across him of her own volition, careful not to touch his left arm or shoulder, and gave him her mouth, soft and pouted and trembling in the darkness.
“Cariad, ” he said softly after he had kissed her, “it is my seed I will be putting in your womb if we do not stop right now.”
“Yes.” There was a sob in her voice.
“Will you take it into you, then?” he asked.
“Yes.” He could feel her tears on his face. “But I do not want you to move, Aled. I do not want you to hurt yourself.”
“Lie over on your back,” he said, “and I will manage.”
It was not easy. And certainly not painless. He had to put all his weight on her after she had lifted her shift and removed her underthings for him. And he could not be as careful or as gentle as he would have liked. But they both wanted it, and wanted it badly. Somehow she knew how to lift her legs to twine about his and raise her hips from the bed, and somehow he positioned himself and pushed into the tight, wet little passage.
He heard himself sob when she flinched and made a guttural sound in her throat, but she spread her hands over his buttocks and pulled tightly when he would have withdrawn. He pushed the rest of the way in.
He made it last for several minutes, feeling her first relax and then rock her hips to his thrusts and withdrawals, and then tighten inside. She was hot and wet and indescribably wonderful. He wanted to burst into her at every inward stroke, but it was an act of love and he desperately wanted it to be as wonderful for her.
“Aled!” she cried suddenly in a strange, lost, surprised voice, and he felt her body jerk out of control beneath him. He surged into her over and over again, excited by her climax, until his seed came spilling deep and he released all his energy, all his love into his woman.
His first woman.
His only woman. Ever.
It took him a long while after he was lying on his back again and Ceris was curled up against his good side, his arm beneath her head, to bring the pain under control. But it was a physical thing and would pass off. He focused his mind on what had just happened and on the feel of her, relaxed after love. With his seed in her.
“Aled,” she said, “can I bring you anything? I can tell by your breathing that you are in pain.”
“Stay where you are,” he said. “You are the only medicine I need, cariad.”
“Aled,” she said after a short silence, “I meant it. I will not wake up tomorrow to be horrified at what I have done. I meant it. And I loved it—far more than I ever expected.”
He surprised himself by chuckling. “We were not bad for a pair of novices, were we?” he said.
“Have you never—” she began.
“No, never,” he said. “It was always you or no one, cariad. A pair of virgins we were. Past tense, I am glad to say.”
“Aled.” She kissed his shoulder. “I love you.”
“Yes, cariad,” he said softly. “Sleep now, is it? Sleep now after the exertions of love.”
“Yes, Aled,” she said.
Geraint’s valet woke him with the announcement that Sir Hector Webb had called and was waiting for him in the visitors’ salon downstairs. Geraint turned his head with a frown to look at the clock. It was still early, but it was long past his usual time of rising. He had lain down when he returned home sometime before dawn, not expecting to sleep. Apparently he had.
Sir Hector was pacing the floor of the salon and made no attempt to hide his impatience or his contempt for a nobleman who slept the morning away. There were three other men standing silently side by side inside the door. Two of them—Geraint recognized them as special constables who had been billeted at Pantnewydd—stood motionless. The other was fidgety and ill at ease. Geraint recognized him too.
“Precious time has been wasted this morning, Wyvern,” Sir Hector said, frowning in irritation. “This man”—he indicated the one who was not a constable—“called here earlier this morning with important information for you. Harley was forced to tell him that you were abed and had left word that you were not to be disturbed. Of all the nonsense!”
Geraint raised his eyebrows. Had he left any such word?
“There were two gates pulled down last night,”