Highland Conqueror (9 page)

After helping her settle Reynard into his blanket sling, Sigimor set her on her horse, then took her hand in his and scowled at it. “A bride should have a ring.”

“It matters not,” she said. “With Harold nipping at our heels such things become of little importance.”

“Ye will have one as soon as we reach Dubheidland.”

He kissed the finger a ring should have been resting on, then strode away to his horse. Jolene inwardly shook her head. She never would have thought Sigimor would be troubled by such a thing, yet it was obvious that he was. And everyone thought women were difficult to understand, she mused as she nudged her mount into a pace to equal Sigimor’s. As they rode, Jolene hoped that she could think of enough complicated problems to fully occupy her mind. If she was very lucky, she would not spend every minute from now until they halted for the day fretting over her wedding night.

Jolene stared at her new husband and tried very hard not to swallow her tongue. They had stopped in a village when the sun had only just begun to set. Sigimor had been very efficient in getting them a room, a bath, and a meal, as well as in enlisting his brother Tait to care for Reynard for the night. They had bathed and eaten their meal, then she had undressed to her shift and climbed into bed. Now Sigimor stood beside the bed prepared to join her beneath the covers and he was completely naked.

She was not sure where to look. There was an awful lot of Sigimor to see. Having never seen a fully naked man before, she did feel curious, but that did little to soothe her nerves. This particular naked man was about to climb into bed with her and consummate their marriage. Jolene dearly wished she knew exactly how that was done. She had the feeling it concerned that rather large protrusion at his groin and she found that thought a little alarming.

He was beautiful though, she admitted as she looked him over while carefully avoiding his groin. All taut, smooth muscle and a well-proportioned body. There was very little hair upon his broad chest. A small feathering of dark red curls there, then a little line of hair starting at his navel and leading down to a thick nest of curls around that protrusion. She quickly looked at his long, well-shaped legs and noted the rather light covering of hair on them. Jolene forced her gaze back to his groin and blushed furiously. It had not seemed quite so intimidating when she had felt it pressed against her as they had embraced, but then they had been fully clothed. Surely men did not walk about with it like that all the time? She was certain she would have noticed it before if they did.

Sigimor sighed even as he felt himself harden even more beneath Jolene’s gaze. He had known she was a virgin and that he would have to move slowly and gently when he bedded her. It was apparant, however, that she was also a highly sheltered virgin. He had the sinking feeling he might even have to explain what was about to happen. That could require a great deal more patience and delicacy than he possessed. The prize was worth it, he told himself firmly as he slipped into bed beside her.

“What is this?” he asked as he began to unlace her shift.

“A shift,” she replied. “Something a woman wears beneath her gown. You claim some worldly experience. Did you ne’er take off—” She was unable to finish for he was pulling her shift over her head.

“A wife doesnae need to wear her shift to bed,” he said as he tossed it aside. “Wives come to their husband’s bed naked.”

“Then why do some women spend coin on night shifts trimmed with lace and ribbons?” she demanded.

“I have ne’er understood that. To let their mon ken they are interested, I suppose. Then, they both get naked.”

Jolene found it all rather astonishing. She was lying in bed, naked, with a very large, naked man and she was trying hard not to giggle. Sigimor was being outrageous and the gleam in his eyes told her he knew it. She refused to encourage him by laughing.

“Lass,” he said quietly, and brushed a kiss over her mouth, “I willnae hurt ye.” He grimaced slightly. “Weel, mayhap a wee bit, but ’tis as nature intended. I can do naught about that. Howbeit, ’tis only the first time. Do ye understand?”

“Not one word.” He looked so dismayed she had to smile. “I am sorry. I think, mayhap, I was kept very, very sheltered. Since I was ne’er close to being wed, no woman was sent to tell me what happens in the marriage bed. I think the best solution may be for you to just set about it. I will follow where you lead.”

“That sounds a fine plan.”

Sigimor wanted to just look at her, to study and savor the sight of her slim body. He wanted to taste that soft, pale skin from her lips to her toes and back up again. There were a lot of things he had dreamed of doing once he got her into his bed, but fulfilling those dreams would have to wait. This time he would have to bow to her innocence, would have to be as mindful of her modesty as he was of the need to stir her passion. He could only hope that he could stir her passion until it was hot enough to make the breaching of her maidenhead of little consequence.

