Life's pretty hectic at present; even more so than usual, but it's a balmy summer's evening, the roses are in bloom and the honeysuckle is perfuming the garden while I sit in the evening sunshine and type this for you. It's pretty sunny where Roland and Grace are, too. Enjoy this chapter and your evening. XX

CHAPTER 21

Reaching the bedroom, she turned smiling, stretching out her hands to pull Roland forward into her arms, feeling his hardness press against her and her own answering surge of desire.

"I want you," was all Grace said, pushing his jacket off, fumbling at his trousers as he pulled her dress up and pushed her underwear down and over her shoes. Her stockings were still on and the sight of her partially clothed body seemed to fuel his ardour. He was still mostly clothed, but she did not seem to mind as they fell onto the bed, where he rolled her beneath him and, looking at her passion darkened eyes, with no further delay, he thrust into her. She was so ready for him, her hips offering him access to the places she most wanted him to touch. Her mouth opened to him and he kissed her, as his lower body took control. He felt her moaning with pleasure with every stroke within and his fingers probed between her legs to touch that spot, which he knew gave her infinite pleasure. All semblance of propriety had long since vanished. She panted faster and faster as he thrust ever harder and deeper within her, his fingers providing another dimension of pleasure to that which the rest of his body was providing. He could feel her heels drumming against his buttocks with each inward movement as she canted her hips, driven inexorably towards a climax which, when it came, left them both crying out each other's names. He plunged to the heart of her and felt the rhythm of their passion for each other surround him and trigger his climax, as he inundated her at one and the same time.

Mere seconds later, Roland collapsed on Grace's breast, his body spent, and she held him tenderly. Beneath his cheek, he could feel the rapid thudding of her heart, and the dampness of the skin below her collarbone, while she stroked his hair and whispered words of love to him, describing the joy he gave her. The slow movement of his body leaving hers left her suddenly bereft and she whimpered at the loss, but he moved to roll off her and to pull her into the shelter of his embrace. It was his turn now to tell her the extent of his love, to nuzzle against damp hair, to push it back and hold her face up to his to receive kiss after kiss of pure longing, to breathe in the unique scent of their union. Never had he loved her more than he did at that moment. She snuggled against him and, working her hands beneath his shirt, she stroked from his chest down to his thighs, pressing her face against the linen and then moving to unbutton it.

"I want to feel your skin against mine," she told him, as she removed the shirt.

He reciprocated, easing his hands under her dress.

"Here, let me," she said, pulling it over her head and dumping it unceremoniously to one side. He, in turn had hastily removed his trousers and pants. They lay next to each other, stroking gently as if taking in for the first time every detail of their bodies. Her eyes followed the movement of her hand down his chest to his waist, lightly tracing circles with her fingertips as she went. Her expression was one of wonderment and she knew it was because being able to touch his body was such a new and beautiful aspect of their relationship. She could scarcely take in that he was here with her, truly hers at last, despite what the law stated. For his part, Roland watched Grace with gentle amusement, amazed that his body could give her such pleasure and respond with such alacrity to her slightest touch. Her body excited him as nothing ever had and he absorbed the sight of her moving languorously in his arms, as he touched the silk covered curves of her buttocks and breathed in the perfume of lavender from her golden hair. The sun had moved from its early morning position and the room was bathed in its dappled light, as it shone through the wisteria and warmed the space within. His fingers slid beneath the straps of her slip, pushing it down to reveal the brassiere beneath. Reaching round, he unhooked it and she discarded it, lying back so that he could fondle her breasts if he wished. He did wish, and took her breast in his hand, cupping it softly and bending his head to tease the nipple, which rose between his lips and teeth, aching for him to draw it to a point of almost painful sensitivity. Grace watched the movement of his head as he swirled his tongue across the darkened nub of her breast, licking and sucking her and she knew that his love was everything to her.

"Roland?"

"Mmm..," the sound vibrated through her breast.

"Can we do something together?"

He looked up and said, "Of course, my love. What do you want to do?"

"I would like us to bathe together, and then I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake later on to make love with you again."

"Would you, indeed? Well, it's a good job that I'd like that, too, then," he teased, pushing her slip fully down, leaving her naked except for her stockings. "You're beautiful, Grace and if I was twenty years younger, I would have you again if you would let me. As it is, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

She wrapped her arms around him seductively, murmuring "I could try to do something about that if you would like."

He grinned at her. "It's always the quiet ones; still waters run deep. What did you have in mind?"

