CHAPTER FIFTEEN
T hat evening, Norah was the one who found Ruben in his meeting room and softly moved the bottle of sloe wine from his hand. “From what I hear, ye daenae need to be drunk on the morrow.”
Letting her slide the bottle away, Ruben asked, “And why do ye think so?”
Sitting, Norah said, “She finally kens the truth about the war, aye?”
“Aye,” Ruben sighed, taking another sip of his wine. “And to compound her shock, the very cousin was she was assured was dead is the castle’s new smithy. He’s been livin’ here all the while, holding his secrets with him.”
Norah looked out the window. “I ken what that’s like, feelin’ yer whole life suddenly shift from under ye.”
Leaning over to rest his elbows on the table, Ruben asked, “Do ye think ye’d like to talk to her, Norah? I think the lass needs a friend around her and so do ye.”
Her eyes widened. “Do ye think that is best?”
“I do,” Ruben said, while sitting back. “Maybe on the morrow when most of the shock has worn off.”
“Speakin’ of yer wife,” Norah looked around. “T’is almost a quarter to midnight. Why are ye here broodin’ instead of being with her?”
Drumming his fingers on the table, Ruben admitted, “Ye might nae believe this, but I am nae sure how to address the situation. I daenae ken what state of mind she will be in when I return, and I daenae want to aggravate her more.”
“Well, I daenae think ye will find out if ye stay here.” Norah said. “If I were in her position, I’d feel vulnerable and I’d want the company of me husband with me.”
Cocking his head to the right, Ruben’s lips flickered into a semblance of a smile. “And when did ye get so wise, sister of mine?”
Norah stood. “Rumor has it that me brother is one of the sensible men around these parts,” she smiled. “Ye could say I got it from him.”
Chuckling, Ruben took the last sip from the cup and then stood as well. Leaving for his rooms, he gently eased the door in and stepped inside. Besides the think rays of moonlight and the dying fire, the room was dark, not so dark he would not make out the form on his bed.
Gruffly, he pulled open the trunk at the foot of his bed and withdrew an extra pile of furs before gentling his actions to place them snugly about her while her eyes remained closed.
Paige was curled up like a child, hugging a pillow to her cheek as he eased into the bed beside her, so close that they were only a breath away.
Her eyes were closed but he knew she was awake; the lass was a light sleeper. “I ken ye’re awake, Paige,” he said. “Ye can open yer eyes now. Yer mock sleep is very sound, lass but ye cannae fool me.”
At that, she did open her eyes, “Why did ye put me in yer bed instead of mine?”
Turning onto his back, Ruben said. “I felt it was the right thing to do.” He then gruffly added, “Yer hair is quite bothersome as it goes everywhere but aside from that, sharin’ a bed with ye is nae at all unpleasant.”
After a beat of silence, Ruben reached for her and pulled her onto him, she came easily and rested her temple on his chest.
“Thank ye,” she whispered.
“It’s all right,” he said. “Ye can let it out, Paige. Ye’ve been betrayed by a fool who dinnae realize the truth would come out eventually.”
She was crying now, and couldn’t make the tears stop. When she did, she could not stop her voice from quavering. The tears tightened her throat and made her body shudder.
A crying woman was not something Ruben encountered frequently, and when he did, he took pains to avoid them. Now, he forced himself to stay.
“Och lass,” he grunted, “When this is done, ye’ll realize yer father did ye a service. He showed ye how deceptive an untrustworthy he is.”
When Paige did speak, her words were hitched. “I—I wished I had known all this. I—” she swallowed. “I would have nae been so nasty to ye.”
He kept massaging her neck. “Ye couldnae have known. Yer father made sure to keep ye and yer maither blind to it all.”
“Still,” she whispered. “Ye’ve been so welcomin’ to me... and I daenae want to be ungrateful anymore. Thank ye for...everythin’.”
She gazed up at him with wide eyes, hesitant, timid almost.
If he kissed her now, while she appeared as if she might welcome it, everything would change.
Everything. His chest tightened, a new fear sitting heavily there.
He could not, in good faith, push the boundaries of the tentative trust he’d earned so quickly.
Not when she was so vulnerable and needed safety over everything else.
Sitting up, he said, “I need to change me shirt, but I will be right with ye.”
He shucked his shirt and pulled another one on, then returned to bed. He lay on his back and pulled her close. Resting her head on his shoulder, she said, “Elijah is stayin’ with us?”
“Aye,” Ruben said, spearing his fingers through her hair. “I need to speak to yer cousin. I daenae take kindly to deception either. Ye and I need to speak with him about his actions.”
“It sounds like ye’re going to punish him,” she said.
He lifted a brow. “I am. He is here under false pretenses that I daenae appreciate. I understand he came here to save his life, and that any communication to ye would have put him in peril. If he had come to me, I would have understood and kept his confidence as well.”
“Please daenae punish him too severely,” she said.
“We’ll see in the mornin’,” he said.
Waking in the soft rays of dawn, Paige felt Ruben’s arm around her middle again.
With her back molded against Ruben’s front, she could feel every inch of his virile form: it was like being trapped against a stone wall. When his warm breath skittered over her ear, she shivered at his touch and the heat of his surrounding strength.
