For those who might be wondering...yes, we did get a lot of snow-A LOT OF SNOW! Lost power for a couple of days and I'm just now thawing out. Consequently, I am way behind on reading and reviewing. I did manage a few reads until the battery gave out. I'm looking forward to a restful weekend of reading;-) In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this installment.
One afternoon Anthony was just coming in from the orchards and Dr. Clarkson was in the entry, bag in hand and putting on his hat to leave. "Dr. Clarkson? Is everything alright?" Anthony's eyes flashed from the doctor's face to the stairs, his worry evident in his eyes.
"Yes, everyone is fine," Richard Clarkson assured Anthony. "Lady Edith called earlier worried that Abigail might be ill but she is fine. And since Lady Edith was due for her final post delivery examination, we took care of that as well. Everyone is doing well, Sir Anthony. All in good health."
Anthony visibly relaxed. "Thank goodness. I have been worried…" His thoughts drifted to the very difficult time at the end of the pregnancy.
"Yes, the last weeks before delivery were frightening, I'm sure. But all is well now," Clarkson soothed. "I've given Lady Edith permission to resume all her normal activities and little Abigail is growing rapidly. Soon she'll be caught up to where she should be."
"Thank you, Doctor. I will worry less now. And I…we do appreciate you coming all the way out here."
"Not at all," Clarkson said as he headed for the door.
Anthony stood in the main hall and looked up, as if he could see his family on the floors above. Then quickly he turned and bounded up the stairs to find his wife.
"Hello my darling," he said happily as he entered their room. "I just saw Dr. Clarkson. He says everyone is quite the picture of health."
"Yes, Abigail seemed ill earlier so I called him. But he said it is nothing, just some gas that will pass. And…" she looked at him mischievously, "he said I am all clear now. I can be as active as I wish."
"Yes, he mentioned that," Anthony replied as her coy expression registered with him. "Still, I hope you don't plan to overdo…that you'll ease back into things."
Edith crossed the room and reached up to kiss her husband chastely on his cheek while simultaneously reaching for his trousers. The two motions, so very divergent caught Anthony by surprise creating perplexity in his already love fogged mind. Edith used this to her advantage to gently squeeze his now growing manhood gently as she began to nibble at his neck. "Edith," he whispered, scandalized.
"Yes darling?" she replied innocently.
"You um…perhaps this isn't….after all, the doctor just now…" His protestations were useless and soon faded as Edith continued to heighten his appreciation of the distance between their last time together and now.
Edith pulled away gently and looked up into his still surprised face. "Just making sure that you are prepared," she teased.
"Um…prepared?" he asked as he tried to regain his composure.
"For tonight, after the girls are in bed and we are," she paused and perused his entire length from toe to head, her gaze settling on his mid section. "We are left to our own devices," she finished suggestively.
"Er…um… tonight? So soon?" He hoped his voice didn't sound as quivery as his knees felt.
"Unless you have something more pressing to do?" She emphasized the word pressing by squeezing against his fly again.
"Um…no…I can't think…of anything," he gasped. Good god the woman was audacious, his mind screamed even as his body responded happily. How was he expected to make it through the evening after…that?
Edith's teasing had the desired effects on Anthony through the rest of the afternoon and evening. He was unable to concentrate on much of anything as thoughts of Edith, their nights together before the baby bump got so big, the warmth and acceptance he found in her arms, and the wonder of her body, flittered through his mind at the most awkward times. Emma demanded a bedtime story and Abigail was fussy and uncooperative and by the time the two girls were settled, Anthony was a bundle of nerves and desire.
Stewart seemed unusually slow as he helped Anthony change for the night; or at least, it seemed so to Anthony. By the time he reached their bed chamber, Anthony was tightly wound, excited and nervous, and so very eager. Edith was just slipping out of her dressing gown to slide under the covers when he stepped into the room. She was wearing a pretty little frock, a soft green with some sort of botanical pattern sewn into the fabric but she could have been wearing a feed sack for all he cared. After months of denying himself the pleasure of her…the intimate pleasure of her, all he could see was that his dearest darling was climbing into bed; his bed.
From her expression and attitude, Edith knew very well the state she had put him in. She smiled coyly at him as he divested himself of his own dressing gown, tossing it toward a nearby chair and ignoring it when it fell short of the target. Get a hold of yourself, he admonished inwardly, don't be a lout.
