She opened her eyes, aware that it was just before dawn. Something in the stillness told her so, and Miriam savored the peace. Soon enough the household would be rising and the day would start, but this hushed calm . . . and then she realized where she was, and who else lay with her.
Miriam drew in a quick breath, aware of Robert's chest under her cheek, of her arm across his stomach. From his breathing, he seemed to still be sleeping, and she relaxed again, aware of the scent of him, the warmth that radiated from his compact frame.
He was handsome, she thought. The chubby boyishness of years before had melted away, leaving a lean Spaniel-eyed man of compassion and quiet charm. Robert Merivel had tempered out into a rare gem, and added on top of that was her new awareness of him as a man.
She blushed, even as parts of her body tingled in memory of his kiss and anticipation with his nearness. Miriam had debated moving back to her room the night before, but too much was being stored there now, including several extra cloaks and Margaret's smaller dresses, and in any case, she hadn't truly wanted to return there.
It was difficult, this self-evaluation, and yet Miriam knew she could no longer pretend that Robert was anything less to her now than what he was, and that truth had kept her curled in a tight little ball until she'd fallen asleep.
But now . . . now she was free to hold him and let her heart lighten a bit as she snuggled closer, breathing in the familiar scent of his skin. The laces at his neckline had undone, and through the gap she could see his chest, lightly furred and pale, and without thinking, Miriam slipped her hand to lay her palm against his skin, wanting to feel his heartbeat.
It was there, quick and firm as Robert opened his eyes. He shifted his gaze to her, and the very openness of his face left her a little breathless. He'd always had fine eyes, but the expression in them now— full of tenderness and trust—gave her enough courage.
"Yes," Miriam murmured, hoping that would say everything.
He smiled. Slowly, Robert held out his arms to her, and Miriam slipped into them, savoring the warmth that enfolded her as his hug tightened around her form. They lay together a while, not speaking in the semi-darkness.
Gradually though, Miriam leaned up and experimentally pressed her lips against his cheek, which was scratchy. He turned his face and shifted, pulling her up and kissing her fully on the mouth, and the glorious rush of pleasure at that sweet action made her whimper.
She'd known about lovemaking; it was impossible not to at court where every darkened corner or empty room seemed to harbor lovers. Miriam had seen more than enough escapades there to have a fair idea of the process. At the time she'd scorned it as an irreverent and foolish pastime best left to those with no higher goals or common sense.
Yet now, the taste of Robert's mouth left her dizzy, robbed her of any thought other than to press onward. She kept kissing him, indulging herself in his warm sweetness.
"Miriam . . ." he sighed gently. "Dear heart . . ."
"Robert," she replied, propping her head on one arm and studying him. "Since yesterday I have been at a loss, sir, to understand why I feel what I am feeling, and the only answer is your kiss. It has . . . unlocked something in me, and I am left astonished. How can it be so . . ." she trailed off, looking at him imploringly, and he smiled.
"So simple?" Robert finished. "T'is the same for me, although I confess I have harbored tender thoughts of you for some time, Miriam my love. Given my past, however, I was loathe to damage our current convivial life in the pursuit of further intimacies."
Miriam blinked at him. "Tender thoughts?"
"The tenderest," he assured her with a chuckle. "You are beautiful and wise and altogether a woman of rare virtues,
Miriam Maria Isabella Branzaga. Even I, a foolish man possessed of little sense can see that."
"Sense you have in abundance now," Miriam chided him softly, "and I claim no beauty, sir."
"Your dark fine hair, your beguiling eyes," Robert murmured, his tone turning serious, "The honesty of your words and the scent of your skin, Miriam. The you of *you.*"
"I know nothing," Miriam whispered in shy humiliation. "Aside from you, I've not even kissed anyone so fully, Robert. I'm sorry."
He gave her quiet smile. "We all start as innocents, dear heart."
"I don't want innocence anymore," she told him impatiently. "I know it's a virtue, and Father Leo has praised me for it, but that was my old life, in a time when I didn't know how much more there was to the world!" As if to punctuate her words, she slid one leg over his, and her gown slid up, exposing the pale length of her shin all the way to her knee.
Under her, Robert gave a small groan. "Faith, Miriam, I'm at your mercy here, your servant in this and every other aspect love, but promise me that this is what you truly want, and not just an attempt to please me."
Astonished, Miriam glared at him, and felt herself dissolve into giggles at his worried expression. "Oh Robert, I'm no little Margaret, hoping to make you smile. I'm here in your bed, not at all sure of my place, and yet wanting you so very much . . ."
He pulled her across his body and kissed her, and in that kiss, Miriam felt a blaze of heat so bright and strong that it seared away all conscious thought. She found herself clutching him, following him from kiss to kiss in breathless delight.
