Page 32 of The Saxon Lord's Unwanted Bride
He set his troubles aside when he received news that Edwin was returning to Wildstorm. He greatly missed his brother, and needed his counsel regarding Eloise. Though she remained calm in his presence, Harald caught glimpses of emotion in her when she thought he wasn’t looking.
Since she’d bathed him, he noticed her beginning to react to him when he lay with her. She no longer stiffened in fear. Her eyes had begun to show trust when he covered her body with his huge frame. He heard the occasional sigh as he took her, but nothing more. Her lack of reaction cast doubts on his manhood.
One particular night, after she withdrew from him in silence, he could bear it no longer.
“You show no pleasure,” he said.
“My Lord?”
“Did I not please you?”
“I expect no pleasure, my Lord,” she replied, “but I’m content, knowing that I do my duty.”
Duty be damned! Did she mean to insult him?
“You take no pleasure for yourself?” he asked.
Her eyes widened at the question. “I expect none, my Lord. ’Tis a sin for someone—a woman—to take pleasures.”
She held her nightshift against her body. Though he had seen her naked, still she shielded her deformed arm as if she thought it offended him.
“Shall I return to my room now, husband?”
“Yes—go.”
She nodded and slipped away.
Devil’s holy cock—a sin for a woman to take pleasures! What idiocy did the Normans teach their women? If his wife believed it so sinful, why had she entered this marriage already tainted by sin?
Aye, he greatly needed Edwin. Perhaps a scholar could solve the riddle of his wife.
* * *
The following morning,as he crossed the stableyard, a female voice called his name. At first, he ignored it, then a hand touched his arm. He turned and saw Marlin.
“My lord is lost in thought these days,” she said. “Much time has passed since you visited your Marlin.”
He grunted. Undeterred she slipped a hand inside his breeches.
“Does your wife not fulfil your needs? If she’s too small a morsel to satisfy your appetite, let me complete your meal.”
Devil be damned, Marlin knew how to please a man. Her knowing laugh tumbled into his ear as she brushed her lips against his neck.
“Does she give you pleasure as I can?” she purred. “Does the sound of your name on her lips carry across the air in your chamber as the cry of your name onmylips rides the wind of the forest?”
He pushed her away and she let out a laugh.
“Or am I mistaken, my Lord? Mayhap it’s you who cannot giveherpleasure!”
Her laughter died as his hand curled around her throat.
“You try my patience,” he growled.
“I meant no harm, my Lord,” she said. “’Tis a delicate art, satisfying a woman. Her body is a more intricate instrument than a man’s, needing greater skill to master it.”
“The body of a whore is easy enough to conquer,” he replied gruffly, releasing her throat. You sang loudly enough when I was inside you.”
“And what of the body of a lady?”
