Page 31 of A Husband for Esyllt
“Well.” He was still holding her, which didn’t help her hold on to a sense of composure. “I guess I am a man full of surprises.”
“You certainly are.” A warrior running after two little girls just for the pleasure of hearing them giggle... It was unexpected to say the least.
“I hope to provide you with many more surprises in the weeks to come. It might be that it helps you make peace with this marriage.”
There was no need. She already had made her peace with it. Hearing that Gruffydd had considered her for a bride had only confirmed it.
“I think you should go and get the girls,” she said in a whisper. “Otherwise you could lose them.”
“Oh, I think I already have. They could be halfway to the village by now.” He made a grimace. “I fear it will take me all afternoon to find them.”
“I’m sorry I detained you.”
“I’m not.” His lips quivered. “And it seems to me that I am the one detaining you.” To illustrate his point, his hands tightened around her waist, and he leaned in, his head stopping only inches from her face.
Esyllt bit her lip as realization hit. Here, in the bailey, in full view of everyone, he was going to kiss her.
Finally.
The perfunctory kiss in the church when they’d exchanged vows hardly counted, as did the chaste one given upon his return from England. And the scandalous nibbling at her private parts was an entirely different thing, of course.
She moaned in anticipation, longing to experience a real kiss at last.
Connor almost groaned out loud when Esyllt moaned.
In all his life, the urge to kiss a woman had never crashed over him with such force. It coursed through his whole body, from the top of his skull to the tip of his toes, but he fought it, unsure what Esyllt’s reaction would be if he took her mouthhere, in the bailey, for all to see. Because this kiss would be nothing short of scandalous, he already knew it. Everything within him was burning. Never during the weeks of negotiations, when her name had been one amongst dozens of others, had he imagined that he would be attracted with such force to the wife he was choosing with such detachment.
He wasn’t even sure why she appealed to him so.
She was beautiful, but also confrontational enough to test his temper to the limit. With another woman, that would have been enough to dampen his ardor, but with her, it only exacerbated it. He was attracted to her outside the bedroom as much as he was aroused inside of it. It was an unexpected development. Back in February when he had seen her on that dais, he had congratulated himself on having chosen a bride who stirred his senses with her beauty. He had not suspected he would actually have found a wife who also piqued his interest with her sharp wit and utter lack of fear.
His first union had been neither happy nor unhappy, it had simply been. His wife’s death had struck him hard, but not because he had loved her. He had been struck by the loss but his heart had remained intact. Helen had been a quiet woman who had failed to provoke any emotion in him, and barely enough desire to produce children. Bedding her had been as close to a chore as sleeping with a woman could be, and every discussion he’d had with her had ended with him wishing he could be somewhere else.
In short, she’d been the exact opposite of Esyllt.
His hands tightened around her waist. Despite the odd circumstances of their union, he enjoyed being married to her. Because his first marriage had been so uninspiring, he had not balked at the idea of marrying a stranger. His first wife had not been a life companion. There had been no reason to imagine that his second would be any different. But Esyllt was not justhis wife, she was a woman in her own right, with abilities and a fiery personality. A very desirable woman who set his loins on fire. He liked to have her in his arms every time he could justify holding her, and he was itching to be allowed back into her bed. Although they had never really made love, he felt more of a sensual connection with her than he had with any woman he’d ever bedded. The night he had licked her to orgasm had given him more pleasure than all his encounters with Helen combined. She had just lain passively under him and never once made a noise, though he’d tried his best to see to her pleasure.
Whatever satisfaction he’d gotten as a married man had not been gained in the marital bed but in his daughters’ company. As for his masculine urges, they had been fulfilled in a perfunctory manner with whatever willing woman was at hand. He had not consciously decided to take mistresses, and he was not particularly proud of the fact that he had made the most of the advances he’d received over the years, but it had seemed the only way not to die of boredom and frustration.
Now, everything was different.
With a wife like Esyllt, he would not be bored or frustrated. The urge to take another woman in his arms would not plague him. She would not lie under him rigidly when he bedded her, she would squirm and writhe and moan and beg. She would pleasure him in turn, he was sure of it, and ride him until he couldn’t think straight. God, the mere thought of everything they could do together made him hard. Yes, the little Welsh hellion would be a reckless lover.
He could not forget the way she had arched her back, rubbed herself against him and moaned, how she had been overwhelmed by his touch, by her desire for him, even while fighting it, even when she’d had no idea who he was.
Before she noticed how hard he had become, he drew away.
Waiting until she was ready before taking her to bed was the only satisfactory solution, but he was only human, and holding her close was just too much of a temptation.
As if she’d seen his inner struggle, she took a step back herself.
“It’s so good to have children running around Castell Esgyrn,” she said rather breathlessly. “Siân has always been somewhat quiet, but I can foresee this will soon change. I’m glad.”
Children. Yes, that was an innocuous topic of conversation, one that might help put lewd images out of his mind and allow his body to cool.
“With Jane around, she might not be as quiet,” he agreed. It was good to see his own daughter happy as well. God knew she deserved it.
“All we need now is for Matthew to bring his by-blows here.”
