Where were we? Ah yes ...

He kissed her, warm, full, deep and deeper. She responded, knowing how it worked, not dreaming this time, not imagining furtive kisses with her Prime Minister over the dispatch box, questioning fumbles she'd imagined every night of her early reign, wondering, uncertain. Now she knew, now she would give and take.

His mouth moved on hers, the mouth of a lover, the open, hot, questing kisses of discovery, yet knowing each other so well. Their lips worked together, and the deepest instinct kicked in from years of preparation, for this time had been so long in coming that it hit them both with such force that their mouths were soon open, tongues searching, meeting, knowing.

He guided her back to lie down and she brought her hands to hold his head to her and take his mouth, take that beautiful part of him she had wanted for so long.

'No pain,' she murmured. 'No more pain. Touch me, please touch me. I cannot breathe without your touch.' And she took hold of his wrist and moved it between her legs. His brows creased in wonder but he was beyond censure. She was here, now. His life, his beauty, his hopes and dreams, and she was real.

His hand worked its way up and pushed against her through her drawers. She sighed into his mouth and pressed into his touch. When had she become so knowing? So certain of her own desire? She was his but he had not made her this way; it should have been him, it should have been him! Did she see the shadow pass over his face for she pulled him back down to her and kissed him so deeply he became dizzy. And with that his remorse melted.

Now only mattered. Now. Together.

Victoria reached down and unlaced her drawers, lifting her hips to tug them off. He helped, any other thoughts except touching her banished. He removed her other boot and slid her stockings off her legs, enjoying the slow exposure of her pale skin. He glanced up. She was staring down at him, her neat little teeth biting into her bottom lip. His mouth ticked at the corner and he felt the power of seduction course through him as he had in his youth. It had been so long. When her chest rose then was held, he knew he could still command it. An innate feeling of satisfaction pounded through him which focused itself at his groin. His breeches were in desperate need of release.

He moved over her again, letting his hand linger in the warmth between her legs. They fell open willingly for him and this time her brazen sexual need merely spurred him on. He leant down and kissed her again and she returned it with languid ardour. His fingers worked their way up the smooth warmth of her inner thigh and then found her.

Victoria broke away briefly to gasp in her pleasure. His fingers glided through her, she was so ready, so ready for him, so wet. Her eyelids fluttered at the perfection of it and she turned to him and smiled.

He had a look of wondrous sobriety on his face, as if he was still confused yet unable to prevent it. She reached up for another kiss and as his fingers parted her and swept up to circle that little bud at the top she broke off with another moan.

'Does it hurt?' he queried, and she could not tell if it was in jest or not.

She threw her head to the side and laughed. 'No! Oh, it is the most glorious thing! My darling, my darling, my love!'

He gave her the slightest smile – a Lord M smile – and focused on what he was doing to her. Now, right now, she was his, completely and utterly.

'Victoria … my Victoria …' And his fingers dipped up into her, two, right up into the throbbing heart of her and she rose to meet them, to propel them as deep into her as she could. She pulled in a breath as she felt them working inside her, learning her, feeling her, then they were out again and stroking, building her up to that moment.

Oh, it was him doing this, him. Her first love, her perfect man, her companion and friend. This man knew her, he had made her, she was his. It was always meant to be this way and in that moment neither of them doubted it.

She stared into him and he into her as his fingers nimbly and skilfully built her pleasure. Her breath caught and her neat little eyebrows furrowed as rapture approached. She gripped onto his shoulder and tried to mouth words to him but none emerged. William smiled down at her with eyes and lips. His confidence surged and he stroked ever stronger, harder, knowing she could take it all. He knew her. Perfect lover.

Wordlessly, she conveyed it to him and he read her. He moved his fingers faster, harder still, rubbing strongly over that nub of flesh he had only before imagined under his touch.

And there. There.

She came so hard she cried out. Here, with only the stone of the folly and the trees and the rain as witnesses, she could do so. She cried out loud and hard, letting her pleasure gleam from her with sudden brilliance.

He did not question what he would do next; lust coursed through him. He knelt up from her and quickly pulled off his coat, then, with almost unseemly haste, he undid his breeches. Her eyes widened when she saw him and he allowed a faint tinge of pride to take him. It reminded him of the look Caro had given him their first time.

