Page 36 of Bride of the Mad Laird
“Thank ye, Eilidh.” Lyra’s cheeks burned. “I’m nay used tae compliments.”
Eilidh gave a soft laugh. “Well then, ye’d best become used tae them fer ye are very beautiful and there will be many compliments coming tae ye.”
Lyra sighed. “I’d like tae think that might be so.”
The Healer gave her a quizzical look. “What is troubling ye. I can see it in yer eyes. Ye wish tae talk?”
“Only if ye have time tae spare.” Lyra was suddenly shy, all the questions that had been on her tongue while she was in her bedchamber had simply fled.
Eilidh reached across to squeeze Lyra’s hand resting in her lap. “Dinnae fash, ye’ll nae keep me from what is important tae me. If ye wish tae speak wi’ me then that is the thing uppermost in me day.”
It was difficult fer Lyra tae form the words, but once she’d assembled them in her mind, they tumbled out with alacrity.
“As ye ken, I’ve nae long left Iona and the nunnery. And now that I am in the outside world there are some things I find puzzling.” She mused on this for a moment. “More than puzzling. Unsettling. Disturbing. Bewildering.”
“Ah, so it’s a lad ye’re speaking of?”
“How d’ye ken such a thing?” Lyra was taken aback. Was she so transparent? Did her feelings show on her face?
“’Tis simple enough. When a lass speaks in such a way, it is clear tae me she is thinking of a lad.”
“Aye. And I wish ye tae help me understand these strange sensations. And…” Lyra drew in an anxious breath. “I wish tae ken the ways of things between a lad and a lass.
Eilidh nodded. “And ye think I am one who kens such things.”
Lyra’s cheeks flushed pink. This was not easy to speak of and she was beginning to feel rather foolish at having raised it. “I ken the way a bairn is made. I could scarcely believe me ears when I was told. The lass in the nunnery who kent all this said the lad’s shaft becomes hard and long, and he thrusts it inside the lass… er… between her legs. Could that actually be true?”
Eilidh laughed. “Aye, ‘Tis the truth.”
Lyra let out a yelp, her eyes widening in horror.
“Did this lass in the convent nae tell ye that many folk, lasses too, find that when a lad takes a lass in such a way it is divinely pleasurable?”
Lyra’s hand shot to her mouth. “Nay one told me such a thing, and I cannae believe it.” She narrowed her eyes, shaking her head going over this preposterous notion. “I suppose if one wanted a bairn very badly them mayhap it would be possible tae dae it… once…” She sucked in a sharp, disbelieving breath.
“But there are many whose family numbers ten or more children.”
“Ugh.” Lyra made a sound of disgust. “Yeu mean they’ve done such a thing ten times? Oh nay, that is unthinkable.”
“Mayhap many times more than ten times.” Eilidh added, laughing.
Lyra was shaking her head. “And each time they dae it, they find it brings pleasure?”
Eilidh chuckled again. “And, what’s more, they find such great pleasure in that way of coming together, they desire it greatly and long fer it.”
This was altogether too much. “Now ye are teasing me. I would never long fer something so base.”
“These feelings ye speak of. Are they disgusting tae ye?”
“Why nay. That is part of the problem. They are feelings that are… enticing, captivating…” She gave this more thought. “They are most alluring and pleasant.”
“So, ye dinnae wish those sensations to stop?”
“Nay. I find meself wanting them more and more. I wish fer them.”
“And they come when ye are with a certain lad?”
“Oh he daesnae have tae be wi’ me. I think of him fer most of me waking time. And, sometimes, he comes tae me in me dreams…” She stopped and looked at Eilidh anticipating a look of horror.
