A NEW LIFE TREASURED
(Sequel to A New Love Deserved)
By Linda Ellen
September 2010
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (but those people aren't using them anyway!)
CHAPTER 1 – On the Honeymoon
Michaela ducked her head under the waterfall of water in the luxurious spa bathroom of the Roosevelt Suite, their honeymoon haven in Denver's Brown Palace Hotel.
The warm water felt wonderful as it trickled in rivulets down her body, instantly reminding her of the skillful fingertips of a certain man... her new husband.
At the thought of him, her stomach fluttered and she closed her eyes and sighed in pure bliss. Sully. God how she loved him! Her best friend...her soul mate...the new father of her children...the love of her life. Now, her husband...and her lover. It had been seven days since her fairy tale wedding to her handsome prince...seven marvelous, amazing, wonderful, and absolutely perfect days. She already treasured their new life together.
Just now, Sully had stayed downstairs on several mysterious errands after returning together from Coors Field, where they had attended an exciting game of the Colorado Rockies major league baseball team.
Although watching the game had been fun, it had also been miserably hot sitting in the sun on this extremely warm late spring day. Michaela hadn't been able to resist taking the opportunity to slip on up to their room and freshen up before her husband rejoined her.
As she relaxed in the shower and reached for her shampoo, her mind drifted back on all that had happened in just seven short days.
Of course there was the wedding – it couldn't have been lovelier or more perfect. Tears came to her eyes as precious memories flashed across the screen of her mind...Loren in top hat and tails, waiting with her Cinderella carriage to transport her to her wedding venue... Sully looking absolutely stunning in his tuxedo...Brian being ultra careful carrying the ring pillow...the girls in their matching flower girl dresses happily tossing rose petals...Sully's expression as she practically floated down the aisle to him...the tears in his eyes as he vowed to love, honor, cherish, and protect her for the rest of their lives...the expressions of the children as Sully pledged to love them and be their father forever...
Then the reception - it had been such a relaxing and fun affair. She grinned as she remembered the many toasts...and roasts...from friends and family...the many dances she had shared with her new husband...Sully's reaction as he realized he held in his hands the deed to his ancestral land...laughing and teasing while feeding each other pieces of their wedding cake – and Grace's hilarious cake topper! The silly fun of trying to master the steps to The Electric Slide...
Then...of course...the greatly anticipated wedding night. Even now it seemed like a dream...the most wonderful dream she could ever have imagined. It ...Sully...had by far exceeded all her hopes and expectations.
After their breathtakingly romantic consummation of their marriage in their ancestors' beautiful wedding bed, Michaela and Sully had enjoyed several more love making sessions as the night drifted on, neither of them becoming sleepy nor wanting their special first night to come to an end.
She remembered the look in his eyes when he had confided, "Michaela...I'm so thankful we waited till we were married...to make love the first time. It made it so much more special." She had nodded in agreement, adding with a soft smile, "I am, too. This way...I almost felt like...a new bride again."
They had spent hours just basking in the glow of being alone together, kissing, loving, holding...talking...feeding each other pineapple chunks as they sweetly reminisced about their first full day alone together after their engagement when Sully had finally shared with her the amazing journal...and the depth of his passion. Finally near dawn they had fallen into a blissful sleep in each other's arms.
The day after the wedding, Cloud Dancing had driven them to the small Meadow Lake airport for the short flight to Denver. Chuck Larson, Sully's pilot friend from Billings, had volunteered to fly them in his plane to Centennial Airport in Denver so that they wouldn't have to drive or have someone else drive them. After the honeymoon, they planned to board a flight to Boston at Denver International.
When planning the wedding, the couple had read in the journal that the original Sully and Michaela had stayed at the elegant Brown Palace Hotel, which had just opened its doors five months prior to their wedding. Michaela had been thrilled to realize it was still in existence! To think that such a place had survived the passing of one hundred forty years – not only active and intact, but also continually renovated and modernized to meet the needs and cares of today's traveler. Learning this, the modern couple had known instantly where they would spend their own honeymoon.