Victoria sat up and turned a little for him. 'Help me with my gown. I want rid of it.'

It frustrated him but he fumbled at the hooks and eyes and together they managed to remove it quickly. But still she was not satisfied. She scrabbled around for the laces of her corset and he laughed as he pulled them out for her. There she was in only her chemise, but that soon was discarded and for a moment he was once more robbed of breath. His Victoria was naked before him, without shame, without doubt. She lay down over the voluminous masses of her clothes and held her hand out to him. He quickly rid himself of the rest of his clothes, only leaving his shirt on in his haste.

He must calm himself. He was so hard he would not last long, he feared. So he slowed things, and took time to gaze upon her. Lying so close he could breathe warm onto her skin. He placed a hand on her smooth belly and ran it slowly up, luxuriating in the milky skin he had imagined for so long. He cupped a breast and let his thumb graze over the nipple, already tight and hard in the outdoor air. Her breath caught and he glanced up at her. Her eyelids were heavy and her mouth was open to pull in breaths. He did it again. She pushed against his hand and, with the other nipple sitting so invitingly alongside, he lowered his head and took it in his mouth. Immediately, she arched up into him and tangled her fingers through his hair, holding him close.

'William …' she moaned, and he was grateful for the downy comfort of her breasts for she would have seen his eyes dampening otherwise.

He tongued and sucked on her while his hand plucked and rolled the other nipple. She liked it. Little mewls and sighs kept rising from her in tune with his ministrations. He could not remember a lover whom he could read so well.

His hand dropped again between her legs and found her so wet he could barely gain purchase on her.

'Oh, please, please,' she murmured. He could hold back no longer.

He moved over her and immediately she spread her legs wide for him. Again, her boldness as a lover struck him, but now it was for him and he would take it all.

He leaned over her, placed in readiness, so hard he was in pain, and kissed her again, opening her mouth, and breathing his heady desire through her.

He pulled back, barely, and they remained a whisper apart, their eyes locked. William braced himself with a grip on her shoulder and reached down to guide his desperately hard member.

And then he pushed into her. She was so wet he glided through with barely any resistance but then her body clung to him, keeping him as close as possible. He groaned suddenly and helplessly.

She bucked up and drew him further in and he met it with a firm thrust forward. He was inside her, fully and inexorably.

For a time neither breathed, both stared unblinking at the other as the full magnitude of their joining struck them. Her brows furrowed and she gripped him tight inside her, causing him to swallow sharply. There would never be such happiness again.

Slowly, surely, William moved in her, pushing his full, hard length through her giving flesh, feeling her, learning yet already knowing, for he had made her as she had needed him to.

Not once breaking eye contact, barely blinking, he made love to her, surely, steadily, suppressing his own pleasure to draw out hers once again. The feel of this woman coming around him would be his greatest triumph.

'William,' she said, so softly it feathered on her breath. 'At last … at last …'

He felt her clench on him and the wet, giving warmth of her held him cocooned in pleasure. 'Inside you,' he murmured and she bucked her sweet body against him, drawing him deeper in again. 'Inside you, inside you,' he repeated time and again. Where he belonged, where he was meant to be.

They moved instinctively and naturally, as attuned to their love making as they were to conversation or wit. She angled her leg up, prompting him to hook it over his arm and push himself deeper into her. He lowered his head and caught a nipple in his mouth, earning the most perfect sigh from her in reward.

And then she was murmuring something, almost to herself. He bent down, still ploughing steadily through her, to hear it.

'Yours … yours, yours, yours, yours …' she repeated over and over, a mantra of devotion. 'My love, my first love, my first heart …'

And with that he was lost. He had tried to give her her pleasure first but he was overcome. William came so hard he was blinded. He was coming into her, filling her, completing her. And then, as his groan of ecstasy rose loudly from him, he felt her pleasure grip him. She gasped and froze as the perfect glove of her body tightened around him inexorably. First love. Last love. Complete.

Afterwards they rolled over so that she could lie along him without him falling from her. Eventually, their breathing steadied and settled into a rhythmic harmony.

