"But what does that matter? Severn will not care for her tongue. He will make her obey."
"As your older brother Rogan has made his wife obey?"
She started to ask him how he knew of her family, but then she remembered that he was a Howard, and that his family spied on hers. But she also remembered that he had been out drinking with her brother Severn, and Zared knew that there were no gossips like men with a keg of beer to share. Instead of cursing him, as was her first inclination, she smiled. "Did Severn tell you of our brother?"
"In detail. He does not know whether to hate his sister-in-law or love her." Tearle ran his hand down her shoulder, his eyes lowered. "However did you hide all of that under your boy's clothes?"
Zared looked down at her breasts, which were pushing out above the velvet of her dress. She put her hand up to cover herself and at the same time started to move away from him, but he held her where she was.
He moved her hand away. "If I cannot touch, at least allow me to look my fill."
She felt herself blushing, and her body tingled all the way down to her toes. "Cannot touch?" she said, her voice catching.
"If our marriage is to end, if I ask the king to annul our marriage, then I feel that I must leave you a virgin. If you are to get another husband, then I would think that he'd want the pleasure of taking your virginity."
"Oh," she said. "Of course." She couldn't breathe very well because his hand was running over the exposed skin of her breasts.
"I hope he is a good lover to you."
"Who?"
"The man you marry. The man who has the right to give you children. The man who has the right to take his pleasure with your beautiful body."
"I am not beautiful. You have just said so. And you said that I was not clever."
"But you have never heard me say that you were not the most desirable female I have ever met in my life, have you?"
"No, I have not." Her voice was very soft. His fingers were slipping down the front of her gown.
"In all the French court I saw no woman more desirable than you."
"A-and how am I d-desirable?" Her eyes were closed. She could smell the strong masculine scent of him, feel the heat of his body so near hers.
"There is an innocence about you. Too many women know all there is to know about men and women before they spend the night together. But you, you are an unmarked slate. A man may teach you what he wants you to know."
Her eyes flew open, and she stiffened in his arms. "I know how children are conceived," she said with some anger in her voice. "I am no ignorant country girl. I may not be a clever beauty like your Lady Anne, but I know a great deal about men and women."
He gave her an infuriating smile. "You know only of the act. You know nothing of what goes before."
"Before what?"
He ran his hand over her bare shoulder. "There is what happens between a man and woman that produces children, and there is lovemaking. A world of difference exists between the two of them."
She was still feeling hurt by his saying that she knew nothing. "Perhaps you should tell me the difference, and I will tell you if you are correct."
He gave a little laugh. "Ah, my little falcon, would that I could show you the difference, but there is my sanity to consider. I think we have had enough of this and that we had better go to dinner."
He dropped his arms from around her and started to move to the other side of the bed, but she caught his shoulder.
"You would tell Lady Anne, wouldn't you? She would be clever enough to understand you, wouldn't she?"
He looked over his shoulder at her. "I imagine that Anne knows all there is to know of what goes on between men and women. If your brother does not please her on their wedding night, Anne will no doubt complain to him and to anyone else who will listen."
Zared moved away from him and leaned back on the pillows, her arms crossed over her breast. "Then I shall complain also. When I have a husband who takes me to bed, if he does not please me, I shall tell him so."
He turned back to smile at her. "And to what will you compare his lovemaking? To your other lovers?"
"Why no, I…" Her eyes widened. "Do you think the Lady Anne has had other lovers? Severn will not like that."