He kissed her and kept on kissing her until she was clinging to him. Sigimor silently thanked God that his little wife was so responsive, that her blood was so quickly heated by his kisses, and he took ruthless advantage of that. Slowly, he began to caress her, giving her another kiss whenever he sensed even a hint of tension in her body. By the time he judged her ready for the next step, he was praying that he could find yet another thing that stirred her passion swiftly and fiercely for he was not sure how long he could play this game.

Jolene threaded her fingers through his thick, soft hair as he kissed his way toward her breasts. She was surprised that such a big man with such strong hands could have as gentle a touch as Sigimor had. There did not seem to be a single part of her body that did not tingle from the stirring warmth of his caresses. A few parts ached and she knew it was because they too craved his touch. When he licked the spot between her breasts as he
stroked them, lightly rubbing his palms over her nipples, Jolene heard herself make a noise that sounded very much like a moan.

“Sigimor,” she murmured, hearing a plea in her voice, but not sure what she was asking for. “Should I ache?”

The feel of her soft skin beneath his hands, the taste of her upon his mouth, and the soft sounds of pleasure she made were pushing Sigimor to the limits of his control. He was not sure he was capable of having a conversation, let alone of answering questions, especially not after discovering that her beautiful breasts were so sensitive. Lifting his hands, he stared at the taut rosy nipples adorning her breasts, and felt a shudder go through him at this further sign that he could stir her passion.

“Aye, ye should ache,” he replied, “as I ache. And I ken for what.”

Jolene’s eyes widened almost painfully as the moist heat of his mouth enclosed the hard tip of her breast. Her whole body arched up, seeking his. The feel of his tongue caressing that aching spot had her clutching at him. When he began to suckle her, she felt every tug of his mouth deep inside her. The gruff words of flattery and encouragement he muttered against her skin as he feasted upon her breasts were nearly incomprehensible to her passion-fogged mind, but they stirred her almost as much as his kisses did. She wriggled with delight as he stroked her belly. She tried to return caress for caress, but somehow he eluded her touch whenever she attempted to move her hands away from his back and arms. There was a fine tremor going through his body and the knowledge that she caused it only heightened her desire.

Then he slid his hand between her legs and her whole body stiffened in shock. “Sigimor?”

“Ah, my wee wife, ’tis permitted. Can ye nay feel how your
belle-chose
welcomes your husband’s touch?”

Sigimor felt her open to him as he caressed her, and he slowly eased a finger inside her. It was almost his undoing. The hot, wet feel of her nearly caused him to spend himself on the sheets like some untried boy. He tightly grasped the fraying ends of his control and kissed her as he plied her with his fingers, seeking to prepare her for him as quickly as possible. He thanked God yet again that his wife was proving to be a very passionate woman.

Praying that he had judged her readiness correctly, Sigimor slowly began to join their bodies. He gritted his teeth as he fought against the painful need to just thrust himself deep inside her. The way she wrapped her lithe body around his was swiftly rending his control. He felt her maidenhead give before him and held himself still, allowing her body to adjust to his intrusion. So consumed was he by the need to restrain himself, it took him a moment to realize that her body had yielded its innocence rather easily, that she had only gasped softly and barely flinched.

“Are we done?” asked Jolene, sincerely hoping there was more for the ache in her body, that strange craving, was still there. “You said it would hurt, but I only felt a small pinch.”

If he had the strength, he would have laughed. “Nay, not done yet. Ye are fortunate, wife. Your body’s gates of innocence werenae locked verra tightly.”

He began to move inside her and Jolene lost all urge and ability to talk. She clung to him, quickly catching his rhythm. Jolene felt all those aches and cravings he had stirred up inside her begin to twist themselves into a tight knot at the place where their
bodies joined. Just as she was about to demand he do something about that, the knot snapped, sending waves of blinding pleasure throughout her body. She was vaguely aware of Sigimor pounding into her a few times, then bellowing out her name as he stiffened, shuddered, and bathed her womb with heat. Blindly she held him close as he slumped against her, his body trembling almost as badly as hers was.

She was still so dazed, she barely flinched when, several minutes later, he rose from her arms and then returned to bathe her nether regions with a cool, damp cloth. When he climbed back into bed and pulled her into his arms, she snuggled up against him. The way he stroked her back made her sigh with sleepy pleasure.

