Chapter Five

"H ave you finished with the lavender water, Your Majesty?" Luisa asked from the shadows of the bedchamber.

"Yes. Thank you." Isabella lifted her right foot from the warmth and set about drying it. She'd washed from head to toe, glad of the freshness the water gave her body after the long, hot day.

Luisa took the water to the door and handed it to a servant. She then closed the door and picked up Isabella's brush. "Shall I?"

"Yes, please." Isabella placed the towel to one side and sat up straight. Luisa had brushed her hair many times and the ritual of the act was always comforting.

But as Luisa started on this night, Isabella found the knots in her shoulders and the nerves in her belly not relaxing in the slightest. She clasped her hand in her lap, the material of her white, silk undergarment bunching around her fists.

"Are you anxious about what will come tonight?" Luisa asked quietly.

"Would you be?"

"The emperor is a virile man of standing and strength whose need to sire sons is well noted," Luisa said. "Which would make me anxious, yes."

Isabella was silent. If she'd hoped Luisa would offer words of comfort, she'd had none.

"However," Luisa went on, "I have watched the way his eyes move with you on this first day of your marriage. How he seems to have not needed or had time for anyone else at his wedding, other than you. I'm not saying he's been impolite, but for me at least, it's clear he would have been happy for everyone to have left so he could have you, his new empress, to himself."

"Which he will have…soon." She glanced at the darkened window. The thin moon was peeking over a church steeple.

"And you must take a deep breath and relax yourself for him, if you don't mind me giving you that advice."

"I'll take all the advice I can get." Isabella huffed slightly. "For I have only snippets of knowledge of what is to come. Tiny morsels of information given to me almost reluctantly by my mother."

"Your husband is the best person to fill you in on the details, not me, not your dearly departed mother." Luisa kept on brushing Isabella's long hair. "Don't you agree?"

"Yes, of course." Take a deep breath and relax , was that really the best advice she had? Maybe it would be best to close her eyes and think of something else—if she could through the pain she feared the act would entail—and wait for his seed to plant itself.

"I do know…" Luisa said, pausing what she was doing, "that it can be quite pleasurable for both parties."

"From whom have you heard this?"

"I have a married friend who laments her husband's long tours away with the army. She wishes to have him in her bed every night, as her husband…as her lover."

"So she enjoys it?"

"Yes, and I believe you will too. Your husband is an emperor, after all, quite excellent at everything he does. Why should bedding his wife be any different?"

Knock. Knock.

The door that connected her bedchamber to Charles's opened. He stood there wearing only brown breeches held up by a thick, leather belt. His wide, tanned chest was naked, as were his feet. He ran a hand through his hair, damp by the looks of it, and looked straight at Isabella.

"I will leave you, alone, Your Majesty." Luisa set down the brush. "I bid you goodnight."

"Goodnight," Isabella managed. Suddenly, she felt like prey, as though her lady-in-waiting were leaving her to the wolves of the night. She tried and failed to suppress a shiver, even though she wasn't cold. The room was warm; a fire blazed in the grate.

Luisa left the room, the door shutting with a definite clunk behind her.

Charles stepped farther in the room. He glanced at the window, as though checking they had privacy, as the curtains hadn't been drawn.

They were in the highest rooms overlooking nothing but the tiled, orange roofs of the city beyond.

"The new moon is a good sign," Charles said.

"It is a sign the earth will soften within the next weeks," she said. "For sowing to begin."

He didn't reply. Instead, he walked over to her and took her hands. Gently, he pulled her to standing.

"I like your hair like this." He took a strand between his thumb and finger and spread it out. "Loose and framing your face."

She didn't reply. The truth was wearing just a thin undergarment, she felt almost naked before him.

Which of course was what he wanted.

"Do not fear what is to happen," he said, his finger sliding over her collarbone to the cross that sat in the dip of her throat. "It is perfectly natural."

"I do not fear it."

"So why are you pale? Your cheeks were flushed earlier, when we feasted."

"It must have been the wine."

"Because you didn't like it?" He raised his eyebrows. "I had it ordered especially. The finest quality. For you."

"It was delicious."

"Would you like some now?"

"No, no, thank you." She swallowed tightly. "And it might be natural for you, but I—"

"You are a virgin, as your brother promised me. But, my love, I am a man, halfway through my life. You must know that I am not."

She nodded.

"But do not look at that as a disadvantage." He smiled and bit on his bottom lip.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because at least one of us knows what we're doing."