Then, having brought the beloved old journal with them on their trip, they had been thrilled just the past evening to discover a previously overlooked pocket in the back which held several folded sheets of elegant stationary from the Brown Palace, circa 1870. On these was a detailed account of their ancestors' honeymoon, written in Michaela's own hand. What a treasure! Like eager children, the modern day couple had poured over the details of their namesakes' foray into wedded bliss.
Beginning to rinse the shampoo from her hair, Michaela smiled as she remembered the first Michaela's words...
May 27, 1870
As I write these words, I am sitting at a desk in our beautiful hotel room in the middle of the night, gazing at my wonderful husband of five days as he sleeps. My husband! How satisfying it feels to write those words! Tears of joy come to my eyes each time I think of him. Sully is so gentle, kind, attentive, and loving toward me...and he's so incredibly handsome! Sometimes I think I must be dreaming...that I have found such a love...I never thought I would ever be this happy...
I will treasure always the memory of our fairytale wedding. The only flaw being our precious friend and brother, Cloud Dancing, needing to beat a hasty retreat immediately following the ceremony due to the unwelcome appearance of General Custer, although I am thankful our Indian friend was able to stand in as Sully's best man. I am also thankful I was kept ignorant of the fact that General Custer lay tied up in my clinic during most of the festivities, as that surely would have put a damper upon my joy.
The reception, the dancing, the cake, and the fun were all so very wonderful...but our night together in our honeymoon caboose was so absolutely breathtaking as to be fodder for a romantic dime novel.
I had been so frightened of the moment when Sully and I would consummate our marriage...but I needn't have been. He was so incredibly gentle and patient with me, taking his time to prepare me in every way for that moment when he would transform me from a "bride" to a "wife." I felt a fleeting pain, very brief... so brief it was quickly forgotten as it was followed immediately by the most incredible sensations, such as I have never even imagined before... Indeed, my heart flutters and my skin tingles each time I remember...
Although I have nothing with which to compare it...Sully's lovemaking is so perfectly wonderful...sensuously sweet...gently provocative...and incredibly stimulating as to render me entirely under his spell with his first kiss. Instinctively I know I am a very lucky woman.
Michaela grinned as she remembered the last line of that entry and nodded to herself. You were indeed a lucky woman, Michaela – AS AM I. But your Sully couldn't have been any more wonderful, sweet, sensuous or stimulating than MY OWN. We are both lucky women...
In the midst of that thought, Michaela sensed she was no longer alone in the shower several seconds before she felt his hands slide around her body in marital familiarity, gently cupping parts of her anatomy which had been unknown to him only seven days before. As he pressed her smooth back against his warm, muscular, hairy chest and his lips sensuously grazed the side of her slender neck, she realized how very familiar his intimate caresses were to her - already. That was her last coherent thought as she felt herself begin to melt under his expert ministrations.
As he turned her in his arms and joined their lips, his body becoming soapy and slick from the remaining shampoo and soap on hers, she sighed in absolute surrender to his kisses as Michaela's words floated across the pages of her mind...sensuously sweet...gently provocative...incredibly stimulating. I couldn't have worded it better myself.
Her hands automatically came up and entangled themselves in his wet hair and his in hers as his mouth devoured hers. After several moments he broke the kiss, his lips blazing a wet trail across her cheek to her neck, his hands caressing her intimately as he rasped, "You been drivin' me crazy all day, woman!" She chuckled as he added, "I could hardly pay attention to the game for lookin' at you!"
Pulling back to gaze into her eyes, already hazy with passion, he murmured provocatively, "I watched a drop of sweat roll down your chest and disappear into that hidden valley inside your t-shirt and I thought I was gonna lose my mind! I nearly threw ya over my shoulder and took off runnin' for the hotel," he finished in a snicker.
"Then you would have missed your team winning their game," she teased, biting her lip to keep from moaning as his fingers gently worked their magic in private places.
"Ahh, but I would 'ave achieved somethin' even better," he murmured into her ear as his hands gripped her hips and he pressed himself against her sensually.
Almost completely under his spell and having to concentrate hard to continue their banter, she murmured, "What, pray tell, would that be?"
"Oh like...a home run...usin' my bat to send a hit straight down centerfield..." he whispered suggestively as he nipped her earlobe. His words set her on fire as his hands effectively rendered her body totally pliable.
