Page 40 of Knight School Chronicles Box Set

“ I s this my wedding gift?” Evie asked when she walked into the room.

A wooden tub, filled to the top with steamy hot water, sat in the center of their bedchamber.

While they were below, Gareth had told the owner they were newly married and asked for the bath.

Despite the late hour, he arranged for it, and Gareth was pleased to see Evie’s eyes light up when she saw it.

Closing and locking the door behind them, Gareth only hoped he could keep his hands from his wife long enough for her to use it. Pushing aside thoughts of their future, one more tenuous than he would like as Lord Ashcroft was sure to be incensed at their actions, he took Evelina’s cloak.

But did not stop with that.

“Turn around,” he said, more than glad to assist her from her gown. With light from the fire and two candles next to the bed, the chamber was dark but not completely so, thankfully. He wanted to see all of her.

“It feels strange to have someone other than Amalia untie my gown.”

“Strange,” he said, finished with the ties. Pushing Evie’s hair to the front, he kissed the nape of her neck. “That is the word you would use?”

Gareth pushed the sleeves of her gown down on both sides, freeing her arms from them as he continued to kiss her.

Evie’s shift prevented him from moving any lower, but he planned to remedy that.

Piece by piece, he removed her clothing.

First, Evie’s gown. Then, as he guided her toward the bed to sit, her boots and stockings.

When she wore nothing but the shift, Gareth began to undress himself, not wanting her to feel alone in her nakedness.

“You will remove . . . everything?”

“It is custom to bathe in the nude,” he said, trying not to smile and remembering his wife was a virgin. She had likely not seen a man completely before.

His wife.

It had happened so quickly, their lives irrevocably changed. But he’d not think of the repercussions now. Not tonight.

When he wore nothing but the long linen undershirt that covered him, he reached for her.

“I will not hurt you, Evie. Not tonight. Not ever.”

“Of course, I know as much. But . . . this is new to me.”

“Come.” He took her hand as they walked to the tub.

It was large enough for them both—not an accident.

He’d given the innkeeper extra coin to ensure it would be so.

“Turn around,” he said, gently turning her away from him.

Pulling off his shirt, he got into the tub.

Eventually she would not be modest around him, but Gareth wanted to take it slowly. “Join me, wife?”

When she turned back around, he was submerged already, waist deep.

“I would remove my shift.”

Again, he tried not to smile. “Aye.”

Hesitantly, she slipped it off. Gareth took in every bit of her at once. “You are so beautiful, Evie. Perfect. Utterly perfect.”

And she was.

Shy, more hesitant than he ever saw her, Evie stepped into the tub. He guided her to sit between his legs, and eventually she settled her back to his chest.

“You are comfortably positioned?”

“Aye,” she said, her fingers twirling the surface of the water.

Reaching for the cloth and lavender-scented soap on the stool beside him, Gareth moved it in circles across his wife’s shoulders and arms. When he moved to her front, he began with her stomach first, and then, satisfied she was at ease, her breasts next.

Eventually placing the soap back onto the stool and draping the cloth on the edge of the tub, he used his hands to explore.

Covering both breasts, relishing in the heat of the fire beside them, along with the warmth of the water and his wife atop him, Gareth counted himself a lucky man.

“Mmmm,” she murmured as his thumbs rubbed circles around her nipples. But he was just getting started. Reaching one hand down, he whispered, “Do not be startled.”

But of course, she was startled, the sensation of a man’s hand at her most intimate spot was not one anyone could fully prepare for. Not surprisingly, she closed her legs together.

“Open for me, Evie,” he whispered. “I will ensure you do not regret it.”

She did.

Growing hard at the feel of her, he finally found his mark and slipped a finger inside. And then a second.

“Gareth,” she said, her voice low and thick.

“Aye, love?”

He moved slowly, circling and using his thumb to give Evie pleasure. His efforts seemed to be working, his wife’s breathing increasing, her soft moan filling their small chamber with the delicious sound of lovemaking.

“That feels . . . very good.”

“It will feel even better,” he said, increasing pressure, “when you come for me. Your body will find release, and it will feel like you left yourself for a moment. There,” he said, as her hips circled, her breathing becoming more and more erratic.

“Aye, like that. Let go for me, Evie. Allow me to show you the pleasures that can be found between a man and a wife.”

She was close. So close that Gareth changed his mind. Pulling his fingers from her, he lifted his wife from his lap and spun her toward him.

“Straddle me,” he said. She did, her hands grasping the sides of the tub. The tips of her hair were wet, Evie’s cheeks flushed.

“It will hurt briefly,” he said, guiding himself toward her.

She nodded. “Aye, I’ve heard as much.”

With hope, it would not hurt much, as she was more than ready for him. When he found her maiden’s barrier, Gareth stopped.

“Are you prepared?”

“Aye.”

Grasping her hips, hating that he’d cause her pain, Gareth thrust into his wife and cursed as she made a sound of displeasure. He didn’t move. Evie stared down at him, a beautiful water nymph who was no longer a maid.

She is mine. This night and for all time.

“Does it still pain you?” he asked as her features softened.

“Nay,” she said. “Though it feels tight.”

That it did.

He began to move. Slowly at first, allowing Evie to become accustomed to him. In and out, he reveled in the sounds of pleasure she made. He nearly had to look away, so enticing was her expression. Gareth wanted to draw this out as long as possible, Evie’s first time.

His first time making love to his wife.

Gareth reached between them, circling his thumb and watching her face closely. He would learn what she enjoyed. They would learn each other. For now, it seemed Evie was no longer in pain as she met every thrust, crying out as he increased the pressure with his thumb.

“Please, Gareth.”

He knew what she wanted. And gave it.

“Go ahead, love. Let go, and I’ll spill my seed deep within you as we’re one.”

That was all it took. With a final cry, Evie tensed. Her thighs tightened around him; her body froze. He thrust into her one last time and did exactly as he’d promised. When she collapsed against his chest, water everywhere, Gareth held his wife tightly against him.

“I love you,” he said into her ear. “You have made me the happiest man in all of England this night. I am honored to be your husband.”

“And I love you,” she said. “I’d be nowhere but here, in this tub, making love to you.”

He pulled her head up, wanting to see her face. There were no words that could describe how he felt in that moment. Knowing their path ahead would not be an easy one, Gareth attempted to simply relish this. To remember his wife’s expression moments after they made love for the first time.

Something told him he would need this memory very soon.