This will be a collection of unseen scenes from Downton Abbey. Rather smuttish. Rather neccessary. ;)

Please enjoy responsibly.

The Wedding Night

Anna stuck her head in and glanced at the bed and took a few steps into the room. There was still no sign of any movement. She wondered if she should wake them or just let them sleep. It had been such an incredibly busy day before. And the trip into London to begin their honeymoon had been such a procession. She quickly decided on the latter, creeping quietly back to the door.

Peeking at the bed as she backed out; she smiled. Her Lady was looking more relaxed than Anna had ever seen her and the reason why lay entwined with her on the bed. Their covers were strewn aside, but they were covered by each other lying face to face. Mister Matthew had his arm resting across her with his hand just above her lower back, his fingers dangling above her spine. Anna felt a tingle up her own spine as she thought about what they might have done once she had been retired by the couple for the night. Even if they hadn't consummated, there were no more secrets between them. Of that Anna was sure.

Matthew had stopped her the night before as she tried to enter her Lady's room to undress her mistress with only the words;

"Tonight is mine Dear Anna. Do not let anyone disturb us, for any reason whatsoever and may I bid you the most lovely of nights." His eyes were darker blue than she had ever seen them. Dark with love and anticipation.

He had a look in his eye that Anna had seen only once before. The look in her own husband's eye the night she and Bates were married. She clicked the door shut as quietly as she could and headed back downstairs to see what she could do to help the household. It was approaching midday and she was sure someone could use her help.

Lady Mary heard the footsteps and heard the door creak shut as Anna left. She wondered what time it must be, and then a hundred thoughts of yesterday flooded her head all at once. She smiled before she opened her eyes.

As hard as she had tried to be stern and proper, her emotions had got the better of her so many times through the day. She had tried to be the Mary everyone had become accustomed to, but her transition into a softer Mary had begun. And Matthew had seen it. Every time she felt a smile creep to her lips, she would glance at him and meet his eyes. He always had the same small half-smile on his lips and a look in his eye that no one had ever seen before. And he was always looking at her. Directly into her. Beyond the façade that veiled her.

She thought of the car ride into the village to catch the train to London. Just the two of them alone together for the first time. The Chauffeur was well discreet enough to keep his eyes on the road and not be worried about the newlyweds in the back. The first part of the trip Matthew had set himself against the door and just stared at her. Mary sat, attempting to inch closer to him to bridge the distance but was getting no response from him. She occasionally glanced up and he was always looking at her with that half smile and those beautiful eyes the colour of the sky. Finally she held his gaze

"Do you always have to be such a gentleman?"

"Whatever do you mean, my Love?" His half-smile grew just a bit.

"We're married now Matthew. I thought you would be in a hurry to have your way with me." Her eyes glinted in challenge. Women should not be so forward, but the ache in her had been rising all day.

"My dearest, I have waited so long, it will not happen in the back seat of this car. But I will admit, I have been dying to properly kiss you. But I don't want to make you untidy. There will be well-wishers from the village at the station and I want them to see you as beautiful as you are in this very moment." He was smiling fully now. Not letting her teasing rebuke of his apparent lack of desire bring him down.

He leaned towards her, his eyes begging for something. She didn't move, but turned her head to him.

"I hope never to be a disappointment. To you especially." He noticed her eyes had a look that he had rarely seen. A look of insecurity.

"In a thousand years, you will never disappoint me, as long as you are near me, as long as I know that you love me" He crept closer to her on the seat as the countryside passed by.

"I know I can always count on you for a draught of self-confidence whenever I start to doubt…"

Her words were cut off when he reached out and cupped the back of her neck with his hand and pulled her close. His lips crushed hers with just a hint of urgency. They had only kissed politely in front of the crowds at the ceremony, but now there was no reason to be reserved. The kiss deepened, both of them willing to drop their guard knowing that they had to justify nothing.

He dared to run his fingers along the silk of her dress that covered her leg. When she only kissed him harder his hand went between her legs and he slowly caressed her up until he felt a warmth. He groaned just slightly and pulled away from the kiss. He opened his eyes and stared at the woman who had agreed to be his partner, his wife, and soon, his lover.

Her neck was tilted back, her eyes closed and her mouth was still open. She had never looked more beautiful and his breath was caught. He did not know if it was more from the kiss, the touch, or the feeling that his heart would explode with the joy he was feeling.

He leaned close to her again and waited until she opened her eyes.

"You do make it incredibly hard to be a gentleman you know." She smiled.

Matthew didn't kiss her lips again, but leaned a little further and kissed her earlobe, running a trail of soft kisses down her neck and moved across the top of her dress. Ever so quickly he ran his mouth across her breasts and he heard her gasp. It took every last bit of control he had to sit up and lean back.

He kissed her forehead and whispered

"Later…"

Lady Mary smiled again as she opened her eyes. The room was still dark but she could make out the profile of her new husband and feel his nearness to her. She could still feel the warmth from their closeness as she shifted his arm off of her to slip out of bed. She stopped for a second to see if she had woken him, but the steady regularity of his breathing indicated to her he was still sound asleep. She thought of all the nights she had stayed by his side when he was wounded listening to that breathing to make sure he was fine. She was familiar with his patterns.

Aware that she was completely naked, she reached around on the floor to find something to cover herself with. Her fingers brushed over the silk of her wedding gown, and the thoughts of its slow removal flooded her mind.

The night before, much to her shock, he had sent Anna away. He had closed the door behind her and turned back to his new wife. He noticed the look on her face and wasn't sure what to make of it. May she never be predictable he thought to himself.

