Chapter XXIII
Nottingham, September 4th, 1194
"I'm glad to learn that things between you and Guy are going well", Rebelle commented, after Violet had finished telling her – even getting into rather intimate details – about her experience in bed with her husband.
Rebelle had come to Nottingham from Chetwood to escort a cart with cider barrels for the castle. This would probably be the last time, because after the wedding, her deputy Harry would take her place, because she would take care of Rivendale, both as the lady of the estate and as the head of the guards. Of course, she had taken the opportunity to come and visit her cousin the baroness.
"And I bet that, when you'll get to the point, you'll wonder why on Earth you waited for so long", the young warrior-girl added with a brazen grin. Violet blushed, but she couldn't blame her cousin, because, if what she had experienced so far was only the premise of the true conjugal joys, she would surely regret the time she had wasted.
"Mayhap you're right", she admitted, then she knitted her brow as a thought stroke her. "Or mayhap not. I still need time, and Guy understands this. If I had sped up things, now I wouldn't be here cursing my lunar cycle forcing me to wait a few days before…" she stopped abruptly, at a loss for words, but she didn't blush again. Come on, she was talking about her lawful husband! Yet, she didn't know how to express those concepts so new to her.
"Before experiencing again the pleasure the man you love and who loves you can give to you", Rebelle completed the sentence for her, for once using a less direct language than usual.
"Guy doesn't love me", Violet protested.
"That's your opinion", the younger woman promptly replied. "What other possible reason would he have to comply with you reticence? Last night he could've taken you without so much of a fuss, and you wouldn't even mind. Instead, he chose to wait a little longer, to give you time to adjust with the idea that you want him as much as he wants you. There can be no other motive."
"'Tis just your supposition! If he loved me, he'd tell me, wouldn't he?"
"Perhaps not, as he might not have realised it yet, or he thinks you don't return his love and therefore he doesn't want to express his feelings. Many men think 'tis a weakness to confess their love to a woman who doesn't reciprocate it."
Violet just shrugged, far from convinced.
When Rebelle got on her horse again, after taking her leave, a thought struck her: Violet hadn't denied her love for Guy. The warrior maiden smiled secretly: she was envisaging for her cousin a future married life as happy as hers…
OOO
In the late afternoon, Guy and Drastan returned from Stafford. Guy dismissed his right-hand man, exhorting him to go to Rivendale, while he would go looking for Violet. He found her in her garden, intent on picking herbs. Bent over a low rosehip shrub as she was plucking its fruits, Violet had her back to Guy, who couldn't help but notice her sensual rear curves, that her position revealed under the skirt. He felt a predictable tension in his breeches, but he mastered himself, because this wasn't the right time nor the right place.
"Violet", he called, quietly as not to scare her. She straightened her back and turned. Seeing him, she smiled.
"Welcome back! How did it go?" she asked immediately, eager to learn the news.
"Fine… certainly better than I expected. Isabella isn't mad at me, or at least, she isn't anymore. She has a good marriage, three healthy children and she's satisfied with her life."
Talking, Guy moved near her. Stopping in front of her, he grasped her hand and lifted it to his chest.
"Thank you for convincing me to go looking for her and then visiting her", he concluded. "I'll be grateful forever."
Violet took half a step forward, placing her other hand on his chest.
"I'm very happy you and Isabella could made up things" she declared. "Did she appreciate the gingerbread?"
"Very. She too thinks 'tis practically identical to our mother's."
"I'm glad to hear this. And did you invite them to come visiting us?"
"Of course I did, and they will come for sure, in a while."
"Wonderful, I can't wait to meet your sister and her family. You must tell me everything, every single detail!"
"I will, definitely", Guy assured her. "But better if I go now and take a bath."
"I can arrange for the servants to bring it to your bedchamber."
"I can take care of it myself, you stay and finish here."