Anthony never had a chance to practice any self control; Edith didn't let him have an opportunity. As soon as he was in the bed, she was touching him, caressing and kissing, nibbling and nipping. As a gentleman he could only do one thing, give the lady what she so obviously wanted. It was befuddling and quite amusing to him that he should be the object of her desire. He was old and crippled, thought by many to be boring, and certainly had never had any great reputation with the ladies. He'd always thought himself loyal and steadfast but obviously Edith saw something in him that on one else did; a desirable lover. He relished the role.
Pulling her to him, he began his own assault, kissing her and then progressing to more aggressive activities about her throat and neck. She seemed to melt in his arm as his mouth found more lucrative territory along her breasts and when he flicked a tongue over her nipples, she shuddered. At first he was hesitant to play there, knowing that she was Abigail's primary food source and too much attention could have unintended consequences, but she put her hand behind his head and held him there, encouraging him. He nuzzled in her cleavage, nipped at her very round breasts, and tried to avoid triggering her milk. But as he saw tiny drops of her milk begin to leak, he knew his reluctance was to no avail. He pulled away, not knowing how to respond. "Perhaps your little girls should be off limits for awhile longer," he suggested as he stared, fascinated at the life sustaining fluid dripping from her.
"Oh no," she exclaimed as she realized the source of his concern. "I didn't think, didn't realize what would happen. I should have…" She reached for a handkerchief on the bedside table and began to wipe herself, obviously embarrassed. Anthony took the cloth from her and implored, "let me." Gingerly he wiped her dry, still fascinated by it all. He knew the mechanics of it, had seen animals nursing their young on the farms, and had even watched Edith feed Abigail a few times. Still, he was in awe of it, of her, and as he tossed the cloth back to the table he looked at her he looked into her eyes and smiled. This was the mother of his darling daughter that was sleeping just a few doors down. And in time, she might give him more children, perhaps a son even. "You are so very beautiful," he whispered reverently.
Her cheeks colored. "I don't feel like I am," she confessed.
"Then I am failing in my duties," he replied. Very slowly and very appreciatively, he began to show her. Kissing her again, this time more slowly, he felt her respond. He pulled her back to him as he relaxed against the head of the bed and then let his hand wander over her, taking time to worship every part of her. When he thought she was ready, he toyed with her intimate area, causing her to shudder again until she gasped. "Anthony."
It pushed him over the edge and swiftly he had her on top of him, coaxing her to lower herself onto his throbbing manhood and make him complete. She understood and impaled herself on his staff, sending waves of satisfaction and more desire through him. Their union took on a life of its own as they moved together until both shattered in the explosion of their passion. Once he was finished, he held her as she shuddered over him time after time, her body continuing to quiver even after she was spent. Eventually, his deflated sword slid out of her, a soft moan accompanying the action. Slowly she slipped off of him and cuddled beside him, languid and content. "I had nearly forgotten…" she whispered.
"What?"
"How good this is…with you," she sighed contentedly.
Anthony felt a pull in his chest. She had said with you, reminding him that she had been with another. Had he not been such a fool that day at the church, she would have never known another and the baby down the hall would be his in every way. Closing his eyes to steady his emotions, he reminded himself that in spite of it all she was here with him now. And she had said it was good. Fighting his inclination to think she might compare experiences and find him lacking, he chose instead to concentrate on what she had said. As he began to relax again, his focus shifted to the feel of her snug against him and the smell of her…of them together. "Edith?"
"Yes my darling?"
"I know it is too soon and I have been the one insisting upon time in between but…."
"What is it? What are you trying to say?"
"Just…after everything you went through with Abigail, I'm wondering…" He swallowed, almost afraid to ask his question. "I'm just wondering if…if you have been put off from having…"
"More babies?" she asked as she sat upright. Her dark eyes captured his lighter ones, dancing with happiness in the soft light. "Not at all. I do think we should wait a little while but…oh Anthony; I do want your babies. I want to hold my baby and have someone say he looks like his father and I can be happy with that. In fact, I would love it if we had several little Anthonys running around."
"Or more little Ediths," he teased. "I do want more children with you, my sweet. But there is a part of me that worries. Still, when we are together like this… you have given me so much already and it is selfish to want more but I do adore our little Abigail and I can't help but hope for more."
