"I like it very much."
He signed, "We have been several days on the move and riding our ponies as fast and as far as they can travel without overly tiring them. Except for today in the water, there has not been time to love one another as a man and his woman should. In truth, had there not been so much of a threat to us, I would have made love to you before today. Then, perhaps you might not feel shy with me."
"I do not feel this way. I am not nervous with you."
Looking down at her, he merely smiled. "If I turn you onto your stomach, I could rub your back. Do you think you might like this?"
She moaned. "I believe I would like it very much."
"Then, let us do it. Will you help me remove your clothing?" he signed. "If I am to massage you, you should be naked."
She gasped, and he grinned down at her. She returned his smile, although she looked away from him quickly.
"But," he continued in sign, "your clothing frustrates me. I don't understand how you get into your dresses or how you get out of them. Can you help me?"
"Of course," she responded, although she still found it difficult to look him in the eye without remembering their passion from this afternoon. However, she came up onto her knees and removed her dress at once, leaving her body still clothed in a knee-length chemise, a demi corset and petticoats; then, she removed these, also. But, she was still feeling timid with him and placed her arms over her breasts when she said, "Well, here I am at last, sitting naked before you, while you, my husband, are still fully dressed, even though you have promised me that you will stand before me naked once we have married."
With no more said, he arose and threw off his clothing in a haphazard fashion, adding his clothing on top of hers. At last he stood before her in no more than a breechcloth.
"My husband, you are still dressed."
The breechcloth came off in a fraction of a second and was added to the pile of clothing, and Laylah was nothing if not properly respectful of the evidence of his manhood. He was that beautiful...and rather large.
She sighed, then signed, "I know a little about the love to be shared between a man and a woman and how it is done, but I don't have any idea what to expect. I am hoping you will take a moment to enlighten me."
He signed, "I intend to dedicate my life to doing this."
"Is it so complex, then?"
He laughed a little before signing, "Not complex. But, a man and a woman should come to know what pleases each other, and sometimes this might take a little time and effort. Come, let us love one another, then we can have a meal, and afterward we will do it again. Right now I would like nothing more than to massage you, and perhaps, if I am lucky, to create a desire within you for loving me tonight. Turn onto your stomach."
She nodded and turned over at once.
He touched her everywhere, from the top of her shoulders, down to her buttocks, then lower to her thighs, calves and feet. And, everywhere he stroked, he also kissed. Gradually, a burning passion filled her being. While she was still lying on her stomach, he parted her legs slightly, his fingers finding her erotic core. Oh, my! Pure pleasure raced through her.
Laylah was well informed of the facts of life; what she hadn't known was the obsession to be so close to him. And, now she knew why: making love was not purely physical, though of course that was part of it. No, a man and wife's lovemaking was more. It was being one with him in spirit; it was loving him so much, she almost burst with it. Perhaps this was why it was so pleasurable. By the act of love, they were becoming closer and closer and closer.
The power of such a spiritual and sexual appeal, she had not expected. Kisses, yes, she understood wishing for his kisses. But, to hunger for him, to yearn to be closer to him than was physically possible, none of this had been known to her.
"Eagle Heart," she whispered, "why do I want to do nothing more than make love to you? Why am I wishing for you to be a part of me, always?"
He groaned, even while his fingers found her most sensitive core, causing her to feel as if she might burst with the same kind of pleasure she had experienced both on the trail and today in the water. It was as though he were creating magic there at her core.
Perhaps it was magic, for, all at once, that ultimate gratification, so familiar to her now, surged within her, sweeping through her entire system. Again, she couldn't control the urge to move, and she twisted her hips against his touch.
"Oh, my," she whispered. "Not only are you the man of my heart, you are also the man who stirs my very soul."
"Áa," he murmured softly. "It same...I feel. Hope you...not just... sweet-talk...me."
"My husband, I am not trying to flatter you. I am simply telling you I love you more than my language permits, for there are no words to describe how I feel. I want to do this again, and I want you to experience this, too. Can we do this again tonight?"
He laughed and turned her over so she was lying before him face up, and, without pausing overly long, he said in sign, "It is in my thoughts that we should do this a great deal more than once tonight. Perhaps we might love each other every morning and every evening... or as many chances as we get. We should love often. But, perhaps you should know this: we are not quite finished with what we have started here...now."
"Of course. I am sorry I am talking instead of urging you to make love to me."
He simply grinned at her and said in English, "No need...urging. I...already there. But, I...lie with you. Let you...feel my...body...against you." Then, in sign, he continued, "Do not be afraid of seeing me ready to love you, for I am bursting with the need of you. It will hurt you the first time, I fear. But, if we do this often, it should hurt you no longer. Your body is meant for this."
"I know. I thank you for your warning, but you do not frighten me," she signed. She squirmed under him and became aware that, for her, there was nothing so potent as this man. If this were what love was about, perhaps she and Eagle Heart might have many children, for she desired to have this man close to her and in her arms as often as possible and making love to her every hour of every day. She smiled up at him and said, "I think I am ready for you to love me."
