"Caves are deeper. Rock shelters only go in a few feet. Most wildlife leave them alone," he said. Walter reached for her hand and led the way.
The rock shelter was deep enough that they could sleep out of the rain but it was shallow enough that any light from the stars, moon, or lightening would allow them to see their surroundings. His wolf eyes would be better than hers for seeing in the dark but if the rock shelter had been very deep even his sensitive eyes might have struggled.
"We had better make our beds now. We won't be able to start a fire here. The ceiling is too low and the smoke would choke us," Walter said. She nodded in agreement. She set down her basket and pulled from it a traveling cloak.
She laid it on the smooth rock surface that covered the base of the shelter. The temperature would drop once the rain started. It would not become deathly cold but it might become cool enough to give Tamsin a chill. He knew that it would not bother him unless the temperature became freezing. Being unperturbed except by the most harsh weather was just one more advantage of being a werewolf.
"If you lay between me and the wall you should be warm enough," Walter said bending down to take off his boots.
"Will you help me with the laces of my dress?" Tamsin asked turning her back to him. Walter undid the laces to her sleeves and she pulled them off revealing the soft white skin of her arms. Then, he undid the laces at the back of her gown.
Walter turned around to let her take off the layers she was wearing in privacy. It had been a time since he had watched a woman undress. He hadn't seen a naked woman since Mary had died.
While he waited for her he stripped down to his shirt.
"You may turn now," Tamsin said. She was seated on the cloak and wearing a white linen chemise.
She looked innocent and vulnerable. Everything in him wanted to protect her. Walter wondered if leaving court had been folly. If he had announced their marriage he might have been able to send her to Crake Estate in a carriage instead of on foot. She had dressed sensibly for the journey in traveling clothes and left the large skirts of court behind but looking at her now he wondered if she was capable of the journey they were taking. Running away together had seemed a romantic notion and the only way to protect her virtue from the king but it seemed less romantic now with her sitting on a thin cloak on the ground of a rock shelter with the wind already beginning to howl.
Worse, she really did look lovely in that chemise. He could feel the blood rushing downwards to his cock as he looked at her.
"I know it will be difficult but we must try to sleep. We will need all of our strength tomorrow," Walter said.
"Do you really intend for us to sleep?" Tamsin asked. Her wide eyes searched his. He felt his throat go dry.
"I know that the wind is loud but we journeyed far today and I believe, if you will just lay down your head, sleep will come sooner than you imagine," he said. Walter stretched out beside her, put his head on his arm, and closed his eyes.
Tamsin was an innocent maid. She should not lose that innocence in a rock shelter during a storm. She should lose it on a feather bed in a warm home.
He felt Tamsin move closer to him. He hoped the warmth from his body was enough to keep her comfortable. Her skin so close to his was scorching him.
"We married this morning," Tamsin whispered.
"I am no eager youth. I can wait to bed you until we are home," Walter said though he wasn't sure that was the truth. Sleeping next to her in such thin clothes every night until they reached his home would be torture.
"I will not feel as if I am really your wife if I am still a maid," Tamsin said softly. It hadn't occurred to Walter that she might feel that way. Mary had been an amiable woman and willing to do her duty as a wife but she never encouraged his intimacies. He had thought Tamsin would be glad of his self control.
On the other hand, if they did not lie together it would be easier for her family to oppose the union. Once she was no longer a maiden their marriage would be indisputable.
"Are you certain? You were eager to avoid Henry's bed," Walter said.
"I knew all I would be was his play thing. It is different to be a wife," Tamsin said.
***
She wondered why Walter was being so resistant. Men at court seemed eager to lay with any woman who would allow it. Did Walter feel some guilt at being with a woman besides Mary?
She had thought about the intimacies between a man and woman much of the day as they had walked. She wanted to be in Walter's arms. She wanted to know what it was like to be loved by a man.
Walter was older than her but his body was all lean muscle. He looked powerful and it made her feel safe to be with him.
"We should remove this," he said indicating her chemise. She noticed his voice had changed. It was deeper. Harder. His eyes were intent as he watched her.
"And you should remove your shirt," she said. She reached down and pulled the chemise over her head leaving her body naked. She had hoped to be a seductress as Joan was but she found herself pulling her body into a ball to hide her most private places.
Walter tossed his shirt to the side then reached out and stroked her leg with his thumb.
"I promise to be very gentle," he said as he slowly continued to draw circles with his thumb over her leg. Unlike her he was not hiding his body. His chest was covered in black curls. The hair was thickest high on his chest but an arrow of it led downward over his flat stomach and disappeared into another black mass of curls. Jutting out from that lower mass of curls was his very large, very hard, cock.
She had seen men naked before of course. She and Thomas had been raised closely together and it was only when he was old enough to turn into a werewolf and she was old enough to have monthly bleeding that they became aware of a need for modesty.
Thomas had been a boy and so his body had not looked anything like Walter's did.
