The Snow White Bride by Claire Delacroix

Author:Claire Delacroix
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Highlands, Medieval
Published: 2005-11-27T01:07:16+00:00

8

Alexander watched as Eleanor pursed her lips and pretended to consider the conundrum of finding him a son. Her lips were so full and ruddy that he longed to kiss her, but he steeled himself to wait. It was a man’s violence that made her uncertain, though already he sensed that she overcame that memory.

Had Millard struck her, as well as Ewen? Perhaps her father, too, had been abusive of her. A part of Alexander seethed that any man would see fit to injure a woman to see his will reign supreme.

That Eleanor met him abed with as little fear as she did filled him with awe and admiration. She was valiant, there was no doubt about it, though Alexander knew that full trust between himself and his wife would only come when she was certain of his intent.

So he waited, his blood boiling, and let her seduce him. It was a sweet torture he endured for the sake of marital harmony, but he could not have done anything else and been the man he was.

Eleanor let her fingertips slide down his throat in a light caress that left a trail of fire across his flesh. Her touch paused upon the thrum of his pulse in his throat and she met his gaze as if amazed by the power of her own touch. Alexander smiled, hoping she saw the fullness of his admiration for her.

She caught her breath and her lashes fluttered downward, as if she could not bear to look upon his passion. She fanned out her hands and ran them down his chest, her touch firmer as she felt him through his garb. Alexander stood utterly still and watched her, unable to discern her response.

Her hands landed upon the buckle of his belt with purpose and he caught his breath. Then she looked up, her eyes glittering with desire and his heart clenched. “You could claim a foundling and grant him your name,” she mused.

Alexander pretended to consider this. He clenched his fists at his sides, for he dared not reach for her yet and frighten her. “I could, if only I was not so proud of my lineage. Perhaps that would be more fitting for a second son, instead of my heir.”

Eleanor unfastened his belt and laid it aside, then slid her hands beneath his tabard. “Doubtless you speak aright,” she said as she coaxed the garment over his head. She unknotted the tie in his chemise with quick fingers. She wrinkled her nose, then cast him a playful glance. “But I have heard that your wife is cold, and does not welcome you between her thighs.”

Alexander shook a finger at her. “You should not give credit to rumor!”

“Is she not frosty, then?” Eleanor opened her eyes wide, then tugged his chemise over his head and cast it aside. She swallowed as she looked upon him, then raised one hand slowly and laid it over his heart.

Alexander captured her hand within his, turned it within his grasp, and kissed her palm.

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