Enjoy,
Rhea x
So, this is love.
Anne woke with a start, freezing at the feeling of a strong, warm arm snaking it's way around her middle. Taking in the grey surroundings of their room, she quickly realized her mistake and laughed before being distracted by the press of her husband's lips to the back of her shoulder.
"Did something startle you, Mrs Wentworth?" He breathed into her ear. A shiver swept through her body in response to the gravelly sound of Frederick's morning voice. It felt delightfully intimate, knowing what he sounded like before all vestiges of sleep had left him. Anne felt inordinately pleased at the thought that she alone shared this private aspect of her husband.
Stretching, she leaned back into the warmth of Frederick's body and turned to seek out more kisses. Being ready and willing to provide what was sought, he enthusiastically captured her sweet lips, entertaining them both for some time.
Falling back onto their pillows, Anne answered his earlier question, "you will laugh at me, no doubt but I am not afraid to tell you."
"Hmmm?" He replied as he closed his eyes and settled onto his back.
Lazily, she began tracing her finger down the ridges of his chest and arms. She had been surprised at first, to discover that her husband preferred to sleep without a nightshirt. Quietly explaining that it was a luxury he had adopted after years of being forced to live in close quarters with his fellow sailors, he offered to don night clothes if it would make her more comfortable. She had raised her fine chin and responded rather bravely that she wanted him to sleep however he best slept. He later told her that it was her attempt at maintaining eye contact, despite the blush that had quickly bloomed on her cheeks, that prompted him to leave off the uncomfortable clothing. Two nights of being husband and wife had been long enough for the tide of embarrassment to turn and Anne felt more and more confident exploring the hard planes of her husband's body.
"I was back in Bath, in my father's house," she continued. "I had married Mr Elliot but he still took up with Mrs Clay." Here, her fingers paused in their exploration as the general feeling of detached pain returned from the reliving of her dream. "I felt so cold. I remember my family looking at me as I told them the news and then simply returning to their activities as though I hadn't uttered a word."
Frederick captured her hand and raising it to his mouth, kissed the inside of her wrist. "What an awful dream," he responded. "It appears as though in dreams your cousin is even more of a fool than what he is in real life."
"Oh Frederick. It was just a dream."
"Still," he continued, "any man proves himself to be a fool if he has you and then let's you go." Turning on his side, he continued planting kisses along the inside of her arm but then stilled as he seemed to consider the words he had just spoke. "I include myself in this category. I chose to be angry over fighting for your love and for that I will never forgive myself."
Cupping her hand to his face, Anne waited for Frederick to look her in the eye. "I think it is time we both leave those sentiments in the past. We have each other now, surely that's what matters."
Turning his head to kiss her palm, Frederick was surprised when Anne pulled her hand away. Frowning in confusion, he looked down to see Anne's nose slightly wrinkled.
"Sorry," she blushed and said as she reached out to stroke his face again, "your face is spikey. How strange." And she giggled slightly as she moved her hand back forth across the stubble on Frederick's face.
Frederick threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, spikey you say? Whatever do you mean, madam?" shifting over so that he was looking down on Anne, Frederick lowered his head and nuzzled closely into her neck. Anne squealed at the sensation of Frederick's skin scraping and tickling as he murmured endearments to her. Soon his movements turned to nips and open mouthed kisses and she clung to him as her giggles morphed into soft moans.
Their bodies called to each other as they delighted in their newfound closeness. Privately, Anne marveled at how her husband's body could feel soft but hard, his touch searing but leaving goose flesh in its wake. As they joined together, passion clouded her thoughts and she gave herself over to feeling; the gasps and sighs of the two lovers filling the room in the silence of predawn.
Later, laying in Frederick's arms, Anne marveled at how different to her dream her life had turned out to be. What could have been cold and heartless was warm and fulfilling. So… this is love, she thought as she drifted back off to sleep.