Walter was all male and that ignited something in her body. She felt an ache in her belly as she looked at him and a sudden heat between her legs.
***
Walter kept rubbing her leg gently but he could smell the change in her. He could smell the beginnings of desire and it made his cock jerk.
Slowly, she began to uncurl before him.
She was every bit as beautiful as he had imagined. Her skin was pale where her gown had protected her from the sun. He was sure she was going to be warm and soft to touch.
Her breasts were just larger than apples and hard pink nipples peaked each mound. Between her legs was a nest of amber curls. He could already see the moisture beneath those curls as her body prepared to receive him.
An eager young man might have covered her then but he had learned much in his years as a husband.
Slowly, he ran his fingers up her now uncurled legs. He bypassed the curls and instead brought his hand up her stomach which was flat and soft beneath his fingers.
From her stomach he moved his hands up to cup her breasts. He leaned forward and kissed the top of one then the other.
"Do I please you?" she asked quietly.
Did she not have eyes? Couldn't she see how hard his cock was and how much he wanted her?
"You are very beautiful," he whispered.
He began to massage her breasts with his finger tips occasionally bringing his thumb over the hardness of her taut pink nipple. She threw her head back and sighed as he touched her which made him smile. While her breasts jutted forward he took the opportunity to kiss her neck just below her ear lobe. Then, he trailed his lips down her neck and over the tops of her breast. He brought his lips to rest above her nipple. He stuck his tongue out and flicked it tentatively.
Her breathing turned to panting and the smell of desire between her legs became stronger.
He moved one hand down between her legs to touch the curls there. He ran his fingers over them feeling how wet she was. Her body didn't tense at his touch which was a good sign. She wasn't afraid.
He let one finger gently caress her pleasure nub which caused her
hips to buck.
"Walter," she pleaded.
He leaned her back and moved over her. He brought the tip of his cock to her entrance and very slowly pushed into her. He felt her barrier tear even as she let out a little gasp.
"The worst is over," he promised but he remained still for a moment to let her adjust to him. Once her body had relaxed again beneath him he began to move inside her. He plunged into her until his cock was completely sheathed. Then, he withdrew and plunged in again.
She was tight around him and he knew that he couldn't last. He had not been inside a woman for too long. His body was hungry and weak. Tamsin was soft and beautiful.
***
The rain started suddenly. Tamsin turned her head at the sound. It was followed in a moment by lightning. As Walter moved inside of her in the dim rock shelter the lighting illuminated his face with every strike. She was fascinated by him and most especially by his look of deep concentration.
His brow and shoulders were covered in sweat as he slowed down his movements within her.
He let out a groan when she moved her hips encouragingly.
Then, she watched him bite down on his lower lip and his movements started against fast and hard. She felt her body being swept up in the pleasure. She hadn't expected it to feel so good.
She could sense the passion building though she had no idea what would happen when it peaked. She didn't get the chance to find out.
Walter made a guttural sound that she thought might be one of pain and he pushed himself off of her. She felt his still hard cock leaving her body and she watched as he spilled his seed on the ground beside them.
"That was not how I thought mating ended," Tamsin said softly. There were many things she didn't know about the loving between a man and his wife but she did know that his seed should have been spilled in her and not on the ground.
"I would not risk putting a baby in you," Walter whispered.
"I am your wife now. I would give you a child," Tamsin said.
"Tamsin, I have seven children. Last time I put a baby in a woman she died. You must know that for a human woman to birth a werechild is an even greater risk. I could not let my lust put another wife in the grave. If children of your own body are something you need this marriage has been folly. My children will love you and especially my youngest will call you mother but I do not wish to bring any more children into this world," Walter said.
"I wish you would have told me," Tamsin said. It was not something she had given great thought to but she had always assumed she would give her husband a child. Tamsin had been raised to do her duty as a she-wolf and add pups to a pack.
Walter covered his face with his hand and remained silent for so long she wondered if he had fallen to sleep.
"If you wish I will agree to deny the words we said. No one witnessed them. I can bring you into my household as a caregiver to my children and I can find you a husband among my tenants," Walter said quietly.
"I did not say that I wished to no longer be your wife. Is this how every disagreement between us will be? Every time I do not agree with you will you offer to deny out marriage?" Tamsin asked. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
"Of course not. I only want you to be happy. I would not want you to give up happiness for a marriage that was made to prevent you from being in the king's bed," Walter said.
"I did not marry you just to avoid Henry's bed. I liked you the first night we met. You were my dearest friend at Hampton Court and the only man I have ever felt this way about. I just wish that we could have spoken of these things instead of you deciding for me," Tamsin said.
"You have never watched the woman you love bleed to death. My wife covered the mattress in blood. It had to be burned after her death. I watched her grow pale and struggle to live for tiny little Bess but there was naught to be done for her. It is a small comfort that she was able to kiss Bess before she gave up her ghost. She left me with seven motherless children. I might risk the heartbreak of losing a wife again but I cannot in good conscience offer my children a mother and then suffer them losing her again," Walter said.
