She went right on talking. “There are varying beliefs and opinions on ghosts. Some believe that the spirit remains after death due to something left unfinished and then there are some who question their death, some who have yet to accept it. There are also those who refuse to believe that ghosts are anything but demons. That is why it is important I learn as much about the giant as possible if the keep is to be restored to its full glory. And I believe an effective way to begin is to see the keep cleaned from top to bottom and its habitants restored.”
Did he have a choice? Torin did not hold much hope that the cleric would accomplish much, but how did he chance letting his wife see to the problem? He did not want to see her frightened and definitely not harmed. But there was no one else willing to do what she offered, and she did sound knowledgeable.
He feared he might regret it, but said, “After the cleric blesses the keep you can begin having it cleaned.”
Torin almost lost his breath when his wife’s face lit with a brilliant smile and her eyes sparkled and her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink, highlighting her beauty.
“I am most grateful, husband, and I will do you proud,” Flora said with excitement. Maybe, just maybe this marriage would not be as bad or as boring as she had anticipated.
Torin felt the need to warn. “You will keep your tongue to a reasonable chatter.”
“What is reasonable?” she asked.
He glared at her. “No questions and—”
“How can no questions be reasonable?” she asked perplexed. “How am I ever to discover things if I do not ask questions?”
“Of me,” Torin said, slapping his chest.
“But how am I to find out about you, my husband, if I do not learn about you… your likes and dislikes and—”
“I dislike endless questions,” he snapped.
“So then, how many questions am I allowed to ask you in a day? If I know then I can make certain I ask pertinent ones and not waste them on senseless ones, though I do not believe any question is senseless. One never knows what one will learn.”
Torin rose out of his chair while his wife continued talking, walked over to her, grabbed her face in his hands, leaned down, and commanded her silence with a powerful kiss. It was his intention to show dominance over her, make her obedient to his word, to his rule and there was no reprieve from it. She would submit to his will.
What he did not count on was the way she returned his kiss… with the same demand he had delivered it. And bloody hell if his shaft did not rise to the occasion.
Stunned, Flora had not known what to do, but she let her instinct rule as her mum had told her to do when the time came that she was first kissed. Instinct had her responding in kind to her husband’s command to kiss him, which was easy for her to do since she found his kiss quite enjoyable. She loved the power of it, the way he demanded, not letting her shy away but forcing her to participate, to linger in the joy of it.
She was not sure when his tongue made its way into her mouth, but she welcomed it along with a sensation that titillated her all over before settling between her legs. The one thing her mum had told her about coupling, her husband’s shaft slipping inside her, that she had thought disgusting now seemed possibly plausible as well as enjoyable.
Flora gasped when her husband ended their kiss abruptly. She had not been ready for it to end. She wanted more.
“You have kissed a man before me,” Torin accused, her eager and encouraging response not something found in an innocent woman.
“Nay. That was my first kiss, though my mum did tell me to follow my instinct and that is what I did since I found the kiss quite enjoyable. She also advised me about coupling and how a man’s shaft slips between a woman’s legs and deep inside her and I must say, at first, I thought it quite disgusting, but your kiss has me thinking differently and I am eager to experience it.”
Torin shook his head. Never had he met a woman who could talk so much and say things no woman would ever dare say.
He brought his face close to hers but not close enough where she might kiss him. “You will not talk when we couple, wife.”
“How will I know if I am doing it right if I cannot ask questions?”
He pressed his finger to her lips. “Not a word when we couple, scream if you’d like but you will speak not a word.”
“Why would I scream? Will you hurt me?” she asked, thinking back on what her mum had explained to her but not recalling her mentioning anything about screaming.
“Pleasure. You will scream with pleasure,” Torin explained and wondered why he continued to answer her questions.
“Truly? It will be that pleasurable that I will scream with delight?” she asked excited at the prospect of such a feeling. Then thought of something her mum had said. “But are you skilled at it? Doesn’t it take a skilled man to bring a woman pleasure? Of course, I think it only fair I learn to bring you pleasure as well.”
Torin didn’t know whether to regret wedding her or be thrilled that he had a wife who wanted to learn to pleasure him.
Flora tapped at her chin with her finger. “Of course, if you are skilled at coupling that would mean you had to have coupled with other women. Maybe I could talk with them to see what I can learn.”
Torin shook his head, appalled at the thought. “Absolutely not. I will teach you all you need to know.”