by Alexa Aston
Cassiana had never seen a couple so open with their affection in front of others. It startled her—and made her slightly envious. She felt her cheeks heat and glanced to Landon. He took her hand and led her to the hearth.
“They are madly in love,” he said quietly. “I thank the Christ every day for bringing such a good man into my sister’s life. She had many hard, lonely years but Nicholas—and Ruston—have brought her much joy.”
Landon drank her in, a hungry look in his eyes. “You bring me joy, Cassiana.”
Her heart raced at his words. “I hope we will be as happy together as they are.”
Landon squeezed her hand. “I have a thought. Many wedding guests will arrive in the next day or two. Then the ceremony and feast will occur. You will be busy from all the entertaining and probably tired by the time our wedding night arrives.”
Cassiana’s mouth grew dry. “So, what thought do you have?”
Landon gave her a devilish smile. “Mayhap, we should enjoy our wedding night tonight. When there are no distractions and no fatigue. What do you think, Cassiana? Will you come to my bed tonight?”
Chapter Fifteen
Cassiana went arm-in-arm to the great hall with Katelyn as Landon and Nicholas trailed behind them. The couples went to the dais and enjoyed a hearty meal and then moved around the room once the trestle tables had been shoved aside, introducing the Mandevilles to others.
After an hour, Landon said, “Why don’t we four retreat to the solar and share some quiet time before we retire?”
“I would love to get off my feet,” his sister said.
“And so you shall.” Nicholas swept his wife into his arms and led them from the hall upstairs to the solar.
Landon offered Cassiana his arm and she watched the couple in front of them. They seemed more in love than was humanly possible. She yearned to experience what they had and hoped that would be possible with the man by her side.
They seated themselves around the fire and Landon added another log so that it blazed.
Katelyn held her hands out before it. “I love a roaring fire. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to how cold the north is.”
“’Tis only October,” Nicholas reminded her. “You know how cold the wind will blow down from Scotland come the New Year.” He gave her a smile. “Never fear, Kate. I’ll keep you warm.”
They spoke of the upcoming wedding and various guests who would attend. Nicholas and Cassiana shared stories with the other two about many of those who would soon arrive at Briarwood and then he and Landon told about some of the fighting they’d seen in France and how glad they were that the truce had been called.
Suddenly, Katelyn sat up, putting a hand on her belly. “Someone just woke up and is kicking like mad.”
Nicholas leaned over and placed both his hands against her. Then his face lit up. “That is a strong kick. Like a horse that hasn’t been broken yet.”
“It seems fiercer than when Ruston rested inside me,” Katelyn said.
Her husband grinned. “Then that’s proof enough ’tis a girl. One as feisty as her mother,” he teased. “You look tired, love. Mayhap we should end our conversation and put you to bed. It’s important you get your rest.”
Cassiana rose. “I can show you where your bedchamber is. It’s a few doors away from mine.”
“I will escort you all where you need to be,” offered Landon.
They left the solar and Cassiana indicated which bedchamber had been reserved for the Mandevilles. “Let me know if you have need of anything.”
“I’m sure Kate and I will be fine,” Nicholas assured her, opening the door and tugging his wife through the portal. “Thank you for your hospitality. We’ve enjoyed ourselves today. Goodnight to you both.”
Cassiana loved how Nicholas was the only one to call his wife Kate. She watched the door shut and then felt a rush of nerves pump through her, knowing what was to come. Landon took her hand and led her to her own bedchamber.
“Do we part here, my lady? Or do we extend our time together?” He bent and brushed a kiss against her cheek.
Her response was to open the door. Taking his wrist, she pulled him inside and closed the door behind her, resting her back along it to steady her trembling legs.
Landon’s eyes gleamed in anticipation. “So, you aren’t coming to my bed?”
“Nay, my lord—you’re coming to mine,” she said saucily.