"Home runs are usually... fly balls... not grounders," she managed to murmur as she kissed away the rivulets of water on his cheek, her body automatically arching into his.
He chuckled, whispering, "Know it all..."
Their banter having ignited a fire within her that couldn't be denied, she whispered breathlessly into his ear, "Sully..."
"Hmm?"
"Stop talking and make love to me..."
Pleasantly surprised at her boldness, his sparkling blue eyes widened for the barest second and he murmured with a grin, "Yes ma'am," before he reached down and grasped one of her knees, coaxing it around his waist as he plunged himself home. Moaning in ecstasy, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he reached down and lifted her legs around his hips. His strong arms held her body in place as he set up their rhythm, bracing his feet firmly for balance.
Throwing her head back and moaning, "Oh Sully," she luxuriated in his lovemaking as he masterfully took them both to the absolute pinnacle of bliss. After a few minutes, their cries of ecstasy echoed off the bathroom walls, only slightly muffled by the noise of the water.
Afterwards, Sully released his grip on her body and allowed her feet to slip back to the tiled floor. Leaning their entwined bodies against the shower wall, breathless and quivering with aftershocks, he chuckled softly.
"What?" Michaela whispered against his neck.
"I was imagining the sports announcer sayin'...'Sully sends a hard line drive straight down centerfield, easily intercepted by Mrs. Sully'."
"Mmm, intercepted...and enjoyed by Mrs. Sully," she instantly returned, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
He lovingly smoothed her wet hair back from her face and she returned the favor as they gazed adoringly into each other's eyes. "I love you so much, Mrs. Sully," he whispered as he leaned in for a thorough kiss.
Pulling back, he murmured softly, "You'll probably like me more later if I use this shower as it was intended...seein's how I got all hot & sweaty sittin' in those bleachers. Care ta help?" he asked with a mischievous twinkle.
She tilted her head back and gazed deep into his eyes before lifting an eyebrow at him and quipping softly, "...you wash me...and I'll wash you."
OOOOOOOO
Later, husband and wife lay comfortably entwined in each other's arms in the king sized bed in their exquisite hotel room, The Roosevelt Suite. As Michaela languidly ran her fingers across Sully's warm bare chest and he caressed the nape of her neck, each with their eyes closed, Michaela whispered, "What did you do downstairs after I went up in the elevator?"
Sully grinned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Arranged a surprise...or two."
She opened her eyes and leaned back to gaze at him. "For me?"
"Well...yeah...but I'm gonna enjoy 'em, too," he murmured teasingly, turning his head to wink at her.
She searched his eyes for clues but found none.
"What are they?"
He clamped his lips shut and shook his head.
"Tell me!" she begged, her fingers finding a ticklish spot near a rib she had only just discovered that morning.
"No fair!" he squawked, squirming out of her grasp. "I never shoulda let you know I'm ticklish there – I knew you'd use it against me!" Quickly he rolled on top of her as she laughed delightedly, effectively trapping her hands between their bodies.
He growled teasingly as she gazed up at him adoringly.
"I love you," she purred.
"Love you, too," he murmured, brushing her lips with his. "But that don't mean I'm gonna tell ya," he added, gently rubbing noses with her.
"Sullyyyyyy," she begged.
He grinned and shook his head. "Nope. Tomorrow."
She could see he wasn't going to budge. "Oh all right," she sighed in defeat as he flashed a dimpled smile at her and rolled back to his previous position, focusing for a moment on the bedside clock.
"It's almost six. Ya hungry yet?"
"Starved."
Their eyes met and a knowing look passed between them.
"Insatiable," he snickered suggestively.
He gently caught her hand as she tried to playfully swat at him while retorting, "Look who's talking!"
He flashed her a 'little boy being bad' grin and wiggled his eyebrows. "Guilty as charged. After all...I'm still makin' up for lost time." She gazed at him as a vision of a little blue-eyed boy of their own came to her, just like it had in Robert E.'s garage the night of their first date.
"Sully?"
"Hmm?"
