by Lynn Tyler
Jocelyn sighed and moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest. “I thought you drank so much because you were unhappy with our marriage. I am not exactly the ideal wife.”
He allowed himself a small grin and relaxed enough to wrap his arms around her waist. “Oh, I think we can get along just fine,” he said, nipping at her ear gently.
She threw her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his throat. The impact of the simple action rocked him to his very core, and he stumbled backward toward the bed.
Her scent teased him, driving his need for her higher than ever before. He pulled her back with him and tumbled them both onto the bed. “Can you forgive me for ruining our wedding night?” he whispered.
She giggled and pointed to the bed linens. “You did not ruin anything,” she said conspiratorially.
Glancing over to where she indicated, Robbie was alarmed to see the large amount of her virginal blood on linens. “But I…but…what is this?” he asked, frantically running his hands over her in an attempt to find any injuries.
Sweet Jesus, he had taken her innocence and had evidently hurt her in the process. The amount of blood on the bed deeply concerned him. “I am so sorry, imp. Let me call for a midwife.”
Jocelyn grabbed his arm when he lifted himself off the bed to call for help. “Robbie. Robbie!” she said, cupping his chin and forcing him to look her in the face. “I am fine. Listen to me!” she insisted when he kept trying to get up. “You did not hurt me. Will cut his hand to save us from the gossip that would fly when the linens were brought down. He was a little overenthusiastic.”
Robbie relaxed and collapsed against her. “That sly old dog,” Robbie said, smiling into her neck. He was relieved that she found their situation amusing. Perhaps this marriage had a chance after all.
“Aye, but he is younger than you,” she said, giggling again as he started to rub his chin against the sensitive flesh of her neck.
“Mmmm.” He let his mouth wander up her neck to her lips. “Let us talk of things other than my brother,” he said against her mouth. He kissed her deeply, amazed at how eagerly she responded to him. He dipped his tongue into her mouth to dance with hers and groaned when her fingers tightened in his hair. “Or rather, let us not talk at all.”
“Oh, Robbie,” she sighed when he allowed her to come back up for air. “I never imagined a simple kiss could be like this.”
Robbie smiled at her innocence, knowing that inside the innocent little virgin a sleeping tigress waited. “It only gets better, imp,” he promised as he tugged the tunic over her head.
“God, you are beautiful,” he breathed reverently when her breasts were finally bared before him. Her nipples were already peaked, and they strained toward him. He rolled them gently between his fingers and thumbs and delighted in her shiver.
“Robbie,” She whimpered again, arching to meet his touch. The sound of his name falling from her lips inflamed him even more, and he sent his mouth down her throat and over her collarbone.
She began to squirm against him, pulling on his hair. He smiled, knowing what she wanted but was too innocent to ask for. He dipped his head and took one hard nipple into his mouth. She panted and began letting out tiny moans.
Before he could go any further, they heard a knock on the door. Groaning, he pulled the furs around her nude body, shielding her from whichever idiot brother was at the door. Wrapping a linen sheet around his waist as he moved to the door, he yanked it open to find Will.
With one look at his face, Will broke into a grin. “I see you are not too ill this morning,” he joked.
“No,” Robbie said shortly, looking at Will expectantly. What was the man thinking, coming to interrupt them the morning after their wedding night?
“It seems Jocelyn is good for your health, if not for your disposition,” Will continued, ignoring the angry look his brother sent his way. “How do you fare, Jocelyn?” he asked.
“I am well, Will,” she conceded, giggling at Robbie’s aggravated sigh.
“What do you want, William?” Robbie ground out with irritation.
“Your wedding linens. And, oh, yes, it seems that Alasdair MacKenna is ready to leave. He wants an audience with your wife if you can let her go for a few hours.”
Robbie had the sudden urge to throw something. “When does he want to leave?” he asked even as he reached for his kilt. He could not keep the man from saying good-bye to his daughter, even if it meant he had to wait until later to consummate their marriage.
