I woke to the soft sound of stones being gently thrown at my window. I must have fallen asleep while waiting for him as his note had asked me to do, the note which he had gotten my lady-in-waiting Sabrina to give to me earlier that evening. My heart had leapt as I read the words on the note, telling me that he would come to meet me later that night so that we could sneak some time together. I lived for the moments that we could spend together, without others around who would require us to stand on propriety, others who required that I fulfil the duties of the daughter of a teryn and he the duties of a squire. I knew that something about tonight was different though, that it was a night that would forever be etched into my memory.
I crept quietly over to the window and saw him, his russet hair glimmering in the moonlight. It was a beautifully clear night, and all of the stars seemed as though they were watching us, encouraging us as they did all forbidden loves, their twinkles seeming as though they were winking to me that all would be well. I signalled to him that I would come down, and turned on my heels, walking towards my door. I opened my door just enough that I might look into the hallway and check that nobody was there, and crept out, then rushing as quickly as I dared through the corridors until I reached the door to the courtyard. I placed both of my hands upon it softly, hung my head and took a deep breath in order to quieten my nerves before opening it. His deep blue eyes lit up as they fell upon mine, and he took both of my hands in his before kissing them chastely, perhaps in case anyone were to see us.
"I'm so glad that you managed to sneak out of the barracks tonight Rory." I said demurely.
"And I, my lady, am pleased that you decided to grace me with your presence on this fine eve." he replied, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Stop teasing me by being so formal." I smiled.
"Fine then, Lilith, where shall we go? To the gardens?" he asked.
"I was thinking we could head towards the stables?" I offered nervously. To my mind, it seemed to be the best location for my intentions, as it was out of the way, and we were far less likely to be accidentally seen if we went there, and I needed more time than we could steal together in the places that we usually frequented. Seeing the perplexed look on his face, I added "Well, we won't have to worry about anyone hearing us talk over there will we?".
"Yes I suppose that might be a good idea..." he answered, looking around nervously. He let go of my hands and brought his left hand to my lower back, guiding me towards the stables. Before we could reach them Roland brought his index finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. He pulled me into the shadows around the corner against the wall, and we waited there. I was just about to ask him why we had stopped when I could hear voices approaching. At first I wasn't sure to whom they belonged, but then my brother Fergus and Iona, an elven servant, came walking along. Fergus had his arm around her waist and she was giggling coyly. They seemed somewhat dishevelled, and she seemed to have some straw in her golden hair, as if they had just spent time in the stables themselves.
"Well well well..." whispered Rory after they had passed, "It seems that there is something in the blood of you Couslands, you don't have any lack of luck with the opposite sex do you?".
"I am definitely lucky to have you." I replied shyly, as he guided me on towards the stables. "Let's keep what we just saw between ourselves though." I added.
"Of course." He nodded.
My mind wandered back to the other couple that we had seen. I was quite surprised that Fergus was sneaking around with Iona when he had his wife Oriana there, and their son Oren. I was glad that Rory had heard them so that we could hide before they had come along though. Fergus may have been sneaking around with a servant, but that was forgivable. On the other hand, he would have been furious if he had seen Rory and I together.
We continued on our way to the stables, and after another quick glance around to make sure that nobody was looking, we crept inside, Rory closing the door behind us. It took a few seconds for my eyes to become accustomed to the darkness as there was little light, so I tread warily along to where I remembered the ladder to be and fumbled around in the dark with my hands to find it. I climbed up the ladder to the loft of the stables with Rory following behind me, to where the straw was kept. Once I reached the top of the ladder I lifted myself up and crawled along to find somewhere comfortable to sit down.
When Rory had pulled himself up alongside me on my right his right hand found my left cheek and turned my face towards him. His lips tentatively found mine, which I parted a little so that our tongues could meet, gently at first, until desire started to awaken inside us and we began to kiss more passionately. He shifted his weight onto me so that I gently came to be laying down on my back with him leaning over me, his hard, muscular chest crushing my breasts. We stayed like that for a while, his hands gently caressing and exploring my body, in ways that nobody had ever touched me before. His right hand trailed from my cheek to my neck, and his lips followed, sending shivers down my spine. His fingers grazed the top of my breasts that were exposed over my corset, and my breathing quickened. I wanted so badly for him to possess all of me, that the words were fighting against my nervousness to come out. As his lips trailed down to the top of my breasts, the desire within me defeated my anxiety, and I had to tell him that I wanted to give myself to him completely.
"...Rory?" I breathed heavily. He slowly lifted his head up from my breasts and I could see the twinkle of his eyes in the darkness.
"...Yes Lilith?" he answered, before proceeding to plant a trail of kisses up my neck until he reached my lips, pulling himself up over me so that my eyes were level with his.
"...I want...I want you to make love to me..." I spluttered out. He looked as though he were considering what he should do for a moment, before whispering to me.