“Consummation was not the ordeal I thought it would be,” she murmured as she felt the need to sleep creep over her.

Sigimor grinned and kissed the top of her head as he felt her body go limp against him. He was pleased beyond words that he had brought her such pleasure at her first bedding, but, not an ordeal? Breaching his little wife had been the most arduous, most exhausting thing he had ever done. It had also provided him with the greatest pleasure he had ever known. As he joined her in sleep’s embrace, he prayed she healed quickly. His wife was soon to discover that he was going to prove to be a very greedy husband indeed.

Jolene woke up alone. She glanced around the bedchamber, but saw no sign of Sigimor. For a brief moment she wondered if she had dreamed the events of the day before, and the night. Then, as the last wisps of sleep’s fog cleared away, she almost smiled at her own foolishness. A faint ache in her body was proof enough that not only was she really married to Sigimor, but she was well and truly his wife.

And, she should have awakened to her new husband’s kisses instead of a cold bed, she thought a little crossly as she slipped out of bed and donned her shift. It was a fleeting annoyance, however. Good sense returned as she stepped behind a battered privacy screen to relieve herself and have a thorough wash. With Harold chasing them down, there was no time for whatever little niceties or coddling a husband might offer his new bride. Allowing her to sleep past dawn was gift enough, especially when she knew how determined Sigimor was to get them all safe behind the walls of Dubheidland.

Picking up her shift, she wrinkled her nose as she caught the faint scent of horse on it, and decided she could not put it back onto her newly washed body. She quickly rinsed it out in the large bowl of water she had used to wash herself, then draped it over a small stool before the fire. Just as she started to pull a clean shift from her bag, she heard the latch on the door move and dived into bed, yanking the sheet up to her neck as Sigimor stepped in carrying a tray of food and drink.

“Ah, now that is what a husband likes to see,” Sigimor said as he shut the door behind him and moved to place the tray on a rough, scarred table near the bed. “It pleases him to find his wife naked and waiting in bed for him.”

A hint of anger stirred to life in Jolene, but was quickly banished. She was learning to look for that certain gleam in his eye when he said such outrageous things. It was certainly there now. She suspected there was a lot of truth behind his words, but she knew he said them to goad her and was waiting to see what she would do.

“Well, this particular naked wife is more interested in that bread and cheese you have brought her,” she said.

“Aye, ’tis best if ye eat something. Ye need your strength.” He set the tray on her lap.

So much for trying to best him at his own game, she mused as she helped herself to some bread, then nearly choked on it as he started to undress. “What are you doing?”

“Getting naked, too.”

She took a deep drink of cider to wash down the bread that seemed to be lodged in her throat as she watched him shed his clothes. “You have no modesty at all, do you?”

“Verra little. Weel, enough so that I dinnae flaunt meself afore the world and its saintly mother. Ye did notice that I dressed ere I left our bedchamber, didnae ye?”

“Very considerate of you. Of course, I suspect the women of the village are disappointed by your restraint.”

It was difficult not to smile when she saw the faint hint of color on his cheeks. Sigimor’s lack of modesty was obviously not due to vanity. He should be vain, she thought as she looked him over, ignoring the blush that burned her cheeks as she did so. Sigimor was a fine figure of a man. Fixing her gaze on his groin as he tossed aside the last of his clothes, she decided even that was not so shocking as it had seemed to be last night. This morning it was just slumped there, resting she supposed. Jolene was just
deciding that nerves must have made her see it as far more imposing than it really was when it began to grow. Her eyes widened as it quickly reasserted itself, returning to the size that had both alarmed her and intrigued her last night.

Sigimor bit back a laugh at the look on her face as he hardened beneath her gaze. “Hold the tray steady, wife.”

Shaking free of her fascination with his body, Jolene grabbed the tray as he climbed into bed. The linen sheet she had so carefully tucked up under her arms was yanked away as Sigimor arranged his share of the bedcovers over his lower body. Jolene was sure he had done this on purpose, but she felt her long hair provided her some measure of covering and fought back her sense of embarrassment. The crooked smile he gave her as he helped himself to some bread and cheese earned him as severe a frown as she could muster. He might not suffer from the pinch of modesty, but she could not easily cast aside the teachings of a lifetime. Jolene suspected many people would be shocked by the fact that she and Sigimor were naked in bed together, even if they were properly married. She began to think it was probably for the best that she had not been given advice by some matron before her wedding.

