Chapter thirty-seven: An architects dream
The following morning,
"Easy there," Thomas says as Kate vomits up her water and single piece of toast into the basin by her bed. Jodie hurries over to take the basin as soon as Kate's finished. He rubs her back as she lets out a final moan before spitting into the basin. Jodie hands her a cloth to wipe her mouth with.
"Thank you Jodie." She wipes her mouth with a sigh. "I hate being sick."
"That's why you were a nurse." He teases. "You're not supposed to get sick." She lets out a huff and thumps his arm. "Ow."
"Sorry." She reaches for the juice by her bed and starts sipping it.
Thomas turns to Jodie. "Why don't you bring her some tea? She keeps it down easier."
Jodie nods and Kate adds."With lemon please." She picks up the paper with the thanksgiving menu on it and hands it to him. "So, what do you think of the dinner menu?"
He surveys it briefly before stating. He and Kate are both workaholics. He's got his paperwork in bed with him and Kate, as miserable as she is, is still planning the Thanksgiving menu. She's surrounded by magazines, notebooks and an assortment of pencils that she just keeps losing in the covers.
"Kate, I have no idea what half the things on this menu are."
"I know that, you're British and I'm mostly American. So, I'm trying to combine things." She huffs. "But how does it sound good to you?" He looks down at the menu again. "This is our first thanksgiving and I want it to be perfect!"
Oysters on the half-shell; brown-bread tartines topped with celery and radishes.
Clear soup with grated cheese.
Fish fillets, served with sauce Hollandaise and potato balls.
Roast turkey; sweet-potato soufflé; glazed turnips; individual moulds of cranberry jelly
Mulled cider.
Roman punch.
Vanilla Ice-cream with pumpkin pie, cheese and coffee.
He looks towards her and nods. "It sounds delicious." Kate lets out a moan and scrunches down in her covers. He rubs her shoulders. "You're a bad patient."
"I hate the nausea. Make it go away." He turns her face towards him and kisses her on the mouth. She makes a face. "That was disgusting, I just vomited."
He chuckles. "Come here." She obliges and settles into his arms. He presses a kiss on her forehead. "Can I touch you?"
"You are touching me." She points out, grumpy tone in her voice.
"Well, I was thinking about touching you a little more," he runs his hand down her back to her hip. "intimately."
Kate's eyes widen and she stares up at him. "Jodie will be back any second."
"So, is that a no?"
Kate hesitates. "I'm wearing pajamas."
"Won't be a problem." He chuckled at the look on her face. "Since you're almost ready…I should start getting you used to my touch, eh?" Kate nods. A tap on the door causes him to groan. "That can't be the tea yet."
"Come in!" Kate says cheerfully.
"You're enjoying my misery." He states.
"Maybe." Kate sits up at the exact moment Thomas's hand moves to grab her inner thigh, his thumb pressing against her center! She lets out half a shriek as he laughs at her. "You're a terrible man!"
"Mommy? Daddy?"
Both their heads swivel towards the door to see Charlie, Ruby and Ada standing there. Kate claps her hands. "Hello! Oh, how I've missed you two!"
He waves them over. "Come here you two." Ruby and Charlie instantly hop on top of the bed.
"Charming picture." Ada says with a telling look in her eyes. "You look well Tom."
"I've felt better." He states as he hugs Charlie. "But I'm glad to see both of you."
"Are you feeling better?" Ruby asks him.
"Yes, I'm almost better." He glances at Kate. "Your mother, on the other hand is going to take a few days."
"Excuse me." Kate hands Ruby over to Thomas and vomits into her spare basin.
Thomas reaches for the cloth on his nightstand. "Yeah, she's been doing that all morning. Kate kicks him in the knee. "Ow."
"Right." Ada says practically. "Charlie, Ruby, let's let these two take some time to get better."
"Thank you Ada." Thomas says as Jodie comes in with the tea. "And here's your tea." Those words produce an extra stream of vomiting from her mouth. Jodie hands him his cup of tea first. "Thank you."
