Tyler, Lynn - For Her Honor [For Her] (Siren Publishing Classic) (27 page)

“Aye,” he agreed huskily. “Connell, the stable lad, is about your size. I will see if he has any breeches.”

She sighed and gave herself over to the feeling of his hands roaming over her body. She jumped when he lightly pinched one stiff nipple and rolled it between his finger and thumb. Her breasts had become particularly sensitive since she had gotten pregnant, and she could swear she could come just from the attention he paid to her nipples alone.

She shuddered when she felt the rasp of his slight beard on her neck when he placed his mouth near her ear. “Jocelyn?” he whispered, the ragged quality of his voice sending shivers down her spine.

“Mmm?” she murmured. She arched her back, pushing her breast more firmly into Robbie’s hand and was rewarded with a firm tug on her aching nipple. His erection was grinding against her back, the telltale trail of wetness from its tip telling her just how affected he was by their closeness.

“Try and stay on your feet, loving,” he ordered, sliding his free hand down her belly and pushing her gown off her hips.

She stepped free of the dress and laughed breathlessly when Robbie kicked it away as if was an offensive item. His hand swept back up her ribs until he was cupping both breasts possessively. Soon he was treating both breasts to the same sweet torture. “Oh,” she breathed, swaying back into him. She clenched her thighs together in an effort to relieve some of the pressure building up at her core but only made it worse.

“It is all right, imp,” he crooned in her ear. Even the sound of his voice, raspy with passion, fired her desire. She groaned as he let his lips wander over her neck and wriggled when he nipped at her flesh. She tugged at his hands uselessly in an effort to end the sweet torture, but he simply chuckled and bent to nibble on her earlobe. His hands continued to cup and massage her breasts, driving her slowly toward the edge of completion.

“Robbie,” she pleaded, shocked to hear the whimper in her words. “I need you inside me!” She pushed her bottom back against him, grinding her lower back into his hard shaft, pleased to hear the groan she managed to rip from his throat.

His caress became more aggressive as he cleared his throat. “Soon, loving. Let me love you,” he whispered against her temple. How could she argue when he said something as sweet as that?

Swallowing her next plea, she turned her head and managed to capture his lips in a deep kiss. She sucked frantically at his tongue as one of her husband’s hands slipped down her ribs to settle at the responsive skin where her hip met her thigh.

Worried she would lose her balance, she reached up and hooked one arm around the back of his neck and hung on for dear life. His fingers dipped into her wet folds and fondled the taut nub of sensation between her thighs, simultaneously tugging firmly on her nipple as he thrust his tongue into her mouth.

Instantly her body jerked in his arms as pleasure shot through her. Her entire awareness was focused on the small ridge of pulsing flesh he was stroking lovingly as he pushed her through her orgasm.

She became aware of a burning sensation in her lungs and realized she was holding her breath. She let it out with a loud cry and jerked as Robbie slid a finger into her throbbing body. He thrust into her aggressively, and she whimpered as she rode his hand to a higher plane of pleasure.

Robbie was panting when she finally came back to herself. Smiling, she turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His big body was trembling as he bent to rest his forehead against hers. His chest was damp with perspiration when she ran her hands down his chest, and she was thrilled to know how much her husband wanted her.

“Take me to bed, husband,” she said. She walked backward, pulling him with her, until the backs of her thighs bumped into the bed.

Robbie seemed beyond words as he lifted her so that she straddled his hips. He tumbled them onto the soft mattress, bearing most of his weight on his own arms. “I do not think I can last very long,” he growled in warning. His erection brushed against her, and they both groaned at the sensation.

She arched her hips to rub against him and tightened her legs around his flanks. She moaned as the very tip of him slid inside her sated body. Instantly her desire flared back to life, burning even hotter than it had before. She knew it wouldn’t take much for her to explode again.

