CHAPTER 26

I did promise yesterday that I was going to be more regularly updating this story and "Faith, Hope and Love." I am trying to keep my word! Grace and Roland have just returned from visiting Mary Anderson, Roland having invited Grace to dance with him. I hope you enjoy it and will continue to follow.

Despite her eyes being closed, Grace was aware of the gentle dappling effect of the changing light, as the last rays of the setting sun permeated the room and fell onto her face, resting softly against Roland's chest. His arm was around her waist, supporting her as they swayed gently together. They had long since abandoned the steps of the familiar Viennese waltz in favour of standing toe to toe, arms about one another, cheeks nuzzling, and mouths brushing and opening to give and receive longed for kisses. Grace's slight frame seemed almost absorbed by Roland's, so closely were they standing. As one hand pressed into the small of her back, the other moved to caress the column of her throat, fingers stroking up and down and then plunging into the hair at the nape of her neck, manoeuvring her mouth round all the better to receive the attention his lips wished to pay hers. Her arms were interlocked about his neck, pulling his head down to hers, urging him to deepen their kisses as her body pressed against his. She had long since felt the heat and firmness of his body's response to hers and she was aware of the increasing eroticism of the moment as his leg eased between hers and the heat at her core threatened to overwhelm her.

"Do you want me, my darling?" he whispered, tearing his mouth from hers.

His answer was in the lips, which urgently sought his, and the hands which coursed across the linen of his shirt, all sense of propriety long since abandoned beneath the onslaught of desire. He pushed up with his thigh and felt her intake of breath as a wave of pleasure washed over her and she softly moaned into his mouth the words he had waited for.

"I want you, Roland, so much."

"And I want you, as much."

Her eyes glittered, diamond-like, in the half darkness, her pupils dilated by her need for him. His fingers pressed her buttocks against the evidence of his own arousal as he groaned her name into her hair. She raised her leg and ran it along his, hearing him once more articulate his growing urge to make love with her. His hand stroked the length of her from hip to ankle, rising up once more to slide effortlessly beneath her dress, where he found the area of naked flesh between her stocking top and her underwear, stroking it before deftly unfastening her stocking. Unashamed of her blatant need for him, Grace raised the other leg and their eyes locked as he repeated his actions. Unconsciously, she licked her lips with the tip of her tongue and he felt a jolt of pleasure run through him, as she captured his mouth once more before dropping to her knees before him.

She ran her fingers across the tented fabric of his trousers, her actions causing him to groan out loud. Wordlessly, she undid his belt and his fly, pushing his trousers down to his ankles, easing off his shoes and then removing his trousers altogether. In the half moonlight, she looked up at him and he stroked her hair, pushing it away from her face, his expression one of naked want, yet twinned with a deep and abiding love, which made her need him all the more. She kissed him through the fabric of his undershorts, nuzzling him briefly before releasing him from their confinement. She ran her hand along the velvety smoothness of his length, her thumb caressing his tip, making him gasp with the sensations she unleashed. Then he watched as she made love to his manhood with her mouth, his legs planted firmly apart like a colossus, but totally undone by her gentle movement along the pillar of flesh before her. The sounds, which he made, resonated at her very core and she felt such joy that she could do this for him. His hands tangled in her hair, anchored to the source of exquisite sensation, wanting to find completion in her, but knowing it would deny her the pleasure he sought to give.

"Oh, Grace, you must stop; I can't last and I want to make love to you so badly."

Her groan transmitted along his flesh, the heat becoming almost unbearable, as she stopped and gasped,

"But I want to do this for you. Let me, please. You're so beautiful and I want to love you like this."

"Truly?" he asked.

"Truly. I long for you and I want this, Roland. You're not shocked are you? To me it feels the most natural thing in the world, but if you would rather not…" She got no further.

"Shocked? Only that you would want this old body of mine with all its imperfections."

She raked her fingers across his abdomen, as she trailed kisses from his navel to his groin.

