She tried to smile, but tears filled her eyes at Robena's truth.
"And he does no' ken, does he?"
Anice could only shake her head.
"He's a good man, milady, but more than a little bit daft if ye ask me."
Their laughter filled the solar and spilled into the great hall when she pulled the door open.
* ~ * ~ *
They were laughing? He stood to watch the two women in his life come out of their encounter and to see if both were unscathed. And they walked out of the solar laughing? 'Twas certainly not what he expected.
He wanted to go over and find out what they spoke of, but this really needed to be settled by Anice. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he watched his wife and his friend approach the dais. Anice climbed the first two steps and then turned back to Robena who still stood below on the floor.
"Robena, you are still welcome to join in our meals here."
"Thank ye, milady," Robena answered as she curtsied before Anice. "If ye have need of me, please call on me again."
Robert could see that this was for show, to let the others know Robena was permitted in the keep once more after his indiscretion, but something else was going on here. He watched the two of them closely and thought he saw Robena wink at Anice as she turned to leave.
He remained standing until Anice was seated next to him. When he sat, he could see her eyes were filled with merriment. It did him good to see that. Too many of her days had been spent in dread and fear and he would make her laugh if he could.
He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, touching his lips gently to her knuckles. "Ye have my thanks once again for treating her with kindness."
"She is quite an... enlightening woman."
Those hairs tingled again and he wondered just what they had discussed. Anice reached over and took a wedge of cheese from the platter near him. Whether meaning to or not, she brushed against his arm. That was all the contact it took for his body to react—and react quickly and with vigor. His nightly swims in the loch were the joke of the other men, although Brodie assured him that they did not know the true reason behind them.
He walked around hard as granite most of his days and all it took to put him in that state of being was one look at her, or one word, or that damned smile of hers. He'd been caught more than once lately in their room when she woke and he was forced to watch, through nearly closed eyes, as she slid from the bed. She would stand and shake her hair free of its braid before pulling it into a fresh one for the day. His fingers would begin to twitch and then his cock would harden as he watched the flimsy nightgown she wore to bed glide over the curves he wanted to touch.
Mayhap sleeping on the bare stone floor would make him so uncomfortable that this reaction would not be possible.... If he thought it might work, he would try it. However, since he continued to catch her staring at his mouth, it was difficult to divert his thoughts.
She interrupted him at that point, which was probably a good thing considering the path his thoughts were taking. Another sleepless night he could do without.
"I will retire now, Robert, if you do not mind?"
He looked at her carefully. Her face was red and tiny beads of sweat lay on her upper lip. "Are ye well, Anice?"
"I am just more tired than usual."
"I do no' mind. Mayhap ye should rest tomorrow?"
"Nay, Rob. I am certain to feel fine after a good night's sleep."
As he watched her walk away, he calculated the length of time that his nightly jog to and around the lake would take and his nightly swim. Even if he took the longer path, he could be back at a reasonable time and she would already be asleep. Mayhap he could also get a full night's sleep.
* ~ * ~ *
His bedding was laid out before the fire as it always was.
Anice made certain that he would only have to climb under the covers and not have to fuss with the preparation of it. He closed the door as quietly as possible and walked over to check on the babe. The cradle was empty and he looked to the bed, for sometimes she took Craig to sleep with her there. He was not next to her. She must really be tired if she asked Emma to keep him tonight, he thought.
He peeled off his plaid and shirt and stretched before the warmth of the fire. His hair was still damp, for even the long walk back to the keep from the loch did not give it sufficient time to dry. As he stared into the flames, he thought he heard a noise from her bed and he turned to check on her. She coughed in her sleep and turned to her side.
Turning back to the hearth, he pulled his bedding a few feet more away and then climbed inside the layers of wool. He had just started to drift off to sleep when Anice stirred in her bed. She slid out of the bed and he frowned. She usually only left her bed to check on the babe, but he was not there.
Instead he watched as she walked towards him. When he would have spoken to her, she signaled him with a finger on her lips to remain quiet.
She stood next to him and then knelt beside him. As she leaned over, he thought to say something, but he was gifted with the touch of her lips on his. Her mouth moved on his, pressing and sliding until he opened for her. Her tongue licked over his lips and then he felt her slip it inside. The urge to grab her and take her almost overwhelmed him in his surprise. He fought to control himself and let her lead the way this night.
She deepened the kiss and he followed her motions, lip to lip, mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue. Anice moved closer and he felt the soft caress as her hair fell around him. He opened his eyes and found her looking back at him. She lifted her mouth from his and he felt her fingers tracing his lips and then his chin. She slid them down over his neck and onto his chest. Swirling them around in the hair on his chest, she moved them slowly towards his own nipples. Tingles of pleasure shot through him and he waited with a heightened sense of anticipation for her next touch.
Pushing the covers down to his waist, she explored every inch of his skin. The touch of her lips where her fingers had been sent shivers from his head to his feet and the pulsing in his cock grew even as it did. She was mimicking his actions of that night, he realized, but that did not stop the gasp when she licked his own flat nipples with her tongue. If he had thought that sleeping in the same room with her was torture, he'd been a fool. He sensed her need to control this and struggled to lay compliant beneath her searching fingers and questing tongue.