Stooping a little, he brushed her lips with his and left. Smiling cheerfully, Violet went back to the rosehip fruits, then she moved to the verbena leaves and to the hop inflorescences, placing everything in her wicker basket. When she was finished her picking, she carried the herbs to her workroom, where she prepared them for the drying process. When she was finished with her task, it was almost dinnertime. She quickly washed her hands in the basin, using the water from the jug – she had it renewed on a daily basis – and then she headed for her bedchamber in order to change the plain tunic she used for her herbalist's work with something more elegant. Still unaccustomed to the constant presence of servants, she remembered to send for Sally only when she was almost there. The maid came in just minutes later and helped her donning the rich gown in dark red velvet, with golden-thread embroidery in the form of flowers decorating its neckline, and then doing her hair, expertly fixing her dark tresses with long golden pins decorated with garnets of an almost identical shade as the dress.
During dinner, and later in Violet's bedchamber, Guy told his wife the details of his encounter with Isabella, Thornton and their three children, as well as his impressions.
"I'm very happy that you found your sister again", Violet declared, placing her empty goblet on the table. "I don't understand why your brother-in-law treated you so coldly..."
"Mayhap he despises me for having given him Isabella as a wife in exchange of money", Guy hypothesised, sipping at the particularly dry and sparkling green apple cider.
"He'd have no right", Violet commented, furrowing her brow. "Business takes two people, so if he thinks you sold him Isabella, then he purchased her, hence he's as much responsible as you are."
Guy cast her a glance, once more struck by her perspicacity and common sense.
"I've never looked at it this way", he admitted.
"Who stays out of the thing, often has a better overview", Violet pointed out, and he nodded in agreement.
OOO
Three days later, Violet spent the whole afternoon tending her herbal garden. The weather was particularly warm to be the beginning of September, so when she was finished, though she hadn't done a very hard work, she was drenched in sweat, in spite of her summer attire and the straw hat she was wearing.
When she returned to her chamber, it was late afternoon. She ordered the tub to be filled up in the new bathroom, which had been built in the chamber next to hers and finished just a few days earlier. For her greater convenience, a door had been carved in the wall between the two rooms.
Awaiting for the servants to bring the warm water – passing through the outer door opening onto the hallway – Violet washed away the sweat from face and neck using a cloth, dipped into the jug full of water she always kept in her bedchamber. Her moon cycle was over since the day before and therefore nothing prevented her to have a nice lukewarm bath.
Sally handed her the phials of scented oils she had taken from the shelf they were kept, along with sponges and towels. For a change from her usual flower fragrance, this time Violet chose rosemary and sage, the former invigorating, the latter deodorant. Sally helped her taking off her garments and entering the water. The underside and the walls of the bathtub were covered in linen cloths, with a small mat on the bottom for a greater comfort.
"Shall I wash your back, m'lady?" Sally offered, soaking a sponge in the scented water.
"Thank you", Violet accepted, bending forward and hugging her knees to facilitate the maid. Sally passed the sponge on her back several times, vigorously.
Someone knocked at the door.
"Who's it?" Violet asked immediately, preceding Sally.
From behind the wooden panel, a well-known baritone voice reached her. "'Tis me, Guy."
For a moment, Violet thought to tell him he should come back later, but it was perfectly normal that a husband attended his wife's bath – and besides, she reasoned as her heartbeat increased, this wouldn't be the first time he saw her naked.
"I'm taking a bath", she warned him anyway, though he probably knew it already, as he was knocking at the bathroom door and not at her bedchamber. "Come in."
Guy entered.
"Good evening, my lady wife", he said, closing the door behind him. "I hope I'm not bothering you."
"Of course not", Violet answered. Under the heated gaze of those azure eyes, she felt suddenly very hot. "What... do you think of the new bathroom?" she asked hastily, in order to divert his attention from herself. Not that she minded being the focus of her husband's interest, but in the presence of others – in this case Sally – she preferred otherwise.
