it. I hear it hurts the first time and I’m just curious.”
Joya looked at Emmalin and said, “You’ll have to explain about the first time. Mine was not one I care to remember.”
Emmalin and Dyna both knew the reason for that—Joya had been kidnapped and raped after she ran away from her aunt’s home—so Emmalin was quick to nod. “As you wish.” Then set put her needlework aside and gave Dyna her full attention. “The first time hurts, but not badly. And it doesn’t hurt for long. You know how it happens, do you not? Many think ’tis like animals, but we do it mostly face to face.”
“I understand. Mama explained it to me and I’ve listened to plenty of serving lasses and maids talk about their exploits with their husbands. But I wanted to talk about this with someone I trust. Like a pinch?”
Emmalin thought for a moment, then continued, “I’ll be honest. It was more than a pinch for me. Aye, it hurt, but it did not hurt for long.”
Joya interjected with a grin, “And the pleasure you gain makes it worthwhile. I cannot get enough of Els.”
“My first husband was only interested in his own pleasure. ’Tis an entirely different experience with Alasdair, thank goodness.” Emmalin blushed, dropping the volume of her voice. “’Struth is, in the beginning, I wished to do it more than he did…and he wished to do it often enough.” She looked up at Dyna and said, “You need to make sure you choose the right man. ’Tis wonderful when you suit. If you love the other person, you worry about their pleasure as much as your own.”
“Pleasure?” she asked, pressing them for more.
Joya was nearly as blunt as Dyna. “’Tis called an orgasm. Your husband must help you get there, but once you do, I swear a castle could crumble around me and I’d never know it. On one occasion a thunderstorm was ripping through the night, and Els thought it was his climax.”
“Poor Ailith was crying one night and I never heard her.” Emmalin giggled into her hand.
Joya glanced over her shoulder for anyone within hearing distance—the bairns were playing at the far end of the hall, not within hearing—before she continued. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “We were in the woods once and didn’t hear the snort of a boar until ’twas almost upon us. I’ll always remember the image of Els using his sword with his bollocks hanging out. He only had to wound the beast before it took off.”
Emmalin gave a bark of laughter and stomped her foot on the floor in glee. “Did you finish?”
“Hell, nay. I told him to put it away,” Joya said, her brow furrowed. “The big snout on the boar finished it for me. It was so ugly.”
“John heard us one night and ran into our chamber. He asked Alasdair why he was hugging me so hard and shouting,” Emmalin said, her eyes wide.
The two started laughed hysterically, and it went on for so long that Dyna eventually couldn’t help but join them.
She didn’t know what to make of their revelations, except she had a sudden desire to understand exactly what they meant. Which meant she needed a man. Taking advantage of their situation, she posed one more question. “My mama told me a woman’s maidenhead is naught more than a piece of skin covering an opening. Why are lasses forced to wait to do the act when men aren’t expected to do the same?”
The laughter stopped immediately, and Joya stared at Emmalin. “I don’t know.”
Emmalin concurred. “I don’t know either. I think a man wants a woman who has never been touched by another.”
“Then can’t a woman want a man who’s never been touched?”
Emmalin blurted out, “If that were the case, no one would know how to do it. A husband teaches a wife. Imagine trying to figure it out on your own on your wedding night.” That caused Joya and Emmalin to burst into a fresh round of laughter, but the door opened and the men returned, putting an end to their antics.
***
The feast began early once Alexander Grant announced he had decided to leave for Cameron land on the morrow. At first everyone was somber at the news, but Emmalin found a couple of minstrels to attend and the festivities became lively and joyful.
Derric sat at a trestle table with Joya and Els, a few Grant guards he didn’t know, and Dyna. He hadn’t had the chance to