Chapter 21

Maxwell stood up and filled a glass of wine for himself and Kenna, then called for silence. A hush fell over the crowd, and everyone looked up expectantly.

"From my lovely wife Kenna and myself," he began. "Thank you all for coming to celebrate our special day with us. Sláinte Mhath!"

"Sláinte Mhath!" came the loud response, accompanied by a few cheers and some very ribald remarks.

"Enjoy the feast!" Maxwell called, before he grabbed Kenna's hand and they fled, listening to the good-humored cheering behind them as it became fainter and fainter. By the time they reached the door of their bedroom, they could hear nothing, and then at last he swept her into his arms.

Kenna reached out and opened the door. Once inside, Maxwell set her down and gathered her to him.

"I don't want you to be afraid, my love," he murmured. "I know that the first experience of lovemaking is difficult for a woman, but I promise you need not do anything you don't wish to, and I will be as gentle as I can. Do you trust me?"

Kenna nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I do," she said huskily.

Hearing her nervousness, Maxwell moved as slowly as he could. He poured Kenna more wine and they sat on the couch by the fireside for a while. Strangely, they felt calm and content not to move or speak until Maxwell emptied his glass and placed it on the table, then turned around to look at Kenna. There was a question on his face.

Before he could speak, she said, "Yes," smiling at him lovingly.

Maxwell sighed with relief.

"Thank God," he whispered.

He leaned over to kiss her, and as if a match had been touched to tinder, desire flared up in Kenna like a flame.

The kiss was long and deep as Maxwell thrust his tongue into her mouth, then swept it over her lower lip and began to caress her to madness. Kenna was shaking, and her closed eyes were seeing stars on her eyelids, yet she held on to the back of Maxwell's neck to keep him from moving away from her.

Maxwell had kissed Kenna before, but never like this. Now that he knew she was truly his, that she would never leave him, he could pleasure both of them as much as he wished. Now they were free.

Her breasts were soft and yielding under his big hands, and it was all he could do not to let his wilder instincts run away with him and make her his there and then.

"I have to see you," he said huskily. "I need to know what my wife looks like."

He helped her to her feet, then swiftly undid the laces on her dress with a haste born of need, desire, and love. Maxwell had never wanted a woman so much, and he gasped as he saw her standing before him in nothing but her filmy, transparent shift. He tore off his clothes, almost ripping his shirt in the process, and finally stood before her, naked and unashamed.

Lindsey had told her not to be intimidated by the size of a man's erection, so when she saw Maxwell's, Kenna tried to show no reaction, even though her eyes widened and her heart began to hammer.

Everything about him was the opposite of her. He was angular where she was curved, bony and hard where she was soft and fleshy, and above all, he was hairy where she was smooth.

Yet he was beautiful in the way that a man is beautiful, not in her delicate feminine way. His beauty was in the strength and power of his muscular frame. Her body began to react as it usually did, and she swallowed nervously as he took her shift off over her head and tossed it on the floor behind him.

Maxwell did nothing but stare at her for a moment, looking her up and down from head to foot, increasing her nervousness and making her worried that there was something wrong with her.

"I can't believe you are real," Maxwell whispered. "You take my breath away, Kenna. Everything about you is perfect. You will be mine forever, will you not? You won't leave me?"

His voice was uncertain, and Kenna laughed softly as she stepped into his arms again.

"Never," she whispered, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "Never, never, never." She punctuated each word with another soft brush of her lips on his before he lifted her off her feet and placed her tenderly on the bed.

He palmed each one of her breasts before taking a nipple into his mouth and suckling it, then moving to the other, leaving Kenna tingling with pleasure and crying out for more.

"More?" Maxwell said wickedly. "Do you want more, Kenna?" His eyes were dark with wicked desire.

"Yes." Her voice was a faint, husky whisper, and her body was seemingly out of her control. It was writhing on the bed at the behest of Maxwell's lips, tongue, and teeth as he kissed, licked, and nibbled his way down her stomach to the little thatch of hair that covered her most sensitive spot.

Maxwell loved this part of making love to a woman—when he could inhale her smell, taste her juices, run his tongue through her soft folds and tease her fleshy little nub, then watch her face as she exploded in ecstasy. Before, it had lacked one vital element—love—but now that he had Kenna, that was no longer a problem. Everything was perfect.

"Max, please," she moaned. "I need…"

"Need what, darling?" Maxwell asked, smiling up at her, eyes full of mischief.

"I don't know," she replied, mystified.

It was all so strange, wonderful, terrifying. He was doing things to her that she could never have imagined before, awakening strange sensations that she could only describe as heavenly.

