Dream of Me/Believe in Me

between astonished wariness and reluctant pride.
    Cymbra stiffened. “Is something wrong?” She couldn't meet his gaze, swept as she was by mingled shock and embarrassment at her unbridled response. But still she was his wife and must be mindful of his welfare. Especially since he had been so thoroughly attentive to her own.
    “Not at all,” her husband murmured. What could possibly be wrong? Never mind that his grand plan showed every sign of having failed, at least so far as giving him back the control he had always taken for granted before this earthly goddess came into his life. He was hardly the sort to give up; the battle between them was only just begun.
    Yet neither could he give vent to the hot, surging lust that, incredibly, burned anew in his veins. She was too untried, too delicate. If he took her again before she had time to recover from this first joining, it would be nothing more than abuse.
    With a half-stifled groan, he rolled out of the bed. There was some satisfaction in his wife's quick, wide-eyed glance in his direction before she promptly ducked her head back down, but it really didn't help much. Smothering a sigh that would have shaken the rafters had he uttered it, he went to the basin of water left outon the table, dampened a soft cloth, and returned to the bed.
    As he pulled back the covers, Cymbra tried to grab hold of them. “What are you doing? Don't—”
    “Be quiet,” he said gruffly and sat beside her. Ignoring her startled response, he shoved the furs to the foot of the bed and forced a hand between her legs, which she had tightly clenched. “I want to be sure you've stopped bleeding.”
    She opened her mouth to protest further but before she could do so he applied just enough pressure to her knees to force her legs apart and quickly placed the cloth gently against the juncture of her thighs. She had bled, and he who had waded through rivers of gore on uncounted battlefields winced to see it, but it had stopped. As had all thoughts of taking her again so soon.
    He tossed the cloth onto the table, pulled the covers over her, and got back into bed. She remained very stiff, shocked no doubt by his frank speech and action. She needed to learn that he would have his way with her, for she was no more—or less—than his property. But in the meantime …
    Wolf sighed and gathered his wife to him, ignoring her efforts to hold herself apart. Although sleep beckoned, he forced himself to stay awake, gently stroking her back until she relaxed.
    Her breathing had grown slow and deep when he reflected that merely getting married had been a great deal more trouble than he would ever have expected. However, now that he had Cymbra safely wedded—and bedded—that was bound to change.
    She was a gently reared girl, schooled in the duties of a lady. After tonight, she'd make a nice, quiet, docile wife, exactly as he had expected. He was quite confident of that, he told himself groggily. There was no doubt about it. No doubt at all.

Chapter SEVEN

    M ARRIAGE, WOLF SAID GRIMLY, IS SUPPOSED to be for a man's convenience. A wife exists to ease his burdens, keep his home, and give him children. There's nothing unreasonable about any of that, is there?”
    Thus appealed to, Dragon looked thoughtful for a moment. I suppose it's worked out that way a time or two. But from what I can see, generally it's the women who call the tune.”
    “That's ridiculous,” Wolf snapped. “Men are stronger and wiser. We are calm, capable of reason, not ruled by emotion. Obviously, the gods meant us to be in charge.” As though to emphasize his conviction, he swung his long sword high over his head and brought it straight down at Dragon.
    His brother grinned, leaped back, and parried with his own weapon. The clash of steel rang across the training field. Here and there, men stopped their activities to watch this battle between two supremely powerful and well-matched opponents.
    “Mayhap,” Dragon said, his breathing little altereddespite his exertion, “but the average man left to his own devices goes from woman to woman, enjoying himself He doesn't worry particularly about the roof over his head, or even so much about the crops in his fields, or indeed whether or not he has any fields.”
    He slashed the air in front of Wolf as steel struck steel again. “If he wants to pick up and go adventuring, he goes. He enjoys his life and doesn't concern himself too much with the future. But let a man get a wife and