"I may not do things properly in some respects my darling, but tonight. I will do everything properly. And I'd rather start sooner than later because I fear it may take a while." He had closed the distance between them as he spoke and was removing his own jacket as he went. He tossed it over the chaise that sat near her table.

When he stopped in front of her where she sat on the chair by her dressing table, she would not meet his eyes. She stared at her hands folded neatly on her lap. She then went to fiddling with removing her tiara and her veil. She looked almost shy to him. He loved her so much. Every bit of her depth and emotion. Every roll of her eye, every snippy comment she made. He loved her all. His Mary.

"A penny for your thoughts my love?" he ran his fingers along her cheekbone and then her hair that he had so strongly desired to touch for so long now... When she said nothing, he lifted her face slowly so she had no choice but to look at him.

"My thoughts are worth everything right now. Can I be honest with you about something?"

"Please, only ever be honest with me."

"Well, be careful what you wish for." She rolled her eyes at him and he smiled just a bit. "I fear my thoughts are with a time past when I behaved very dishonourably. And now this night has come, and I have ruined it already by my youthful indiscretions."

She looked him directly in the eyes to make sure he knew exactly what she was talking about. She had to say it now, to be sure the air was absolutely clear between them as much as it pained her to do so. She expected to see disgust in his eyes, but his expression never changed. She saw only love. And devotion.

Matthew knelt down in front of her so he had to look up at her and took both of her hands in his.

"Tonight we start our lives together."

It was all he needed to say and he watched as all final bits of doubt and reservation melted from her expression and were replaced with a look of faith and desire. She leaned forward and kissed him so tenderly and passionately that he had to pull back for fear of reckless abandon.

He pulled her up from the chair she was sitting upon and pulled her close. She felt his desire for her. It caused a flush to her cheeks and a warmth to her loins as she reached up to undo his tie. Her deft fingers had it unstrung and tossed away before he knew what happened. She then went to his vest buttons. It didn't take long before he was standing in front of her shirtless. She noticed the scars of his days at war but noticed more how well defined he was. His suspenders hung down over his hips and she reached for them. He laughed as she pulled him forward and stepped herself backwards until he fell on top of her on the bed.

She couldn't stop kissing him, all the years of pent up desire for him were finally coming to fruition and she needed him in a way she never knew to be possible. He returned her kisses with a fervency of his own. He had never wanted anything so much as he wanted her. And now she was his.

He tried so hard to be as nimble with his fingers as she had been with hers and eventually he had to stop her and push himself up slightly.

"Whatever this monstrosity is that has you enslaved needs to come off. And I don't know how to do it" To his surprise, she laughed.

"Shall I call Anna back in? To help you out?"

He just laughed at her silliness,

"Not a chance. But I may need your help."

The next few minutes she guided him through the maze that was her wedding apparel, and eventually he had her down to her silk underdress.

"You can leave that on Matthew," She looked up at him and saw his eyes scanning her nearly nude body in the pale lamplight. Suddenly her lessons in modesty came back from her childhood.

"Not a chance my beautiful wife. I want to see you naked and I want to hold you in my arms." Matthew swore he saw her smile but it disappeared so quickly he couldn't have been sure.

He stood up and kicked off his shoes and very quickly removed the rest of his clothing. He lay on top of her and covered her with kisses raising her desire to near unbearable levels. His own was nearly beyond control as well. He felt her legs spread beneath him and knew that she was needing him in sense that she had not thought possible. He had wanted her from the first time he saw her in that top hat.

"Matthew. My only love, please… I need you. It won't hurt me. Please!"

This was all the encouragement he needed. He plunged deep, the last of his gentlemanly desire to not hurt her too badly on her wedding night was gone. Thrust out repeatedly in a flood of passion and desire that need never be held in again. In his euphoric haze, he heard her calling out his name almost in a chant. The inevitable course of nature lead to climax that took him nearly out of his own body.

She followed but a few strokes after and the two of them collapsed in a heap of spent passion. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. His arms holding as close as he possibly could.

"I don't think I could ever love you as much as I do right now. But let's shall see what tomorrow brings. And every tomorrow after that." He kissed the tip of her nose, and they both held each other as tight as they could.

Mary's thoughts came back to the present as she crouched holding her wedding gown to her bare skin. She felt flushed again at the thoughts of their night. She stood up, forgetting what she had gotten out of bed for in the first place, and cuddled back up to her husband covering them in a sheet so Anna could enter the next time she checked in.

When she looked at his face, she noticed his eyes were open and a small beam of sunlight from a crack in the curtains was shining across his eyes lighting them up the most incredible colour she had ever seen. She started and flung backwards a bit,

"I'm sorry my dear! Did I startle you?" He leaned up on one elbow and reached for her. Her pale, naked form in front of him gave him renewed desire to start all over again. She watched his eyes trail over her form and didn't feel the bit self-conscious.

"You did startle me. I suppose I'm not used to finding a man alive in my bed in the morning and you made me jump. Shame on you."

Her quick wit satisfied her temporarily as she saw the look of shock on his face and then the shock turned to incredulousness. It was finally summated by a roar of laughter, and she took the time while he laughed to lean over him.

"Oh my Mary. Give me until this next hour and you will never remember his name…"

With a slow kiss he made sure her mouth was too preoccupied for her to form a response to that…

A/N Thank you for taking the time to read this. There will be more, and I will happily take suggestions if there is a scene anyone would like to see played out. Or a random scene that needed insider knowledge. ;)

Cheers!