Eyes widening, Jetta clasped her hand around the base and withdrew her lips somewhat until a more comfortable amount remained inside, and was startled when the action drew a long moan from her husband. Glancing to him sharply, she saw with relief that he was still sleeping, but his expression was almost pained and his head and hands were shifting restlessly. So were his legs, she noted as they moved too. Encouraged by this clue that she might be doing something right, Jetta eased more of him into her mouth before pulling back again and smiled with satisfaction around the monster when Aulay groaned what sounded like her name.
That had to be a good sign. Certainly, it would have been distressing had he groaned another woman's name, she thought and decided to step up her game. Letting him slide from her mouth, Jetta used her hold to shift the member so that it was positioned like a cob of corn before her mouth. She then began to press little nibbling kisses along its length. Much to her disappointment, however, that didn't seem to work as well. At least, her husband didn't moan again under the attention. Frowning, she pulled his erection upright and tried sliding her mouth over the tip once more, relieved when it brought another one of his deep, hungry groans.
All right then. This was what he liked best. Good. She could do this, she thought, sliding her mouth up and down on the tip in long, slow strokes. Jetta was concentrating so hard on what she was doing that when Aulay suddenly growled her name and tangled his hand in her hair, she gave a start and unintentionally bit down. Realizing what she'd done when he suddenly roared in pain, Jetta released him at once and leapt back to peer at him wide-eyed.
"Oh, husband, I am sorry," she cried anxiously as he curled into a fetal position with his hands covering his maltreated organ. His roar turned into a long string of curses. "Truly, you just startled me. Please, I am so sorry. I did not mean to bite you. Did I hurt you?"
"Oh God," he groaned, his face pressed into the pallet of furs.
"I mean, I know I hurt you," she said quickly. "But did I break the skin or--" Pausing, she bit her lip and peered at where his hands and upper legs now hid him from her view. "Mayhap ye should let me look and see how much damage was done."
"Nay," Aulay growled, the word muffled by the furs he was pressing his face into.
"But--"
"Get into bed, wife," he said, and even lifted his head to say it.
His voice was as hard as stone, she noted and stared at him helplessly for a moment, but then climbed dejectedly back into bed and crawled under the linen. She had thoroughly messed that up, Jetta acknowledged to herself. He would never want to touch her again now. She would spend the rest of her life in a marriage where her husband was kind and gentle with her, but would not share his passion, and she didn't know why.
Jetta sniffled as tears began pooling in her eyes and spilling over to run down the sides of her face and into her hair. The worst part was that she had almost the perfect marriage. She might not have a lot of memories, but she knew in her heart that few women were lucky enough to have a husband as wonderful and considerate as Aulay. She knew without a doubt that he was much more attentive and sweet than most men, and if she had just been able to sort out this business of why he wasn't bedding her, her marriage would have been as close to perfect as she thought was possible. But she'd failed, Jetta acknowledged, snuffling as the tears began to pour out of her eyes in earnest.
She'd failed and would never again know the pleasure of his sweet lips on hers and his hand and mouth on her body and whatever else it was happy couples did in the bedroom. This time a soft hiccupping sob followed the thought and Jetta squeezed her eyes closed with misery.
"Jetta? What's the matter? Why are ye crying?"
Blinking her eyes open, she stared in surprise at Aulay as she saw that he was off the floor and now bent over the bed, eyeing her with concern. She'd hurt him and he was worried about her. He was so sweet, she thought, and cried all the harder.
"Jetta." Aulay sounded alarmed now as he sat on the bed beside her and scooped her up into his lap. Pressing her to his chest, he rubbed her back and asked, "What is it, lass? Did I hurt ye when ye bit me?"
Jetta blinked her eyes open at the ridiculous question, and then released a small watery laugh and shook her head. "Nay, of course not. I just--I really did not mean to bite you, husband."
"Aye," he said on what sounded like a relieved sigh. "I ken."
"I am so sorry."
"I ken, ye are," he murmured, rubbing little circles on her back. "'Twas an accident."
"Aye, and now I have ruined everything," she said unhappily and felt his hand pause.
"What have ye ruined, lass? What were ye trying to do exactly?" he asked and Jetta could hear the frown in his voice now.