Kate reaches for the cloth from him, wipes her mouth and flops back on the bed. "I want this to be over!" She whines. "And I hate your room. Nothing personal, I've just been stuck in this mess for almost 2 weeks!" Jodie hands her the cup of lemon balm. "Thank you." She blows on her tea several times before taking a sip. "Oh, this is delicious. Thank you Jodie."
"You know," Thomas states. "if you want to redecorate the house, give it your own personal touch…feel free to do so."
She stares up at him in surprise. "Really?" He nods at her. "Thank you, this room, it's a little dark and dull in here. I will leave the wood intact though. I'm thinking wallpaper in here, a light blue maybe?"
He shrugs and looks back at his paperwork. "Do whatever you like."
"But…this is our room, so, I'd like your opinion.
"Kate," he shoots her a warning look. "I really don't care. Just makes sure you don't change anything in the library."
"Oh," she pouts, her lower lip stuck out as if to deliberately taunt him. "I wanted to paint the walls pink."
"No," he glowers at her "and don't go too American on me. I don't want to come down the stairs one day and see you've painted the rooms all sorts of crazy colors."
"But, Thomas," she whined. "I wanted to paint the walls in the parlor scarlet."
He shoots her another look, causing her to laugh. "You're going to be a problem for me, aren't you?"
She laughs as she scoots closer to him. "I'm planning on it Mr. Shelby."
Two weeks later,
Thomas taps on the adjoining door to Kate's room. "Kate, are you ready? Your guests will be here soon."
"Almost." She sounds as if she is struggling get dressed.
"Do you need any help?" He asks, teasing her lightly.
Kate pauses before groaning. "Yes!"
Kate had taken to sleeping with him every night, but she still liked her privacy when she was getting dressed. She was a slow mover, but Thomas figured within four more months, they'd be having a normal marriage.
He pushes the door open and stops still in the doorway at the sight of her. Kate is wearing a tight, skin colored dress with a deep plunging back. There's a black lace overlay atop the dress, giving her an irresistibly sexy look. Her hair is curled and hanging down her back. All the blood went rushing to his body at the sight of her.
She turns towards him. "I can't reach the last button." She complains, her words drawing attention to her cherry red lips. "Can you help me?" He nods and she turns her back to him, her hands on her hips. She lets out a sigh as he helps her with the button. "Thank you." Thomas wraps his arms around her waist, burying a kiss into her neck. She laughs lightly, completely oblivious to the effect she was having on him. "Do I look alright?"
"Beautiful. I'm going," he turns her slightly towards him, kissing her throat. Kate shudders and grips a hold of his coat. "to seduce you Kate."
"Thomas," she pants breathlessly, causing him to smile. "my makeup."
"Trust me," he pushes her against the vanity, pulling her skirt up in his hand as he runs his hand up her leg. "I won't touch your makeup."
"What are you," Thomas cups her center through her lacy black tap pants. Kate lets out a loud cry, causing him to cover her mouth with his hand. After a moment, he removes his hand from her mouth. "Thomas," she gasps out. "we've got company downstairs."
"Then you better make sure they don't hear you." he growls by her ear. "Do you understand Kate?" She nods. He pulls her a few steps away from the mirror towards the wall. She lets out a faint sound as he pushes her against the wall. He grabs her by the wrist, pinning her hands above her head, causing her to gasp. She starts breathing rapidly, her breasts heaving with each inhale. He smirks at her."Mrs. Shelby…I'm going to give you something to think about during dinner."
an hour later,
Kate inhales deeply as she attempts to concentrate on her cranberry sauce, but she can't. Her hands are still shaking and her body is still pulsing from the violent climax Thomas had brought her down from almost an hour ago. Her cheeks heated again as she remembered him keeping her against the wall as he slid her fingers inside of her. Almost immediately, her body started responding to him. Thomas had slid another finger inside of her, moving so hard and fast that she'd lost her mind and asked him to take her. Thomas had shaken his head, spoken Romani in her ear, causing her to whimper piteously as he pumped until she came around his fingers.
He'd pulled away from her, rearranged her skirts and walked back into his room, leaving her there against the wall. at first, she was stunned that he didn't go further with her. Then, her heart had skyrocketed when he turned towards her and announced. "January 1st," he inhaled deeply and pointed at her. "I'm going to f**k you Kate."
