Page 68 of Saxon Blade Norman Blood
He hesitated, as if loath to tell her the truth. “I hate the idea, but, yes, it might well hurt you the first time. All I can promise is to be as gentle as I can be and do everything I can do to make you comfortable before and after,” he told her, before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. “Go outside, think about it. Come back later if you feel you want to try. I will be here, waiting for you.”
Yes. Perhaps a moment alone would calm her nerves.
After a brief walk around the bailey under a sky full of stars, Rowena wandered to the herb garden. With a smile she picked a sprig of the spiky plant William had introduced to her a week ago.
“Rosemary,” she said to herself before lifting it to her nose.
As the sharp, resiny scent hit her, so did the reality of the situation. What was she doing here all alone when William waswaiting for her in bed! He wanted her, she wanted him, he had promised to be gentle, and she trusted him. She should be in his arms, kissing him senseless.
Throwing the sprig to the ground she ran back to his room.
As she opened the door, her gaze darted to the bed. It was empty. Just as she started to wonder where he might be, his voice reached her from the corner of the room.
“In here.”
Rowena turned—and her mouth dropped open.
He was sitting in a bathtub, smiling at her with such tenderness the floor wavered from under her.
“You can join me if you like.”
His thoughtfulness moved her. How had he guessed that she would be less intimidated if they took their time and shared a bath first? He’d always seemed to know what would bring her comfort. This was just perfect.
“Yes. I will join you.”
“I can close my eyes while you get undressed if you prefer.” Although he kept his voice neutral, his eyes caught fire at the thought of her taking her clothes off in front of him. In that moment Rowena was reminded of the man who had ordered her to bare herself to him.
She allowed a smile to play on her lips. “No. You can watch me if you like. I know you would enjoy it.”
He had already seen her practically naked once and, though she was nervous about the pain of his possession, she had no qualms about him seeing her body. He had been sufficiently generous in his praise of her beauty for her to know he found her to his tastes. Moreover, she remembered how arousing it had been to bare herself to him.
Without the least hesitation, Rowena lifted her dress over her head, then her shift, dropping them both on the floor asnaturally as if she had been on her own. Then she padded to the tub, enjoying the caress of William’s gaze over her naked body. A shiver of anticipation went down her spine, and soon there was not a single place on her skin that was not throbbing with need.
Finally. This was it.
*
Mon Dieu.
William took in the sight of Rowena so innocently displayed in front of him and the strength of his desire wrenched a groan out of him. He was harder than he had ever been, throbbing with need. How was he going to find the control she deserved? She was so beautiful! Her skin was so smooth and creamy calling for his caresses, her hair was cascading down her back in a riot of curls, her customary brazenness was making her eyes sparkle.
He could not believe in a moment he would get to hold this incredible woman in his arms.
Reclining in the tub, he placed his hands on top of his erection, in case she should see something under the water that would frighten her. Virgin or not, it was understandable she should be wary of lovemaking after seeing her mother attacked by two men. Her admission that she was untouched had been a relief. Ever since she’d told him about her mother’s assault he’d worried she was hiding the true extent of what Gilles and Sylvain had done that day. There was little doubt they would have assaulted her too if they’d seen her. Young and beautiful, she would have been an irresistible prey for the two brutes.
But no, they had not touched her. She was still a virgin, and wary of being possessed.
Perhaps she’d had a previous experience with an unscrupulous man. He’d seen for himself men lusted after her, and if someone from her village had been rough with her, pressing his unwelcome advances onto her, he might have givenher a negative image of what men could do to her body. In any case, he did not want to make her any more nervous than she already was, which was why he had asked for the bathtub to be prepared.
To his relief, the blue in her eyes when she came to him was not hazy with anguish, but vibrant with anticipation. She stepped into the tub with confidence. As soon as the warm water hit her toes, she let out a sigh of satisfaction. William remembered how he had admired her feet that day by the river. They were so dainty, so feminine. His fingers already itched to stroke them.
She sat down. The tub was big but not so big that they did not touch. When her calf slid against his wet skin and her toes grazed the inside of his thigh, she moaned. At the sound, William came closer to her. He had never heard anything so enticing as that moan and he intended to make sure to hear it again and again.
“You are so beautiful, Rowena. I know I’ve already told you, but you truly are.” He brushed a strand of hair away from her shoulders. “And never more so now that you are naked and in my arms. I have never seen a woman like you.”
“But you have,” she countered with a slight smile. “Cwenhild looks similar to me. She has blue eyes and ginger hair too.”
He gave a sigh. Even though she was only teasing him, he hated her having to think of the other women he had bedded in that moment. He wished he could erase them from his life and her memory.