'It had to be,' she whispered.

'Yes,' he said.

They lay still, staring up at the cupola above them. The rain had stopped and the scent of the wet grass thickened the air.

'What I said then … I love you still, William.'

'And I love you. I have given up trying not to. It is impossible. I will love you until my last breath.'

'We have this always.'

'You will not regret?'

She pushed herself up from him and studied him with a frown as if the idea was an abomination to her. 'Regret? My only regret would have been not ever having this.'

They lay there, their bodies joined, and when he fell from her, they curled their limbs about each other and kissed, slow, long kisses which would last them a lifetime. It was only when the light around them turned russet that he lay back with the deepest sigh. 'I suppose we should return.'

She sighed too. 'Yes. We have been gone an awfully long time. Whatever shall we say?'

'That you sprained your ankle and we got caught in the rain.'

'So you think it best not to mention the nakedness?' she teased.

'On this occasion, Ma'am, complete honesty may not be advisable.'

She giggled and kissed the rise of his chest. 'And, as always, Lord M, I defer to your better judgement.'

'There is the slight matter of you having actually sprained your ankle, Ma'am.'

She frowned at him. 'You have known me in the Biblical sense, Lord M, I think perhaps you could call me Victoria now.'

'Just as you could call me William?'

She smirked at her hypocrisy. 'I did earlier.'

'As did I call you Victoria, but … there is a certain comfort to the familiar, don't you think … Ma'am?'

'I do, Lord M.'

'In all seriousness, however, do you feel able to ride my horse?'

'I think I'd rather enjoy it,' she smiled.

'We must return now, Ma'am.'

'I know. You shall have to help me with all these infernal layers. I hope you appreciate quite how straightforward it is to dress as a gentleman! Being a lady is a ghastly business!'

He laughed and pulled himself to his feet, reaching a hand down to help her up carefully. Together, they helped dress the other, all the while talking with the familiar ease they had grown accustomed to since the first day of their acquaintance.

For a moment, it would have been quite easy for them to pretend that they were not a widower and a married woman, but a couple who had spent the happiest years together in wedlock. Perhaps, for those few moments alone together, they did.

When they had finally managed to put all their clothes back on, he helped her over to his horse and lifted her up again with ease. Then, leading her horse beside them, he walked along as she rode back towards the castle.

It took them a good 45 minutes to return and there, as they approached the gate house, they saw several figures standing under the arch staring out and pointing.

'Oh look! A welcoming party.' Her heart sank. 'Is our story quite straight, Lord M?'

'You took a tumble and sprained your ankle. It rained. We sheltered in the folly and gave your ankle time to recover. There is not a single lie there, Ma'am.'

'You make it sound so easy, Lord M.'

They were close enough for her mother to come bustling down the drive towards them. 'Drina! Where on earth have you been? Lord Melbourne! What is the meaning of this? And why is Her Majesty sitting astride your horse?' She asked the last question with such complete outrage in her voice that Victoria nearly laughed aloud.

'Your Highness, you must forgive me,' said Lord Melbourne, his charm and smoothness of delivery calming the waters immediately. 'Do not be alarmed, but I'm afraid Her Majesty's horse was startled by a deer and threw the Queen off. Her Majesty is largely unharmed but she has sprained her ankle and, although it is not a bad sprain, it will require her to rest for a day or so.'

Her mother's jaw dropped and she fixed Victoria with the same icy look she had given her on numerous occasions of her childhood. 'Oh, Drina! I have warned you about your riding time and again. And you are due to meet with Lord and Lady Carnarvon tomorrow. They shall have to be delayed. What an inconvenience.'

Victoria pursed her lips. 'No, my ankle is not unduly painful, thank you for your concern about my welfare, Mama.'

The Duchess ignored her daughter's veiled insult and turned to further interrogate Melbourne. 'But why did it take so long to return?'

'Well, of course, it rained, and so rather than forcing Her Majesty to ride painfully through a downpour, we sheltered in the folly beside the lake.'

'For three hours?' The Duchess pursed her lips.

'We were wet. I was very wet,' proclaimed the Queen. She turned to Melbourne. 'Wasn't I, Lord M?'