Kenna felt his tongue touch the inside of her as he parted her folds with his thumb. At first she was shocked at his shameless actions, then everything was forgotten as his tongue began to work magic on her clitoris, circling it and licking it.

Finally he scraped it with his teeth playfully, and she screamed as a jolt of pleasure shot through her. She was not sure if she could stand much more before he slid two fingers inside her and moved them in and out, stretching her ready for his entry.

She was breathing heavily, and her hands were clutching the bedsheets as if to stop herself from falling. She could hardly think anymore. Her world had narrowed down to the face, touch, and voice of this man who was doing such incredible things to her body.

"Kenna?" His voice was hoarse as he continued his sensuous assault on her. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she murmured. "Yes, Max."

She felt him sliding up her body, and finally, he kissed her again, not sensually but hungrily.

"I love you," he murmured, before he entered her at last, slowly, carefully, so that he would not hurt her.

Tonight was about his Kenna, and he would make sure that her first time was something she would look back on with joy, not with pain.

"What do you want, Kenna?" he whispered, kissing her again.

"I don't know," she replied, but her body seemed to as she arched her hips off the bed, almost without her own volition.

"I do." Maxwell kissed her. "Relax, and I will take you somewhere magical."

As he slid further into her, Kenna felt a sharp stab of pain, but it was gone so quickly that she had forgotten it a few seconds later. There was a delicious friction between Maxwell's flesh and hers, and she felt a sensation of rightness, as though she had been incomplete without him inside her.

Yet she was still unsatisfied. Something was just out of her reach, something she needed to get to, but it was elusive. The more she reached for it, the further away it went, but she kept on striving. She had to grasp it. Suddenly, her life depended on it.

Now the feeling was becoming stronger, and as she held on to Maxwell's powerful shoulders, he thrust into her twice more, and she finally reached what she had been seeking. A wave of sheer ecstasy washed over her, tossed and spun her until she was dizzy, then made her scream and shudder before she descended slowly into a blissful languor.

Maxwell had been holding back, waiting for Kenna. He knew the signs that would tell him she was approaching her climax, and as she arched her body up from the bed and wrapped her legs tightly around his hips, he knew that she was almost there. He let himself go, thrusting harder and faster, striving with all his might. Then, he came, with one fierce final thrust that made him cry out in rapture as he spilled his seed inside his wife.

He had never felt anything so wonderful, and he knew that he had truly, for the first time in his life, made love to a woman. He had pleasured many, used many for his own enjoyment, but he had never loved one before.

Maxwell eased his weight onto his elbows and lay down beside Kenna, taking her with him so that they were lying face-to-face. As he watched, a little tremor shook her, part of the aftermath of her climax. She smiled, and so did he, loving the wonder in her eyes.

"I didn't know it would be like that," she murmured. "I had no idea."

"You liked it?"

He kissed her lips softly.

"Yes!" She laughed. "Very much. Thank you, my love."

"I was not the only one taking part!" he reminded her, chuckling. "But I must tell you something, Kenna. I have lain with other women, as you know, but this is the first time I have ever loved one, and it has made all the difference. I feel clean and happy. In fact, I feel like a new man. You did that to me."

"You did it by yourself, my love," Kenna said softly. "But I am glad. You make me feel so loved."

Suddenly she gave a little moan as she felt him pull out of her and sit up.

"I want to get us another glass of wine," he told her as he dropped a kiss on her forehead. "I will be back."

She watched the play of Maxwell's tight muscles as he walked across the room to fetch their wine and felt her body beginning to react again. Lindsey had told her all about what to expect, but not that she would be hungry for him again so quickly.

Maxwell gave Kenna her wine and then drew her across to lean her head on his shoulder.

"I wish I never had to get out of this bed," he said, sighing.

"You have to eat," she reminded him. "I do too. We can't spend our whole lives in bed!"

He looked into her green eyes and said softly, "The first time I saw the color of your eyes, I thought of the sun shining through the leaves of trees. I thought of one particular tree that I had climbed so often I had worn a path through the leaves. I loved that tree." He sighed. "I fell out of it so many times that I always had at least a dozen bruises and cuts at any one time. That was the one Lachlan pushed me out of. It's astonishing that I am still alive!"

Kenna giggled as she sipped her wine.

"I never did anything like that. I was never allowed to. Climbing trees was for boys, but it looked like such a lot of fun!"

"When we have daughters, I will never let them climb trees," Maxwell said firmly.

"And what if we have no children?" Kenna asked, curious.

"We will." Maxwell sounded very certain.

"You sound very sure of yourself," she observed, frowning. "Is there a secret method you would like to share with me?"

"Yes. I will make love to you three times a day," he replied. "Starting now."

Then he took her wine glass out of her hand, kissed her hungrily, and it all began again.