Page 69 of The Dragon Ring
I shook my head. “I never pretended to be.” I paused. “Do you mind?”
He gave a shrug. “You’re mine now. And you’re the Lady of the Ring. What do I care what you did before?”
That was a relief, although I wasn’t so sure about the possessive “mine”. I’d put him right about that later.
An unmistakable twinkle sparkled in his eyes. I rolled over to face him and slid my hand down his stomach toward his groin. “Would you like me to show you what I’ve done before?”
He blinked at me. Doubt showed on his face, doubt mixed with curiosity. I gave him a squeeze and felt his arousal. “Yes.” His voice was hoarse.
So I showed him. And when we made love the second time, it lasted much longer, and he learned quite a bit about what women want in bed, and what women can do if given a free rein. It was altogether a resounding success.
Afterwards we lay side by side, exhausted and naked, the sweat beginning to dry on our bodies.
“Are you sure you weren’t ever a whore?” he asked after a while, when he’d got his breath back. It wasn’t meant as an insult. I think it was praise for my bedroom skills.
“Of course not. It’s just that where I come from, there’s lots of advice about sex. You can read about it in books, and we talk about it a lot. So people just know a lot more.” Difficult to explain where I’d learned what I’d just shown him without compromising myself. Better not mention television porn channels, the internet and Cosmopolitan.
“I’m very impressed, although I don’t think my mother would approve of me even knowing a girl with your skills. It’s lucky you’re the Lady of the Ring, otherwise, I don’t think I could have married you.”
“That’s a bit judgmental. Anyhow, you wouldn’t have known until it was too late and we were married, would you?”
He laughed, and I saw the boy he’d once been. “You’re right. I’m rather glad you’re the Lady of the Ring and you’re married to me. It’s…” he paused, “fun.”
Something I felt the Dark Ages lacked.
He lifted his arm and I moved in close, snuggling up to him. He smelled of sex. He pulled the covers up over my nakedness and I put my leg across his, getting as close as possible. For the first time since I’d arrived in the Dark Ages, I felt happy.
We made love again in the early morning, sleepily, languorously, fulfillingly. And then we lay in one another’s arms, listening to the sounds of the villa coming to life.
At last, we got up and dressed. A servant brought us bread and wine and cheese for breakfast, which we ate sitting on the cushioned bench side by side. Curiously, clothes had made us shy of one another, as though without them nothing had stood between us, but with them we were different people, and the barriers were immense. We ate in silence, the gap widening. When Arthur had finished, he got up and picked up his cloak.
“I need to see to my men.” And he was gone.
Left alone, I finished up all the remaining food. Sex three times in one night certainly gives you an appetite.
I was just picking up all the crumbs with a licked fingertip when there was a knock on the door, and without waiting for an invitation, it opened. Albina and Cloelia came in on a gust of cold air. They were wearing padded jackets over their dresses and beneath their cloaks.
They stopped on the threshold, and both performed a rather clumsy bow.
“My Lady,” Albina began. “Mother sent us to apologize for how we talked about King Arthur yesterday in front of you. We should have had better manners. It was behavior unbecoming of young ladies of noble birth.”
She must be quoting her mother.
“Me too,” Cloelia said and managed another bow.
I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s quite all right. It doesn’t matter. Yesterday was…a bit of a whirl for me. I just didn’t know how to break it to you about who I was.”
They looked at one another for a moment, and then both broke into smiles.
“Thank goodness. Mother said you’d be furious with us. I’m so glad you’re not,” Albina said.
“No, I’m not.”
They ventured further into the room, emboldened by my lack of anger.
“I’ve never met anyone who was the outcome of a prophecy,” Albina ventured.
“Me neither,” added Cloelia.