This was the first time that Guy was seeing the new bathroom and therefore he looked around carefully, though he would much more prefer keeping his eyes on the spectacle of his naked wife in the bathtub. He noticed that the floor was covered in thin tiles of smooth stone and that it slightly sloped towards a small iron grate at the centre of the room: He had no trouble figuring out what its purpose was: this way, if water would spill over the rim of the bathtub, it would flow towards the grate and drain away easily. Across the room, on the outer wall, stood a fireplace, now unlit, which in winter would provide a pleasant heating. Several shelves showed everything one could need for a bath, such as ampoules of scented oil, small baskets with desiccated herbs and flowers, towels, washcloths, sponges.
"Certainly very comfortable", he commented, then an idea came to his mind. "Sally, get a tub for me too. I want to have a bath with my wife."
Now that was an intriguing idea, thought Violet. Seeing her smug face, Guy felt his heart skipping a beat, because it showed that she too was as eager as him to be together in intimacy again.
Sally didn't blink at that – after all, it was customary for husband and wife to take a bath together, even in the same tub if it was big enough – and she quickly placed down the sponge to leave the room and give the needed instructions.
Guy approached Violet, who didn't make a move to cover herself. It was anyway useless, as he had already seen everything of her. The memory coloured her cheeks pink, not out of a sense of modesty, but out of the excitation she felt at the thought that soon they would repeat the experience.
Seeing her blushing, but not taking her eyes off his nor covering herself, Guy guessed what her thoughts might be and felt the usual tension in his groin.
"Do you like the idea of taking a bath with me?" he asked in a low voice, a corner of his mouth curving upwards.
Violet addressed him an impish smirk that stole his breath.
"Oh aye... very much."
Her answer, uttered in a slightly husky voice, sent arrows of desire in his loins. Not only was it apparent that she desired him, but it seemed she was aware of it. Perhaps this evening she would feel ready to become truly his wife... He couldn't be sure, but he hoped it greatly.
Shortly after, a racket at the door announced the arrival of the second bathtub, which two servants were carrying. Four more sturdy men followed them, bringing each two large buckets of water. Though the presence of male servants was common also during a lady's bath, Guy felt jealousy biting his guts because other men could see his wife with no clothes, but the servants knew better and kept their eyes carefully averted.
Sally came in and addressed the baron:
"What scent d'you prefer, my lord?"
"Cedar", Guy answered, as he loved the fresh and citrusy aroma of this essence. In a few minutes, the tub was filled and, as the servants left, Sally added the bathing oil. Guy took off his jacket and placed it on a chair. The maid put the flask quickly away and moved to help him disrobing, but he shook his head.
"I'll do it myself. You can go, we'll call when we're done", he said in a peremptory tone. Sally curtseyed to her master and mistress, and left.
Guy took off his black shirt and turned again to Violet. Catching her watching him with wide eyes, he thought she felt apprehensive and therefore he cast her a tiny reassuring smile. He saw her expression turning voracious and his breath caught in his throat as he realised that Violet wasn't feeling fear, but desire.
Desire for him.
His throat dried. For a vertiginous moment, he considered the option to lift her out of the tub and carry her directly to bed. However, this was precisely the attitude he was making a point not to keep, as not to frighten her. His goal was to make her crave for him making love to her, until she would beg him to take her, so that she would be aware of her desire as to be entirely hers and not a reflection of her husband's or, even worse, a duty she had to perform.
His virility, now completely awakened, pressed painfully inside his tight breeches. He considered tearing off the garment, but perhaps the sight of his nudity in its full masculine glory would disturb her, so he preferred to reassure her first. "You're more desirable than ever, my wife... but I remind you that nothing will happen that you don't want to."
Violet nodded. She was absolutely certain of this, but she was grateful he had made it explicit, showing once more his regard and thoughtfulness.
Guy sat and slipped off his boots, then he stood up again and got rid of his breeches. Tossing them to the chair with the rest of his clothes, he cast a sideway glance at Violet and caught her staring, her face avid and vaguely bewildered, directly at the symbol of his manliness. It jerked in response to her gaze. The desire devouring him dimmed his vision and mind. With an effort, he forced himself to resist and enter his own bathtub instead of jumping into hers. He sat facing Violet and propped his shoulders on the rim, trying to relax.
