((Contains material of an adult nature.))
December 14th, 1614
Time, it seemed, was on the side of the new lady of Darroch. Wedded to her chosen lord in the chapel of Arindale in the company of her brother and his new wife, Justine had been given a celebration to rival any other that might have been laid on by the Duke and Duchess of Lonnare. Brimming with pride in her, Bryce had not disappointed on their wedding night, teasing her with promises that it would get even better when they were in their own home, in their own bed, with the only key to their own door in their possession.
Within days of the wedding, they had been obliged to leave the beauty of Arindale or risk being cut off from Darroch and Dunfayre for the duration of the winter, offering a bittersweet farewell to the family and friends they left behind, and a promise to return in the spring. The journey was hard on them all, newly-weds and escort both, the winter blizzards growing in strength as they traveled north, but finally they had reached the sheltered valley where Bryce's family home lay, only a day before the passes were blocked entirely.
Justine had been welcomed to the town and village with raucous good wishes, the good nature of Bryce and Juliana seemingly having offered only a hint of just how warm their people were, even in the depths of winter. Aidan had welcomed them without ceremony, but with a fine feast, delighted to have his remaining son home again and with a bonny wife at his side. Yet he had not begrudged them time to themselves, and before the sun set on the day of their arrival, they had hidden themselves away in the privacy of their own rooms, behind that promised locked door, lulling one another with their closeness until weariness got the better of them.
Now, with the winter sun struggling to make itself known through the swirling snow outside the window, Bryce opened his eyes to the first morning he had seen from his own bed in over a year, his head turning to look down on the tousled blonde curls that crowned the fiery wife sleeping at his side. Now that was a sight worth seeing every morning.
Better still was the softness against his side that told him she was as bare now as she had been when they had fallen into oblivion together the night before. He couldn't help himself, already adoring the sounds she made, the way her skin flushed, the way she seemed torn between embarrassment and pleasure when he touched her. Rolling gently to his side to face her, he let his hand slip beneath the warm furs that covered them both with a knowing, caressing touch, his lips teasing tenderly against Justine's, just to see what would happen when she woke.
The smile she offered him and the way she edged closer to him, lips warming to his even in her sleep, seemed an encouraging sign that she enjoyed his touch, his warmth, his closeness, and especially his kisses. She had never known such feelings as those his every touch aroused in her, and she had never in her wildest dreams imagined it could be this way between a man and a woman. Oh, she'd known what to expect, but she had never realized how lovely and how beautiful this kind of sharing could be - and how intimate.
He chuckled against her lips, drawing her closer to him as he turned those teasing kisses into a single kiss that claimed and loved in one motion. "How long have you been awake, pet?" he asked her, utterly shameless in the sweep of his hand over her hip to squeeze the soft roundness of her rear end. Juliana had warned her that Bryce wasn't one to hide away his feelings, after all.
Though a shy bride, she was also an eager one, wanting to both please her new husband and explore the new feelings he was awakening in her - feelings unlike anything she'd ever experienced before, both physical and emotional. "Not long," she replied as she stroked his jaw with gentle fingers. "Et toi"" she asked, sleepily slipping into her own foreign tongue, though she was making a distinct effort to speak the language of him and his people.
Lucky for them both that his mother had been a Frank, and had taught all her children the language that came most easily to Justine's lips. Bryce grinned as her fingers touched his cheek. "Och, you know," he teased in a murmuring tone, "I've planted my seed in you at least twice while you've been sleeping. Or was that a good dream, darlin'?"
And at least as many or more while she was awake. She smiled at his question, a hint of playful mischief sparkling in her eyes as she teased him in return. "You should know we are in a race with our siblings to have the first baby," she said, in the somewhat broken words of his language, her accent still heavy. "Would you like to win that race, mon amour"" she asked, her fingers tracing the line of jaw.
His brow rose as he shared his grin with her once again, tasting her lips in appreciation of the mischief sparkling in her eyes. "If you wish to win, m'lady, you will have to grow used to my lifting your skirts whenever the mood strikes," he warned her laughingly. "I've not made love to a woman in the deep drifts outside the gate, but I may yet make love to my wife everywhere the keep has to offer and a few more places besides if she wishes for a babe so much."
"You ..." she started, swatting him playfully in the shoulder. "You ....how do you say' Couqin" Would you have your wife freeze to death just so you can say you have her in the snow?" She smiled as she teased him, even as she called him a rascal in her own tongue. "Qu'est-ce que tu veux"" she asked him. What do you want" "Do you wish for a bebe? Or do you like to wait some more?"
