Blow

by Demelza Carlton

  "He will make an excellent king," Portia said warmly. She'd seen enough over the last few days to know that, if she did not already.

  "But?"

  She swallowed. "I thought he had feelings for me, instead of marrying me for my claim, like the others might have. But..."

  Angus laughed so hard he nearly fell off the windowsill. "No feelings for you? Rudolf? That man's been in love with you since the day you donned a woman's gown. And I've seen the way you look at him, too. Why else do you think you got a personal guard while he was gone? It was not that he has the strength of ten men, though he is a mighty warrior. Nay, it was because I promised to keep you safe for him until he returned. He would never have left for Viken otherwise."

  Portia couldn't seem to close my mouth. "But he has been so distant since we married. He hasn't..." She felt a blush burn her cheeks. "He hasn't summoned me to his chambers at all since our wedding night."

  "Ah, he knows you too well, is all. Rudolf knows you are not the sort of woman he can order about. You'd punch him in the nose, or some more tender place, I'd wager, and he knows it. 'Tis up to you to come to him, I'm sure." It was his turn to blush. "Your mother came to me before we were married, and would not take no for an answer. She'd taken some fertility potion a witch had given her, and she wouldn't give herself to any man but me. I think we made you girls that night." He continued, too lost in reflection to realise that Portia had stopped listening.

  Rudolf wanted her. Maybe even loved her. If her father could see it...

  "Tonight," she said, so softly she didn't think her father heard. "Tonight, I shall bed the king."

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  Rudolf stepped into the lord's chambers and slammed the door shut. Why in heaven's name had he agreed to be their king?

  "Congratulations, my king." Portia stepped out of the shadows. The laces across her breasts had come untied, and her gown was in danger of slipping off her shoulders.

  Rudolf's fingers itched to help, though whether to help her out of her gown or touch her breasts as he retied the laces for her, he wasn't sure. He knew now why he'd accepted the questionable honour of a crown. "I did it for you," he said simply. "As long as the Southern Isles are your home, this is where I shall be."

  She frowned. "What will the Viken king say?"

  "We will find out soon enough. His men sail home on the morrow, and they will tell him all." He waved away her worries. "I have no doubt Reidar wants to see me bend the knee with a crown on my head, so that he may laugh at me. But if he sees you, he will understand." Rudolf seized the crown and dropped it on top of a nearby chest. "Now I know how heavy the thing is, I remember why I never wanted one."

  A tear slipped down Portia's cheek. "I don't understand."

  Rudolf reached out to wipe it away. He never wanted to see her cry, much less make her do so. "My cousin, King Reidar, gave me leave to take a force across the sea to free the Southern Isles from Donald and his minions because I begged him to. I came for you, Portia. I took the Isles because they are your birthright, and your home, and I will not see anyone take them from you. Everything I have ever done is for you."

  More tears fell, but this time Portia wiped them away herself. "Truly?"

  "Truly."

  She took a deep breath. "Then it is only fitting that I should do something for you, too. You must have an heir, and though it pains me to do it, I must give you one." Off slid the gown, with no help from Rudolf, puddling on the stones at her feet. She stepped out of it like a nymph out of a lake, lifting the hem of her shift.

  Rudolf's breath caught in his throat as the filmy linen rose over her head before descending to join its fellow on the floor. "God, you're beautiful," he said hoarsely.

  She toed off her stockings as she made her way to the bed. Naked as the day she was born, Portia spread her body across the covers, the greatest gift any woman ever gave a man.

  "Please make haste, Dolf. It's cold, and I would prefer to get the painful part over with as quickly as possible." She shuddered, her nipples hardening until Rudolf could look at nothing else. "The pain was hard enough to bear the first time we did this."

  Rudolf's brow furrowed. "But I thought it only hurt for a girl's first time. After that, there shouldn't be any pain." He'd never asked a girl about it, but he would never forget that first night Reidar spent with his queen. Her screams hadn't sounded pained.

  "Are you sure? My sisters said their first few nights with their husbands were just as painful. It took them a full week before the act became bearable."

  Rudolf had no idea – he had no experience with virgins. "You bled that first night. It takes time for a wound to heal, and perhaps that's why it took your sisters a week. It has been a week since we...since I..."

  Portia wet her lips. "Can you check for a wound?" She parted her thighs wider.

  Rudolf swallowed. He wanted nothing more to be inside her, loving her like Reidar did his queen. But if it meant hurting her... "Of course, I will check." He climbed onto the bed and knelt between her legs. He lifted his gaze to caress the soft skin of her inner thighs, remembering how glorious it had felt to plunge between them. Sliding between those wet lips, gleaming so tantalisingly before him now. Perfect, unbroken skin, with no wound to be seen. He wanted to reach out and stroke her, but he restrained himself. "You look perfect to me."

