Chapter Sixteen: Are Ye Mine?
One aspect of battlethat remained constant was the fire it ignited in the blood, an explosive blaze that men could only quench between the thighs of a woman.
Vengeance makes a man’s sword strike with greater ferocity, and the slain MacDoualls had no chance against the vendetta of the king and his loyal knights.
They returned the next day, their tunics and plaids still stained with the blood of the king’s vengeance on those who executed his brothers, and James didn’t wait for a dismissal from the king. His sole intent was to find Tosia. And their bed. Now.
And after the bloody battle with the MacDoualls, James’s mind and veins burned with vitriol. The soundness of Robert and Shabib’s desire for James to have a calming foundation, something to prevent him from losing the last of his humanity, became truly understandable at the prospect of taking his wife to bed. In sinking into Tosia, he’d reclaim his soul, his humanity.
The kitchen maid, Brigid, pointed to the gardens when James burst into the kitchen, bellowing Tosia’s name.
She was pulling weeds from the pea plants, her hands and skirts encrusted with dirt.
Perfect, we shall be well met, sharing in the dirt of our tasks.
With all the will power he could muster, he gripped her upper arm. She balked, turning to look up at him.
“Ye must come with me now. I have need of ye,” he commanded.
All the color washed from her face, and he cursed his tone.
“As my wife. I need ye as my wife,” he clarified. She dipped her head silently and rose, letting herself be led by him.
He all but ran to their chambers, dragging her with him. Before they were in their quarters, his lips were on hers, slanting and aggressive, his bold hands twining in her hair and crushing against her backside.
“I should wash,” she tried to say as his lips slipped to her jaw. He kicked the door shut behind him.
“Nay, I long to have ye as ye are. I need ye, Tosia. I’ve needed ye since we left.”
His hands were rough, tugging at the neckline of her gown so her breasts popped from the thin fabric, ready for his eager mouth that found a nipple and sucked greedily. Tosia gasped, and James lifted his head, his bleary gaze barely able to focus. The grinding pull of his cock consumed him, like a beast he couldn’t control.
“My apologies, wife, but I canna be gentle this time,” he growled into her neck as he yanked her gown down to her waist, snapping her laces. “This is a driving need, one I canna tame, but know that it comes from a place of love for ye as my wife. I come to ye for this release.”
He wasn’t making sense — his mind couldn’t form the words, and as he spoke, he drove her backwards to the bed, his lips scoring her skin as his hand lifted her skirts.
James rose up over her and loosened his braies, freeing that part of him that drove him mad with need.
“Forgive me this aggression, love. I’ll be gentle with ye next time. Part your legs for me, aye?”