In response, Landon stepped close, his body trapping hers. He cradled her face in his hands gently, as if he held the most fragile of glass within them.
“You’re certain?”
“Aye,” she said softly, her eyes closing as she willed him to kiss her.
His lips touched hers in a sweet kiss that lingered on and on. She opened to him and he accepted her invitation, his tongue mating with hers as his fingers swept into her hair. They kneaded her scalp as his tongue stroked hers. Cassiana’s hands went to his chest, slowly rubbing up and down along the sleek muscles until she linked her hands behind his neck. Landon’s body pressed against hers, his heat stronger than any fire she’d stood before. His fingers raked through her locks a final time and then went round her waist, encircling it.
They kissed for a long time. The blood rushed through her, making her own body heat with desire. Landon broke their kiss, his lips trailing down her throat. A steady throb began between her legs and she felt herself grow moist there. She ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying the sounds he made in the back of his throat.
Then his tongue licked its way from her throat to the top of her breast, traveling tantalizingly slow along its curve. Cassiana’s hips moved instinctively, pressing against Landon’s length.
“I want more,” she said huskily.
“More of what? This?” he asked, allowing his tongue to cross back along the curve again.
She shuddered. “Aye. And even more. Don’t ask me what. I know not. I only know I want it. With you.”
He raised his head, his gaze boring into her, as if he could see down to her very soul.
“I want what Nicholas and Katelyn have,” she said breathlessly. “I want you to look at me as he does her. I want you to kiss me. Touch me. Possess me. I want to be yours, Landon de Blays. Tonight. Always.”
His green eyes glowed. “I have never wanted a woman as I do you, Cassiana. I want you in this moment and every one that follows.”
With that, he swept her off her feet so fast that she became dizzy. Taking her to the bed, he set her back on her feet and slowly peeled her cotehardie from her. He took his time, the silk rustling faintly as it finally pooled at her feet. Landon lifted her from it and then picked up the dress, resting it over the back of a nearby chair. Then he bent and caught the hem of her smock and pulled it up and over her head, tossing it aside.
Cassiana stood in only her hose and shoes as his eyes roamed over her naked body.
“You are so beautiful,” he said hoarsely. “I’m not sure I deserve you—but I want you all the same.”
He pulled back the bed curtain and had her sit on the mattress so he could remove her boots. Her heart raced so that she thought it might burst from her chest. Landon untied the ribbons at her knees and eased her hose down her calves, his fingers burning a trail along her bare skin. Now, she was totally unclothed. Cassiana thought she would have been embarrassed but his admiring glances made her feel bold instead.
Landon took her hands and helped her rise from the bed and then he pulled back the bedclothes. Strangely, he retrieved her smock and smoothed it across the bed and then told her to lie down atop it. She did so and then stifled a giggle as he doffed his garments so quickly it made her head spin.
He started to climb onto the bed and she said, “Nay,” sharply. He froze, uncertainty in his eyes.
“You have changed your mind. I understand.” He lifted his knee and stepped back.
“Stop,” she ordered crisply.
Landon looked at her, confusion evident on his face.
Cassiana grinned. �
��I merely wish to admire you, my lord. You did not give me an opportunity to do so.”
He began laughing softly as she drank him in. The broad shoulders. The muscled chest with a matting of fine dark hair that tapered down toward his growing manhood. Narrow hips. Large, powerful thighs. He looked every inch the warrior that he was.
And he was to be her warrior. Forever.
“All right,” she finally said. “You may join me.”
A low growl sounded as he pounced on the bed and took her in his arms. The minute their bare flesh touched, anticipation rippled through her.
“So, you enjoy teasing me?”
“I wasn’t teasing you. I just wanted to see all of you. Now, I want to touch you.”
“Not before I can touch you,” he replied.