She squirmed against him and felt his entire body stiffen. With a harsh groan, Robbie buried himself in her and began to thrust almost frantically. She dug her heels into his backside, urging him closer, and caught his wordless cry of pleasure in her mouth. He throbbed within her and stiffened briefly, letting her know he was about to climax. The knowledge sent her over the edge one last time. The orgasm was not as strong as the last, which allowed her to savor her husband’s release.

His arms shook as he struggled to keep his weight off her through the enormity of his release. She stoked his damp hair out of his eyes and leaned forward to kiss him softly on the mouth. Nibbling at his lips, she pushed him gently so that he rolled off her, landing on his back.

She curled against him, absorbing his heat, and pulled the bed linens over their nude bodies. She smiled to herself when his arm tightened around her waist, and he anchored her to his side. She lay quietly for a few minutes until a thought flittered through her head. Her husband had asked her to let him love her. Did that mean he returned her feelings of love? Surely he liked her. He certainly desired her. But had he actually come to love her? She gathered her courage around herself, like a protective cloak, and opened her mouth to speak. “Robbie?” she whispered. “Do you love me?”

Her only answer was a soft snore. She rolled her eyes heavenward and settled down against his side, yawning. The babe was certainly making itself known. She couldn’t remember a time when she was so tired. Sleep stole over her as the memory of his plea to let him love her ran through her mind.

* * * *

Jocelyn awoke with a start when her husband sat upright suddenly, sending her rolling onto her back. She sat up, allowing the bed linens to drop into her lap. “What are you about?” she questioned irritably. Before he could open his mouth, she got her answer.

She was surprised that the walls of the keep didn’t shake with the force of the door slamming down the hall. She turned to Robbie in dismay when they heard a man holler something unintelligible, answered by a female shriek. “Satan and his hellhounds better be at the gates,” Robbie grumbled as he swung his feet off the bed.

Jocelyn scrambled from the bed and slipped her abandoned shift over her head before she followed her still-naked husband into the hall. She reached his side just as he began shouting. “What in bloody hell is going on?”

She scanned the hall, trying to make sense of what was happening. The windows bracketed the starry sky, letting her know she and Robbie had been sleeping solidly for a number of hours. A large number of people had rushed upstairs, and from the looks of their unkempt hair, she guessed it was quite late indeed. But what really caught her attention was the couple standing in the hall.

Will was standing, as naked as his older brother, at one end of the hall while Sarah, also wearing a hastily donned shift, stood at the other end of the hall. “Your brother,” she spat at Robbie, “is a dog. He is worse than a dog. He is the flea on the dog! He is just lucky I have not castrated him.”

Robbie grunted irritably and shifted. Jocelyn, anxious to diffuse the situation and to return to the warm nest of her bed, stroked his arm soothingly. “What happened?” she asked Sarah.

The woman looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “He called me Elizabeth,” she said with deadly calm.

“It was just a mistake, Sarah,” Will said warningly.

Sarah’s eyes narrowed dangerously as she turned back to him. Jocelyn was ready to put herself between her brother-in-law and his betrothed. She wasn’t sure what Sarah would do to Will if she got too close to him. She was quite sure she would not be able to do anything for Will if Sarah cut off his testicles.

Robbie’s dark expression reflected his feelings, but he spoke before Jocelyn could stop him. “You woke the entire keep because he called you Elizabeth?” he bellowed.

“While we were making love!” Sarah screeched, pointing at him accusingly. She marched over to the petite blonde who was standing with the rest of the servants at the top of the steps. “Well, you may have him. I want nothing more to do with him.”

Jocelyn caught her arm before she could start down the stairs and urged her into the laird’s chamber. Nodding at Robbie, she closed the door quietly and held her arms open to the distressed woman.

Sarah hesitated for just a moment before collapsing into her embrace. Jocelyn rubbed her back and let the woman sob against her shoulder. “Oh, Jocelyn,” she moaned. “I thought he loved me.”

Jocelyn’s heart wrenched at the woman’s obvious pain. “Do you love him?” she asked.

Sarah nodded and sniffled. “I do not know what to do any longer,” she whispered.