"Oh, I want it, my love. If you only knew how often I had dreamt of making love to you. It's probably a good job you didn't, or you would think me the most wanton creature in the world and likely give me a wide berth."

"Never! If I'd known, I'd have given you every opportunity to indulge your secret passion," he said with a broad grin, which she could see now that her eyes had adjusted to the silvered darkness, which surrounded them.

"Indulge me, then. Lie down on the sofa. We'll be more comfortable," she said.

"You're coming with me," he replied.

Bending down, he eased her up from the carpet and lifted her off her feet and into his arms. Grace wound her arms around his neck, once more, as he walked with her to the sofa. They lay back against its upholstered back and reached for each other. Grace felt overwhelmed by her need to give him the love, which she had held in check for so long. It seemed as if the past years of want had merely served to feed the desire she felt for Roland, despite having been able to assuage her need for him so often these past few days. The walls had been breached and there was no defence left standing. Her mouth locked onto his with passion-fuelled kisses and left him in no doubt whatsoever of her love for him.

He was as overcome as she was and they lost themselves in each other's arms. Cupping his face in her hands, Grace looked into a gaze deep enough to drown in. He was hers. Kissing him once more, she ran her hand downwards, stroking towards his groin, burying her fingers in the curling hair and then moving to hold him. His breath whistled slightly as he exhaled sharply in response to the movement of her hand and he gasped as her lips joined in, too.

"Grace…," he moaned as wave after wave of incredible sensation broke over him. One hand ran through her hair, unconsciously dictating the pace he wanted, and the other slid down her back, pulling at the material of her dress, easing it up so he could stroke her buttocks, as she bent over him.

"Wait," she said, and sitting up for a moment she pulled the dress up and over her head, where it fell unnoticed to the floor. She moved forward to cover him again and he felt himself enveloped in the warmth of her mouth. He moaned again as her body took over and created sensations the like of which he had never felt. His hands roamed her body, teasing, caressing, exciting her to a point where she thought she would come apart first, but she exercised every ounce of self-control, determined to put him first. At some point he must have moved to stretch along the sofa and moved her to rest on top of him, but neither could pinpoint when, so engrossed were they in giving and receiving love.

Each savoured the response of the other as they pleasured simultaneously with their mouths, tongues exploring and teasing, fingers dipping and gliding along flesh so sensitised that capitulation was a foregone conclusion, the unique fragrance of imminent climax assailing them as they came together. They cried out ecstatically, spent and supremely satisfied. They stayed curled together for some time as if loathe to break the perfection of the moment, but eventually Grace turned languidly towards Roland and sat astride him, bending forward to kiss him. His hands ran down her sides, as he revelled in her attention. They could taste their mutual passion and the knowledge that they had both freely and willingly shared such an intimate experience of love and mutual gratification, seemed to bring them closer than they had ever been.

"How I love you," he said to her as they lay on their sides against each other.

"I should think so, Colonel Brett, after what we've just done," she gently teased. "Polite society would shun us."

"I don't care if it does, as long as you promise me you'll do that again."

"I promise, on my honour….such as I have left after you've had your way with me, Sir."

"I don't recall much of a struggle," he said.

They started to laugh and he held her close to him, kissing her neck and hair, which glinted silvery gold in the moonlight.

"Why do I want you so much, Grace?"

"For the same reason I want you. We belong together and always have done. Don't ask me why it's so because I can't answer that beyond saying that being with you makes me feel whole. You complete me, my love."

"Then we feel the same. Shall we go to bed? I don't want to move but it's getting a little chill down here. I seem to have less on than I started with and I'm impatient to fall asleep in your arms," he said, grinning at her.

He could feel her smile against his chest and gently he got up with her still in his arms.

"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing in the direction of the door.

She nodded and bent to retrieve their discarded clothes. "Come on then; to bed, to bed said Sleepy Head…."

His arm slid around her shoulders, planting a kiss atop her head, and hugging her as they made their way upstairs, ready to dream the rest of the night away, each in the loving arms of the other.

Your comments are, as always, gratefully received. XX