Uncertain about what she should say, Violet decided to pick up a neutral topic. "How was your day?"
Trying to distract himself from too ardent thoughts, Guy began telling her and she listened attentively. After a while, Violet grasped the sponge still floating in the water and began rubbing herself, first one arm, then the other. The movement attracted Guy's attention, and he couldn't avoid staring at the journey of the sponge to her chest and then lower. One breast peered out from the water, its dark areola surrounding the slightly visible bead of her nipple, and the words died in his throat.
Not hearing his voice anymore – which sound she had come to love – Violet lifted her gaze and saw him staring at her with hungry eyes. A sudden warmth flared up in her belly, alongside a vibration, still new to her, that journeyed down the well of her femaleness.
A primal instinct made her straighten her back, so the other breast emerged. She passed the sponge first around one, then around the other, moving them sensually, Guy's eyes – glued on her – setting her more and more ablaze. Without realising it, she parted her lips and heaved a sigh full of desire.
Hearing it, Guy felt his throat go dry. He swallowed as his blood began roaring in his ears.
"Violet..." he groaned. It was half a warning, half a plea.
"Guy..." she gasped in return, breathless.
Guy could resist no longer. He grabbed the rim of the tub and got to his feet, splashing water everywhere, then he climbed over the edge and in two steps he was next to Violet's tub. He extended his hand to her in a gesture that was more inviting than peremptory. Dropping the sponge, Violet seized it and stood up, the perfumed water streaming down her body. Guy looked all over her, devouring every delicious curve with his eyes, lingering on the dark triangle of curls at the joining of her thighs. His mouth watered as he imagined himself savouring the nectar of her feminine flower, which nobody had ever tasted.
He placed one arm around her shoulders and bent pass the other one behind her knees. Violet held on to his neck as he lifted her out of the tub.
Realising they were both dripping with water, Guy thought it was no good soaking the bed. He placed Violet down on her feet and seized a towel, draping it around his wife and helping her quickly to dry herself, then he did as much for himself with another towel.
Their eyes met again.
The towels fell on the ground simultaneously.
Guy felt as if burning in a fire no other woman had ever set on him. However, he was more determined than ever to restrain the fierce desire shaking him and to make Violet feel not only his passion, but his tenderness too. He cupped her face and closed in on her lips.
"Violet... my blossom..."
His voice was so sweet that Violet felt her knees trembling. She angled her head, moving towards him. Guy didn't make her beg and placed his lips on hers, finding them already parted. With a gasp, he shoved his tongue forward to caress hers. Violet responded with an urgency that set him even more afire and threatened to shatter whatever little control he still had of himself.
Violet looped her arms around Guy's back and pressed herself to him, pressing her breasts to his muscular chest. Against her abdomen, she felt the hardness of that peculiar part of the male body she would have never thought to want inside of her as she wanted it now. She wanted to become Guy's wife in all respects, here and now. Instinctively, she rubbed her pelvis against him and she heard him groan.
Feeling her all over him, Guy burst into flames.
"Violet..." he grumbled. "You don't know what you're doing to me..."
"Nay", she admitted. "As much as I don't know what you're doing to me... Guy, I... I want to be your wife... now!"
Guy's blood rushed to his groin, and at the same time, his heart soared. He enclosed Violet in his arms and drew her close to him.
"And I want to be your husband", he whispered on her lips, before kissing her again, with a fervour that didn't come just from under his belt but from his soul too. She responded with equal fervour.
B reaking off their kiss, Guy lifted her again in his arms and hurried into her chamber, where he placed her down on her bed, on top of the covers. He lay down next to her and cupped her face again to look into her eyes.
"Thank you", he simply said. Violet realised he was thanking her for the gift of herself she was about to concede him, but also for trusting him.
