right, damn her! He didn’t?dare take her until tonight, but he needed to cool the fire in his loins!?At that moment his wife’s buxom maid came around the corner.
Dom O’Flaherty’s blue eyes narrowed speculatively, and a quick?winning smile lit his features. Molly stopped, eyed him, and instantly?ascertained his need. Wordlessly she took his hand and led him?around the corner into a darkened alcove. She loosened his codpiece,?and gasped with delight. “Oh, my Lord! You’ll more than do!” Her? arms slid up around his neck and she whispered excitedly, “Give?us a kiss, love.” He bent to find her mouth, all the while fumbling?to raise her petticoats. He backed her up against the stone castle?wall, and Molly wrapped her legs about his waist. Clasping the?plump cheeks of her buttocks in his hands, Dom O’Flaherty buried?himself deep in the servant girl’s willing warmth. He worked himself?back and forth, not caring that he was banging her head against the?wall. She moaned, half with pleasure and half with pain. He obtained?his release quickly. Molly was set back down on her feet and,?straightening his garments, O’Flaherty left her without so much as?a word or a glance. Molly slipped to the floor, whimpering.
Skye, who seldom prayed outside church, was thanking every?saint in the calendar for her temporary reprieve. Tonight there would?be no reprieve. She would be forced to submit to whatever it was?men did with women. She had some vague ideas, but her sisters had?never discussed sex, and Anne had not gotten around to enlightening? her. She was going to be at Dom’s mercy.
She took her brush and removed the tangles from her hair. Then,?smoothing the wrinkles from her wedding gown, Skye opened the?door and left her room. Dom appeared from the darkness and, arm?in arm, they descended into the hall below to greet their guests.
The festivities had begun without them, and a cry went up as they?entered. Dubhdara O’Malley, already half drunk, lurched forward?and escorted his daughter and her new husband to the high board.?Skye was horrified to find herself with her husband on her right and?Lord Burke on her left.
“Good evening, Mistress O’Flaherty. My best wishes on your?future happiness,” he said formally.
“Thank you, my lord,” she answered. She dared not look at him?lest she begin to weep again, but her hand shook as she reached for?her goblet. Noting this, his heart contracted painfully.
The O’Malley of Innisfana had spared no expense. Huge bowls?of raw oysters, platters of prawns and shrimp boiled in white wine and herbs, were set on all the tables. Whole sea trout broiled and?stuffed, first with salmon then with smaller fresh-water trout, and?finally with small shellfish, were placed at intervals on the tables.?The bridegroom stuffed himself with raw oysters, loudly reminding?everyone of their aphrodisiac quality.
The next course consisted of whole swans, capons in a lemon-?ginger sauce, larded ducks, plump golden broiled pigeons, whole?baby lambs, sides of half-cooked beef dripping their fat and bloody?juices, potted rabbits, small pasties of minced meats, bowls of new?lettuces and small green onions in vinegar, silver trenchers of bread? and crocks of sweet butter. No one went thirsty, for silver pitchers?of wine, both red and white, and earthenware pitchers of ale were?placed on all the tables and kept filled.
The last course consisted of shaped jellies in all colors, custards,?fruit pies, wheels of sharp cheeses, sweet cherries from France, and?oranges from Spain. The chef, hired for the occasion, had done?himself splendid credit with a magnificent marzipan confection. Its?top decoration depicted a married couple, the bridegroom’s codpiece? conspicuously large, the bride with a coy smile upon her face, her?eyes fixed on the bulge.
Toast after toast was drunk. Some were ribald, some thoughtful.?Finally Dom O’Flaherty turned to his bride. “Go prepare yourself?for me, pet. I am well fed by your father’s gracious bounty. Now?I would feast on your sweet flesh.”
Her cheeks reddened and she shivered. “I must bathe,” she an-?swered. “There was no time this morning.”
“How long?”
“An hour.”
“Half, Skye. I will be denied no longer.”
