Part 17 (1/2)
She wanted to do this, he realized, but she lacked the nerve.
She chatted on. ”She's only had the one, although I think she's talked to quite a few women.”
Taking her hand, he laid it on his chest near his neck, where the bandage did not cover. ”Then Philippa probably knows that men who are in a hurry leave their women wanting.”
Her fingers flexed. ”Wanting what?”
He slid her hand to his far shoulder, so she leaned across him and had only to make minor adjustment to lie on her side and rest her head on his chest. She didn't; she remained stiff and uncomfortably upright, leaning on her other elbow. ”Cuddle with me and I'll show you.”
”Philippa said satisfaction is a myth.” Her elbow skidded along the sheet until her shoulder fit in his armpit and her head hovered above his shoulder. ”Philippa said most of the women just snorted when she asked if they enjoyed it.”
”Then they've not been in my bed, either.” He placed his palm on her ear and gently pushed her down the rest of the way. Her arm against the mattress moved restlessly as she sought a comfortable spot for it, and she kept a discreet distance between the length of their bodies. For now, that satisfied him. Tucking the sheet around her, he said, ”You need not worry, my lady. I will satisfy you.”
Sounding surprised, she said, ”I never doubted that.”
Her flattery, for such he considered it, could go to a man's head. Reaching up, he popped her wimple off and flung it away. ”Lie back down.”
He must have put enough authority into his tone, for she obeyed him. But she hadn't answered his question, and he would ask again later...when she wasn't so skittish. ”Now we just lie here.”
And they did. Her head rested on his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her back and rested his hand against her hip, and at irregular intervals, he'd pat her. At first, she was so stiff she couldn't stiffen further. Then involuntarily she began to relax, and when he moved his hand, she stiffened again. Then when nothing happened, even when he moved his hand, she relaxed and stayed relaxed, but when he started to rub her with a slow and steady pressure, she asked, ”Is this it?”
”For now.” His hand slid down to the base of her spine and he ma.s.saged the muscles there. ”If we do no more tonight, there is always the morrow.”
She started to speak, then no doubt realized that he quoted her, and she settled beside him. But she must have been thinking, wanting to finish this in one efficient event, for on his far shoulder, her fingers curled. As he held his breath, she cupped the joint and pressed it gently, using her palm to stroke the muscles. Slowly she worked her way down his arm, then back up again and across his chest to his neck. There she touched her fingertips lightly to his ear, down his jaw, and along his throat.
His own hand hung suspended above her back. For a novice, she had very good instincts, and it would not do for him to underestimate her intelligence. Nor would it do for him to allow her to take the initiative. In this matter, at least, he was determined to retain control.
He moved enough to s.h.i.+ft the feathers beneath them and she rolled into him.
Her fingers stopped their stroking. He thought she'd stopped breathing. The length of her rested against his side, and while she still wore her full-length s.h.i.+ft, he wore nothing but a bandage.
It was the kind of intimacy she most needed to learn. It was the kind of intimacy that made him forget, just for a moment, that he was dominant.
Then he felt her muscles gather and strain as if she were preparing for some great effort, and she scooted closer. She put her knee over his thigh and moved it up and down a little too briskly. Catching her thigh in his hand, he slowed her down, eased the pressure, made it more of a sensuous dance and less of an activity, and closed his eyes beneath the onslaught of unexpected pleasure.
”Are we going to finish, now?”
Her matter-of-fact voice in his ear rallied him. She might know enough body language to arouse him, but her tone needed work.
Making a special effort to keep his own voice low and seductive, he said, ”We've barely started.”
She took her knee away.
Bit and starts of courage, he diagnosed, followed by fragments of embarra.s.sment and uncertainty.
”You've used some kind of rinse in your hair.” Turning his head, he gathered a handful and sniffed it. ”Kind of flowery.”
”It's probably marjoram and lemon balm and...”
She sounded so prim and informative, he wanted to see her face. Gently, he lifted her head and slid out from underneath it, then rolled onto his side and faced her. The sheet stretched taut between them, forming a tent, and she watched him without expression. If he had succeeded in easing her inevitable apprehension, she cloaked that. She still concealed everything from him, all emotion, and he lost inhibitions in one blast of impatience.
Too good a strategist to let his aggravation show, he allowed himself one brief grin. ”It's delicious.”
Her eyes widened and she moved back an inch. ”You seem distracted tonight.”
So she had spied something in his face that made her wary. ”Why is that?”
”Discussing the scent in my hair when you could be performing other, more pleasurable duties is not something I had supposed would happen. If you're too tired-”
”Why would I be tired?” He scooted down so the top of his head matched her collarbone and the sheet protected his expression from her gaze. ”I've dozed half the day. Why, this could take all night and I'd have no problem.”
She took a big breath. He saw it as her bosom jutted out. Then she said, ”I have to get up in the morning. It's already taken longer than-”
He kissed her breast through the veil of linen.
”-Than I'd planned. If we miss-”
Wetting the cloth with his tongue, he sucked the nipple into his mouth.
”-Ma.s.s.” She took another breath. ”If we miss Ma.s.s, we'll have extra penance and I'll already have more than I-”
”Keep talking.” With his lips moving against the damp material, he encouraged her. ”I can listen.”
”I have only so much time scheduled.”
He rubbed the stubble of his beard on the s.h.i.+ft, and it snagged the weave of the material. It must have scratched her skin, too, but softly, for she jumped and her hands flexed. The urge to have her out of the s.h.i.+ft grew in him, and he reveled in it. Aye, he could prevail without forfeiting pa.s.sion. But he wanted to see Alisoun, just once, forfeit everything to pa.s.sion. It should be easy, for she was so unaware. Gravely, he promised, ”I will do everything in my power to maintain your schedule, but of course you were planning to sleep here with me.”
”I was?”
He kissed lower, finding her navel, skirting the curve of her hip. ”Although it would be amusing to see you leave after you have spent so much time in here. I wager every conversation in the great hall would cease.”
”Everyone who beds in the great hall is asleep!”
”Have you never slept in a great hall?” He lifted the sheet off his head and looked up at her. She shook her head, and he smiled. ”One sleeps lightly, especially when there's intrigue afoot, and when the lady of George's Cross visits her defeated mercenary for a night, that's intrigue of the best kind.”
”They would gossip about me?”
”And me, lady. Have you no thought of my reputation?”
”What will this do to your reputation?”
”Enhance it, I would suppose.” He dropped the sheet and slid his hands around her hips, turning her onto her back. ”So in this battle, I had best provide evidence of expertise for all to see.”
”What do you mean?”
”I will love you so well none will doubt your pleasure.” She jerked the sheet around her neck and he grinned in the dim light beneath it. That maidenly gesture of dismay only trapped him more tightly with her long slender body. Like a starving man before a feast, he intended to savor each nibble and taste.
Pressing the s.h.i.+ft into the indent of her navel, he watched it spring away as she sucked in her stomach. She was wary again, and if he proposed cuddling once more, she would rise from the bed and never return. Nay, he had to get on with it now-show some efficiency, dazzle her with his skill, make her think he was doing as she wished when actually, he was stealing that vaulted authority away from her.