He laughed at her response, wrapping his arms about her to hold her close as his lips brushed her temple. "I would have you happy, pet," he told her honestly. "Aye, t'would be fine to have wee ones to dandle and love, but I've no objection to waiting if that's what you would rather." He lowered his forehead to hers, looking into her eyes. "I love you, my bonny lass, the heather on my hills. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy, until the end of days."
"Such a long list of names you give me," she teased further, tapping a finger against his nose. "I only wish to make you happy, mon bel homme. If you wish a bebe, we make a bebe. If you wish to wait, we wait," she told her, leaving the choice up to him, though it was possible the decision had already been made.
"If the Goddess wishes it, pet, then it will happen," he told her affectionately. "Shall we leave it in Her hands, and just enjoy each other" I've no real wish to intentionally upset my sister or your brother by fighting to win a race none of us has any control over."
"My husband is almost as wise as he is handsome," she said, sliding closer until she pushed him over onto his back and covered him with her own body, her curves fitting perfectly to his angles like two long-lost pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. "Or is he almost as handsome as he is wise," she teased, touching a kiss to his lips, while her arms went around his neck.
Bryce chuckled, going easily onto his back as she guided him. He had not expected her to be a timid lover, rewarded for that expectation with the same fire she carried in every part of her life. His hands skimmed over her back, retracing the curves he had already grown intimate with as he returned her kiss, his desire for her evident between them. "Which would you prefer, my bonny?" he asked her mischievously. "A wise troll, or a handsome fool?"
"I would prefer you," she replied simply enough, rejecting either of the descriptions he gave himself, while in jest or otherwise. "Je t'aime, mon amour. Does it frighten you to hear it?" The timid girl seemed to have been replaced by a passionate lover, her confidence growing with each lesson in lovemaking he gave her. She was a enthusiastic student.
"Frighten me?" His grin took on a predatory glint for a moment, and suddenly he moved, tossing her onto her back to pin her down, one hand holding her wrists above her head as the other began a familiar trail to the sweetness he was growing addicted to at her core. "Say it again," he growled softly against her lips, fully intent upon answering her tease with teases of his own that would leave her shattered and sated in his arms once more.
"What will you do if I do not do as you ask?" she said, more than ready to tease him in return. After all, either way, they would both reap the benefits of such teasing at one point or another. Her body had other ideas, however, warming to his touch and practically melting with desire.
December 14th, 1614
Time, it seemed, was on the side of the new lady of Darroch. Wedded to her chosen lord in the chapel of Arindale in the company of her brother and his new wife, Justine had been given a celebration to rival any other that might have been laid on by the Duke and Duchess of Lonnare. Brimming with pride in her, Bryce had not disappointed on their wedding night, teasing her with promises that it would get even better when they were in their own home, in their own bed, with the only key to their own door in their possession.
Within days of the wedding, they had been obliged to leave the beauty of Arindale or risk being cut off from Darroch and Dunfayre for the duration of the winter, offering a bittersweet farewell to the family and friends they left behind, and a promise to return in the spring. The journey was hard on them all, newly-weds and escort both, the winter blizzards growing in strength as they traveled north, but finally they had reached the sheltered valley where Bryce's family home lay, only a day before the passes were blocked entirely.
Justine had been welcomed to the town and village with raucous good wishes, the good nature of Bryce and Juliana seemingly having offered only a hint of just how warm their people were, even in the depths of winter. Aidan had welcomed them without ceremony, but with a fine feast, delighted to have his remaining son home again and with a bonny wife at his side. Yet he had not begrudged them time to themselves, and before the sun set on the day of their arrival, they had hidden themselves away in the privacy of their own rooms, behind that promised locked door, lulling one another with their closeness until weariness got the better of them.
Now, with the winter sun struggling to make itself known through the swirling snow outside the window, Bryce opened his eyes to the first morning he had seen from his own bed in over a year, his head turning to look down on the tousled blonde curls that crowned the fiery wife sleeping at his side. Now that was a sight worth seeing every morning.
Better still was the softness against his side that told him she was as bare now as she had been when they had fallen into oblivion together the night before. He couldn't help himself, already adoring the sounds she made, the way her skin flushed, the way she seemed torn between embarrassment and pleasure when he touched her. Rolling gently to his side to face her, he let his hand slip beneath the warm furs that covered them both with a knowing, caressing touch, his lips teasing tenderly against Justine's, just to see what would happen when she woke.
The smile she offered him and the way she edged closer to him, lips warming to his even in her sleep, seemed an encouraging sign that she enjoyed his touch, his warmth, his closeness, and especially his kisses. She had never known such feelings as those his every touch aroused in her, and she had never in her wildest dreams imagined it could be this way between a man and a woman. Oh, she'd known what to expect, but she had never realized how lovely and how beautiful this kind of sharing could be - and how intimate.
