Fiona struggled to draw in a breath as she floated somewhere far beyond her body. When she’d worked Coll’s cock in long pulls and he’d thrust his fingers inside her, ’twas as if he’d finally staked his claim on her and such an array of emotions had flared so strongly through her. Giddy pleasure. Heart and soul fulfillment. A rightness than ran bone-deep. Everything she’d ever desired with him had been granted in this one single moment in time.
Slowly, she drifted, his light snore keeping her safely cocooned in her dreams. All she’d ever wanted was him, for him to claim her and even though he hadn’t taken her maidenhead, he most definitely had made love to—
A cock crowed and she jerked awake.
Light streamed into his bedchamber and she squinted against the bright glare.
Making love with him had clearly knocked her out for hours. Him too by the looks.
He moved not an inch, dark bristles shadowing his jaw, and one sheet pulled up over his lower body and hers, the fur covers all askew.
The portcullis rose from within the stone-arched entrance gate, the clunky sound of its chains reverberating across the bailey. A new day had dawned and since dark shadows still ringed Coll’s eyes, ’twould be best if she left him to his sleep and didn’t awaken him. He had arrived back so late last eve, and must have ridden hard all day to do so.
They could speak when he fully awoke.
Carefully, she shuffled off his soft mattress, tucked the covers over him then scooped up her nightrail puddled on the floor. Smiling, she folded and set it on the end of his bed. It would be a reminder of what they’d done, which she hoped he didn’t still consider a dream when he awoke since he’d seemed so adamant about that while they’d loved each other.
Limbs loose and her body completely satisfied in a way she’d never experienced before, she crept out of his bedchamber and closed their connecting door with a quiet snick.
In behind her dressing screen propped in the corner, she scooped up her clothes which she’d laid there last eve on the three-legged stool.
Clean shift in hand, she eased it over her head then donned her favorite red velvet gown, which swished over her hips and whooshed to her ankles in a soft fluttery fall. White embroidered detailing lay stitched into the low neckline and along the ends of the long sleeves that draped over the backs of her hands. She’d always adored this gown and reverently, she picked up the matching white embroidered girdle and belted it at her waist before adjusting the long tasseled ends at the center where they swept down to her knees.
She stroked the soft velvet, just as she’d done when she’d first spied this fabric at the markets from amongst several bolts of cloth. Coll had accompanied her to the village that day and then watched her avidly as she’d admired the dressmaker’s fine wares. Sadly, she’d had to leave the bolt of cloth behind since her father would never concede to her spending yet more coin on fabrics when things were tight.
A fortnight later though, Coll had knocked on her door one morn and stood there with a silly grin on his face. In both hands, he held a sizeable package wrapped in brown cloth and spoke words she’d never forget. “I couldnae resist purchasing this for you.”
“What is it?” Over the years he’d often gifted her small trinkets, from tiny carvings he’d whittled from wood, to silk hair ribbons he’d purchased at the markets, as well as the odd treat from the village baker which he’d brought home. This though was clearly no trinket by the size of it.
“I couldnae help myself.”
“Clearly that is so.” But she’d given in quickly, so excited to see what he’d brought her and naught could have surprised her more when she’d peeled back the brown cloth and exposed the red velvet she’d adored at the markets. She unfolded the fine fabric, the layers falling to her ankles. Nay, not just velvet, but velvet now sewn into an exquisite gown. He must have asked the castle’s seamstress to do this. She hugged the gown to her chest then hugged him, squishing the fabric between them. “I cannae believe you did this for me.”
“Will you accept my gift?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.” And just as quickly as he’d come, he’d strode off down the hallway with a jaunty whistle and disappeared downstairs.
Never had a man given her such a treasured gift, and she’d worn the gown he’d gifted her with that day, just as she did this new day. He would understand the meaning behind it when he saw her, or at least he’d better understand it.
Sashaying out from behind the screen, she walked across to her side table. Gently, she ran a brush through her hair and left her locks lying loose and long down her back, then donned her riding boots and tucked her eating dagger into its wrist sheath under the sleeve of her gown.