Medieval 6 - Lord of a Thousand Nights by Madeline Hunter

Author:Madeline Hunter
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780307565952
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2002-12-05T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter FIFTEEN

Lips on her cheek nudged Reyna to consciousness. “We must rise, wife. Morvan will be leaving soon.” Wife. Her lids fluttered open. She responded to his kiss a little feebly, feeling awkward at finding herself in his arms. She sought some casual remark that would hide her disconcerting shyness. What did one say to a man with whom one had done such things?

He threw off the sheet and swung to his feet. His glance fell to the bedclothes. “Are there clean ones here? We should remove these.”

She saw the bloodstains. He was right, they would not want the servants seeing that. She pulled on her shift and fetched new linens from a chest. She tucked them around the mattress while Ian washed and dressed.

Performing these routine tasks together possessed an intimacy almost as heady as their lovemaking. It emphasized the reality that her life had changed forever in ways yet to be learned, and that this man dominating the chamber now owned her.

She wasn't sorry when Ian left to send a servant to her. She had the woman heat some water and comb out her hair, but made her leave before she scrubbed off the evidence of her virginity.

Wife. Not darling or love or some other endearment, but then, she hadn't expected any. She understood his reasons for making and keeping this marriage. He had made that clear in the garden, and then again last night when she asked him. He wanted the convenience of a woman whom he desired when he craved pleasure, and eventually children.

It was what most men sought, and she should be grateful that he had wanted her enough to go through with it. Ian had saved her from Duncan and Aymer, and would protect her from injustice in Robert's death. She had learned last night that what he expected in return would hardly be onerous to give. And yet she felt sad while she washed herself, as if their lovemaking had exposed a hidden corner of her heart that ached for something it knew she would never have.

She arrived in the hall just as Morvan and David prepared to depart. Her heart lurched while she observed their leave-taking from their wives. The expressions on the faces of both couples displayed unmistakable emotions—complete trust, eternal desire, and blissful contentment.

She suddenly understood her nagging melancholy. Deep friendship and exalted passion were combined into one powerful love in the unions standing in front of her. She herself had known the first with Robert, and had finally tasted the latter with Ian. But she would never know them both with one man. She should not be jealous, but the ache ripped rawly and she had to look away.

Reyna began reclaiming her position as the mistress of the household at once. Her marriage to Ian had hardly laid to rest the suspicions about her, and the firm expressions worn by most of the servants suggested it had only made things worse. She knew that to them this marriage must appear very convenient indeed, and not in ways envisioned by Morvan.

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