“He is ready to go now. He just waits to see if you will allow him to say farewell,” Will answered.
“Very well,” Robbie said. “We will be down shortly.”
He shut the door in Will’s face and leaned his forehead against the hard wood. Taking a deep breath, he willed his heated body to cool. Somewhat in control once again, he turned around only to see Jocelyn standing right behind him, naked as the day she was born.
His mouth fell open, and he very nearly fell to his knees at the sight. She smiled at him bewitchingly and held out the tunic he had just stripped off her. “Would you wear this one?” she asked him teasingly.
“Yes,” he growled, taking the tunic from her small hand. He slipped it over his head and immediately regretted the decision. It was still warm from her skin and held her soft scent.
He felt his already huge cock grow even harder and took slow deep breaths to control his urge to toss her on the bed and have his way with her. It would be within his rights to ravage her, he supposed, but he wanted their first time to be special.
Robbie closed his eyes and pictured the most unarousing scene possible. Old Agnes, the alewife, beckoning him from her bed. It worked. His erection deflated by half.
He opened his eyes and was greeted to the sight of her still naked body. “Why are you still…not dressed?” he asked, unwilling to say the word naked lest he find himself joining her in that state.
“I need help with my gown?” She phrased it as a question, an impish little smile playing around her lips.
“Damn, lass. You will drive me to my end,” he groaned, pulling her against him and kissing her firmly. She opened her mouth and traced her tongue over the seam of his lips.
Gooseflesh rose on his arms, and he gripped her hips, his fingers flexing compulsively. He ground himself against her and slid one thigh between her legs.
She writhed against him, gasping into his mouth. He felt her core, hot and moist, against his skin and momentarily forgot why he had put his clothes back on until he heard Will shouting down the hall to Jamie.
“Fuck,” he swore, and wrenched his mouth away from hers. “We need to get you dressed.” She pouted as he set her away from him, and he touched her lips with his finger.
He turned and collected the dress he had dropped in the puddle the day before. It was slightly wrinkled, but it had dried nicely and was a virginal little thing. It covered her from her neck to her toes, and that was what he needed. He didn’t think he could get through the day with glimpses of her white flesh flashing him every other second.
Robbie turned back around and smiled at the sight Jocelyn made. She stood at the mirror, fussing with her short hair. She was trying unsuccessfully to pin it up, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
He sent a silent prayer of thanks up to Heaven when he realized that, since they were now married, they could do exactly as they wished. And right now, he wanted to nibble on the swollen bottom lip himself.
He draped the dress over his arm and crept up behind her, meeting her eyes in the glass. “That drives me to distraction,” he whispered, resting his hands on her waist.
“What?” she said, dropping the thick locks of hair in defeat.
“When you nibble on your lip like that,” he said, leaning down to murmur in her ear. He nipped her lobe and moved down her neck.
Laying his lips on the curve of her shoulder, he let his teeth scrape over her skin. He licked delicately at the spot and sucked gently. He raised hi
s head and gazed with satisfaction at the mark he had left, blowing cool air over it.
He felt a bolt of pleasure streak through him when she shivered in his arms. He forced himself away from her with a frustrated sigh. “Put the gown on so we can say farewell to your father,” he said.
Jocelyn slipped it on and presented him with her back. “Will you do up the back laces, please?” she asked.
“Do you not want to wear something under your gown?” he asked hoarsely.
She shook her head and smiled slyly. “They will just get in the way later,” she explained coyly.
Once again Robbie had the sudden urge to fall to his knees. He had never known a woman who could make him hurt with desire, but his virginal, yet far from innocent, bride could make him jump out of his skin.
He gripped the laces and slowly tightened them, taking the time to trace the pale flesh between the laces as he went. By the time he was finished, they were both breathing hard.
