Mylan grinned broadly at her predicament. “You may have escaped me this afternoon, but you won’t elude me tonight, nor any other night I want you. There is no need for you to fear me. I will be very gentle with you until you have learned all there is to know.”
She seized upon his words in hopes of delaying his promised lessons. “I was disappointed we had so little time to talk this afternoon. I have so many questions, will you not permit me to ask them?” She sat down primly on the foot of his bed and folded her hands in her lap, her wide, rapt gaze utterly beguiling.
He frowned impatiently, annoyed by her unexpected request. “Let us talk on the morrow.”
Celiese reached out to take his hand and drew him down beside her. “Please, we are strangers still, neither of us prepared to begin a marriage. Will you not grant me this one small request?”
“If it is only one, I will indulge you, but then I will insist you repay me in kind.” His glance was a mischievous one, but when he realized she did not understand his teasing remark, he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her warmly. “I am sorry, Olgrethe, ask me whatever you wish, and I will satisfy your curiosity about me as best I can.”
Now that he had agreed so readily Celiese realized she had no query in mind, then, remembering Olgrethe’s complaints, she struggled to be coherent. “You are a grown man, Mylan, doubtless a veteran of many exciting voyages. Will you not tell me of some of your adventures?”
He groaned in frustration. “Yes, I am a grown man; I am twenty-eight, and you expect me to relate so many years of my life in amusing tales on our wedding night? We will have our entire lives to discuss our pasts, but tonight I prefer to enjoy the present. I will say no more than that I will return to the sea as soon as I am able to command my own vessel with my former strength and skill.”
His expression darkened as he admitted slowly, “Although I am afraid that day may never come.”
Puzzled, she continued to probe. “Why has no one seen you these last two years? You look very strong and fit to me, and your appearance could not be more pleasing.” She had observed him closely all evening, for it was a fascinating pastime, but now she hoped to keep him talking until dawn.
He rose to his feet and pulled her up with a forceful lift. “I have no need for pity, especially not from you. Would you rather I did not disrobe fully?”
She chewed her lower lip nervously as she considered how best to answer; she was now his wife, and he had asked for nothing that was not his right as her husband. If he had avoided his friends to escape their pity he was doubtless lonely too, and it was a feeling she could readily appreciate. She pulled her hands from his, then knelt at his feet to loosen the laces of his soft suede boots.
“I have lived in a house filled with brothers, Mylan. The sight of an unclothed male will not shock me.”
The tall man had to bend slightly to stroke Celiese’s fair curls. “Even if you are not frightened by my manhood. I am certain my scars must revolt you.”
“You did not believe me this afternoon? I will never mention your scars: the worst disfigure the soul, not the body.”
He pulled her swiftly to her feet and held her before him, his grasp upon her shoulders firm, as if he meant to shake her.
“I am no coward, Olgrethe, is that what you mean? You think I have hidden like some quaking coward to avoid my family’s anguish when they look at me?” His voice held a hoarse snarl, the bitterness of his mood shifting his even features into a cruel mask.
Celiese’s thick lashes nearly swept her brows as she wondered how he could have misunderstood her so completely. She spoke softly, “I am delighted to have a man as fine as you for my husband. I most assuredly do not believe you are a coward and did not mean for you to think I had called you one. I was referring to others’ faults, not accusing you of having any.”
He sighed dejectedly and dropped his hands to his sides. “I am a great fool, but the confinement I have been forced to endure has not been an easy one. I am angry only with myself, not with you. Please forgive me.”
Amazed he would make such a shocking admission, she stood on her tiptoes to brush his cheek softly in a light kiss. “There is nothing to forgive, but please remember we do not know each other well as yet, and misunderstandings will be unavoidable. We must each be patient with the other.”
Encouraged by the sweetness of her gestures as well as her words, her drew her into his arms and held her tightly. He did no more than hold her, but she stiffened in his embrace, her anxiety increasing tenfold when he did not let go. She could not bear to be held so closely, for it reminded her far too vividly of the brute force with which she had been taken captive.
When he at last relaxed she stepped back quickly, her smile slight, for she had no control over her emotions, and they tore away at her heart with the fury of vultures picking clean the carcass of a fallen beast.
“I did not think you would find my embrace so distasteful.” His gaze raked over her slowly, but he did not seem displeased, only amused by her reticence to accept his attentions.
“No, it is only that I am not used to a man’s affection. I know you do not mean to frighten me with your strength, but it is considerable.” She looked down shyly, wishing she could fill her mind only with thoughts of him. He was kind and dear, and she wanted so badly to please him.
His expression softened instantly, her beauty enchanting him anew. “I have let you become chilled again. The furs of my bed are thick and warm; and that is where we both belong tonight.” He reached for the clasp on the gold brooch holding her gown at the shoulder, undid it deftly, then laid it aside with her other gold jewelry.
Celiese stood quietly as he undressed her, but she jabbed her fingernails into her palms until she was certain they were bleeding to silence a hysterical scream. When he bent to her feet his soft curls brushed the inside of her thigh and she gasped sharply, shocked by the sensation that brightened her pale cheeks with a deep blush. As he looked up she could only stare into his amber eyes, too surprised to speak, for the pleasure his presence brought astonished her.
After he had removed her suede slippers he did not rise but lifted his hand to her knee, then higher, and she had no desire to push him away. She stood trying simply to breathe calmly as the warmth of his touch flooded her cool skin with a delicious rush, leaving her whole body as flushed as her cheeks. He caressed the length of her thigh lightly, then let his fingertips trace the line of her leg to the tip of her toes before he again stood to face her, his smile a mischievous one.
“You are supposed to enjoy my touch, and you need not be ashamed that you do,” he offered sympathetically.
She could not respond, for the beat of her heart roared like thunder in her ears, drowning any effort to compose a lucid response. She was captivated by the brightness of his ready smile, enchanted by his eyes fiery brilliance, and she made no protest as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to his comfortable bed.
After swiftly casting off his own clothing, he joined her upon the soft furs, but when he pulled her into his arms the shyness of her hesitant kiss amused him once again. “How can any creature be so astonishingly beautiful, so sweet and bright, and yet so cold?” He brushed her flushed cheeks with light, playful kisses before he leaned back to look down at her, his golden glance caressing her delicate features softly.
“Cold?” She could scarcely breathe with her husband so near, but his sly grin inspired trust rather than feed her fears. “Yes, the room is still a bit chilly.”