He held her, and for the first time in her life Miriam felt small, and womanly. Under her, Robert's body was solid. She shifted to find a more comfortable position and let her knees slide around his hips, making him groan again.
"Am I hurting you?" she whispered anxiously.
"No," he replied huskily. "Although my physical patience is being sorely tested at the moment."
Miriam gave a twisted smile, her shyness and self-deprecation evident. "I beg your pardon; this is all new to me Robert. Teach me," Miriam beseeched him in a low voice as she brushed back a curly strand of her hair. "I've seen congress, but my knowledge ends there, and yet all of me . . . desires you."
He wrapped his arms around her and took a deep breath, fighting the twin sensations of panic and joy surging up in his body. The simple trust, the honor of Miriam's request had him keenly aroused now, and eager to indulge her while the cautious part of his heart understood the importance of making this first intimacy as special as possible for her.
It has been a long time since his last coupling; Robert hoped he had enough patience.
"Miriam love, undress me," he requested, amused at her blush.
"Undress you?" came her quaver.
"Please," Robert replied. "My body is yours to examine and any question you wish to ask, you may."
He watched her consider the common sense of this, and then felt reach down and pull the hemline up, dragging it over his form until he could slip his head through the neckline and tug it off. Robert's skin tingled as he lay exposed on the bed, half tangled in blankets but naked all the same.
"Ohhhhh . . . !" Miriam breathed, her face aglow with wonder.
"I assure you, nothing about me merits that sort of wonder," Robert murmured, pleased nonetheless. "My form is plain."
"To you mayhap," Miriam countered with a delighted smile. "I, however, salute your courage in revealing it to me. On your back this way, I cannot help but wonder if you want your belly rubbed, like Tyke!"
Robert laughed, and seized her hand. "Try it and see."
Boldly, Miriam did, running her palm along his stomach, stroking the warm skin and delicate fur that surrounded his small navel. She felt him shiver slightly and knew by instinct that it wasn't from cold, especially when her gaze drifted to the cheerfully bobbing shaft that rose between his thighs. He followed her gaze and gave a slightly embarrassed noise deep in this throat.
"Having no tail to wag, I am left with this impertinent member to salute you in return," he muttered.
Miriam blushed, but didn't turn her gaze away. "It does seem . . . saucy," she ventured. "So rosy. Does it pain you, Robert?"
"At times it vexes me," he confessed, "and has led me astray far more than any other instrument of sin, but for all the fellow's faults, he's given me a fair amount of pleasure too."
"Honestly admitted," Miriam nodded, still pink-cheeked. She hesitantly reached for it, and Robert nodded, willing himself to stay still. He was grateful to retain some degree of control; even so, the soft caress of her palm around his turgid flesh made him moan aloud.
"Oh!" she tried to pull her hand away, but he caught her wrist and spread his hand over hers, guiding her touch around himself.
"L-like this," Robert told her huskily. "Firm but slow."
Miriam followed his instruction, and marveled at how the shaft swelled to greater size under her caresses. It was like some marvelous toy, and she let her fingers explore its length and girth as Robert shuddered.
"No wonder your sex is so enamored of these," she observed. "Like vanity, it puffs up with the slightest encouragement."
"True," Robert grunted, "Miriam, please kiss me."
She leaned over him and did, and suddenly it was the easiest move in the world to stretch out on him again, closer than before, separated by a single layer of linen now. They kissed once more, with deeper urgency, and Miriam wriggled against him, driven by natural instinct.
It felt wonderful, and more than that, it felt right in a way that Miriam couldn't deny anymore. She fell to kissing Robert again, finding delight in the give and take of it now, lips and tongues playing gently. Without having to think about it, Miriam shifted her knees around his hips, straddling Robert, who seemed to like this new position very much, given the way his hands slid around her waist.
She felt achy and breathless and hot.
"Miriam, my love," Robert whispered in a shaky voice, "I will not be able to hold out for very much longer."
"Take me," Miriam urgently demanded. "Please!"
He gazed up at her, and she nodded, never shifting her eyes from his. Robert slid his hands down her hips and gripped her gown, pulling it up. Miriam fumbled, shifting herself to accommodate his efforts, and impatiently shrugged it off over her head. Her skin pressed to his in a kiss of bodies, and the sweet pleasure made her breathing go askew.
Robert flashed a tender smile up at her. "My wild-tressed love. I regret that there may be a moment of pain for this . . . over we go . . ." He rolled, taking her with him, and Miriam found herself under Robert now, look up at him as he held his weight off of her and gazed down at her face. "Will you trust me?"