Jocelyn patted her arm and handed her a scrap of linen to mop her face. “Then you should fight for him,” she advised.

Sarah sighed and looked Jocelyn straight in the eye. “I have fought for him long enough,” she responded. “At every turn I have to prove to him that I am the one for him. I am sick of it.”

Jocelyn nodded and gripped Sarah’s hand. “Then make him fight for you.”

Sarah’s expression suddenly brightened. “That would be nice,” she said quietly. “It is about time he proved that he loves me.” Her face quickly blanched. “What if he decides he would rather have Elizabeth over me?”

“Then he does not deserve you,” Jocelyn said sincerely.

When Sarah nodded with new determination, Jocelyn questioned how Sarah would make Will fight for her. Together they came up with a plan to force Will to fight for her or lose her. Sarah would leave the keep, and her betrothed. If Will followed and could prove he truly loved her, then all would be well. If he didn’t, Sarah would know once and for all where his loyalty lay. “Where will you go?” Jocelyn asked quietly.

“My mother was a Dunbar before she married my father,” Sarah answered. “My uncle, her brother, is one of the Dunbar’s best warriors. I will go and stay with him and his family.”

A soft knock on the door interrupted the pair, and Jocelyn called softly. “Enter, my lord husband,” she said, rising to meet him.

Robbie glanced at Sarah with concern and crossed the room to stoke the flames in the fireplace higher. “Are you all right, Sarah?” he asked gently.

“Aye, my laird,” she said.

Robbie cupped her chin and forced her to look him in the face. “Robbie,” he corrected softly. “What should you like me to do?” Sarah blinked and stared at him, apparently shocked into silence. “Will does not deserve you,” he said quietly. “But he loves you.”

Taking pity on the woman, Jocelyn crossed to the pair and laid her hand on his shoulder. “Then William will have to fight for her,” she said. Jocelyn explained the plan they had come up with, such as it was.

Robbie nodded and left to have a messenger dispatched to the Dunbar keep. Jocelyn patted her hand and sent her off to pack her belongings. She wasn’t surprised when the shouting started again. Soon, someone began pounding on her door. Will stormed in without waiting for her permission. “What have you told her?” he raged.

“Nothing that she does not already feel,” Jocelyn answered quietly.

Will paced the room restlessly. “She says she is leaving. She is even packing her belongings!” he roared, striding across the room to grip her shoulders. Suddenly his grip loosened, and he was thrown across the room.

Robbie backed Will up against the wall, placing his forearm across Will’s windpipe and growling threateningly. “Never touch my wife,” he snarled, increasing the pressure on Will’s throat and staring him in the face.

Concerned that he might cause Will permanent damage, she rushed over and placed her hand on bicep. “Robbie,” she murmured, standing on her toes to whisper in his ear. “Let him go.”

“He grabbed you,” Robbie responded. Jocelyn almost smiled at the tone of his voice. He sounded as if he were a little boy who had been caught doing something wrong and was trying to defend his actions.

“I do not want to patch him up once again,” she said cajolingly.

Nodding once, Robbie abruptly released his brother and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “Did he hurt you?” he asked, pushing her away to arm’s length and scanning her from head to toe in an attempt to detect any injuries. “Did he hurt the bairn?”

She shook her head and pressed her cheek to his chest in an effort to comfort him. “Nay, we are fine.” She snaked her arms around his ribs and hugged him tightly.

Robbie dropped a kiss to the top of her head and ordered Will out of the room. “And leave Sarah alone. You really made a mess of things with her. She is a good lass, and you do not deserve her.”

Will glared at him but nodded anyway. It seemed he didn’t want to go up against Robbie’s temper again. He closed the door quietly behind him, leaving Jocelyn and Robbie alone in their chamber.

Robbie swept her off her feet and placed her on the bed. He tenderly stripped off her shift before climbing in next to her.

Every muscle in her body relaxed as he rubbed her back in small, soothing circles. “Sleep, imp,” he said in a low voice.