Melbourne did not flinch, apart from the briefest tick of the corner of his mouth. 'Extremely, Ma'am,' he confirmed. (It was only when she thought back on this exchange later that Victoria blushed bright scarlet.)

'And what were you doing while sheltering in this folly for three hours?' pressed her mother.

'We were …' She faltered.

'Playing cards, Your Highness,' finished Melbourne, and with an effortlessness which could have been sleight of hand, he produced a deck from an inside pocket. 'Her Majesty beat me most soundly at Blackjack.'

The Duchess tutted and wrung her hands together. 'The Prince Consort will be most dismayed to hear this news.' She gave Melbourne a glare which would have curdled milk.

Victoria interjected. 'Well … Albert is not here and by the time he returns I will be perfectly fine. Now, I would like to change. Inform the kitchens that Lord Melbourne is dining tonight.' And with that she walked as fast as her sore ankle would allow into the castle. Her mother shot Melbourne another poisonous stare and hurried after her.

-xxoOoxx-

Dinner was quiet. If anyone noticed the Queen's lack of conversation they put it down to her sprained ankle. She sat opposite her former Prime Minister and they indulged themselves with frequent looks and smiles and that silent communion which was now stronger than ever.

After dinner, the night air cooled quickly but Melbourne walked out through the library to a terrace, secluded and quiet. The storm of earlier had passed and the stars were appearing, bright and clear.

He had left the Queen in conversation with her mother, arguing about the best treatment for a sprained ankle. He stood and inhaled deeply, his body still sated with the feel of the woman he'd held naked against him earlier. The moment had been imagined and desired for so long, and today she had gifted him with something so elemental and vital that it would endure and sustain him for the rest of his days.

'Lord Melbourne.'

He turned. Victoria stood, silhouetted against the light from the room beyond.

She smiled softly and stepped towards him, her features revealing themselves in the moonlight. 'My mother believes I should have complete bedrest for at least a week.'

'And how do you feel about that, Ma'am?'

'It is utterly ridiculous, of course. The children need walking and entertaining if nothing else. How can that be achieved from one's bedchamber?' She stepped closer to him with only the slightest of limps.

'If you don't mind me saying, Ma'am, you don't seem to be too afflicted.'

She glanced down at her ankle, lifting her skirts a little to reveal her lower legs. His blood pounded through him at the memory of what had occurred. 'No,' she stated plainly. 'I think it was the shock as much as anything. And shock is best dealt with, I find, by distracting oneself from it.'

He quirked an eyebrow. 'Distraction … Is that what happened in the folly?'

'You know better than that.' She stood beside him and they stared out over the gardens. 'Albert has sent word that he is returning tomorrow.'

Before, he would have offered some pleasantry about how he was sure this would be a comfort to the Queen etcetera, etcetera and so on, but this time he remained silent.

They stood, content in their stillness, until she said, 'Do you believe in inevitability, William? That some things will happen no matter what the circumstances and obstacles presented?'

He turned and looked down at her but still kept his silence. Victoria usually expected his response after her queries, but on this occasion, he need not speak. She continued. 'I believe in it, fully and completely. What happened today was inevitable. We were inevitable. Somehow, I knew that from that first moment when you told me I should call myself whatever I wished. Because you, more than anyone else – and I mean that most sincerely, more than anyone else – know me. And, I hope I can go so far as to say that … I know you.'

She looked up at him. Still, he said nothing, but he gave one of his soft, private smiles which affirmed her hopes.

'How awful, how terrible it would have been if two people who are connected so essentially should never experience complete togetherness. It would have left such emptiness. I could not have taken that to my grave.'

'Nor I.'

'No matter what we have had to subvert, no matter where our lives have led us out of duty or circumstance or devotion to others … know that I love you, William. I have for so long … and I always will.'

'And know that … I also love you … Victoria.'

She reached out and took hold of his hands, remembering the secrets they now contained.

And slowly, a final time, he bent to her and placed the softest, most perfect kiss on her lips.

She looked up and said softly before turning back into the castle, leaving him looking after her, 'Goodbye, William. I will never forget.'

And neither shall we.

Love them so much.

Hope you enjoyed this little tale. Let me know either way if you could. LL x