Michaela looked down for a moment, unsure whether to bring up the subject. He touched a finger to her chin and she met his eyes again. He raised his eyebrows in silent question.
"What would you think if we...if I...got pregnant on our honeymoon?" she asked softly, her eyes scanning his for his reaction. She didn't have to wait long.
Grinning broadly he leaned in and gave her a firm kiss, murmuring, "I can't think of anything I'd like better."
"Truly?"
He chuckled softly and gently rubbed noses with her. "Truly. I been kinda thinkin' about that myself a little...well...I guess a lot," he admitted sheepishly.
"You have?" Michaela asked breathlessly. "We never really talked about it...I guess because we were so focused on the adoptions..."
"Yeah. I know we've got four great kids already, but...it'd be kinda nice to have a baby around the house again, you know? A baby that we made...together."
They paused for a few moments as they each imagined what that would be like.
"What would you want...a boy or a girl?"
"I think I would like...a little girl," he said softly, grinning into her face. "...But only if she has your eyes."
Michaela peered back at him shyly, "Well, she might have, but...you realize if she does, she'll probably have my stubbornness, too."
He nodded, then wrinkling up his nose playfully, he teased, "That's the way I like 'em."
She chuckled in response as he took her in his arms for a warm hug, kissing her neck and rocking her back and forth.
After a few minutes he pulled back and took her hand in his. Kissing her fingers, he whispered, "So you never said...what'dya want for supper?"
"I don't know," she sighed lazily. "I can't decide if I want to get dressed and go out somewhere or just call for room service. It seems like we've ordered room service so often..."
He snickered again and she blushed, remembering a naked Sully, more than once, scrambling for his robe so he could answer the door and let "room service" in while she hid under the covers, the waiter keeping his expression carefully neutral.
"Tell you what," Sully decided, sitting up and bringing her with him, "why don't we get dressed and check out that restaurant downstairs...the one I don't need a tie for."
"The Ship's Tavern?"
"Yep."
"Sounds like a plan."
OOOOOOOOOOOO
An hour later they were seated at a corner table in the restaurant, enjoying its vintage pub atmosphere and delicious food. The interior of the tavern closely resembled an old time wooden ship with large dark rustic wooden beams and a wood chandelier, models of old clipper ships and maps on the walls, and even an authentic looking ship's "crow's nest" in the center. The tables were covered with checkered blue and white tablecloths, very homey and comfortable. Sitting there looking around the large room, they couldn't help but wonder if their ancestors had eaten there also.
They had chuckled together at the look of shock on the waiter's face when they declined his many offers of liquor. The poor man walked off shaking his head at diners that would come to a pub just to eat food.
"How is your steak?" Michaela asked her husband as she took a bite of her delectable salmon.
"Great, Mé'oo'o. How's your salmon?"
"Wonderful..." she paused and looked over at him shyly. "Do you realize that's the first time you've called me that since we got to the hotel?"
Sully glanced at her, a little shocked. "Really? Guess I've been...too busy."
Michaela met his eyes, her twinkling teasingly. "I was beginning to think I wasn't your sweetheart anymore."
He leaned over and captured her lips with his for a thorough 'sweethearts' kiss. "Not a chance. You'll always be my sweetheart...my Mé'oo'o," he corrected with a grin. "Né-méhotatséme - I love you so much, Michaela."
"Né-méhotatséme, Sully...with all my heart," she answered sweetly as they gazed into each other's eyes for several moments.
"Excuse me...I hope I'm not out of line here, but I couldn't help overhearing...what language is that?" asked a man at the next table.
Sully thought that a little strange since they had been speaking very low to each other, but nonetheless answered the man politely, "Cheyenne."
"Cheyenne! Wow, that's amazing," the man commented.
Sully glanced at him, unsure how to respond.
"Oh, pardon me," the man continued, wiping his hands on a napkin and leaning over to shake hands with Sully. "I'm Tom Drexler, and this is my wife, Diane."
Sully shook with him a trifle guardedly. "Byron Sully. My wife, Michaela," he returned, adding, "Dr. Michaela Quinn."
"Dr. Michaela Quinn-Sully, if you don't mind," she quipped, grinning at her husband. He gave her a pleased wink.