Tamsin reached out and took his hand.
"Do not offer to deny our marriage again. No matter how much we might disagree," Tamsin said.
"I suppose it was a cruel thing to do after taking your maidenhood," he said. He looked down at his feet for a long moment.
"It seems we have much to learn about being married to each other. We will learn it together," Tamsin said. She loved Walter. She loved him more deeply now than she had when they had committed a lifetime to each other. He was a good man. He was a good father. He would be a good husband to her. He just needed to believe in their love as much as she did.
***
Tamsin spent the night cuddled against him. He had struggled to sleep with the desire to protect her so strong. He had not been fully truthful with her after their lovemaking. Another wife he might have risked for a child if her heart desired it. He might even have been willing to let his children lose another mother to childbirth. He just couldn't lose her. There was something special about Tamsin. He didn't know what it was. He just knew that he cared for her differently than he had cared for Mary. He loved Mary as a man loves a wife who he shares a life with. That wasn't how he loved Tamsin. He loved her with every ounce of his soul. Every part of his being wanted to be with her. He didn't know why he was so drawn to her but he knew that if he lost her the heartbreak would be so much more devastating than Mary's loss. The only loss he could compare it to would be the loss of one of his children and he was sure any of those losses would kill him. It would be too much for his heart to bear.
He did finally find sleep and morning came swiftly. Tamsin dressed while he went looking for berries to break their fast. He found some nearby. To his dismay, he also found a great deal of mud.
"We must try to continue," Tamsin said and he knew she was right.
Their progress was slow in the morning but the earth seemed to dry as the day wore on. Walter thought they might get back to their speed of the day before when he heard Tamsin yelp. He turned to her.
"Are you hurt?" he asked though the look on her face told him she was.
"Only my ankle," she said with a grimace. He looked down and saw that there had been a nearly hidden slide of mud down the side of the hill. It was shaded and so the sun had not absorbed the moisture as it had on the more open land. She was still standing but she was putting no weight on one foot.
Walter reached out a hand to help her.
"Are you able to walk?" he asked. She hobbled forward but the look of pain on her face answered him.
He reached an arm around her to offer assistance and she leaned on him heavily.
"We should stop at this stream so I can soak my ankle," Tamsin said.
"I told you my feelings about women in water," Walter said.
"And I am telling you that the cool will sooth the pain and lessen the swelling. We are alone and there must not be anyone for miles. I will strip down to just my chemise. It is very light and even if I fall fully in the water it will not pull me under," Tamsin said.
Walter wanted to deny her but instead he took a deep breath. She had been right the night before that they needed to talk about things. He could not order her around. He could only do his best to keep her safe.
"As you wish," he said. Walter helped her take off the fore sleeves, gown, and kirtle. Once she was in just her chemise he stepped into the cool water and reached his hand out to her.
She stepped down into the water with a sigh and then lowered herself onto the bank.
Walter still had the makeshift fishing pole and he lowered it into the water a safe distance from her feet but still nearby enough that he could rescue her if she fell into the water and became waterlogged. As the water came only to his knees and the flow of the stream was calm it was unlikely there would be any danger but that didn't stop him from being on high alert.
"I think we should find a place to shelter
for the night," Walter said after Tamsin pulled her foot out of the water and he saw how swollen it still was.
"It is only midday," Tamsin said.
"And you can barely walk. If we rest your ankle we will be able to make better speed tomorrow than if we continue with you in pain," Walter said. He hated seeing her in pain even as slight as he knew it was. If she had been a werewolf or perhaps even a man he might have expected her to continue on with gritted teeth but he couldn't ask that of her.
"Will doing that delay us enough that we might still be journeying during the days of the moon?" Tamsin asked.
"It might," he admitted, "But I do not see another choice."
There were no rock shelters nearby so Walter had to build a shelter for them using what materials he could find. It was no easy task. He sniffed the air and was relieved to smell that there was no hint of an incoming storm.
He started by building a bough bed. He found two thick logs and rolled them to form a sort of frame. Then, he took boughs from the fir trees and laid them across the logs. The hatchet he had brought was a small one and intended for creating firewood but it did the job though with much work from him. Around the bough bed he built a shelter from branches and boughs.
The dusk was settling as he finished.
"I am sure my ankle will be better tomorrow," Tamsin assured.
"Even if it isn't we have shelter, water, and food," Walter said. He vaguely wondered if Henry Tudor or any other spoiled king would know how to build a shelter in the wilderness. He might not own a palace or even an estate but he knew how to take care of his wife. He planned to do his best to make sure that Tamsin was cared for as long as they both lived.
She snuggled down beside him and he was glad when he heard her breathing slow to that of sleep.
He closed his eyes and it didn't take long for a light sleep to claim him too.
Chapter 16
Tamsin looked down at her ankle. It was swollen again. The pain along with more rain and mud had slowed their progress down over the past several days.
The Alpha's Daughter Page 10