She didn't answer because he drew his finger downward, over the dip of her throat, until he reached the lace that held together the top of her undergarment. "Charles," she managed. "But…I…"

"You are supposed to want me as much as I want you," he said softly as he pulled the lace gently. "That is how this will work best."

"I do want you."

Again, he smiled. "Saying it doesn't make it real." He pulled the lace some more and the material gaped, showing the first rise of her breasts.

Her nipples poked forward, hard, little points that ached.

"But I will make that want in you real." He moved closer so his lips hovered over hers. "You will want me. You will be begging for me. That is my promise."

Before she could answer, he kissed her. It wasn't as chaste as his kiss in the chapel. Now, there was a touch of his tongue and he slanted his head to make it deeper.

She curled her hands into fists at her sides, wishing she could relax.

He pulled back, smiling as he looked into her eyes, then looked down at her breasts. The silk had fallen open and her pert breasts were exposed.

"How sweet you are," he whispered, then he stroked the back of his thumb over her left nipple.

She gasped at the strong, heavy sensation that traveled through her breast.

"I want to touch you all over," he said, stroking the side of her breast now, then tracing the delicate flesh underneath and to her sternum. "I want to know every inch of you better than I know myself."

Isabella locked her knees and fluttered her eyes closed. His caress was so soft and gentle. "I want that too."

"Do you? Do you really?"

She opened her eyes. "Yes. It is what I have dreamed of and prayed for."

" Prayed for?" He raised his eyebrows. "What an indecent prayer."

"What? I… Oh… Well, I mean…"

He chuckled. "Do not worry yourself. I am sure God hears prayers of all manner of things."

Gently, he pinched her right nipple, urging it harder still.

Oh, and she liked the sensation. She hadn't expected to, but it seemed to grow, pulling with it heat that went through her body, settling between her thighs.

"Your body responds to me," he said, "as mine is responding to you."

He released her nipple and pulled the last of the lace free. Her clothing slipped downward, falling from her arms to settle on her hips.

He blew out a breath and stepped to the side, studying her as he moved slowly around her.

She stared straight ahead, at the stars now showing themselves beside the moon.

"Your beauty has rendered me speechless," he said, coming up close behind her. "I can barely believe the good fortune with which I have been graced."

"I am pleased to please you."

The heat of his chest blazed against her bare back. She was sure he'd be able to hear the thudding of her heart.

"Oh, you please me immensely, Isabella. I could not want or ask for more." He slid his hands to her hips then pushed at her undergarment.

It fell from her hips, pooling around her feet.

She tensed and squeezed her legs together.

"You should not be shy about showing me your body," he said, curling his arms around her waist and embracing her fully. "For all I see is magnificence."

He kissed the curve of her neck, whispering touches of his lips that sent need flowing over her flesh.

She sighed and closed her eyes. A log shifted in the grate.

"Can you feel me?" he asked, pulling her against him. "How much I want you?"

A hard wedge of flesh pressed against her lower back.

"Yes," she said, her voice breathy. "But…oh…I don't know, I…"

"Shh," he said into the shell of her ear. "You don't need to know. I will show you."

His kisses spread to her neck again, then lower, to her shoulder, down her back. Peppering little touches of his lips. He stooped so he was kissing a trail down her spine, the curve of her lower back, and then over her buttocks.

"Oh…Charles," she said, reaching for the post of the bed for support. "What…? I…?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he swept his hands from her ankles up her legs, to the curve of her hips. Then he applied pressure, turning her to face him.

She stared down at his face so shockingly close to her private parts.

"You taste like flowers," he murmured, then he tipped forward and kissed her pubic hair.

"Charles!" She gasped again, clutching his head. "What are you doing?"

He looked up at her, a sinful grin playing with his mouth. "I am learning the shape of my wife in the best way I know how." He kissed her again, just below her navel this time, then began to rise, kissing her abdomen, her sternum, her throat, and finally her mouth.

His tongue found hers and slicked against it.

She gripped his hard shoulders and closed her eyes, enjoying his kiss.

A low groan rumbled from his chest and his unmistakable sound of longing thrilled her. A sudden rush of confidence besieged her and she squeezed in closer to him, dancing her tongue with his.

"We have waited too long for this," he said, his eyes sparkling with passion. "It is time."

He pulled her to the bed, tipping her onto it then spreading himself over her. She was damp between her thighs and her skin felt more alive than ever, as though magic dust had been cast over it.

"I want to give you sons," she said, touching her palms to his cheeks. "It is my dream for us."

