Page 79 of Rogue Knight
“You have no idea how much strength it took not to touch you, to wait until you were recovered.”
He slid her shift higher and then removed it altogether. Her naked breasts pressed against his chest. He pulled back so that he could admire them. “Smaller, mayhap, but still lovely.”
“You tease me.”
“I do.” He nuzzled the valley between the rounded mounds, breathing in her smell. It was like coming home. He covered one breast with his palm as his mouth moved to lick the other. Her taste was sweet and made him harden all the more.
They had never been able to linger with the preliminaries but tonight he wanted to go slowly, to savor what he might have to live without for a long time and to make it an experience she would not forget. One she would want to repeat for the rest of her life.
As he kissed her breasts, he slid his hand to her hip, then the top of her thigh. She held his head to her.
He pulled from her grasp to kiss his way down her body, to the flat plain of her belly. She gripped his shoulders writhing beneath him.
“Emma…” It came out as a moan though he had intended it as an endearment.
He kissed his way back up to her mouth and slipped his leg between her thighs, opening her to his touch. He was gentle, not sure how strong she was. But after only a few strokes through her damp, ready flesh, she nudged away his hand. “I can wait no longer.”
Geoff raised above her, positioned himself at her entrance and in one thrust sank deeply into her warm, tight sheath. She wrapped her legs around him and threaded her fingers through his hair as she pulled his head to her, kissing him with abandon.
Her tongue tangled with his as they moved together. She broke the kiss to press her cheek to his, holding tightly on to his shoulders. “Geoffroi,” she whispered, as she clung to him, “oh, Geoffroi.”
He was surrounded by the woman he loved, happily drowning in his passion for her. Their bodies grew slick with sweat as they moved more swiftly.
He felt her muscles constrict with her release. It was all he needed to send him over the precipice. His own release came with a storm-like violence.
Coming back to awareness, he kissed her temple and rolled to the side, bringing her with him. For a time he drifted, content just to hold her.
She tucked her head into his shoulder and laid her hand on his chest.
“Are you all right?” he asked, hoping he had not been too rough.
“Oh, yea. I am,” she said, moving her fingers through the smattering of hair on his chest.
Geoff began to drift toward sleep. The knock on the door below sounded loudly in the quiet of Emma’s bedchamber, startling him from the twilight just before sleep.
He gave out an exasperated sigh. “I had best see who comes before they storm the door and find us like this.”
With great reluctance, he climbed from the bed and donned his braies, leggings, tunic and leather boots.
Running a hand through his tousled hair, he descended the stairs and unlatched the front door. Alain stood next to Mathieu, their cloaks dusted with snow. The Bear’s arm was draped over the squire’s shoulder.
“Remember us?” Alain asked with a grin.
He managed only a droll smile, knowing his hair was likely mussed and his color high. “Aye, how could I forget? What brings you here?” He gestured them inside where he had kept the hearth fire going and shut the door, closing out the bitter winds of winter.
Reaching for a pitcher on the table, he was about to pour them some mead when Mathieu took the pitcher from him. “I can do that, sir.”
Geoff tipped his head to the squire and allowed the squire to serve the knights.
“William asks for you,” said Alain, taking a drink of the honeyed wine Mathieu had poured him. “He would have you attend the crown-wearing ceremony he intends to hold tomorrow as a part of his Christmas celebration.”
“In the ashes of the Minster, no doubt,” observed Geoff, running a hand through his tangled hair, trying to imagine such a ceremony.
“I suppose he must make his show,” Alain replied.
“He sent men to retrieve his crown and king’s robes all the way from Winchester,” said Mathieu, setting down his empty cup.
Geoff’s companions had never questioned his love for the daughter of the rebel leader. They did not question him now. But they would remind him of his duty. The crown-wearing ceremony was yet another demonstration that William was the lawful King of England. Geoff must attend.