"Nay, thank you", she whispered back. "For your respect, your patience, your understanding..."
"You're the most beautiful and precious thing that ever happened in my life", he declared, in a low and thick voice. "You deserve everything I can give you."
Inclusive his heart, he thought. And she deserved, too, that he told her as much. He drew in his breath to voice the words, but she moved her face to his and kissed him deeply, almost desperately, with an urgency that stole his breath and thoughts. He couldn't but respond with equal ardour.
Violet lifted one leg and placed it over Guy's, drawing him even closer to her. Guy responded surrounding her waist with one arm and returning her hold. They turned on the bed, him on top of her. Violet parted her legs, ready to welcome him, and uttered a sensual lament feeling the tip of Guy's virility brushing her female access. Guy rocked his hips, rubbing himself against her, on the verge of entering her, but he held back at the last moment, recalling his purposes.
"Not this fast, my heart", he whispered to her. He lifted his head to look at her, a naughty smirk curling the corners of his mouth. He saw her returning his gaze looking a little lost, and his smile broadened, filling up with promises. He lowered his head and placed tiny kisses on Violet's neck and throat. Against his lips, he perceived the wild beating if her heart, corresponding to his own. He slid even lower, moving on his arms as he drew a path of small kisses on Violet's chest, and then coming back to the soft mound of one breast to reach its apex. He took the hard bud into his mouth, sucking gently. Hearing Violet's moan, he increased the suction and stimulated the other nipple with his fingertips. She ran her fingers through his hair and moaned louder. Encouraged, he switched his ministrations from one breast to the other, lingering there for a few moments before moving on to his goal and realise the desire that had caught him earlier: tasting Violet's secret essence. The previous time he had gathered it from his fingers, but now he wanted to savour it directly.
He slid down her quivering body, placing more kisses along the way, between her breasts and on her belly, nipping delicately at her warm, herb-scented skin. With feathery fingers, he brushed her bundle of pleasure and Violet gasped. Moving his fingers lower, Guy placed them on her soft petals, already moist with the dew of her desire.
At his sensual touch, Violet whimpered. She felt a gush of heat between her thighs and a tremble shook her. Guy placed his mouth onto her most private spot. At first, he brushed her with his lips, then he began to use his tongue. At the new, explosive sensation, Violet started and uttered a high-pitched cry, breathless. Guy clutched her hips firmly to avoid losing contact and thrust his tongue inside of her, slowly, as to get her used to it. Not content to hear her moans of incredulous pleasure, he spied her reaction. Her head thrown back, her body arched upwards and her hands clutching the bedcover, all these signs confirmed that Violet was happily enjoying his ministrations, with an abandon that thrilled him to the point he forgot his own need. He concentrated on her, fondling her with lips and tongue, alternating between suckling and licking deep inside of her.
Violet was a slave to an irresistible whirlwind of pleasure. Her breathing came faster and faster, her whimpers louder, her tremors more frantic. When she finally reached the peak, a long, piercing moan, almost a sob, escaped her lips as her depths convulsed and shook in completion.
Guy accompanied her through her orgasm, slowing down the rhythm of his ministrations as it proceeded. When her spasms ceased, he caressed her with a few tiny kisses, then he propped on his elbows. He licked his lips, still covered in her nectar, savouring it once more, and looked at her.
Violet lay on the bed, her hair wildly spread around her head, her expression ecstatic, her breath still ragged, her body relaxed in satisfaction. She was the most erotic and together the sweetest vision Guy had ever seen in his entire life, and his heart swelled up.
Perceiving his gaze, Violet cracked her eyes open and returned it. Trying to calm down her breath, she inhaled and spoke. "Guy, this was… indescribable… "
"You are indescribable", he murmured, climbing along her body to lay down again at her side. "If you like this so much, I'll happily do it each time you want to… even on a daily basis", he added, his voice husky.
Violet felt her depths quivering at that enticing prospect.