And with that, he left the room, with her standing there, her body throbbing and her mind spinning. Kate had touched up her makeup, only to drop her lipstick on the floor when she heard Thomas relieving himself as he called her name. God, she was certain that he'd deliberately left the adjoining door open so she'd hear him. He'd come out innocently enough and shrugged. "Ready for dinner?"
As if he sensed her thoughts, he glances at her, his blue eyes dancing in amusement. Damn that man! He'd promised her he was going to make her crave more from him and he had been doing exactly that.
The night had gone relatively well, apart from Arthur and Noni meeting. The two had gotten into an intense argument about boxing within 5 minutes of meeting each other. Luckily, Noni and hadn't thrown Arthur through the window, as she'd done to one of her male suitors many years ago. However, in spite of the argument, she could see that both of them were genuinely attracted to one another, especially when they went to the bar and grabbed the same bottle of whiskey.
Polly sat next to Jeremiah, Finn and Isaiah. Michael and Gina had turned down her invitation, which had pleased Thomas greatly. Charlie and Ruby were thrilled to actually be having dinner with the family, instead of up in their rooms. Kate had spent a good few hour teaching them the proper table etiquette.
A clanging draws everyone's attention to Noni. "Well, I for one, would like to thank our hostess, Kate, for inviting us to such a lavish dinner party. Why, you felt the need to invite me to an intimate family dinner, I'll never know, but I'm beyond thankful that you did."
Kate smiles. "Thank you Noni." She clears her throat. "Now, thanksgiving is a holiday to celebrate everything you received this year. Traditionally, at our house, we all go around the table and share what we're most thankful for." Everyone looks slightly embarrassed to have to reveal such a thing. Kate smiles as she stands up. "Don't worry. I'll go first and give everyone a chance to think of something." Everyone chuckles. She inhales for a moment. "The thing I'm most grateful for…is all of you." Thomas shifts in his chair, so he can get a better look at her. "As some of you know, I've lost people that I loved and I spent so many years in hiding because I didn't want to get hurt again." she turns to him and flashes him a smile. "Then, I happened to bump into a strong and stubborn man who made it his mission to make sure that I fell in love with him. And of course," she shrugs helplessly. "I did." Everyone laughs, except for him. She suspects that it's her declaration that's got him pinned in his seat. "I gained two darling children and a close-knit family that I have never had, but always wanted. So, thank you everyone for being part of the most precious gift I've always wanted. And Thomas," she turned towards him and smiled. "thank you, for being the most wonderful man than any woman could ever ask for. Thank you, for teaching me what it feels like to be loved again. You're the gift I'm most thankful for, because without you…I couldn't even begin to imagine what my life would be like without you. and I assure you, I don't even want to try." Noni started the applause as Kate sat down, with a faint blush. Everyone, but Thomas applauded, he just stared at her as if seeing something for the first time. "So, who wants to go next?"
To everyone's surprise, it's Thomas who stands up first. Kate watches him as he rolls his lit cigarette between his fingers for a moment. "Then thing…I'm most grateful for…is you Kate." She stares up at him in amazement. "In all honesty, I look at what you took on by marrying me and I'm amazed. You said you'd bring healing into my life, and you have. You're like a summer wind that's blown through this house, touching everyone inside. You stuck with me at my worst hour. I put you through Hell, I hurt you and you never gave up, never turned your back on me or walked away. You stayed, you fought and refused to leave me. I've loved before in the past, but…I've never had anyone love me with such a steadfast love as you." Kate's eyes start to water at his declaration. He sets his cigarette down on his empty plate as he reaches for her. "And I love you, my beautiful wife. thank you, for ever agreeing to marry me in the first place." She laughs lightly as everyone chuckles. Well, Noni lets out a cheer as Thomas pulls Kate up from her chair. "Come here you."
Kate wraps her arms tightly around his waist, closing her eyes as he kisses her, causing tremors to run down her body. New Years Eve could not come soon enough! God, she wanted to be with this man so badly she was surprised that he couldn't feel the need radiating off of her. But when he pulled back, she could see it in his eyes that he knew. He was just waiting for something.