His head dipped to her breast and his tongue circled her nipple, taunting it without touching it. Cassiana felt vibrant tingles moving through her, the ones that were ever present each time this man caressed her. Then the tip of his tongue came to rest on her nipple and she moaned from the pleasure. He dragged it across and around, up and down, until she thought she might scream. Landon moved to her other breast and gave it equal attention, laving and sucking it, causing the pounding between her legs to go wild.
His hands began to roam along her sides, dipping along the curve of her hip and back up. She sighed as they continued to move while his tongue did magical things across her body. Then his hands slid along her thighs, stroking them lightly, driving her to a frenzy.
“I think you need to touch me,” she gasped.
“I am touching you,” he murmured against her skin.
“Nay. I mean . . . oh, I’ll show you.”
Cassiana grasped his wrist and brought his hand to rest atop the curls at the apex of her legs.
“Oh, there,” Landon said, his tone wicked as his eyes gleamed.
“It’s calling for your attention,” she said, her voice small.
“Then I must respond to this call,” he declared.
Landon ran a finger along the fold, causing her hips to rise. Then he pushed it inside her.
“Oh, my!” A ripple of awareness ran through her.
“My, indeed,” he murmured as his mouth moved on hers again and his finger stroked her. Another joined it and she whimpered. His tongue mimicked the action of his fingers, slow then fast, then agonizingly slow again. She felt something unnamed build within her. The throbbing began to pound like a drum and Cassiana writhed beneath him.
“Let go, love,” Landon urged. “Give in to the pleasure.”
“Oh!” she cried and then called his name over and over as sunshine burst inside her and spread warm waves of rays from her core outward. She rode the wave, cresting, cresting, and finally falling from the dizzying height of Heaven back to Earth. Cassiana didn’t know if she could ever lift a hand again. A wave of lethargy blanketed her.
Then Landon hovered above her. “You’re ready for me, sweetheart.”
He thrust into her and Cassiana gasped, nearly flying from the bed. Landon eased her back into the pillows as she started to tell him she’d changed her mind.
“’Twill never hurt again,” he reassured her, kissing her temple and then her brow. “It only does the one time. Love play from now on will be joyful.”
He hadn’t moved since he first entered her. She felt him swelling inside her, afraid, regretting ever having let him come to her bed. Then he moved slightly and she realized the pain didn’t linger. In fact, what Landon did felt good. Very good. He moved again—and it felt even better.
“Are you all right?” he asked softly.
“Aye.”
This time when he entered her, Cassiana met him with her body. They began a slow, sensual dance that became more heated as time went on. Within minutes, it became frenzied. She clawed at his back and kissed him hungrily. Once more, the same feeling built within her as before. This time, she recognized it and kept rising toward him, knowing what would overtake her.
The explosion occurred again and that wonderful heat radiated through her as she clung to him. Landon, too, seemed to experience something similar. He collapsed atop her and quickly rolled to the side to take his weight off her. He kissed her deeply, the kiss filled with promise of what all their tomorrows would be. Cassiana held tight, never wanting this moment to end.
Finally, they pulled apart, each breathless, their eyes roaming as they both studied one another’s face.
“No regrets?” asked Landon.
“None,” she assured him. “None at all.”
She lay in his arms and her eyelids grew as heavy as her limbs. Though she wanted to stay awake and relish the feel of his hard body against hers, his arms holding her close, she lost that battle and tumbled into sleep.
Something awoke her. It was his lips pressed against her brow. She latched on to his forearm.
“Where are you going?”
He chuckled. “I thought I should return to my own bed. If I stay, I might continually wake you throughout the night.”
Cassiana cocked an eyebrow. “You think that would be a bad thing?”
His palm cradled her cheek. “You’re sore. You need to rest.”
“I’d rather engage in love play again,” she told him, running her nails lightly down his chest.
Landon slipped back into the bed and made love to her once more, slow and sweet, worshipping her body. When they came together again, she marveled at how she hadn’t known this existed.
No wonder Nicholas and Katelyn looked at each other the way they did.
