Moments later, Eadyth awakened, still feeling wonderfully replete, still on her back with her husband’s weight pressing her to the ground, his half-limp man part embedded in her.
She should have been repulsed now that the lovemaking had ended and her senses were returning to normal. She was not.
She should have felt crushed by the boorish weight of a man she did not want in her life. She did not. Instead, she felt oddly cherished in the cradle of his arms which held her fast.
She should have been appalled at her wanton responsiveness to the lusty lout who had bedded her. She was not.
So this is what it is like to be loved, Eadyth thought. For the first time in her life, she knew the power women wielded when they yielded. She smiled, arching her hips up sensuously.
‘Twas time to awaken the lusty lout, and his wonderful lusty male part.
Chapter Fourteen
My wife.
Eirik flicked the reins of his horse and looked down with wonder at the woman sitting across his lap, her head resting against his chest. She had been fast asleep for the past half hour, almost as soon as the horse started moving.
Eadyth cuddled closer—God’s Bones, the waspish woman was actually cuddling—and made a soft, purring sound of satisfaction. Well, she should be satisfied, after draining him nigh dry that second time. No doubt he had grass stains on his arse and claw marks on his back.
He was having trouble reconciling the prim and proper lady he had wed with the siren who had just proven more than a match for him in the love sport. Her innocent enthusiasm would be a joy to watch as it unfolded in this marriage he had resisted, but now looked at in a different light.
Leaning his head back, he tried to see her better. Her hair fell like skeins of spun silver about her head in wild disarray. Her lips, her finely defined lips, were swollen and bruised from his many kisses. And a pink, sexual flush hazed her creamy cheeks. The overmodest Eadyth would shudder with mortification if she could see herself, he thought with a chuckle, but he liked knowing his wife looked well-satisfied and carried the marks of his loving.
My wife. Eirik smiled to himself—unable to believe his good fortune. ‘Twas like falling in a dung heap and realizing it was really gold. He doubted Eadyth would appreciate the comparison. Mayhap he would tell her anyway, he decided with a contrary chuckle.
Then he turned more serious. The Eadyth he had glimpsed today was the kind of wife he had longed for years ago—one who would provide a home and family for him, at the same time she was a sensuous and willing bed partner. Eirik tried to restrain his optimism. After all, this was how he had felt before he married Elizabeth. And she had proven a sore disappointment. ‘Twas not good to raise one’s hopes too high. Yea, he must tread carefully.
Eadyth awakened slowly to the rhythm of the horse beneath her legs and of Eirik’s thudding heartbeat against her ear. She did not open her eyes at first, wanting to relish this sweet moment out of time.
‘Twas not good to raise one’s hopes too high. She knew that better than most women. But, oh, Sweet Mary, she had never dreamed the mating between a man and woman could be so glorious. A husband and a wife, she corrected herself immediately, with a contented smile.
My husband
Eadyth wanted to sing aloud with joy at all the new, wonderful feelings rippling through her. And, at the same time, she wanted to hold them close, in private, to examine and cherish them, lest they prove fragile and unreal.
She wriggled her bare toes against the horse’s side and knew she would have to get her emotions and her appearance under control before they returned to Ravenshire. The servants would never respect her if she failed to uphold a certain level of conduct appropriate for the chatelaine of a keep, even one in such poor condition as Ravenshire. But it was pleasant to be free of those restraints for now.