His scent entered her nose, clean, masculine and woodsy. Simultaneously, she registered a steely length wedged against her bottom. Despite the layers between them, she shivered, a strange hot pulsing at her core.
“Stop squirmin’,” Ruben muttered in her ear, his arm tightening.
“Ruben…” her face felt hot. “Ye’re…encumbered.”
“Aye,” he murmured. “It happens most mornings, lass and with ye in me bed, it is bound to happen a lot more. Now, stop yer squirmin’ or I’ll give ye something to really squirm about.”
She bit her lip, “Ruben, should…should we consummate the marriage?”
He was quiet for a long moment, and for a moment Paige wondered if she had lost him, but he suddenly her to face him. “Are ye ready for that, lass?”
“I wouldnae have asked if I wasnae sure,” Paige spoke with a bravado she truly did not feel.
Braced on both elbows on either side of her head, Ruben realized she was stretching the truth, “I willnae consummate the marriage now, there are dozens of things we can do before we do that. Are ye willin’ to try?”
Her throat was dry, so she nodded.
When Ruben slanted his mouth over her, their kiss began gently but soon turned into a heated parry of tongues. The kiss took on a life of its own and became heated and demanding. Heated lust spiked so fiercely that he was quickly hard against her.
Daring, Paige flicked her tongue against his lips and then traced them with the tip of hers. Ruben thrust his tongue into her mouth as he thrust his hips into her parted legs, pressing her inner thigh.
Heated with desire, Paige began to suck on his tongue which earned her a groan and two strong hands sliding under her and gripping her bottom.
His hands slid up her body and cupped her breast. She startled a little but moaned as his thumb flickered over her nipple, the sensation overwhelming even through her clothes.
Her back arched into his touch, her lips pulling away from his mouth as he began to kiss down the column of her neck. His lips coasted from just behind her ear to where it met her shoulder.
She tipped her head to give him better access, and a shiver ran through her. He nibbled then licked his way back up to her earlobe and sucked on the lobe.
Paige tilted her head further and caught his lips again, as he pressed his hand to the middle of her back and brought her body flush with his.
He coaxed her to mate her tongue with his, and the sinuous, slick dance caused the tips of her breasts to tingle, a strange, molten feeling awakening at her core. A sudden gush of wetness between her thighs made her squirm— and she felt him, very hard and very large poking into her inner thigh.
“R-Ruben,” she gasped while he breathed softly against her ear, he traced her collarbone.
He let his palm course over the swell of one breast, circling her tender nipple with his thumb and forefinger. It stiffened at once in response, fueling her lust. The hot, wet suction on a taut peak made her spine arch off the bed; she bit her lip to stifle a moan.
He leaned in, sucked at one peak through the cloth of her nightdress, forcing her eyes open. He licked his tongue along the nipple as his hand slid up her dress.
“I’m going to touch ye, lass,” he warned her. He placed his flat hand on her soft thighs, a growl of approval rising in his throat when she did not shy away.
A flicker of his fingers over her seam had him groaning; she was drenched, dripping with desire. When his fingers stroked through those velvety folds, a growl rumbled from his chest. “Ye’re so wet for me, lass.”
He caressed her, alternating feather-light caresses with sinuous circles upon her sensitive nub. Tentatively, he slid a finger inside her.
“God above, ye’re tight. The way ye're grippin’ me fingers...” Although his jaw was ruddy with pleasure, his brows drew together. “Are ye all right, lass? Am I hurtin’ ye?”
“Nay,” her breath was shuddery and tight.
She was so close he knew she wouldn’t last long. Sure enough, her thighs began to quiver. He drove two fingers into her tight passage and she took him in.
Scintillating pleasure blazed from her nipple to the apex of her thighs, molten pressure mounting at her core. Her thighs fell open as her breath quickened.
With one hand, he swept aside her hair, his lips skimming the graceful curve of her neck with licks, and nips, eliciting throaty moans.
His light caresses and tight circles upon her sensitive nub were her undoing. Paige knew she was so close ,she wouldn’t last long.
Desire built and built inside her belly like a dam building on the verge of breaking. Her legs moved restlessly, the place between them throbbing with desperate need to erupt.
Ruben gripped her hips, holding her down and she gasped when his fingers hit her exactly where she needed it. Her hips moved of their own accord, seeking more.
The friction opened her floodgates, and she moaned as bliss inundated her. Her cry of delight echoed though the room and when the spike faded, she fell back to the pillows, worn out like a wrung rag.
When she had the strength to lift her eyelids, she met his intent gaze. “That was—” her head rolled languidly. “—heavenly.”
Ruben leaned over her, “Yer face was the picture of pleasure too. I love how ye respond lass. It’s so…instinctive.”
Her brows met in two. “There are other ways?”
“Many,” Ruben kissed her cheek. “Some women are so jaded they fabricate their response to men, feignin’ pleasure when they feel none.”
She winced, “That’s deceitful.”
He chucked, “Aye, it is.”
“Is it normal to feel so… sleepy after?” Paige asked.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Ruben nodded, “Aye, it is. It’ll be even more pronounced when we do consummate the marriage.”
She turned to him. “What about ye? What about yer pleasure?”
He slid from the bed and covered her with the blanket again. “Seein’ ye was all the pleasure I need. Get some rest, lass. I will be in me meeting room if ye need me.”