Page 65 of A Husband for Esyllt
“Nonsense. You are Connor’s only brother. Mark my words, he will not let you out of his sight.”
“You do know that I’m not, though, not really?” Now he sounded racked with doubt. Esyllt could not help but place a light hand over his arm. The vulnerable side to her brother-in-law she was quickly discovering was endearing him to her.
“You are his brother by choice. That is just as significant, if not more, than being his brother by blood. Families come in many different forms. I already love Jane like my own and I’m sure Connor considers Siân as his second daughter. There is room for more than one person in someone’s life and heart, and Connor loves you. Do not doubt it.”
Her words had the desired effect on Matthew. All tension left his body.
“Thank you, my l—Esyllt. If I ever wondered why Connor loved you, I don’t anymore. And may I offer my most heartfelt congratulations?” he said, glancing at her stomach. The move was bold, even if he was her brother-in-law. Most people would never dare allude to anything to do with her body, never mind look directly at it. “I cannot wait to meet my new niece.”
“Or nephew,” she said in a breath.
Matthew gave a slanted smile. “We shall see. I told you, Connor doesn’t seem to be able to father boys.”
“It matters not if he does not. I will be perfectly happy with another girl, and so will he.” Indeed, she couldn’t wait to see her husband holding their baby in his arms.
“Of course. Just make sure you remember what I told you. It will be another girl, and what’s more, she will have green eyes.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Leave us.”
Heart thumping hard in her chest, Esyllt approached the chair Connor was tied to. His eyes were flashing in the candlelight, clear and pale as jade. Her core tightened at the sight. How could any man be so handsome—and hers?
Here they were, back in her bedchamber in Castell Esgyrn, with him tied to a chair, just the way they had been in February when she had ordered him to be brought up to her. So much had happened since then… and the best was yet to come. In less than three months, they would meet their first child.
She couldn’t wait.
“What is the meaning of this, my lady?” Connor asked in a low voice.
“When they are with child, women often get cravings, you know,” she answered, walking up toward him as slowly as she could. The urge to nestle against him was hard to resist. “So far I hadn’t experienced any but...”
“Oh? And what have you found out? A sudden longing for figs steeped in wine? The need to eat peppercorns a handful at a time?”
“No, nothing like that. Fortunately, my cravings can be satisfied more easily, as you’re about to see.”
She smiled. Connor groaned when she approached and started to undo the ties of his undershirt. She was only wearing a thin shift that hid nothing of her new voluptuous shape. Being with child had made her body bloom, a fact that delighted her husband. He’d whispered in her ear many a time that she had never looked more glorious. And she certainly felt it.
“It seems that you are entirely at my mercy,” she said, straightening back up.
“Which is exactly where I want to be.”
The perfect answer. Esyllt melted. Her husband had a way with words, especially in bed, where he indulged his penchant for crude talk. It had not taken her long to try and follow his lead, going as far as discovering she had a talent for it.
She shuffled closer to him. At first, she had been unsure whether she could pull this off but now she cared not. Her body was on fire and, one way or another, she would make this work. In any case, she doubted there was a wrong way to do what she wanted to do. With her hair tumbled over her shoulders, her rounded stomach, her nipples peeking from under the shift, her lips parted in longing, she hoped she presented a picture of such decadence that her husband would not be able to resist her seduction.
If the bulge at the front of his hose was any indication, it was working.
“Shall I free you?” she asked, running her hands over his bound arms. “Are you in pain, my lord?”
“No. And don’t you dare stop what you’re doing,” he answered in a growl. “I’ll be just fine.”
“I’m going to do what I’ve wanted to do for months, ever since before our wedding.”
“Are you? And what is that?” His voice had acquired a distinctive ragged edge, one that frayed her nerve endings.
“I’m going to take my pleasure with you, and ignore your protests, if protests there are. I’m going to show you how much I want you.”
“Dear God. What have I done to deserve such a fate?”