Just as Robbie was about to forget the whole thing and entice Jocelyn back to bed, someone knocked on the door. Again. This time it was Jocelyn who answered the door, allowing him the space to gain control of his arousal. Again. “Hello, Jamie,” she said, letting his youngest brother step into the room.
“I just came by to see if the two of you remembered you are supposed to come and say good-bye to your father? You have been quite a while,” he said good-naturedly. He slapped Robbie on the back and grinned. “Will said you are feeling well this morning.” He laughed.
“I will feel better when the two of you stop pestering us,” Robbie muttered, shaking Jamie’s hand off his shoulder. “I was trying to entice Jocelyn to…oh never mind.” He growled when Jamie’s grin deepened.
Somewhere behind him, he heard a stifled gasp. Worried that his comments had upset his wife, he looked over at her, only to find her trying desperately to smother her giggles. “You think this is funny?” he growled, though, in truth, her laughter at the situation only reassured him their marriage might not be a total disaster.
“Y–y–yes,” she said. He reached over to her and wrapped one arm around her waist. She clutched at him as her laughter threatened to weaken her knees.
“I will give you something to laugh about,” he warned before wriggling his fingers over her ribs. She squirmed and shrieked as he tickled her mercilessly. When he finally stopped, she was panting, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her until her breathing slowed.
Jamie cleared his throat and had the grace to look ashamed for continuing to interrupt them. “Jocelyn’s father, Robbie,” he reminded them gently.
Robbie suppressed a sigh of irritation but nodded and led his wife out into the great hall where his new father-in-law was scowling into the fireplace. “You are leaving, then?” Robbie asked, satisfied to see the older man jump. As happy as he was that Jocelyn was now his, he wasn’t ready to forgive her father for forcing them into this. Given the time to court her properly, he had a feeling they would have married anyway. Not that she would have really given him much a chance, given she had run for a nunnery.
But still, that didn’t stop his pride from bristling when he and his father-in-law stood in the same room.
“Yes,” Alasdair snapped without respect. Robbie stepped closer and forced him to look up at him in order to maintain eye contact.
“Remember who you are speaking to,” he warned on a growl.
“And just who is it I am speaking to? The laird of a keep he cannot protect from constant pillaging?” Alasdair asked derisively.
Robbie resisted the urge to show him how dangerous upsetting him could be. He used the one thing he knew would intimidate the older man. “No. Right now, you are currently speaking to your daughter’s husband,” he said with feigned lightness.
Alasdair blanched and staggered back a little, clearly grasping the meaning of his words. “You would stop me from seeing her?” he whispered. It was clear Jocelyn meant much to him.
“No,” he answered honestly. “But it is my hope she will come to care for me and will give me her loyalty.”
Jocelyn moved between the two men as if to stop them from beginning to circle each other. “Gentlemen, please,” she said commandingly. “Papa, you got what you wanted. I am married.”
She looked at Robbie, and he was pleased to see her eyes warming slightly. “Robbie, you have my loyalty, before the law and God. Please do not threaten my father with it.”
Robbie nodded and smiled, satisfied with the outcome of this little meeting. He turned back to his father-in-law and held out his hand. “You will break your fast with us?” he offered hospitably.
Alasdair broke into a reluctant smile, still clearly smarting a little from Robbie’s victory. “It is well past that time, lad. It is the noon meal that is about to be served,” he said as he shook Robbie’s hand firmly.
“Ah, well, you cannot fault a man for missing the morning meal the day after his wedding night, can you?” he shot back, grinning widely. He had a feeling he was going to like his new father-in-law. He could see where Jocelyn got her spirit.
“No, I certainly cannot,” Alasdair said amicably.
They chatted companionably for a while. He found that he quite liked his father-in-law, especially when he regaled them with stories of his new wife as a child. He delighted in Jocelyn’s threats when her father started a story she didn’t want told. He was thrilled when one or two of the stories resulted in Jocelyn sporting a delicate blush.
