“Not quite, but I was close when you stopped.”
He stroked a tangle of hair off her face. “Next time I’ll make sure you do. I might be a little less worked up and can last longer.”
“When we do it properly you mean?”
He flushed. “Yes, when we do it properly.”
He hesitated, and she said, “Go on.”
“It will likely hurt you a bit the first time.”He looks uncomfortable, bless him.
“That’s all right. I’m prepared for that.” She smiled to reassure him.
He swallowed. “I hurt Caro the first time. It took her a while to forgive me.”
“Well, you were both young, weren’t you?” She hid the fact that him talking about his wife at a moment such as this made her wince internally.
“Yes, damnably.” He rolled off her and sat up. “I’ll just get rid of these breeches and clean up a bit,” he said, picking his way across the debris-strewn floor. She watched him strip and wash. Then he brought her a cloth to wipe herself, too.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked, returning the cloth to the bowl and waving at the bottle of wine and glasses on the table.
“Yes, please,” she said, sitting up and banking the pillows behind her.
He uncorked the bottle and returned with two glasses. She ran her eyes over all of him, now that he was naked, and liked what she saw. His member was no longer engorged. It would be interesting to see what it looked like in that state. It had certainly felt enormous and hard, pressed against her earlier. It looked much less alarming at the moment. His legs, like his forearms and chest, had hair on them.
He put the glasses down on the bedside table and climbed into bed beside her. Handing her a glass, he raised his in a toast. “To married life, my lady!”
She touched her glass to his and they both took a sip. He laid back against the pillows with a sigh, and she wondered in panic if he was regretting it.
“Why did you do it?” she asked, smoothing the soft cotton sheet with her left hand.
“What?”
“Marry me?”
“I thought I explained that. Lots of reasons.”
“Yes, but I would have thought, considering what happened, you wouldn’t want to marry again. Especially so soon...”
“Sarah told you about Caro, did she?” he said, looking a bit dour.
She nodded.
He shifted on the pillow to face her. “I actually like being married. I’ve been married most of my adult life. I missedhaving someone to hug at night and get miffed at me across the teacups!” he said with a whimsical smile. He looked down, the smile fading. “I loved Caro. I had no idea—” He stopped, swallowing visibly.
She put out a hand to cover his, her heart torn by his obvious distress. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. After a moment he drank his wine and motioned to hers, which was still half full. “Do you want it?”
“Not right now,” she said surrendering it. He took it and set both glasses on the bedside table. Turning back to her, he took her in his arms and pulled her close against his chest.
With his face resting on the top of her head as she buried hers into his slightly scratchy chest, he said softly, “I’ll try to be a good husband to you Annis. I want you to know you can rely on me. I’m the dependable sort by nature. Not especially exciting or romantic, but dependable. I hope that counts for something.”
“It’s everything,” she said softly, blinking back tears and squeezing her arms round him.
“Good,” he said, clearing his throat. “And as for reasons,” he said, lifting her chin up, “the fact that I can’t keep my hands off your delectable body is certainly one. I’ve become a ravenous wolf where you’re concerned, wife!” He gave one of his delicious growls, pushing her back into the pillows and kissing her, the weight of his body coming down on her and his legs tangling with hers.
Annis wrapped her arms round his neck and reveled in his kisses as he showered them over her face and neck and bosom. He made her feel so adored with the way he worshipped her breasts with such lascivious delight and wrapped her up in affection with hugs and kisses. He was both wolf and lamb, going from affectionate playfulness to libidinous desire and back in the blink of an eye.
