Fifteen

 

Three times he made love to her that first night, and again in the morning. If he'd thought her passion for machines was bewitching, it was nothing compared to the unrestrained joy on her face as he brought her to the peak of her pleasure. Even in his dreams, he hadn't imagined coupling with her could be this good. And now, he couldn't imagine ever loving another woman the way he loved her.

Watching her climb astride her mare shot a pang of jealousy through his heart. He wished he hadn't bought her the horse, so that she might ride before him again, pressed against his groin as she drove him to distraction. For tonight they would spend the night in a fine inn, where they would share the inn's biggest bed, and he could show her how much better he performed in a bed instead of the cold, hard ground. He'd make sure the room had a good fire, so that he could lay her naked upon the bed, and take his time learning every inch of the lovely body he'd touched in the dark last night.

They made good time, perhaps because he'd set a faster pace in his eagerness to arrive at their destination. It was barely mid-afternoon. Perhaps he could persuade her to retire early...

He glanced back at Molina, just in time to see her almost fall out of her saddle, she was so tired. Lubos raced to her side, ready to catch her as she half-slid, half fell off the horse into his arms.

"Innkeep, your best room!" Lubos shouted.

The innkeeper himself came running out, wide-eyed. He recognised Lubos on sight. "Of course. And for...the woman?"

She was more than just some woman. Molina would one day be his queen. "Your best is for Lady Molina, my bride. We have ridden hard for some weeks now, and I fear it is more than she is accustomed to. A warm fire, water to wash with, a good meal, and plenty of rest is what she needs."

The innkeeper bowed low. "Of course. One of my manservants will take her for you, and the grooms will see to your horses. Your father has sent – "

"No one touches her but me," Lubos growled, surprising himself, but not as much as the innkeeper, whose eyes were now wide as saucers.

"As you wish, Your Highness. But your father sent an urgent missive for you, and I dare not disobey the king, whose messenger said I must give it into your hands the moment I saw you."

"When my bride is safe and warm, I will come down, and see to this missive," Lubos said, already ascending the stairs with Molina in his arms.

He laid her on the bed, then knelt to remove her boots. She had the tiniest feet – how had he not noticed before? He pulled off her stockings, remembering the feel of that fine linen against his back as she wrapped her legs around him.

"Lubos?" Her voice was sleepy and slurred.

He'd kept her up half the night, not letting her sleep at all. And here he was, wanting to interrupt her sleep again with more lovemaking. Lubos cursed himself. He'd have her for the rest of their lives – he could certainly wait an hour or two until she was rested.

"Rest, my lady. We're at an inn. I will make sure no one disturbs you," he said.

She sat up, blinking. "An inn? Is there water I can wash with?"

As if on cue, a maid knocked on the open door and entered, staggering under the weight of two full jugs of water. She was followed by two more girls, each as heavily laden, and a third carrying a wooden tub.

The thought of Molina bathing naked stopped him in his tracks. He should dismiss the maids and offer to help her himself. Then afterwards, perhaps...

"Sir, I was charged to remind you about the letter from the king," one of the maids said, dragging him out of much pleasanter thoughts.

Reluctantly, Lubos nodded. "Duty must come first." He followed the girls down the stairs, leaving Molina alone in her chamber.

His father's missive had been long and suspicious, demanding answers about the various barons Lubos had visited, between lengthy rants about the infractions of each baron, or sometimes even the present baron's ancestors, for Father was a firm believer in bloodlines breeding true to the source. No matter how many times Lubos told him his son was not merely a younger copy of himself.

Sighing, Lubos had called for parchment and ink, and sat down to write the lengthy reply his father required, for it would be some weeks before they arrived in the capital, and Father needed to know his barons were doing their best to recover from the spring floods, as opposed to cheating him of his tithes this year.

Darkness had fallen by the time he was done, and he trudged up the stairs behind a maid bearing their dinner on a tray. She placed it on the table, dropped a curtsey, and left, closing the door behind her.

Molina was asleep, cocooned in the bed like she'd lain in her cloak beside the fire those first few nights, before he'd made his thoughtless offer to share his cloak with her. She'd chosen to unwittingly torture him by accepting.

All those nights, laying beside her and not laying a finger on her, until last night...and now he would share her bed. Dinner could wait, for Lubos could wait no longer. He shucked off his clothes and crawled into bed beside her.

She'd bathed and dressed in a thin shift, so she now smelled faintly of soap and whatever herbs and flowers she kept her linens in. And she was warm, from the combination of the merry blaze and the thick eiderdown that covered her. Almost as warm as she'd been last night...

Lubos reached down, edging up the hem of her shift so that he could stroke her thigh. Her skin was as soft as the silks he'd dress her in, once he got her to the capital. He slid a finger inside her, gasping as he found her as hot and wet as when he'd surrendered to her last night.

She moaned in her sleep. "Mm, Lubos."

He wanted to hear her scream his name again.

He slid a second finger into her, stroking in and out, before pressing his thumb against that tiny little nub that was the centre of her pleasure.

She bucked, moaning louder this time, which only made him stroke harder. Her muscles clenched around his fingers, holding him inside her, as Lubos circled her with his thumb. Her eyes flew open as her back arched up. "Oh my God, Lubos!" she cried out.

He withdrew his drenched fingers, then impulsively stuck them in his mouth, to see if she tasted as sweet as she looked. Ha, she was both sweet and salty, and he wanted more. He spread her legs wide, kissing his way up her thigh before plunging his tongue deep inside her.

God, she tasted good. He slid his fingers inside her again, sucking hard at that little nub of hers until she gasped with delight. Slowly, he took up the same rhythm as before, slower, more sensuously this time, as he relished the taste of her. Then she thrust her hips toward him, much like he'd thrust deep into her last night.

"Lubos, please!" she begged, tangling her fingers in his hair, throwing her legs over his shoulders to give him better access to all of her. "Oh please!"

She came with a scream, her back arching so far off the bed only her head touched it any more.

Before she could come down of her own accord, he seized her around the waist, easing her onto his rock-hard cock. Her heels dug into his back as he drove deep, deeper inside her than he'd ever been before. He filled her completely, his balls resting against her as if clamouring for entry, too. She felt so good, he hoped he wasn't hurting her. He risked a glance at her face.

Her eyes met his. "More," she demanded, clenching down on his cock.

He pressed his thumb against her little nub, hearing her gasp as he slid almost out of her and then right back in, where he belonged. "Be careful what you wish for, my lady," he whispered, keeping his thrusts slow and steady and powerfully deep, until his circling thumb unravelled her once more. He silenced her scream with a kiss, and threw caution to the winds. Slow and steady be damned. He pounded into her, egged on by her breathless commands for more until she clenched around him one more time, crying out his name over and over, and he was undone.

When Lubos managed to open his eyes again, Molina, the most magnificent woman he'd ever met, eased her legs down from his shoulders, to wrap them even more firmly around his waist, holding him deep inside her.

"I am not ready to do that again, my lady. We men do not have the stamina of a lady like you," Lubos apologised.

Molina gave a slight smile. "Perhaps not, but when you are ready, I will be the first to know." And she clenched deliciously around him, making Lubos wish he was ready now.

Some hours later, he awoke to find her sitting astride him, rocking her hips gently as she rubbed against his once more hard cock. Like a dream made real. One who would one day be his wife.

"I want more," she whispered.

Lubos seized her hips, chuckling as she gasped in surprise, and thrust home.