"Oh, aye", she blurted, then she blushed hard because of her brazenness and looked away from her husband's face. He put his index finger on her cheek to make her looking back at him.
"No modesty between us", he exhorted her. "You're my wife. This means you can express yourself freely, with me. In bed as well as outside the bed. Understood?"
Violet absorbed his words and nodded. Then, her brow furrowed in an almost surly expression.
"But… we still haven't joined", she said in a nearly scolding tone. Guy smiled.
"We'll fix this soon", he promised. "There's no hurry, we have all night."
"You mean you're going to make me skip dinner?" she asked, a naughty sparkle in her eyes. He chuckled.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" he assured her, "'Tis my duty feeding you, so you can keep your strength, especially tonight… We'll call for the servants and dine here in your bedchamber, all right?" he suggested.
She put her arms around his neck and pulled him to her.
"Aye", she accepted. "But on one condition."
"Anything you want", Guy promised, a little surprised by her unexpected request.
"Now you'll let me do to you what you did to me…"
"But…"
"No buts", Violet cut him off, shoving him on his back on the pillows. "You have just told me I can express myself freely, haven't you? And I take immediate advantage of it…"
Guy felt his throat going dry. Violet was pure gold, he realised. He wondered what he could have possibly done to deserve her, he who had stained his soul with so many misdeeds. Then he felt his wife's hands touching him in a most intimate way and his thoughts flied away. He heaved a sigh of pleasure.
"You'll have to teach me", Violet reminded him, fondling his erection that, under her ministrations, turned even more solid.
"You're doing very well", he muttered, closing his eyes to enjoy better her caresses.
"No", she contradicted him. "I told you I want to do to you what you did to me… kissing you in the special way you kissed me."
Guy's eyes shot open.
"Are you… sure you want to do that?" he enquired. His male tower was already quivering at the idea of Violet's lips around it, but she was completely new to the love games and he wasn't sure she knew what she was in for. Of course, he had told her the previous time and Violet hadn't looked disgusted at all, but between words and deeds there's often a great difference.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't ask", she declared in a slightly reproaching tone. "By now, you should know that I never say things I don't think."
She was right, he knew it. But he hadn't dared to hope that this would apply in such a complete way even in the bedchamber.
He nodded.
Violet smiled at him, then she bent down to kiss him. Mirroring what he had done earlier, she brushed his tongue with hers, exploring his mouth in a both sensual and sweet way, no longer shy but with increasing passion. Then, she lowered and kissed his neck and his chest, teasing his nipples with her lips and teeth until he was sighing in excitement. Then she continued her journey down to his flat abdomen, nipping at it. Following the path of dark hair, she reached the nest of curls from which the shaft of his virility rose. She placed her lips on its head with a kiss that surprised him with its firmness, confirming his wife's determination in wanting to give him pleasure this way. He shivered in delight.
Following her husband's directions, Violet parted her lips and pushed her head downwards, encompassing him, and started to suck. Guy groaned. He rolled his eyes backwards before closing them, overwhelmed, as she pleased him in a still inexperienced, but very promising way.
Violet began going up and down his sceptre, closing one hand around it. Guy started fidgeting in the bed, like she had done shortly before. His breath became increasingly laboured and his laments louder as his completion approached. Just moments before the high point, he moaned a warning. "Violet, I'm about to..."
He wasn't sure she would appreciate receiving his seed in her mouth, as he had told her previously, but she held him firmly, undeterred, and a few seconds later Guy was swept away by a pleasure so intense that he was left completely breathless, unable even to cry out. He dug his fingers into the mattress as his whole body shuddered in uncontrollable tremors. Eventually, he fell back onto the covers as the last shivers travelled up and down him, slowly subsiding.
Violet milked every warm drop from him, without any repulsion: this was the liquid from which a new life could start, there was nothing sordid in it. And anyway, it came from Guy, and she was willing to accept anything from him.