  Portia rose onto her elbows, still frowning. "Did you check inside? It wasn't until you were inside me that I started hurting."

  He lifted her legs over his shoulders, parting her lower lips with his fingers. Silky soft and so wet...his manhood grew rigid, but Rudolf fought to ignore it. Still he could not see anything but perfection. "I can't see inside you," he admitted. "But perhaps I can feel for it." He pushed a finger inside her slowly, stroking her inner walls.

  She shuddered and clenched around his finger. "Dolf!"

  "Did I hurt you?" He repeated the motion, more slowly this time.

  She gasped. "No. You didn't hurt me. That feels...delightful."

  The more he stroked, the hotter and wetter she became, until she cried out and clenched down hard on his finger as though she would keep it inside her forever.

  "More," she sighed.

  More...what? Rudolf slid a second finger into her, and started stroking harder. Watching her face this time, as her breathing grew shallow and her eyes closed, he sent her to her climax faster this time. God, what he would give to join her in reaching such a pleasurable peak together, he thought as she arched her back up off the bed and cried his name.

  More than anything, he wanted to put more than his fingers inside her.

  It would be different this time, he promised himself as he shucked off his clothes. At the slightest sign that he was hurting her, he'd stop, but he needed to be inside her. Now.

  He lifted his manhood, poised to thrust deep into her.

  "What are you doing?" she asked, fear darkening her eyes.

  God help him, he couldn't. Couldn't hurt her again. It would kill him to see her cry and know he'd caused it.

  Rudolf rolled onto his back so he lay on the bed beside her. He ached to impale her. Soon, he promised himself.

  "Just like the night we were wed," he said breathlessly. "You sit on top of me, so you can control how deep I go. There is no wound I can feel, inside or out. I won't hurt you, Portia, and this will feel better than my fingers, I promise." He prayed that this last part wouldn't be a lie. He'd never forgive himself.

  "If you are sure..." Portia rose up onto her knees and shuffled until she straddled him, one leg on either side of his. "I'm afraid," she admitted.

  "Don't be," he said, grabbing his cock in one hand as he rested his other hand on her hip. Gently, he guided the tip of his cock inside her, holding firmly to her hip when she reflexively flinched away. "Now, move down, Portia."

  She bit her lip, nodded once, then lowered herself onto him. Inch by inch, he glided into her molten core. God, this woman was heaven. This time, he kept his eyes firmly on her face, a
lert for any sign of pain. He would not hurt her again while he was lost in his own pleasure.

  Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened, but still she descended, engulfing him so completely that her well-rounded backside rested against his balls.

  "It doesn't hurt," she breathed. With agonising slowness, she rose up, and then down his length again. "That feels...good." She raised herself again.

  If he left this all up to Portia, her next climax would take all night, so Rudolf took control. He fastened both hands around her hips and met her downward slide with a hard thrust.

  She gasped, surprised, but then she smiled. "Again."

  With Rudolf's help, she soon rode him in a rocking rhythm that felt every bit as good as he'd imagined it would. And when he felt her clenching around him in her third climax, Rudolf shouted her name as he found his own release.

  "I love you, Portia," he gasped out, staring up at her.

  Her breasts heaved as she fought to catch her breath, huffing and puffing as though she intended to blow the very castle down around them, but her brilliant smile was telling enough until she managed to say, "I love you, too, Dolf. Can we do that again?"

  "Every night," Rudolf promised. "A good husband keeps his wife happy, and I intend to see you happy ever after."

  She smiled mischieviously. "The tomorrow you shall take me for a ride, just the two of us, and when we reach a good place to stop, we shall make love all over again."

  He stroked her leg, feeling his spirits rising once more. Portia was the only woman for him, now and forever. "Who said we must wait until tomorrow?"

  Her eyes widened with alarm, before her expression softened to surprise, and she did some stroking of her own. "Don't make me wait, Dolf."

  "Never again," he vowed, and when they came together again, it seemed the very air sang for joy.

  If you'd like to read Grieve and Rhona's story, Return: Hansel and Gretel Retold, you can get it HERE.

  If you'd like to read the tale of Melitta and George (and the dragon), it's in Embellish: Brave Little Tailor Retold, which you can get HERE.

  If you're looking for more of Demelza's medieval fairytales, you can find the rest of the series HERE (http://www.demelzacarlton.com/fairytale/).

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

  She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

  Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

  The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by her suspense thriller Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.

  Want to know more? You can follow Demelza on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ , YouTube or her website, Demelza Carlton's Place at: www.demelzacarlton.com

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