“When do we leave?” she asked.

“Later. After the noon hour,” he replied. “I sent the lads out to see if they can find where Harold is lurking now.”

Jolene had to smile over the way Sigimor referred to the tall, strong Camerons as
lads
, but then she began to worry about her nephew. “Where is Reynard?”

“With the innkeeper’s bairns and David to keep a watch o’er him, and our backs as weel. David isnae as good at tracking as the others, but he has a fine eye as a guard. Tis oft said he can scent danger on the wind.”

Sigimor rested on his side, propped up on one elbow, and slowly ran his finger down Jolene’s spine. He smiled when she shivered and little bumps appeared upon her soft skin as if she was chilled. Moving to sit behind her, he grasped the hair trailing down her back and draped it over her shoulders. He kissed the back of her neck as he stroked her sides, pausing briefly to test the smallness of her waist. As he spread his kisses over her back and shoulders, savoring the taste of her smooth skin, he slipped his hands beneath her hair and ever so gently kneaded her breasts. Using his fingers and palms, he toyed with her breasts until the tips were hard and pressing against his hands, something that happened with a gratifying swiftness.

Jolene sighed a protest when he released her, then blinked in surprise when he was suddenly in front of her, moving the tray back to the table. “Tis the morning,” she said as he pushed her down onto her back and stripped away the sheet.

“Aye, and I have a fierce craving to see all of ye in the morning light,” he said as he crouched over her.

The heat of embarrassment soon turned to the heat of desire beneath his gaze. She knew she was a small woman, lacking in the full curves men seemed to desire. Yet, the way Sigimor looked at her made her feel sensuous, desirable, even beautiful. She gasped with pleasure when he bent his head and kissed her stomach. As he kissed and licked his way up her body, she caressed his back and shoulders. Her breasts ached for his kisses and she heard herself cry out as he began to feast upon them. One night in his arms had turned her into a shameless wanton, she thought, in dazed amazement.

When he slid his hand between her legs to intimately caress her, Jolene flinched
only briefly, then welcomed his touch. The feelings he stirred within her were both fierce and wondrous. It was also a little alarming for, although he was her husband, she had known him for just a matter of days. Then he slipped his finger inside her and she no longer cared how long she had known him. He made her feel wild and free with his touch, and she was soon arching into his hand, her body silently pleading for the joy it knew he could give her. Jolene realized she wanted their bodies joined again, wanted to feel him inside her, but she could not think of the words to say so.

“Such a responsive wife ye are,” Sigimor said as he teased her mouth with short, nibbling kisses. “So hot, and wet, and inviting.”

“You seem rather slow to answer that invitation,” she said, her voice husky and unsteady. “You toy with me, I think.”

“And myself, but anticipation makes the pleasure keener.”

“I am not sure I could survive
keener
.”

“Neither am I.”

She cried out in delight and a touch of surprise as he abruptly thrust himself inside her. He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes as he held himself very still. Jolene wondered if he, too, was simply savoring how it felt to be one. She wrapped her body tightly around his and he opened his eyes to stare into hers. The passion darkening the brilliant color of his eyes made her desire for him soar.

“Ye were made for this, my Jolene,” he said as he began to move within her. “Ye were made for me. A perfect fit,” he whispered against her lips, then kissed her.

The way his tongue moved inside her mouth matched the way his body moved within hers and it made Jolene crazed with need. She slid her hands down his back and clutched at his taut backside. With the arching of her body and the grip of her hands, she silently urged him to go deeper, to move faster, to do something to ease the ache growing inside her.

Sigimor felt her body convulse around him. The sound of her passion-thickened voice crying out his name, the feel of her heels drumming against the back of his thighs, and the way her tight heat clutched around him sent him tumbling into passion’s abyss but a heartbeat after she did. He collapsed against her, keeping a little to the side so as not to put all of his weight on her.

The passion she gifted him with was astonishing. Despite how much he had desired her and how she had responded to his kisses, he had never expected the pleasure to be so intense or the satisfaction so great. He had certainly never expected her to respond with a passion as fierce as his own. When he had awakened this morning, he had begun to question what they had shared in the night, attributing the intensity of it to her virginity, to his knowing that he was the first man to possess her, and even to the days of waiting for that moment. Now he knew otherwise and his feeling that they were a perfect match grew stronger. Sigimor was just not certain if Jolene recognized the importance of what flared between them. He was going to have to give some serious thought to how he could make her understand the rarity of what they shared and what it meant, he decided as he slipped out of bed to fetch a cloth to bathe them with.