When she felt him relaxing, after the tremors that had shaken him, she let go of him. His flavour was a little salty, maybe vaguely bitter, she considered as she lifted her head to look at her husband, abandoned on the bed as she had been earlier. She wanted to ask him how she had done – from the result, the answer was obvious, but she would have liked a confirmation – however the knowledge of her inexperience inhibited her.
Guy heaved a sigh of bliss and opened his eyes. Pleasure still fogged his gaze, but his eyes cleared quickly when they met his wife's, looking at him quizzically.
"My wife, you're pure gold", he murmured, voicing the thoughts that had crossed his mind earlier.
Instead of blushing like she had expected, Violet felt proud of herself.
"Thank you, my husband", she answered. The name was no longer formal, but intimate and exciting.
She rose and ascended Guy's long and muscular body to lay next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
They stayed like this for a while, touching each other softly. Then, little by little, their mutual caresses took a different direction, becoming more sensual, until Guy turned Violet on her back and propped on his elbow, looking at her.
"Now I'm going to marry you properly", he declared huskily. Violet felt a warmth spreading in her belly that she now knew well and returned his gaze, feeling full of expectation.
Guy brushed her cheek and she closed shortly her eyes, appreciating this tender gesture. Then she opened them again.
"Make me your wife", she exhorted him in a low voice.
Guy bent down for a kiss that began tenderly, but became soon heated. Violet surrounded his back with her arms and pulled him close, longing to feel his skin against hers. He kept kissing her, more and more ardently. His hands started wandering on Violet's body, outlining the curves of her breasts, then of her waist and hips, descending along one leg. As she had done earlier, Violet bent it to place it over Guy's leg, and he caressed the rear part of her thigh. He climbed it, reaching the roundness of her derrière, dipping his fingers into it. Surprising her, he lifted her and, turning on his back, he placed her over him, slipping his knees between hers. This way, Violet's warm femininity touched his virility, now again firm and ready for her. Moving his hips, Guy rubbed his hardness against her softness, eliciting sighs of pleasure from her.
Violet felt as if burning, an almost unbearable heat between her thighs, right where Guy was touching her so erotically. It came naturally to her to rock her hips in counterpoint, rubbing herself in turn against him. She felt the tip of his male rod parting her petals, starting to enter inside of her, and she moaned, a slave to a craving she never would have thought she could feel.
Guy felt himself slipping inside of her, but he stopped just at the beginning, wanting to get her used to the sensation of invasion she would certainly feel, but Violet had a mind of her own. Acting on instinct, she lowered her pelvis and made him slid deeper inside of her. Guy groaned. This was so wonderful! But she has too inexperienced to lead the love dance, as she would have to do in this position. Therefore, he clutched her hips and stopped her. "Wait, my love..."
Turning her on her back, he slipped out of her, and she uttered a disappointed sound.
"Don't worry... I'm not leaving you", he reassured her, positioning himself again. He rotated his pelvis until he found the right angle, then he moved, slowly sinking into her welcoming warmth.
Violet felt Guy's flesh filling her and held her breath, the sensation she was feeling overwhelming her, not only her body but her soul too. It was as if she had been incomplete so far, and now she was finally whole. She parted her lips and breathed a soft moan.
Noticing Violet was holding her breath, Guy stopped, fearing he was hurting her, but right after, she let out a lament clearly expressing pleasure. Reassured, he thrust further, until he was completely buried inside of her.
He froze for a few moments, giving time to her body to adjust to his. Then he started moving, carefully still, trying to understand which way was the best to give her pleasure.
Violet remained motionless for some time, savouring the sensation of Guy's movements within her, then, again driven by instinct, she began rocking her hips in counterpoint to her husband's, like she had done when she was straddling him. This way she increased the width of their movement and the pleasure coming from it. A stupefied moan escaped her lips.
The sound set Guy afire, and he increased the speed of his thrusts. Realising he was being too hasty, he tried to slow down, but Violet uttered a dissatisfied sound that induced him to keep the new rhythm. He focussed on restraining the tide of pleasure already rising inside of him, determined to guide Violet to the top before letting himself go.
