was awake, she bustled in and shut the door behind her.
“You’re awake, I see.”
“Observant as ever,” Rionna said dryly.
Sarah clucked under her breath and rolled her eyes in Rionna’s direction. “The laird thought you’d like a bath before you begin your instructions. I’m having water brought up to fill the tub.”
“Tub? What tub?”
Rionna sat up, pulling the furs to her chest. She rubbed her eyes and stared around the room to see a large wooden tub situated in front of the fire. Such a thing had escaped her when she’d just awoken. When had Caelen had a tub brought in? Likely before he carried her into his chamber the night before.
Then something else Sarah had said registered.
“Instructions? What instructions?”
Rionna swung her feet over the edge, still clutching the furs to her naked body.
Sarah smiled. “The laird wants me and the other women to instruct you on the duties of the lady of the keep. He said ’tis obvious you have no knowledge of such, and now that you are wife to the laird ’tis time for you to take your place.”
Rionna sat in the tub, water up to her ears, silently fuming. After a night of pure heaven, a night when she was sure that she and Caelen would start anew, that he would actually act as though he cared something for her, he’d gotten up from their bed and ordered her to start acting like his meek little wife.
To make matters worse, Sarah was sitting by the tub, ticking off the list of instructions from Caelen.
She was not to dress as a man. She was not to indulge in activities unbecoming a lady, and he went on to specify swordplay, fighting, or any other activity assigned to a warrior. She wasn’t to bind her br**sts.
That directive had Rionna turning scarlet, her cheeks so scorched that the steaming water suddenly seemed tepid. Could he have humiliated her any further?
“Now, lass, don’t look like that,” Sarah soothed. “ ’Tis not as if he told the entire keep. He pulled me aside, he did. Told me his wishes and instructed me not to say a word to anyone.”
“If he had anything to say, he should have spoken to me,” Rionna hissed.
Sarah snorted. “And you would have ignored him and gone about your usual practices.”
Rionna bared her teeth. “What is so wrong with my usual practices?”
Sarah poured a bucket of water over Rionna’s head and then shoved her underneath the water. Rionna came up sputtering and glaring at Sarah, who sat grinning with a look of satisfaction.