Twisting out of his grasp, Grace knelt on the bed beside him and bending forwards she kissed him intimately. His sharp intake of breath thrilled her and she loved him with total abandonment. Floating on waves of sensation, his hand slid down her back and caressed her bottom as she knelt; then his fingers ran forwards, entering her. She moaned with pleasure as she pushed against his hand and the vibration fed along his length making him harden as she loved him. His eyes feasted on her as his body gave and received pleasure in equal measure. He had never felt like this at any point before or since his marriage. Unbidden words from the marriage service sprang to his mind; "Forsaking all others keep thee only unto her…..With my body I thee worship." Looking at Grace as she made love to him, he knew with certainty that he would be hers and that his body would worship her for the rest of his life. The level of intimacy he enjoyed with her was beyond his wildest imaginings and yet it came so easily. There was no awkwardness between them, they were comfortable in their skins and she opened eagerly to him like a fragrant bloom, petals unfolding to draw him in.

"Grace, just the sight of you making love to me pitches me beyond reason," he said, as his thumb stroked the soft skin above her garters. He could not believe that he was starting to feel ready to make love again, after such a cataclysmic climax only a short while ago, but such was her power over him. Grace adored him and having him vocalise the extent of his reaction to her filled her with joy. She loved to explore his body and seemed to know instinctively what he enjoyed the most. His taste, his scent, his texture, everything about him invaded her senses when she made love with him. Her reaction to him was unhesitating; she wanted him as she had never wanted anyone before. The act of loving him gave her so much pleasure that she wondered how she had ever existed without him. She had soon realised that the stockings she was wearing tantalised and heightened his enjoyment, and so she had left them on, loving the journey his thumb was taking across the few inches of exposed skin, which in turn increased the level of her response. Taking him in her hand, the hot velvet skin moved beneath her fingers and she turned to him, her expression a mixture of love and lust.

"I love you; I crave your touch, Roland."

Her last words were gasped rather than said as he curled his fingers within her.

"Is that enough?" he asked.

"Never! I want to make love to you. Let me, please."

He moved slightly on the bed and withdrawing his hand from her, he lay back against the pillows and said, "Do whatever you wish, my darling. I'm all yours."

He grinned at her and shifted his hips so that she could freely touch him. Her hand dipped between his legs, but she was past the point where she wanted to tease him. Her body throbbed with desire and all she wanted was to feel him inside her again. She straddled his hips and let him run his hands down her body, sharply inhaling as his fingers travelled between her legs, leaning back to afford him an easier passage, but artlessly opening her body to his gaze. She could feel his arousal straining beneath her and rising up she joined their bodies with one downward thrust, taking him deep within. Throwing her head forward, she kissed him, as she enjoyed the sensation of his hips canting to increase their mutual pleasure. He reached up to claim her mouth, his arms pulling her forward as his hips thrust up into the heat of her body. Their mutual passion was overwhelming as they touched, devoured and gave so that, within minutes, they once more lay spent in each other's arms, Grace still lying on top of him.

Running his hands tenderly along her back, Roland said, "Grace, I don't know how to begin to express my feelings for you."

Raising her head slightly, she answered, "I know how to express mine. 'I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.'"

"The Song of Songs; the most perfect of songs. 'You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.'" Roland smiled at Grace, his hand cupping her face as he spoke the words of Solomon. It was one of the most profoundly beautiful pieces of scripture and he had always loved it.

Greatly moved, Grace planted a kiss on his palm, and then laid it on his chest, before replying, "Place me like a seal over your heart."

His response left her in no doubts that this was, for them both, the defining relationship of their lives, "You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes."

Grace's feelings for the man in her arms overflowed. "Oh, my darling, if ever there was a love bestowed from above, then this is it. I know that there are those who'll condemn me for loving you as I do, but I won't believe that this is wrong or that we're not blessed by the feelings we have. I will love you forever, Roland, beyond the constraints of time and place. You'll live in my heart for eternity."

Roland's emotions played out across his face, as he held Grace and said, "My angel, my all, never was a man so blessed as I am by your love. You give me more than I ever dreamt possible and my heart is yours to do with as you will. I adore you, my Grace."

Her head rested on his chest once more and gently he rolled her so that she lay against him, his arms cradling her. The sun streamed through the windows and fell across their limbs, still intertwined, while they rested for a few minutes, lost in each other, until Roland broke the reverie.

"Shall we have that bath?" he asked.

"Yes, I'd like that," Grace replied.

He disentangled his legs from hers and, kissing her forehead, he padded across to the bathroom and ran the hot water into the old claw footed tub. She watched his back disappear into the dappled light of the bathroom, realising that this man truly was her partner in every way, and that she would do everything in her power to make him happy, just as he did for her. As he re-entered the bedroom, she held her arms out to him,

"Come here, my love."

"Not again!"

"No; at least not yet," she said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "I just want to hold you."

He settled down next to her and she drew him close, cradling his head against her breasts, and she kissed him tenderly for all that he was to her and all that he would be.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will keep reading as the story progresses. Your comments are really valued, if you have the time. XX