"Are you sure?" His gaze flickered between my eyes, searching my soul to see if this was really what I wanted to do.
"Rory," I breathed, "I have never been so sure of anything in my life." I paused for a moment before continuing. "...I love you...and...I want you to take me...tonight."
His eyes darkened with desire before he answered, "I love you too...If you're sure about this?".
I nodded my head, which was the final encouragement that he needed because he then proceeded to kiss me even more passionately than before, indeed more passionately than he ever had before. An urgency entered his kisses, his strokes and caresses of my soft skin, almost as though his very life depended upon possessing me. His fingers fumbled as he started to unlace my corset, so I helped him, and he pulled my undershirt up over my head. With a sharp intake of breath his hands started exploring every inch of my bare skin. I unfastened his shirt, trying not to let my fingers shake too much, lest I betray my anxiousness, and pulled it off of him, letting my hands explore his muscular torso, letting my hands explore every rise and dip of his perfectly formed muscles. My hands moved south, until I came to touch his manhood through his pants, which caused a small moan to escape his lips. I had never felt it before and it seemed so alien to me, so hard. It almost made me feel powerful to think that this was the effect that the desire that I elicited in him had on his body. It also scared me a little to think of what would be following soon. I pulled his trousers and undergarments down to his knees so that he could kick them off, and there he was, completely naked, hovering above me.
He laid on me again, clawing at me more frantically this time, pulling my skirts and undergarments down, before returning to kissing me. My hands found his manhood again, so smooth and warm and hard, intimidating me with its length. He brought his hand down to my knee, his fingers trailing their way up the inside of my thigh, until his hand came to rest between my legs. His fingers slid over my nub, that little nub that releases the pleasure of a woman, causing me to gasp for air and moan with pleasure. Seeing this reaction in me caused him to slide his fingers over it again and again, and I felt a pleasure building inside me so intense that I yearned for it to be released. More than that, I yearned for the source of my wetness to be filled with his manhood. I wrapped my arms around him, my hands clawing into his shoulders. He gasped as though it was taking all of his self-control not to take me yet.
"Rory, I need you now." I purred.
He kissed me so passionately that I thought my lips might be bruised, but I didn't care. His desire simply fuelled mine even further. I separated my legs and lifted my knees up so that he could lie between them and then I reached down and guided him towards the source of my wetness. We paused for a moment, and I placed my other hand on the back of his head, pulling it down so that his cheek was against mine, so that I didn't have to look into his eyes. I wanted to, but I was too shy to look into his eyes during this. He pushed into me, and I gasped with pain as he broke into me, my hands returning to his shoulders, my nails digging in. He paused before thrusting in and out of me, gently at first, the intensity increasing gradually with each thrust, as his own desperation grew. The pain gradually subsided to be replaced by pleasure, pleasure as his pubic bone rubbed against my nub of pleasure with every thrust. I moaned as the pleasure built within me to all-consuming heights, and my mind was filled with desire for him to the exclusion of all else. One thrust tipped me over the edge, and the pleasure cascaded through me, contraction after contraction sending ripple after ripple of pleasure through my whole body. My sighs and moans and gasps caused him to spend himself inside me a few moments later, as he thrust into me with all of his might.
He collapsed onto me, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my hair. I wrapped my legs around him as if I never wanted to let him go. As his weight shifted on top of me I realised that my thighs were aching. I had held them too tightly against him during our lovemaking, and I guessed that I would have some bruises to remember him by. I was glad that he didn't seem to have noticed how nervous I had been, that I hadn't been able to stop my thighs from shaking during our act of love. We stayed like that until a few minutes later the desire had left his manhood and it retreated from me. He climbed off of me and laid beside me, kissing me as he did so. He gazed at me, pushing some sweat-soaked strands of hair out of my face. It was the most contended look that I had ever seen upon his face, his eyes no longer darkened by the desire that had been satisfied. For the time being at least.
"I love you, Lady Lilith Cousland." He whispered, stroking my cheek.
"And I love you, Ser Roland Gilmore." I replied, before kissing his fingers. Then I got up and started to gather my clothes and get dressed, and he followed suit. I climbed back down the ladder after him when I was sure that my legs could carry me again, Rory offering me his hand to help me down the last few rungs. He took my face in his hands and gave me a final kiss before I headed towards the door, opening it slightly to check that the coast was clear again before I headed back to my room.
As I closed my bedroom door behind me, I leaned back against it and sighed, smiling, thinking about what had just happened. I got changed into my night clothes and examined my thighs, smiling when I saw that they were indeed bruised.
"Looks like I'll actually humour Mother and ride side-saddle as a lady should tomorrow." I whispered, amused with myself. I felt different then, I was different to the girl that I had been before I had left to meet him that night. Now some would say that I was a woman. Perhaps I was a woman, but I was still naive, young and hopeful. I was innocent, and I did not yet know the troubles that being a woman actually held.