Chapter 19
Private Chambers
After their baths,Ros and Guntar carried the tubs away while Hilde left fresh linen on the rail and a candle burning on the washstand.Mint paste, clean drying cloths, everything in its place.When they were gone it was just Una and Cormac in their chamber.
Cormac moved about the room with ease, bolting the door, setting his sword on the chest, checking the shutters.Una sat on the edge of the bed in her clean shift, her hair loose and damp around her shoulders, drawing the comb through it in slow strokes as she watched him.
He had shaved.The road-worn version of him she had grown accustomed to was gone.
Cormac turned from the window and crossed the room.He sat beside her on the bed and watched her plait her long hair, seemingly hypnotized by the sight of it, his gaze moving over her slowly.When she finished, she turned and moved closer.
Their lips brushed.
"Kiss me, wife," Cormac said.
Una kissed him.
***
HIS HANDS CAME UP TOher face.She gripped the front of his shirt and kissed him with abandon.
He drew back just enough to look at her."Are ye well?"he said."After the road.Truly."
She understood what he was asking."Aye," she said."I am no longer sore."
The relief in his face was real.He kissed her again.
Cormac laid her back against the pillow.His mouth moved to her jaw, her throat, the soft skin below her ear, and she tipped her head back and gave him full access.
His hands found the hem of her shift and she lifted her arms and let him pull it free.
He sat back and studied her.
"Cormac," she whispered.
"Hush," he replied."Just let me look my fill."
Then his head dipped and his mouth closed over her nipple.
Una gasped.Her hand flew to his hair.
Cormac suckled her slowly, drawing her in deep, his tongue working tight circles around the stiffened peak until the heat of it went straight to her belly and she arched into his mouth.He moved to her other breast and did it again, harder this time, pulling at her nipple with his lips until she was moaning his name.
His hand slid down her stomach, past her navel, and found the slick heat between her thighs.
"May I?"he murmured against her breast.
"Please," she whimpered, and meant it.
***
HE STROKED HER SLOWLY, fingers sliding through her wet heat, his thumb finding the small swollen nub and circling it.Her hips lifted off the mattress.Una moaned low in her throat and he pressed his mouth to her neck.