The groan that burst forth as she reached beneath the plaid could not be helped. Whether she stopped because of the sound of it or due to her own sense of reticence, he did not know. He only felt her fingers still on his skin. Looking down to see what she saw, he saw her gaping at the outline of his cock, erect and pulsing under the layer of plaid.
"Touch it through the plaid if ye dinna want to touch it beneath." His words came out as the frank plea they were. He would beg her if it would make her hand move once more.
If he thought that the layer of wool fabric would dull the fierceness of his arousal, he was wrong. All she did was move one finger around and over his cock and then she followed the contours of the sac and balls below it and he was lost in the waves of heat she created. He was ready to beg her for more when he felt the plaid slide down his hips and onto his thighs. He looked at her face, almost fearing what he would find in her eyes. Trying to lessen her apprehension, he smiled at her. She was killing him.
Wrapping his hands in the layers to keep them from reaching for her, he tried to breathe normally to calm down before she touched him flesh to flesh. It did not help at all.
First she repeated what she had done on the plaid, sliding her fingers over the surface of his erection and then down to the sac. Then—and he could not control the groan that escaped as she did it—she cupped her hand around him and stroked him. Another moan tore from him and she stopped.
"Nay," he moaned hoarsely. "Dinna stop."
"Do I hurt you, Rob?"
He gritted his teeth and shook his head. Satisfied by his reply, she repeated her actions again
and again until he knew his seed would explode from it. He loosened his hand and grabbed hers before he reached the point of no return.
"I need to touch ye, Anice. Please let me touch ye?"
She looked confused for a moment and then shifted next to him.
"Should I lie down?"
"Lie, sit, stand, or hang from the bed, I dinna care so long as I can touch ye." He laughed at the innocent bewilderment in her expression. "How would ye be more comfortable?"
"I do not know, Robert." He detected guileless frustration in her voice; she was just as aroused as he, but did not know what to do about it.
"Come closer," he said, sitting up. "Step over here and sit down."
She frowned until she placed one foot on each side of him. He lifted her nightgown as she slid down on his lap. With her legs spread, she was open to his touch and he was to hers.
"Oh," she whispered and he adjusted her knees and brought the part of her that he knew ached closer to his hardness. "I ache," she moaned, as though she had heard his thoughts.
He touched her as he had the other night, tracing the fullness of her breasts through the silkiness of her gown. She arched again into his hands and he resisted the urge to use his mouth. Sliding his hands down to her legs, he pushed the gown out of the way and moved towards the very heat of her. Anice moved restlessly in his lap, until his fingers touched the dampened curls. Then she moaned as he had and the sound of it gladdened his heart. Waiting for her to adjust to that touch, he moved them in a bit deeper until he heard another moan. Her head began to fall back, but she opened her eyes and stared into his instead.
Robert lay back and began to move his fingers deeper within the cleft. Stroking over the wet heated folds, he watched her face for any sign of fear. When it did not happen, he slipped one then two fingers inside of her, always sliding gently in the moisture she created, never rough or fast. Her body began to follow the rhythm he set and she kept her gaze on his. She moved forward on his hips and rubbed herself against his erection.
"Help me, Robert. Show me what to do."
"Are ye sure, Anice? I would no' want to hurt ye."
"I trust you. Make me your wife now."
If he thought he could be noble at a time like this, he was wrong. His cock surged against her and he wanted to bury himself deep within her. Guiding her up with his hands on her hips, he paused for the tiniest of moments to give her a chance to stop him. She was looking at his face and not at his erection, so he pressed into her. Inch by inch, he entered her as slowly as the Almighty gave him the strength to do, praying that it would be good for her. He felt her stretch around his length and width and she moved ever downward on his shaft until he was in as deeply as he could go.
The expression of wonderment on her face brought tears to his eyes. He waited until she was accustomed to him inside of her like this and then he lifted her and drew down a bit. She gasped and then smiled.
"Do that again," she ordered. He was obviously bedding the imperious Lady Anice.
"Aye, my... Anice," he groaned out as she worked with him and made the movements exquisite torture to him.
He was not certain, after another slide, whether he or she controlled it, but he gave himself over to the throbbing pleasure. He could feel his sac tighten and his peak approaching so he slipped his finger within her folds once more and found the little bud he knew would help her reach hers. Using the wetness that poured from her, he moistened it and then gently tugged on it. From her frantic movements, he knew she was close. He held off as long as he could until his body refused to obey and his seed gushed forward into her. He pulsed and throbbed inside her as her inner walls answered with their own waves of pleasure. Now her head dropped back and a moan resonant with sexual fulfillment echoed through their chamber.
She collapsed on his chest and soon only their labored breathing could be heard. He felt his cock slip from her body after a few minutes and he waited for her to say something. Her hair flowed over him as he once dreamed it would and he drifted off to sleep, completely contented for the first time in a very long time.