"I was trying to please you," she admitted shyly. "I thought mayhap you have not kissed or touched me again because you thought I did not want it because when you . . . did what you did, I just lay there like a dead fish and I wanted to show you--"
"Ye did no' lie there like a dead fish," Aulay interrupted, sounding amused. "Ye responded as passionately as any man could wish."
"I did?" she asked, pulling back to peer at him with surprise.
He nodded solemnly.
"Then did I do something to anger you?" Jetta asked with a frown.
His eyebrows rose at the question. "Nay. What would make ye think that?"
"Because you have not kissed nor touched me again since then. I thought either you believed I did not want you to, or that I had somehow angered you, or that you simply tired of me and did not want me anymore because of my shorn head and my being too thin."
"Oh, lass," Aulay said softly, cupping her cheek with his hand. "Ye've no' angered me, and I am definitely no' tired o' ye. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Every minute I am with ye I have to fight no' to kiss and touch ye," he admitted, his eyes dropping to her mouth and his face moving closer.
"Truly?" Jetta whispered uncertainly.
"Aye, truly. All I think of all the day long is kissing ye senseless, stripping yer shift off so that I can look at all o' ye without it in the way, and then cupping and caressing yer beautiful breasts before claiming them with me mouth and suckling at them until ye groan me name with need."
"Oh," Jetta breathed weakly, her body tingling at the thought.
"I want ye, lass," Aulay admitted on a growl, although he really needn't bother saying it now. She could feel that he wanted her. He was presently hard and pressing against her bottom where she sat in his lap. "I truly do. I've never wanted anyone so much in me life. All I can think about is laying ye across the bed, spreading yer legs and tasting yer sweet passion again until ye scream and then driving meself into ye and--" His words died when she suddenly leaned up and kissed him.
Jetta hadn't been able to take it anymore. His words and the pictures they were creating in her mind had her body tingling and wet and she wanted what he was describing. She wanted more. She wanted to make him groan again as she had with her mouth. She wanted his body naked and covering hers everywhere. She wanted . . . well, she wanted it all. And she put all that want into her kiss. This time she was the one urging his lips open and sliding her tongue into his mouth, and this time it was her hands moving over his body, caressing his arms and chest and then reaching around and down to cup his bottom.
Aulay had frozen the moment she kissed him, but when she squeezed his behind and rubbed her chest against his, he was suddenly all passion and motion. His tongue thrust forward to tangle with hers, and his hands made short work of tugging her shift down and claiming her breasts.
Jetta moaned as he kneaded them and then plucked at her nipples. She then gasped in surprise when she found herself suddenly on her back on the bed with him over her.
Tearing his mouth from hers, Aulay pressed kisses along her cheek to her ear and growled, "Spread yer legs."
Jetta obeyed at once, and then groaned when he lowered himself to rest against her and ground into her very core with only the thin cloth of the shift between them. Aulay groaned too, and then his mouth was on hers again, his kiss a fiercely demanding one as he ground his hips into her again. A sound much like a sob came from her throat then and Jetta shifted restlessly and then wrapped her legs around his hips, urging him on. The move shifted the cloth between them, and when he next ground against her she felt his flesh against hers. He was hard and hot and the feel of him sliding against her slick heat made her moan into his mouth and tighten her fingers on his arms where she was now clutching him. But it made Aulay freeze again.
Afraid he was going to stop, Jetta tore her mouth from his and cried, "Husband, please."
Rather than urge him to continue, the words made him close his eyes and lean his forehead on hers. "Lass, ye're killing me."
Jetta stilled now too and frowned with confusion. "I do not understand. Why are you stopping?"
"Why indeed," Aulay muttered, sounding bitter, and then said almost wearily, "We can no' do this, lass."
"But I want to," she said, bewildered by his refusal. "And we are married. I--" Her words died and they both glanced sharply toward the door when it opened. Rory started into the room, paused abruptly as he took in their position, and then turned a sharp angry look on Aulay and snapped, "A word, brother," before turning away and stepping out of the room. He pulled the door closed silently behind him.
"Well, hell," Aulay muttered, rolling off her and flopping onto his back on the bed.
Jetta hesitated and then sat up and tugged her shift down to cover herself before pulling it back onto her arms. Once she was decently covered, she looked uncertainly to Aulay.
"Your brother seemed . . ."
"Angry?" Aulay suggested when she hesitated to say it.
"Aye," she admitted, and then cleared her throat and asked, "do you know why?"