Page 17 of The Handfasting
Yet if he withdrew, it would only make things more difficult. The next time, she would be even more reluctant, and with good cause.
That was no way to start a marriage.
Nae, if he wanted to repair the damage he’d done, he had to help her through the pain and bring her back to pleasure. So he remained within her.
“I’ll make it better,” he promised, smoothing the hair back from her troubled brow. “I didn’t mean to hurt ye, lass. Truly I didn’t.”
He tugged her sleeves off, freeing her arms. Her hands relaxed. But she still wouldn’t look at him. And it broke his heart. He had to fan the flames of her desire quickly before his own subsided.
“Ye aren’t afraid, are ye?” he asked. “Because if ye are…”
That got her attention. She opened her eyes and furrowed her brow. “Nae.”
Shewasafraid. He could see it in the way she sucked her lower lip under her teeth. But she wasn’t going to admit it. And he rather admired her for that.
“I can make the pain go away,” he said, “if ye’ll allow me.”
She looked doubtful. Then she gave him a nod.
Holding himself up on his elbows, he lowered his head to kiss her. But this time, he kissed her softly, tenderly. And when she answered too eagerly, he drew back. It was essential this time that she be completely ready.
It didn’t take long. Soon she was reaching for him. She clasped the back of his neck to hold him close. She gasped against his throat and arched up until her bosom grazed his chest.
Then, to his relief, she began grinding her hips slowly against him. He closed his eyes as a ripple of desire coursed through his loins. Even a virgin instinctively knew the dance of love.
The sweet friction was almost too much to bear. He clenched his teeth against his release as she sought her own.
When she finally stiffened, opening her mouth in joyous awe, he groaned her name and drove deep within her. Together, they shuddered out their bliss.
For a weightless moment, Ysenda felt like a hawk, soaring high in the sky. There was no more pain, only freedom. Then she dove through clouds of pure pleasure, plummeting down so swiftly that her wings shivered on the air.
It would have been a moment of perfect bliss…if only he hadn’t cried out her sister’s name.
The word struck her like a slap in the face, snapping her back to reality.
Bloody hell! What had she done?
No?l, utterly spent, sank down upon her, careful to support his weight on his forearms. He heaved a contented sigh against her neck.
“Ah, lass, I’m so pleased to be your husband.”
Ysenda gulped, wrapping her arms around him in an awkward hug.
She didn’t know what to say.
She couldn’t even pretend this was his fault. She’d encouraged him. She’d been the one who had to have that goodnight kiss. If he hadn’t kept his promise, it was only because she’d led him to believe she was no longer holding him to it.
He’d done nothing wrong. He’d only made love to the woman he thought was his wife.
But Ysenda had committed a sin. She’d knowingly and intentionally consummated a counterfeit marriage.
“Are ye all right,cherie?” he murmured, lifting his head to look at her.
Nae, she was not all right. She’d behaved like a wanton. And she’d stolen her sister’s bridegroom.
But she didn’t dare confess to him. So she gave him a bleak smile and nodded.
He eased away to lie beside her, still holding her close.