"You're newlyweds on your honeymoon, aren't you?" the man continued.
As Michaela blushed and Sully turned to regard the man, trying to figure his motive for asking such a personal question, the man went on, "I recognize the signs...we're on our honeymoon, too."
"Nice to meet you," they both replied. After a few minutes of small talk, each couple went back to enjoying their meal.
A little later, as Sully paid their bill and they rose to make their way out of the tavern, Tom Drexler stood and bid them goodbye as they exchanged parting pleasantries. The couple watched them leave, exchanging pointed glances.
Out in the hotel corridor, Sully swept his wife into a warm hug. "The night's young...wanna go somewhere? Dancin' or somethin'?"
"Oh Sully, I'd love to! Where shall we go?"
"Earlier a guy told me about a new place just opened up, called, "The Classics Club." It's close by and he said they play mostly oldies, 60's, 70's, and 80's. Wanna try it?"
"Lead the way...Mé'oo'o," she murmured with a half grin, taking his arm as he led her out the main doors and down the street.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
The newlyweds swayed together on the dance floor in the darkened club as one song ended and the music to Foreigner's smooth ballad, "I've Been Waiting for a Girl Like You" began. [Reader-for maximum scene pleasure, go to youtube and search for: watch?v=BrzzR-3PPqw ]
With their cheeks pressed together and their eyes shut, Sully murmured, "I remember this song - the words fit us to a tee. I coulda recited the first verse to ya before that Fourth of July dance to let you know how I felt...and the second fits us now."
As Lou Gramm's smooth tenor voice began the song, Sully pulled back and gazed into Michaela's eyes as they listened to the words.
So long... I've been looking too hard... I've been waiting too long...Sometimes I don't know what I will find... I only know it's a matter of time... When you love someone... when you love someone
Sully leaned in and kissed her lips softly, bringing her hand up to his chest and pressing it to his heart as they continued to sway to the smooth melody. He tipped his head back, his eyes intense, holding hers so that she couldn't look away...not that she wanted to.
It feels so right... so warm and true... I need to know if you feel it too... Maybe I'm wrong, won't you tell me if I'm comin' on too strong... This heart of mine has been hurt before... this time I wanna be sure
"That's exactly what I was thinkin'," Sully murmured softly as the second part played. "When I told you I loved you at the dance...and you hesitated...I thought my heart would stop until you said you loved me too," he confessed, once again baring his heart to the woman he loved.
Her heart melted at the look in his eyes. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she explained, "When you said it...the way you said it, it took my breath away and I...I couldn't get the words out at first to tell you my feelings. I'd dreamed of hearing you say those very words for so long." He smiled down at her in absolute bliss at her admission.
Lou Gramm went into the chorus of the song and Sully mouthed the words as he gazed into Michaela's eyes. He held nothing back from the expression in those magnetic blues, allowing her to see into the depths of his soul just how much he adored her. Tears came into her eyes and everything in the room faded away until there was only the two of them.
I've been waiting for a girl like you to come into my life...I've been waiting for a girl like you, a love that will survive... I've been waiting for someone new to make me feel alive... Yeah, waiting for a girl like you to come into my life
The singer went into the second verse and Sully pulled her even closer and pressed his cheek to hers, whispering the lyrics into her ear. The words seemed so personal, so private, as if written for them alone. His fingertips grazing the nape of her neck and his warm breath in her ear caused delicious tingles to shoot throughout her body, effectively stirring the fires of passion within her, the words fanning the flame...
You're so good... when we make love it's understood... It's more than a touch or a word we say... Only in dreams could it be this way... When you love someone, yeah, really love someone... Now I know it's right, from the moment I wake up till deep in the night... There's nowhere on earth that I'd rather be... than holding you tenderly
Michaela held her husband close as his whispered words of love filled her ear and went straight to her heart. As the chorus played again, Sully brought his lips around to hers and kissed her deeply, holding her tightly as they continued to sway to the smooth music.
The lovers were oblivious to the stares of the other dancers – some out of envy of their obvious love, some just plain nosey, joking among themselves that the couple should "get a room."
Before very much longer...they did just that and returned to their honeymoon hideaway.