Page 261 of Kingdoms of Night

She wanted to see. She wanted to see the places where he was hairy and the places where he was bare. She'd always been a curious plant.

"I won't hurt you,” he said.

She blinked at that. The thought of him, a human, doing her any damage had never entered her mind. Perhaps he didn’t mean physically. Perhaps he meant emotionally. By the way he was regarding her with desire in his eyes, she realized he meant sexually.

Geraint bent his head down toward her. Enid lifted up on her toes, meeting him more than halfway. For the second time tonight, her lips met his. Yes, she definitely liked the salty taste of him.

His tongue was the softest velvet as it brushed hers. The hum of satisfaction that emanated from his chest made her tremble down to her roots. She wanted to discard both their clothes and rub against his heat.

"I've never tasted anything as sweet as you," he murmured against her lips. "I've never seen anything as beautiful..." The rest of his words died on his lips as her hand went to his groin.

"You're bigger than any male I've ever had, including Vidar."

Geraint jerked out of her hand. His nostrils flared as he glared down at her. “I came to understand that that giant oaf didn’t touch you? That he just took your flower?”

Enid blinked at the vehemence in his voice.

"Did he take advantage of you?" Geraint’s hands were on her shoulders. Their grip was tighter, heavier than before when he was asking for her hand in marriage.

"Advantage?” she asked, trying to understand him with a mind full of sexual desire. “We had sex."

Sex with her former lover was the last thing she wanted to think about. Not when she was far too excited about weaving about her new lover. Geraint was tall and sturdy enough for her roots to wrap around and her petals to climb for the brightest rays of sunshine.

The brightness in Geraint’s eyes was not warm. It was lit with fury. "I'll kill him for forcing you."

“Who?”

“Vidar.”

"There was no force," she said. "I don't understand your anger. It was just sex."

"Just sex?” Geraint blinked at her as though she’d sprouted wings and flown like a bird. "You’re not...?"

"Not what?"

"Not a virgin?"

"What's that?"

CHAPTERTEN

The sex fog was taking its slow time clearing from Geraint’s brain. Possibly because it had been so long since he’d had sex. His knees had nearly buckled when Enid’s fingers found the outline of his cock. Even though there were two layers of fabric between them, his hardness came to attention so fast he didn’t think even his sword would have been able to parry its assault. What did catch his attention was Enid’s words.

She said she’d had sex. With Vidar. And, by her account, it sounded consensual.

But he also knew consent was a tricky beast. There were times when one party wanted to say no but couldn’t find the words. Or was too afraid to say the words out loud. Or believed that they didn’t have the right of refusal. Or they naïvely didn’t understand what was happening to them in time to stop it.

Enid stared up at him. Her pink eyelashes fluttered up and down as she blinked. The pale orbs of her eyes looked guileless. Her rosy lips pressed together in confusion.

“Your mother didn’t explain…” Geraint let the sentence dangle.

He had never hadThe Talkwith a woman before. With the squires, he knew what to say. It was largely some variation of practice abstinence or use your own hand. If the need was too great, then they were counseled to find a widow who knew the score or a woman of the night who agreed with compensation.

Geraint was not the type of man to begrudge a woman her pleasure. But he did believe that some women were meant to only be touched by their eventual husbands. If that made him a chauvinist or fascist, then so be it.

“My mother withered and returned to the soil many seasons ago,” Enid said.

And her father had proven himself neglectful and negligent many times over. So, as her husband, Geraint would take on this task. “When a man and a woman... or two individuals of compatible sex organs...when they care for each other... the man inserts his....” He motioned at his still straining erection.

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