Here Be Dragons - 1 Sharon Penman (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖

wife for three offenses only if ur>faithful, if she gambles away the family goods, or if she casts

250slurs upon his manhood. Should he strike her for any other reason, he then obligated to pay her a sarhaed or honor-price."Joanna had been listening in astonishment. " 'A woman, a serf, and a willow tree, the more you beat them, the better they be/" she quoted and shook her head. "But do men truly abide by these laws, Llewelyn?""Not all men, love. More do than not, however. You see, an abused wife has the right to appeal to her male kinsmen for succor, and if they fail to protect her, the shame then falls upon them. Knowing a careless slap will bring down upon his head the wrath of his wife's kin, and might even give rise to a blood feud . . . well, that does act to curb all but the most heedless of men."Llewelyn drew her still closer, and Joanna shifted so that she could pillow her head against his chest. "I begin to think the greatest gift the Almighty could give any woman would be for her to be born Welsh!""Or to marry a Welshman," Llewelyn suggested, and kissed her. For Joanna, it was as it had been on that November noon at Rhosyr; she experienced again sensations exciting and unfamiliar, found her body responding to his touch like a flower starved for sun. All her senses seemed suddenly to have intensified, and when he slid his hand into the bodice of her gown, began to caress her breast, she gave a gasp, sought his mouth with hers.Llewelyn was delighted. Brushing aside her fall of thick ebony hair, he put his lips to the pulse in her throat, with his free hand unfastening the side lacings of her bliaut. "Sweet. . . very sweet. I must have been well and truly out of my mind not to take you to my bed ere this," he murmured, utterly taken aback when Joanna abruptly went rigid in his embrace, then recoiled as violently as on that day at Rhaeadr Ewynol.For a startled moment, Llewelyn did not move, staring up at her in amazement.He could not have mistaken her willingness, the way her body warmed under his caresses. She was not merely acquiescent, she was eager. That had been no pretense, he'd wager his life on it. Yet there was no pretense, either, in the stricken look on her face, no denying her sudden fear. He could only assume he'd gone too fast, fondled her too intimately, too soon. Coming to his feet, he said, "What is it, love? You've no cause for fear, Joanna, not with me.""But you do not know what I've done!""What you've done?" Whatever Llewelyn might have been expecting to hear, that was not it.On the verge of tears, Joanna nodded. "I did go to your chambers this morning to ask your forgiveness. She . . . Cristyn was there, and I... oh, Llewelyn, Iburned your bed!"Llewelyn bit down on his lower lip, pulled her back into his arms"Yes, love, Iknow."

251"You know?" she said incredulously. "And you're not angry?" "Well/ I'd rather you not make a habit of it." But with that, Llewe, gravity shattered into a multitude of mirthful splinters, and he bed until he, too, was on the verge of tears.giddy with relief, Joanna began to laugh, too, until Llewelyn kissed again."Now," he said, with a grin that caught at her heart, "ere I . you to bed, have you any other sins to confess?"Joanna found herself longing to admit how much she loved him.BUt she did not, for it was not fair to burden him with a love he might ever be able to return. She shook her head, looking up at him with eyes soft and glowing, such utterly trusting eyes, that Llewelyn caught his breath."It will be good for you, Joanna," he promised. "I'll give you as much time as you need; we do have all night.""DO you know what Isabelle told me? That a woman will find the greatest pleasure in an older man's bed. She says a youth of twenty or so will pounce upon a girl like a dog on a bone, will be done and dying away almost ere he begins. But a man of a more seasoned age knows well how toin her words, not minemount a mare and prolong the ride!""I'm almost afraid to ask, but how did Isabelle come to be so worldly, so knowing in carnal matters? John gave her a crown; did she give him horns?""Of course not! She knows that older men make better lovers because Papa did tell her so. Llewelyn . . . why are you laughing at me?""Because I suspect, my darling, that you're three swallows short of tipsy."Joanna peered into her half-empty cup of mead, trying to remember whether this was her second or third. "I believe," she said thoughtfully, "that you might well be right. I do feel. . . strange."Llewelyn moved his hand caressingly up her thigh. "How, Joanna?""Feather-light, as if all the bone and marrow in my body weighed no more than gossamer, as if your arms alone did anchor me to the earth." She shivered asLlewelyn tugged at the bodice of her chemise, 'feeing her breasts. His breath was hot on her skin, and she watched w'th fascination as her nipples swelled, became hard and taut. "Oh, LleWe'yn, love, you're right, I am tipsy! What I do not know is whether it is the mead, or whether it is you.""Let's find out," he said, and when she put her arms around his e°k/ he lifted her from the settle, carried her across the chamber to the bed.

2521Llewelyn had never before understood the appeal virgins had f other men, had always looked upon a woman's maidenhead as more ' an impediment to pleasure than a proof of purity. But now, with I anna, he found that virginity need not be embarrassing