He chuckled against her lips, drawing her closer to him as he turned those teasing kisses into a single kiss that claimed and loved in one motion. "How long have you been awake, pet?" he asked her, utterly shameless in the sweep of his hand over her hip to squeeze the soft roundness of her rear end. Juliana had warned her that Bryce wasn't one to hide away his feelings, after all.
Though a shy bride, she was also an eager one, wanting to both please her new husband and explore the new feelings he was awakening in her - feelings unlike anything she'd ever experienced before, both physical and emotional. "Not long," she replied as she stroked his jaw with gentle fingers. "Et toi"" she asked, sleepily slipping into her own foreign tongue, though she was making a distinct effort to speak the language of him and his people.
Lucky for them both that his mother had been a Frank, and had taught all her children the language that came most easily to Justine's lips. Bryce grinned as her fingers touched his cheek. "Och, you know," he teased in a murmuring tone, "I've planted my seed in you at least twice while you've been sleeping. Or was that a good dream, darlin'?"
And at least as many or more while she was awake. She smiled at his question, a hint of playful mischief sparkling in her eyes as she teased him in return. "You should know we are in a race with our siblings to have the first baby," she said, in the somewhat broken words of his language, her accent still heavy. "Would you like to win that race, mon amour"" she asked, her fingers tracing the line of jaw.
His brow rose as he shared his grin with her once again, tasting her lips in appreciation of the mischief sparkling in her eyes. "If you wish to win, m'lady, you will have to grow used to my lifting your skirts whenever the mood strikes," he warned her laughingly. "I've not made love to a woman in the deep drifts outside the gate, but I may yet make love to my wife everywhere the keep has to offer and a few more places besides if she wishes for a babe so much."
"You ..." she started, swatting him playfully in the shoulder. "You ....how do you say' Couqin" Would you have your wife freeze to death just so you can say you have her in the snow?" She smiled as she teased him, even as she called him a rascal in her own tongue. "Qu'est-ce que tu veux"" she asked him. What do you want" "Do you wish for a bebe? Or do you like to wait some more?"
He laughed at her response, wrapping his arms about her to hold her close as his lips brushed her temple. "I would have you happy, pet," he told her honestly. "Aye, t'would be fine to have wee ones to dandle and love, but I've no objection to waiting if that's what you would rather." He lowered his forehead to hers, looking into her eyes. "I love you, my bonny lass, the heather on my hills. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and happy, until the end of days."
"Such a long list of names you give me," she teased further, tapping a finger against his nose. "I only wish to make you happy, mon bel homme. If you wish a bebe, we make a bebe. If you wish to wait, we wait," she told her, leaving the choice up to him, though it was possible the decision had already been made.
"If the Goddess wishes it, pet, then it will happen," he told her affectionately. "Shall we leave it in Her hands, and just enjoy each other" I've no real wish to intentionally upset my sister or your brother by fighting to win a race none of us has any control over."
"My husband is almost as wise as he is handsome," she said, sliding closer until she pushed him over onto his back and covered him with her own body, her curves fitting perfectly to his angles like two long-lost pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. "Or is he almost as handsome as he is wise," she teased, touching a kiss to his lips, while her arms went around his neck.
Bryce chuckled, going easily onto his back as she guided him. He had not expected her to be a timid lover, rewarded for that expectation with the same fire she carried in every part of her life. His hands skimmed over her back, retracing the curves he had already grown intimate with as he returned her kiss, his desire for her evident between them. "Which would you prefer, my bonny?" he asked her mischievously. "A wise troll, or a handsome fool?"
"I would prefer you," she replied simply enough, rejecting either of the descriptions he gave himself, while in jest or otherwise. "Je t'aime, mon amour. Does it frighten you to hear it?" The timid girl seemed to have been replaced by a passionate lover, her confidence growing with each lesson in lovemaking he gave her. She was a enthusiastic student.
"Frighten me?" His grin took on a predatory glint for a moment, and suddenly he moved, tossing her onto her back to pin her down, one hand holding her wrists above her head as the other began a familiar trail to the sweetness he was growing addicted to at her core. "Say it again," he growled softly against her lips, fully intent upon answering her tease with teases of his own that would leave her shattered and sated in his arms once more.
"What will you do if I do not do as you ask?" she said, more than ready to tease him in return. After all, either way, they would both reap the benefits of such teasing at one point or another. Her body had other ideas, however, warming to his touch and practically melting with desire.