She stood, and immediately a shout went up. Gathering her skirts?up, Skye fled the hall followed by her sisters and, behind them, a?group of laughing young men. If they caught the bride or any of her?maids, they would be allowed a kiss as forfeit. With incredible?swiftness the O’Malley sisters gained Skye’s chamber-where the?young couple would spend their wedding night-and slammed the?door, successfully shutting out the young men.
Before the fireplace a small steaming tub of water stood ready.
Skye looked gratefully to her servant. “Bless you, Molly, you?anticipated me.”
“Knew you didn’t have time before,” replied the maid, helping?Skye undress. The sisters busied themselves putting Skye’s beautiful?gown away and straightening the chamber. Sine took the warming?pan and ran it smoothly beneath the bedcovers. “Nothing cools a?man’s ardor like cold sheets,” she observed.
Skye kept her mind on her bath. If she allowed herself to think?of what was coming she would go to pieces. She glanced about her?bedchamber. Aside from the flowering branches placed there in?keeping with the old pagan fertility ritual, it seemed the same. The?large black oak bedstead, hung with azure blue velvet, had been?freshly made with fine linen sheets redolent of lavender. The tall?matching armoire was now empty, of course, her clothing having?been packed for transport to her new home. She washed quickly,?stepping out of her tub into a warmed towel. Her lovely body was?rosy from the heat of the water. Molly quickly dried her and lavishly?applied scented powder with a lamb’s wool puff. The sisters sneezed.?as the excess filled the air.
“Open the window a bit,” commanded Moire. “And fetch the silk?robe, Molly.”
Skye flushed. “Oh, no, Moire!,Not
“Skye!” Moire’s voice was sharp. “It’s an O’Malley family cus-?tom, and we have all followed it. Lord, sister, you’re the fairest of?us all. There’s nothing for you to be ashamed of, lass.”
“But for all those leering men to see me naked!”
“We O’Malleys are proud to show we come to our husbands?unblemished. You will follow the custom as we all have.” The silk?robe was loosely wrapped around the bride, and then Moire said,?”Peigi, unbolt the door. I hear the men coming.”
Peigi had no sooner stepped back from the door when it burst?open and the laughing guests poured into the little room. Dom?O’Flaherty had already been partially disrobed by his friends. Dubhdara
O’Malley stepped up to his youngest daughter. He was very?drunk, but he could yet play his part.
He held his hand up for silence, and the room quieted. “This is?the last of me daughters to be wed. As with all my girls. I am proud?to show that she comes unblemished, and free of pock marks, to her?bridegroom.” He nodded to Moire and Peigi, who drew the simple?robe from Skye and let it slip to the floor. The girl was now com-?pletely naked. As she turned, the sisters held up Skye’s long dark?tresses to show the assembled guests that nothing was hidden beneath?her hair. In the candlelight, her beautiful body glowed like mother-?of-pearl.
An audible sigh rippled through the room as the men and women?admired and envied the young virgin’s perfection. The bridegroom?was visibly affected. Skye was exquisite, with her small, pink-tipped?breasts, her slim, long legs ending in slender, high-arched feet.
Suddenly the guests were thrown into shock as Niall Burke pushed?forward, boldly allowed his silver eyes to slide over the bride, and announced, “O’Malley! As your overlord I claim the
The master of Innisfana swallowed hard. “A poor jest, my lord,”?he replied, now very sober. He was hoping to God that Burke was?only drunk, but he knew Burke wasn’t. “My daughter’s no peasant?wench,” he stated firmly.
Lord Burke drew himself up to his full imposing height. His?proud glance swept the room. “I am your overlord, Dubhdara?O’Malley. You swore obedience to me on my tenth birthday. It was?by my most generous hand that you received this barony of Innisfana.?Our laws demand that you comply with my request.”
“No!” shouted Dom. “She’s mine! Mine! And I am not your?vassal.”
Lord Burke looked scornfully at the younger man. “I will remind?you, O’Flaherty, that your family owes obedience to my father-?whose deputy I am. I claim the
There was a sharp intake of breath around the room. Dubhdara?O’Malley shifted uncomfortably. Then suddenly it came to him that?the final decision rested with his new son-in-law. “I yield to you,?my lord,” he said quickly, nearly sighing with relief.
