Page 41 of King’s Knight

“Merewyn, do you know what you are saying?”

She turned from him, needing the distance to speak the words she must. The maidservant had lit a candle and Merewyn stared into the flame as she spoke, feeling the heat of his presence behind her. “There has never been another for me, Alex. I had thought with the years passing and you becoming a knight, my feelings for you would change. But they have not.”

Turning to face him, she looked into his seductive gray eyes and spoke with the conviction of one who has finally decided. “Whatever happens after this, no matter where your oath to the king leads you or where I go as a consequence, we will always have this night. I will give myself to only you and I will remember this night forever.”

“Aye, Merewyn,” he said coming closer and putting his hands on her arms, the heat of them robbing her of breath. “You will have your night of love and I vow ’twill not be the last.”

Merewyn was aware he spoke the words, believing them to be true, like those he had spoken to her in the king’s hall when he vowed to stay by her side. He had meant the words to be true, but others had come between them, as they inevitably must. She would not hold it against him. A knight did not question his king. And she would not allow him to falter in his duty. Not for her.

He gently pulled her to him, holding her close. “Merewyn, Merewyn,” he whispered into her hair. “I have long wanted you, wanted this.” His words were soothing but there was passion in his voice. “Now you will be mine.”

She looked up at him. “And you will forever be the hero of my heart.”

He took her face in his hands and lowered his head to kiss her, their lips teasing, tasting, reaching for more. He wanted everything, as he had once told her. Her body seemed to come alive with new sensations. She had experienced his kiss and his body pressed against hers, but never before had she allowed his actions to go where he would lead. Now she did. This man she loved would soon join his body with hers.

His kiss became fevered, insistent, as his tongue mated with hers. She welcomed it, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him closer. This was Alex, she reminded herself, his masculine smell familiar, the feel of him like coming home.

She threaded her fingers through his long ebony hair as his hands glided over her ribs to her hips. He pulled her into his groin against the hard flesh rising beneath his tunic.

“I would see you,” he whispered. To her, it sounded like a question. He wanted her to lead. And so she would.

“Aye, and I would see you, Alex.”

He was the one to remove most of their clothing. She was committed, but shy, and her fingers moved awkwardly as she opened his shirt laces. She had never seen a man fully naked. He quickly undid her laces and pulled her gown over her head, laying it on the chest at the foot of her bed.

His deft movements with her clothing reminded her he was an experienced lover whereas she was unknowing, innocent. She was aware of the couplings between animals, but she had never come close to mating with any man, not even Alex.

“I have been with other women, Merewyn, but none were you. Never think you are one of many. You are not. And there will be no other.”

She wanted to believe him and, for tonight, she would. So she told herself he was hers and always would be.

Their clothes shed, they looked at each other. “I knew you would be lovely,” he said, “but knowing it is you my eyes devour makes it different. You are a treasure I never thought to have.”

“ ’Tis the same for me, Alex,” she said, stealing glances at the hard muscles of his chest and his flat belly. She did not allow her gaze to drop farther.

His knightly pursuits had robbed him of any fat. His arms were thickly muscled; his chest sported a mat of black hair only hinted at when he engaged in sword practice with his tunic open at the neck. She lifted her palm to feel the soft, curly hairs. His muscles flexed beneath her fingers.

He covered her hand. “We must seek our bed for I am anxious to love you.”

She swallowed and lowered her gaze to his manhood. It was large and engorged. ’Twould not be long before they were one. It was what she sought, but still, she feared the joining. “There will be pain?”

“For you?” he asked pulling her into the heat of his warm chest, belly and thighs. Smiling, he said, “Mayhap some, but with your galloping pony, it may be that nature has helped you and there will be only a stretching. And I will see you are ready. I tell you the truth; I have never taken a virgin. ’Twas my intent to take only one.”

He kissed her once again and every nerve in her body seemed to sing. How she loved this man! She would trust him in this.

“Come,” he said. Taking her by the hand, he walked to the bed and pulled back the cover.

She climbed in and lay back on the pillow, fighting the desire to cover herself with her hands. But she did not wrestle long with that desire as he joined her in the bed. He stretched his length beside her and covered her breast with his hand, kissing her, while his palm circled her nipple until it hardened to a bud.

Her woman’s center began to ache and she entwined one of her legs with his.

She held him to her as he kissed her everywhere, on her lips, her breasts, her belly. She held his head to her eager flesh, moaning with pleasure. When his lips trailed down her body and licked the folds of her woman’s flesh, she raised her hips to meet the thrusts of his tongue, feeling a rising tension overtaking her. “Oh, Alex…”

“Not without me,” he said and rose over her, resting his hips between her spread thighs.

His hard manhood nudged against her wet flesh and she opened for him, eager to have him inside her. With a single sharp movement, he granted her wish, filling her, possessing her.

She inhaled sharply. “Ah!” It was not exactly painful, more like an invasion. His hard flesh so filled her she worried he would tear her asunder. She panted out her breath, trying to accept the joining she herself had sought.