Chapter 31
She felt the heat of the hearth on her legs and bottom, but could not figure out where she was. The front of her felt just as warm in spite of the fact that she was not covered in her bed. Anice opened her eyes and realized where she lay— on top of her sleeping husband. Memories of their joining flooded back to her and she rubbed her cheek against his skin remembering the heat and pleasure of it. When she tried to lift her head to look at him, she found his hands entangled in her hair. Her movements must have awakened him, for he shifted beneath her and loosened his grip on her hair.
"My pardon," he whispered in a gravelly voice. "I only wanted to touch it."
She pushed herself up on him and found the embarrassing fact that her bottom half was naked against his and her gown, soaked with milk, now grew cold in the chilly air of the room. Her nipples contracted and she gasped as his hardness grew under her once more. Anice looked at his face and found him staring at her breasts.
Struggling to get off of him, she kept doing all the wrong things and ended up losing her balance and falling on him. She felt the rumble of his laughter in his chest and then his hands were on her hips, lifting her off. With a quick turn to his side, she found herself sitting on the floor next to him. She let her gaze wander over him and she could not help but stare when she saw that his body was ready for another joining.
"Does it stay that way all the time?" She pointed and watched his hardness move under her gaze.
"Aye, Anice," he said, laughing and drawing the plaid over it. "It haes been that way for weeks and weeks."
"Is it painful?" He grunted at her. "Yer pardon, Robert. I just thought that it looked... uncomfortable."
"Aye," he said on a groan. "'Tis painful and I would rather if we dinna speak of it right now."
He pulled a layer of plaid around his waist and climbed to his feet. Once he gained them, he reached down to help her. The nightgown clung to her now and she needed to get it off and dry herself. She looked at his chest and noticed he was wet with it as well.
"I could not stop it. When I... er... we did that, the milk gushed out, too."
She went to one of the trunks and found what she was looking for. With a fresh gown in one hand and a length of toweling in the other, she walked back to him. With a few quick strokes she dried him off. Then walking to the far corner of the room where the light did not reach, she peeled off her gown, dried her breasts and stomach, and dressed again. Anice turned quickly at his gasp. Apparently the light exposed more than she thought. Her gaze went to the bulge clearly visible beneath the hastily wrapped plaid.
"Anice, ye must stop looking at it," he moaned, readjusting the covering.
"Looking at your..."—she pointed at it when she could not say the word—"does that?"
He leaned his head back and growled out his reply. "I am trying no' to think about it. Mayhap it will relax."
She was so intrigued by his body and by everything that had happened between them and she had so many questions to ask that she simply went on. "You cannot be serious that simply speaking about joining will keep that ready?" She pointed once more and watched the bulge move against the plaid he wore.
"Words are powerful, Anice. I will show ye how to use them, but no' now."
She felt the heat of embarrassment fill her cheeks. Her curiosity was unseemly and it obviously made him uncomfortable. She turned away and walked over to the pile of blankets in front of the hearth, intending to straighten them. Then she realized that things had changed between them. Or had they?
"Where will you sleep?"
He let out a breath and took a step closer to her. "Wherever ye say, Anice. There or in yer bed, 'tis up to ye."
She looked from one to the other place and did not know what to say to him. She wanted to touch him, but could she stand to have him close through the whole night? Would his shaft stay like that until she woke to find him pushing
his way inside her? A shiver moved down her spine and some fleeting glimpse of Sandy's face entered her thoughts. Realizing what was happening, she looked at Robert and focused on his face.
"'Twill take more than just this one time to get over yer fears, Anice. There or there"—he pointed at both places—"it makes no difference to me."
She did not answer; she could not find the words to say to him. They were husband and wife now and she did not want to refuse him, but she was not certain she could stop the terrors from visiting while she slept if his body was so near hers.
"That settles it then, 'tis the floor." She would have objected or argued, she wanted to; however, she knew he could see her hesitation. "Dinna fash yerself, Anice. 'Twill take some time for us to adjust to this. I am willing to wait—so long as ye promise to visit me there when the mood strikes ye again?" He offered her a smile as he passed her. She could see he struggled to be kind.
Her love for him filled her heart. In every situation when he had a choice to make, he put her first. Torn by the love inside her and the long-standing fears that still fought for control, she could do nothing but return his smile and climb into her bed. Her empty cold bed. She pulled the covers over her and listened as he settled onto the floor.
"It did not hurt," she said to no one in particular. First, she heard the exhalation of his breath. Then he spoke.
"I did no' think it would."
She sat up and looked over at him, his face and form outlined by the low flames behind him. "Truly? Whyever not?"
"Once I remembered seeing the babe come forth from ye there, I feared ye would no' feel me at all."
"Oh." She had not thought about what he saw of her that night. She'd been too near death to worry about it then and had forgotten it afterwards.
He laughed and looked over at her. "My hand and my arm were inside ye, Anice. After that I did no' think my cock would find a tight fit. I did no' think ye would feel it at all moving within ye."
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