Hearing the call that signaled the noon meal, Robbie escorted Jocelyn into the dining hall and seated her to his right. His brothers took their seats to his left and the rest of the keep scrambled to find seats at the long tables.
Most seemed surprised to see the couple out of their bedchamber. Or maybe they were surprised to see Jocelyn alive and well after their wedding night.
Scowling, he stared down at the trencher that was set before him. He felt Jocelyn’s small hand land on his knee, and he glanced up to see her smiling encouragingly at him.
He nodded his understanding and lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles, well aware of the stares of the people gathered around them. Smiling back at her, he let go of her hand and glanced at his brothers, noting their own smiles.
He ate carefully, still mindful that his belly might revolt if he forced too much into it. He refused the mead that was served and spent most of his meal imagining what Jocelyn would look like on his bed, writhing underneath him. And bouncing on top of him. And looking over her shoulder at him while he took her from behind.
God’s blood, he had it bad for his wife. He absently toyed with Jocelyn’s fingers, rubbing her fourth finger lightly. He would have to get her a wedding band, and he relished the thought of seeing his ring on her finger. He slowly released her hand and let it fall to his knee under the table.
He was just about to ask Will about the status of the cattle and crop raids when he felt her warm fingers slide up his leg. Jumping, he turned to stare at her, only to find her looking at him innocently. He forced his attention back to whatever Will was saying and nearly swallowed his tongue when her fingers danced along his inner thigh.
Robbie listened distractedly to what his brother was telling him as her fingers crept higher and higher up the bare skin of his leg until she reached the junction where his hip met his leg. She traced small patterns on the sensitive skin of his groin as she leaned across him to speak with Will.
Jocelyn’s scent wafted around him, and he felt her hand wrap around his erection as if measuring his size. She squeezed him and stroked him, and he felt his seed beginning to dampen the tip of his cock.
Unable to take any more teasing, he reached beneath the table under the pretense of picking up a dropped napkin and, thanking God the long cloth draped over the table’s surface covered Jocelyn’s actions, removed her hand from him.
She simply placed her hand back on his thigh and started the slow torture all over again.
* * * *
Jocelyn couldn�
�t stop smiling. She felt on top of the world. Yes, Robbie had woken up in a black mood, but she had been able to tease him out of it. Her father and Robbie were on speaking terms, and it looked as if they would quickly become friends.
Best of all, she was currently exploring her husband’s lower body under the table, and no one was the wiser.
When she had sent her fingers on their journey she had expected him to react this way. He was fidgety, and his breathing had accelerated noticeably.
What she hadn’t expected was the way she would feel. She felt hot and achy, and a now familiar awareness seemed to throb throughout her body, collecting between her legs.
Her hand bumped into his cock, and she instinctively wrapped her hand around it. She was fascinated with his hardness, his length, his girth, and the warmth of him. It felt like an iron rod covered in velvet. It twitched when she caressed it, and he removed her hand from him.
Undaunted, she repeated her journey, this time dipping her hand below his cock to cup his sac, weighing the heavy stones in her hand. They seemed swollen and tight, and they drew closer to his body with every pass of her hand.
Sliding her hand up his shaft again, she stroked him gently, measuring his length and width in her hand. The thought of him filling her made her flush. She supposed she should be nervous about his size, but logic dictated she would stretch to accommodate him. She had helped the midwife back home, and babies were certainly larger than his cock.
Jocelyn allowed her fingers to wander closer to the head of his erection and stopped with surprise when she felt silken fluid weeping from his tip to drip over her hand. She glanced at his face and saw he was resolutely ignoring her and taking deep, calming breaths.
She rubbed some of the fluid between her fingers and found it slippery. Experimentally, she trailed her thumb through the liquid and spread it around the head of his cock.
He gasped and gripped her wrist, yanking it away from him. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “I will embarrass myself if you continue with that,” he breathed, causing gooseflesh to rise on her skin.