Jolene’s body was so weighted with the lingering warmth from their lovemaking that she barely blinked when he gently washed between her legs. When he climbed back into the bed and pulled her into his arms, she sprawled on top of him. She was not sure it was a good thing that he could recover so much more quickly than she did. Although that
could be because he was so much bigger and stronger than she, and more accustomed to desire, she could not banish the fear that he did not feel the passion as deeply or as completely as she did. When he kissed her and touched her, every part of her responded—heart, mind, and body. She hated to think that only one part of him responded, no matter how much pleasure that particular part gave her.

“I cannot believe we did that in the light of day,” she murmured.

Sigimor grinned. “In the light of day, the dark of night, under a full moon, on the floor, on the table in my great hall, in a chair—oof.” He caught her small fist in his hand and kissed her knuckles. “Ye worry o’er naught. I thank God now that ye didnae ken a thing about what happens betwen a mon and his wife, that ye didnae have some sour woman fill your head with nonsense that would ensure your marriage bed would be as cold and empty as hers probably is.”

“Do you think that is what some of them do? It seems most unkind.”

“And I may be unfair, but when I think of what some lasses are told, I cannae help but think I am more right than wrong.”

“How would you know what they are told?”

“From my sister Ilsa. She got an earful when one of her friends was to be married. The woman instructing her friend felt that Ilsa should hear it all as weel. Said she would ne’er hear such sound advice from her kinsmen. Woman told her that we were all lecherous swine who would tell her lies if we told her anything at all. Weel, Ilsa didnae appreciate the woman calling us that, and she didnae believe we would lie to her about it all.”

Jolene considered that for a moment and nodded. It was difficult for her to imagine what it must have been like for a girl to be raised with, and by what she began to suspect, was a vast horde of men. Yet, having come to know some of these Camerons, she could understand the girl’s sense of insult and her certainty that they would not lie to her.

“So, she came to me and asked about it all,” he concluded.

Lifting her head from his chest, she stared at him in shock. “She asked
you
about such things?”

“Who else would she ask, eh? I have had the raising of her since she was but a wee lass. Nine or ten. Aye, and ere that in many ways as her own mother died and my father’s next wife wasnae much interested in the bairns other women had borne him. Truth tell, my father had poor luck with his wives. Buried four, and, although they were good at breeding, they werenae verra good at mothering.”

“Oh. That is rather sad. Although I recall little of my mother, I cannot say that what memories I do have are particularly bad. She was more concerned with what my father was doing or not doing than with the care of me.”

“Some women believe that is what nursemaids are for, aye?”

Thinking of women she knew and how their children were cared for, Jolene had to agree. “So, what was this advice that so troubled your sister?”

Idly stroking her back and enjoying the way his desire started to flicker to life again, Sigimor replied, “The woman got right what went where, and all, but nay much else. Since she was raised with so many brothers and male cousins, Ilsa wasnae as sheltered as ye were, ye ken. It was all else the woman spoke of that puzzled her.”

Jolene placed her hands on his cheeks and stared at him. “I begin to think you are reluctant to finish this tale.”

“Weel, I am nay sure I want ye to hear these rules. Ye may take them to heart.”

“A bit late for that, I think. Howbeit, you have now roused my curiousity. What else?”

“No getting naked.”

Since her modesty was so deeply set in her heart and mind, Jolene suspected she might have tried to obey that one, but, considering how much she enjoyed being skin to skin with him, she would surely have broken it. “Nay, blush though I do, I rather like being naked with you. Next?”

Sigimor began to relax, his fear that she would begin to think what they shared was wrong fading away. “No touching above or below the waist.” He slid his hand all the way down her back and gently kneaded her backside, liking the way it filled his hands and especially liking the way she wriggled against him when he caressed her there. “It should be verra dark and one should remain beneath the covers. It might be best if she also closes her eyes so that she doesnae risk seeing her husband’s flesh. A few kisses may be allowed, but she must keep her lips sealed as ladies do not allow the common, uncouth practice of using one’s tongue.”