Violet felt as if wrapped into a cocoon of blissful sensations, so strong, she was having a hard time to believe that what was happening to her was real. A spasm crossed her depths, then another, heralding the pleasure that was coming. The sensation increased, as well as the speed of the contractions, and a few moments later, Violet was hurled into the whirlpool of completion, so intense that her vision dimmed and her mind clouded. A wild scream escaped her throat, and a moment later, an equal scream, but of a much lower tonality, echoed into her ears: Guy. Her husband had joined her immediately into the most exquisite of conjugal joys.
For long moments, both felt as if floating in another world, made of pure delight and complete fulfilment. Then, slowly, they became aware again of themselves and of the surroundings.
Guy had pressed his face into the pillow, next to Violet's. Now he lifted his head to look at her. He met her bright gaze at once and smiled at her, more with his eyes than with his lips.
"'Twas wonderful", Violet whispered. "Much more than I had expected..."
Guy's smile broadened.
"Glad to have exceeded your expectations", he commented, then the logic conclusion of Violet's statement struck him. He arched an eyebrow. "You mean... you pictured this moment?"
Violet hesitated, suddenly slightly embarrassed, but then she recalled Guy's invitation to always be herself, with him.
"Aye", she confessed therefore, sincerely. "And I did it often. With fear at the beginning, as you know... then, with curiosity, and then again, with... desire."
Guy felt flattered. He had guessed she had been eager to get to this point, but hearing her admit it was something different.
He brushed her lips with a kiss.
"I'm even happier I was able to fulfil your desire", he murmured. "'Twas worth waiting for it... Every waiting day, every waiting hour has been worth it."
They exchanged a few kisses, with the tenderness of fulfilment. Then, suddenly, Violet remembered something he had said. Her heart leaped in her chest and began thumping hard.
"What... what did you call me, earlier?" she asked, almost stuttering. He wrinkled his brow in the effort to recall it.
"When?" he asked.
"Before turning me on my back… saying you were not going to leave me..."
Guy tried to collect his thoughts, but it was difficult to remember something in the fog of passion that had shrouded his mind.
"I don't..." he began, then all of a sudden he recalled it and he snapped shut his mouth.
He had called her my love.
He could pretend he didn't remember it, he thought. Or he could tell her that it was only an expression, and that men often say they love a woman when in bed with her, without meaning it seriously. However, Violet was his wife, not any woman. And he had already told her she was pure gold. For both these reasons, she deserved the truth from him. She deserved it always.
"My love", he therefore answered, looking into her eyes. "And I mean it, because I love you."
Violet blinked a couple of times as the meaning of Guy's admission sank into her mind.
Guy loved her?
She felt tears of joy welling up in her eyes.
Guy loved her.
She cupped his cheeks.
"Guy of Gisborne, Baron of Nottingham, husband mine... I love you too."
Guy's lips curled slightly, but his eyes brightened into the sunniest of smiles.
"Violet, blossom..." he whispered, before kissing her fervently.
After a long exchange of kisses, Violet asked him. "When did you realise you loved me?"
"Drastan realised it before I did", Guy admitted, chuckling. "The very day after our wedding, when I told him I didn't force you into consummation", he cast her a glance, suddenly worried about his indiscretion. "I hope you don't mind too much, if I told him such a private matter..."
Violet shook her head. "Drastan is your best friend, and he's my friend too. And anyway, I told Rebelle. And she realised I desired you from the first wedding night, but I didn't know it because... I had never learnt what desire was."
The reference to her past, horrible marital experience made Guy wish once more that he could throttle Roganton.
He chased away the annoying thought of Violet's first husband and focussed back on her.
"And now that you know what desire is, 'tis my understanding that you like it..." he provoked her with an allusive grin.
Violet refused to take the hint.
"Very", she replied, mirroring his smirk. Guy felt a hot shiver going through him, because he had just had confirmation that a delicious – to say the least – married life was awaiting him...