Finally, he told her he was leaving for good. “Rest, sweetheart. I will see you in a few hours.”
Landon looked at her exactly as Nicholas looked at his wife. Cassiana smiled.
Life with this man would be good.
Chapter Sixteen
Cassiana woke and stretched lazily. She was a woman now—in every way. One who loved a good man and would soon wed him.
She rose from the bed and then saw the smear of blood on her smock. So this was why Landon had placed it under her. She hadn’t realized she would bleed when he breached her maidenhead. Going to the basin, she took a cloth and cleaned a bit of dried blood still on her thighs. The quick pain had been worth every moment she’d spent in his arms. Cassiana wondered if they might enjoy a repeat performance tonight. She didn’t see why not.
A thought occurred to her and she picked up her small hand mirror. She studied herself from different angles but could see no changes. Now, if she could only stop herself from running through the keep and shouting for joy, no one need know that she’d begun married life a few days early.
Once she was dressed, she opened her door and found Landon waiting in the corridor.
“I thought I might escort you to mass.” His eyes raked over her, causing her cheeks to heat.
“I’d like that.”
They walked to the stone chapel where they would be wed and entered. Landon’s shoulder and upper arm rested against hers as Father Peter entered and began the service. Cassiana fought wicked thoughts throughout mass, all of them involving her future husband and what she wanted to do with him. After mass ended, they returned to the great hall to break their fast. Nicholas and Katelyn joined them on the dais.
“I would love to see some of the keep and beyond today,” Katelyn said. “Not having been raised in the nobility, I’m constantly seeking advice for how other women manage things. I would love to see how your kitchen and bakehouse are organized.”
“I’d be happy to show you around,” Cassiana told her.
The men headed for the training yard after the meal ended and the two women spent an hour touring the keep.
“Would you care to see my herb garden?” Cassiana asked.
“Of course,” Katelyn said with enthusiasm. “And your chickens. I have a fondness for them and goats. I cared for them at the nunnery. They were my only friends.” A brief shadow crossed her face.
She took the noblewoman’s arm. “You h
ave a new friend in me, Katelyn. And a sister. Together, we will keep Landon in line.”
They wandered through the garden and Cassiana pointed out several herbs that grew especially well in the north.
“I also buy some herbs that don’t thrive well in these cold climes when I visit Berwick-upon-Tweed. Being a port city, they import all kinds of goods. Mayhap we can meet up there sometime and shop together in the market.”
“I’d like that,” Katelyn said. “On to the chickens!”
As they walked arm-in-arm, Katelyn said, “You look different today.”
Cassiana stopped in her tracks. “No. I couldn’t,” she insisted. “I viewed myself in the mirror today. No one should be able to tell.”
Katelyn’s slow smile spread. “It’s the way you looked at Landon this morning and how he did the same. Do you love my brother, Cassiana? And have you celebrated your love privately?”
Her face flamed. “Aye,” she confessed. “We did last night. It was Landon’s idea but if I’d known what love play was like? I would have suggested it before then.”
Katelyn laughed. “I’ll ask again. Do you love Landon?”
Cassiana nodded. “I did so even before we came together. I told him and he refused to listen.” She paused. “When I spoke the words of love was when Landon had the courage to tell me of his past. Of his father’s transgressions. He told me he hoped to earn both my love and trust.”
Her friend sighed. “Landon has spent a lifetime trying to make up for our father’s sins. I’m sure he doesn’t believe himself good enough for you.”
“I know he is worthy,” she said passionately. “He’s the best man I have ever known. He told me never to mention love again. That if I felt the same in a year, then I could say the words. I do love him, Katelyn. I wish I could tell him but I must respect his wishes.”
Her future sister-in-law smiled. “Just because you aren’t to speak the words doesn’t mean your actions cannot convey your feelings for him. I promise you, Cassiana, you can let my brother know how much you love him. With every glance. With every gesture. With every touch. He’ll know.”