"I want that too." He moved a strand of hair from her brow. "But there is no reason we can't have fun making them."

"So show me…show me this…fun."

He grinned. "I intend to, Empress." He slipped his hand between their bodies, loosening and then shoving at his breeches.

Once naked, he settled over her again. "Open your legs. Wider."

She did as instructed.

"Wider still."

She didn't move.

"Please do not be shy, my love."

She hitched in a breath. "Like this?" She drew up her knees, opening herself for him.

"Yes." He kept most of his weight held off her. "And let me in. Don't tighten against it."

"I'll try not to." She stared up at him and gripped his defined biceps. "I want this. I really do."

The tip of his cock nudged her wet entrance. "I believe you." He stilled and closed his eyes, groaning. "Oh, yes, I believe you."

She didn't know what had changed for him to believe her now, but when he curled his hips and entered her that first inch she gasped and held her breath.

"No," he said, "don't hold your breath. We're going slow, much as it's killing me."

"Why is it killing you?" She pressed her hand over his upper chest. "I don't want that."

"It is just the desire I feel for you. I want to get inside you, so deep, stay there until you are crying out my name in pleasure."

"I…I want that too." She curled her arms around his torso and drew her knees higher.

He slipped in some more and she willed her muscles to relax. Instead, they fluttered around his cock, seeming to adjust to having him there. "I am too tight." She gasped.

"No…No, you are perfect." He kissed her and went a little deeper.

She was getting used to his invasion now. It was not the pain she'd feared; it was dense and hot and satisfying and she wanted more.

"Do you need me to stop?" he asked. "Go slower?"

"No. No." She slid her hands down the plains of his back, into the dip and then to his buttocks. For a moment, it crossed her mind that she shouldn't touch him there, but then she remembered he'd kissed her behind and besides…he was hers as much as she was his.

So she gripped his taut buttocks and canted her hips, taking him deeper still.

"Oh, Lord, give me strength." He groaned, giving her more. "I am going to want you every night for the rest of our lives, like this, just like this…"

"It feels so good," she whispered against his lips. "Don't stop."

"I won't."

He set up a gliding rhythm, rubbing her inside and out. A pressure began to grow in her cunny. It was pleasant, but also urgent and greedy.

"Oh," she gasped. "I had no idea…that it would feel…like this."

"We are perfect together," he murmured, his body hard as stone, tense, as though he were holding himself under tight control. "And I want you to find pleasure, especially this first time."

He was staring down at her intently.

"I am—it is. Pleasurable, that is."

"There's more. Take it, ride the crest of sensation that grows until it's overwhelming, and then let it crash around you."

"Crash around me?" She let out a groan. "Oh…oh, yes, there…just there…"

"Yes, that's it, let it grow." He ground up against her harder, rubbing the swollen nub that had become so demanding and needy.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, dragging her fingers up his back to clutch his shoulders again.

"I am yours," he said hotly. "In this moment, nothing else exists except for you and I."

"And I am yours." She hooked her legs behind his and his cock drove to new depths. She was so wet and pliant for him, but she didn't care if that was wrong because the pressure was sublime and the crest he'd spoken of was growing, rising, almost at its peak.

"That's it," he encouraged. "Let it take you. Think of nothing else but sensation."

"Oh…oh…" The force within her was so great, she was panting, writhing, clinging to him. "I am… It's…"

She cried out. Bliss flooded her body and her cunny spasmed around his cock. She shook and trembled and bright lights flashed before her eyes.

"Argh…yes…yes…" He shouted into the crook of her neck, his cock seeming to pulse inside of her. "In the name of…"

On and on she rode her ecstasy, in awe that her body had the capacity for such pleasure. Her breaths were hard to catch, her heart beat like a bird battling to get out of a cage, and she clung to Charles's perspiring body as though he were a raft in a storm at sea.

"Isabella," he said, lifting up to look down at her face. He was breathing hard, as though he'd just been fighting in battle.

"Charles." She stroked his hair back from his brow. Shadows from the fire danced in his eyes and over his features. "Did I do it…right?"

"Perfect." He smiled through his rapid breaths. "You are so giving, so sweet, so tight… You tested my stamina in a way it never has been."

"What does that mean?" She frowned. "Is that a good or bad thing?"

"It means it was so good, I almost lost my mind to you as well as my heart and body."

"Oh…I am sorry. I think."

He laughed. "Do not be sorry, for I would not change this night, this moment, for all the gold coins in the world."