Dallas, Texas

The morning sunlight streamed in the window through a small space in the curtain, landing directly on Sue Ellen's face, gently waking her up. Still half-asleep, she buried her head deeper into the pillow, but the brightness in the room was enough to make any further sleep difficult. As she moved her body, she began to realise exactly where she was and whom she was with; she and JR were actually married, she was his wife and they were on their honeymoon. It almost felt like a dream, she even pinched herself to see if it was, but she was reassured that it was completely real, she really was married, and she was happier than she could have every hoped to be. JR slept soundly next to her and she took a moment to look at him, really look at him, taking in everything about his appearance and burning all of the memories into her mind, she wanted to be able to look back at this moment in the future and remember exactly the way everything was. After a few minutes, she slowly and quietly got out of the bed, making her way to the bathroom to check her own appearance; she wanted to look nice for JR when he woke up. She looked in the mirror at her appearance, for some reason she'd expected to look different, but of course, she didn't. She knew it was silly to think that their activities the previous night would have any bearing on her physical appearance the next day, but she'd still had the thought in her mind. She realised it was probably from all the years of her mother's warnings, 'I'll know. You won't be able to hide it from me', she would say; Sue Ellen let out a small laugh, it was scaremongering and that's all. Although she now realised that it wasn't really something people could see or would know about, she was still glad that they'd waited. In some ways, she really did feel like she'd presented him with a gift last night; he was the first and the only man who would ever get that side of her, and that was something that was important to her. Combing her hair, splashing a little water on her face and lightly brushing her teeth, she checked her appearance one last time before she walked back into the bedroom. Even if she couldn't get back to sleep, lying in his arms was the only place she wanted to be, she felt safe with him and it felt wonderful to have a man who loved her. JR stirred a little as she got out of the bed, but didn't awake; as she gently moved the covers to get back into bed, he still didn't wake up, but automatically reached out for her, making a place for her to lie. Sue Ellen smiled as he welcomed her, even asleep his body knew that she was missing and had come back; it felt so wonderful to be wanted and loved.

Sue Ellen lay in his arms, listening to the steady sound of his breathing; it was comforting just to know that he was there. As she lay closely to him, he moved slightly and she felt another part of his body against her; it brought back so many memories of their wedding night. She had been so nervous, but he was so loving and gentle, taking it slowly and carefully to make her as comfortable as possible. The experience was memorable for as many good things as there were bad; it had been a little painful at the beginning, but it was nowhere near the horror and burden that her mother had described, and after the initial pain, it was actually rather pleasurable; she could understand why people did it. She'd known that she would have to figure out a lot of her own feelings about things, because taking other people's advice and applying it straight to her own life wasn't completely helpful; she was her own person and no two people's experiences were exactly the same, she was starting to realise that now. She wasn't entirely innocent though, knowing that she was capable of giving herself immense pleasure, she imagined that with JR's experience and love, their honeymoon and marriage would be continually developing and the best was yet to come. She lay in bed thinking about everything, suddenly remembering a sentence she'd read in a magazine advice column months ago, 'it just keeps gets better and better' the columnist had written in response to a young girl who Sue Ellen had related to in reading, and if the advice was correct, then she had a lot to look forward to.

JR began to stir, his body clock was always alert and the sunlight in the room made it difficult to sleep any longer. Not opening his eyes yet, he moved his hand and pulled his wife closer to him, smiling as he realised that she was indeed his wife and he couldn't be happier to have her. Last night had been amazing, they had actually done the one thing that he had wanted for years and it was wonderful; he wasn't normally a slow, gentle man, but with Sue Ellen everything was new and exciting. She wanted him to 'teach' her everything he knew and he was happy to do just that; it was almost ego-validating to know that he was the first and only man to ever see her in such a way, that she had saved herself for him and their marriage, and now that they were married, she was all his. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled as he saw Sue Ellen looking at him, her eyes focused on his face, almost as if she were trying to memorize every detail; "good morning" he whispered. Sue Ellen watched him as he slowly awoke, it was something that she enjoyed just for the pleasure of getting to know him, she actually liked looking at the little details, the things that most people never noticed. "Good morning" she replied to his words before she leaned down and kissed him; JR pulled her down to him, deepening their kiss just because he wanted to, but not pushing her to do anything more. She was content to just stay that way all day if he'd let her, she loved kissing him, though if he wanted to do other things, she wouldn't be opposed to that either; of course, she would never suggest it herself, it wasn't proper, but she very much enjoyed the attention he was giving her. They lay there just kissing and cuddling, enjoying the feeling of excitement and intimacy that came from touching each other, especially now that they were married and their actions could go further if they wanted them to. JR had realised a long time ago that Sue Ellen was the woman he was in love with, he wasn't usually into long foreplay, preferring to get straight to the actual act; but with Sue Ellen he didn't even mind if they didn't go further. He'd waited over two and a half years for her, knowing that their long-term relationship was more important than short-term satisfaction; though he was sure that he wouldn't be disappointed this morning, she was into him just as much as he was her. Feeling like he was ready, he increased the intensity of his kisses, hoping that she would take his hint and respond, "darlin'?" he asked, verbally checking that she was ok, "I love you JR" she replied before kissing him again, letting him take it wherever he wanted.

Sue Ellen lay in bed, spooning with JR, smiling in a way that could only come from one thing; "I love you JR", she whispered, sure that she'd said it a million times before, but never feeling like it was enough, she wanted him to know that she was serious and she would do everything to make their marriage work. "I love you too Sue Ellen", he never grew tired of hearing her say those words, it meant so much to him. Casually looking at the bedside table, he realised that it was almost eight in the morning, "darlin', I hate to do this, but we have to get up"; Sue Ellen groaned, "why?" she didn't want to move from their position, she loved their closeness right now. "I've got another surprise for you, I promise, it'll be worth it", he kissed her forehead and threw the covers back, standing and waiting for her to get up. Sue Ellen slowly moved, getting up, but once again getting distracted by his body, it was still slightly shocking to see him like that, not that she minded though. He noticed the way she was looking at him and grinned, walking toward her and kissing her lips lightly, "how about we take a shower together, have breakfast and then you get your next surprise", she smiled and nodded, following him into the bathroom.

To be continued…