"Always," came the quiet response. It was true, Miriam knew. From the first moment she'd met Robert Merivel she'd trusted him despite all his foolish and famous follies. He'd learned much, but had started life with that truest of treasures, a good heart and that had never changed.
He blinked, eyes wet, and shifted, stroking one hand boldly down the length of her body, caressing Miriam until she felt his palm brush between her thighs. Shuddering, she parted them, turning her face in embarrassment at her own eagerness. "Ohhhh . . ."
"There is no shame in true passion," Robert murmured, kissing her ear and neck. "You are so beautiful, Miriam Branzaga; so beautiful . . ."
She writhed as Robert's fingers danced within the seam of her sex, sliding with sweet slowness to make her breath hitch even as her hips rocked against him. "I don't . . . I don't understand . . ."
"Shhhh," he murmured, pulling his fingers away to lick them, then returning his hand again. "T'will be easier for me to pass within if you are . . . sated."
Miriam wanted to speak, but his touch began again and her body arched up against Robert's fingers, seeking release. She sighed and clutched him, lost in the sensations building between her thighs. As it grew more intense, making her moan, Robert nuzzled her ear and whispered, "Next time I shall lick you here, Miriam, long and slow . . ."
The image and the stroking fused in her mind, and with a sweet cry, Miriam shuddered, her hips frantically rocking up against Robert's hand as dampness rolled down her thighs. She drew a long breath and slumped against the sheets, stunned and shy now.
Robert ached, but the joy of bringing Miriam to her peak suffused him with pride, and he brushed a curly strand from her cheek before kissing it. "Miriam," he murmured, grinning.
She pressed her palms to her face, hiding it. "If I were to believe the good Fathers, that was wicked, but . . ."
"But?" Robert prompted gently until Miriam let her hands slide off her wry expression.
"But I simply cannot believe it to be so. Oh Robert! T'is a sensation I've only felt before in dreams, and yet if this is the temptation that urges familiarities between the sexes, I can see why his majesty's court is often one large bedroom!" she blurted, making him laugh.
"There you have the truth of it," Robert chuckled. "The singular magic of our anatomies create this unparalleled pleasure, and when combined with the warmer richness of intimate emotion create a unique joy between those who love."
He watched her look down to note his continued tumescence with a hint of concern. "And now . . . ?"
"Only with your permission," Robert reminded her, although matters were becoming exceedingly critical now. The delight of playing with Miriam had brought him close to crisis as it was.
She flung her arms out, nearly hitting his nose, and laughed. "I am ready, Sir Robert!"
He smiled, and shifted himself between her knees, moving her legs apart. "Dear heart, you have no conception of how long I have waited to hear those very words."
After that, matters were quiet and slow. Robert guided himself between her hips, breeching her with gentleness. Miriam gave a gasp, but wrapped her arms and legs around his, urging him on. He was grateful for his years of experience and the modicum of control it gave him, but when she tightened her legs around his waist, Robert Merivel grunted and thrust deeper.
Miriam gasped and kissed his face, her muttered Portuguese exotic and sweet, even though Robert had no idea what she was saying. He was beyond caring closed his eyes and the rising heat of his climax seared through his body in heavy shudders, driving him ever deeper into Miriam.
Robert didn't collapse on top of her; he had enough awareness not to do that, but he managed to sprawl himself in such a way that he stayed joined with Miriam as they both drowsed for long quiet moments, each on the edge of sleep, lost in wonder. At least, he was lost in wonder at the passion of the woman in his bed. A virgin—well, a former virgin—with such natural heat.
"I am . . ." Miriam sighed, "sticky. Sticky, but supremely happy at the moment, sir. It has been said that old dogs do not learn tricks, but I confess that I have much to make up for."
"You are neither old, nor a dog, Miriam my love, and as for the rest of it, there is time for whatever you wish," Robert assured her. In direct counter to this promise, the long low wail of Margaret from the direction of the kitchens made them both sigh and grin at the same time.
Dressing was interrupted by kisses and whispers; Robert helped to sponge down Miriam's thighs before helping her into her gown. "Some blood but not enough to set," he commented lightly. "No more than a trace of your own courses from what I see."
"I do ache," Miriam told him sheepishly, "despite such lovely caresses beforehand, accommodating you was not . . . easy."
"Shh, lest I swell with pride," Robert chided her with a grin. "The cock has crowed; let us face the day."
This jest made Miriam laugh, and she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, where Margaret was chewing hard on a ladle. The child dropped it and ran to her, tugging Miriam's skirts. "M'yam!"
Robert watched as Miriam scooped the girl up, snuggling her close and murmuring words of comfort. The sweet moment—fair head and dark head so close, linked by soft whispers—made him keenly aware of this new turn of his fortunes, and for the first time in ages, he felt a sense of gratitude to the Almighty.