WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MATERIAL NOT INTENDED FOR A PG-13 AUDIENCE. RATHER THAN CHANGE THE RATING OF THE WHOLE SAGA, I WILL LET YOU USE YOUR OWN DISGRESSION IN READING THIS. THE SEXUAL CONTENT OF THIS CHAPTER IS UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13 AND ANY OTHERS WHO MIGHT FIND THIS SUBJECT OFFENSIVE. BEING THE TYPE OF PERSON I AM I HAVE USED SENSITIVITY IN THIS TOPIC THAT I BELIEVE REFLECTS THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED.

The merriment continued and after a few glasses of champagne and dancing, Leopold and Kate stood in a quiet corner silently contemplating what the night had in store. Finally Leopold broke the silence and at the same time Kate started to speak and they both nervously laughed.

"Ladies first." Leopold offered.

"No, no, I am sure what you have to say is a lot more interesting."

"I am feeling a bit fatigued."

Kate looked concerned, "I knew this would happen, you rushed this wedding, Leopold. It has been too much excitement."

He smiled, "No, no, that is not the case. What I mean is, I would like to retire for the evening. Our guests are enjoying themselves and won't even know we are gone."

She smiled, "Oh, I see."

"Do I take it that means you are willing to leave?"

She nodded.

"Good. I do have something I need to take care of; it will only take a few minutes. You will wait for me right here?"

"Of course."

He smiled and gave her a quick kiss and he left the ballroom.

As she waited, she looked around the room at everyone enjoying themselves and smiled. It had been a wonderful day; Jack and Janet approached her a little out of breath from their last dance.

"Not a good sign, the bride on her own. Where has Leopold buggered off to then?" Jack was a little tipsy.

"I don't know. He said he would be back shortly."

Jack smiled, "the nervous groom is delaying the inevitable."

Janet playfully hit him, "Jack, stop that. You are being rude."

He looked at Kate who was smiling, "I am only teasing of course, Kate. I am sure Leopold is anxiously awaiting his first night as your husband."

Janet shook her head in disgust, "Don't mind him, Kate. He has had too much to drink as usual. Are you enjoying the party?"

"Oh, yes. It's been marvelous."

"Where is Leopold taking you? He is taking you on a proper honeymoon isn't he?"

"I don't know."

Jack looked concerned. "He isn't planning to take you anywhere tonight, surely? It isn't safe, Kate."

Leopold approached them, "What isn't safe, Jack?"

"I was only concerned about you taking Kate on a honeymoon, I don't like the idea of you traveling at night. I know Edgar is supposedly in Birmingham, but I still have apprehension about it."

This was something he had thought a lot about and although he would have loved to given her a proper honeymoon, it didn't seem plausible at this time. He was quiet.

Kate spoke up, "Why did you bring that up, Jack?"

Leopold put his arm around Kate, "Kate, Jack is concerned about our welfare, I find that highly commendable." He turned to Jack and Janet, "You will excuse us, won't you, I'd like to speak to Kate in private."

"Of course." Janet gave him a nudge and whispered, "Look what you have done now, Jack. Why did you have to bring up Edgar? Ruin their whole wedding day!"

He took her by the elbow and escorted her onto to the dance floor.

Leopold escorted Kate out of the ballroom and picked up a candle on the sideboard, which he lit. And they walked in silence to the foot of the stairs and he stopped and faced her, "I am afraid I am not able to give you the honeymoon I would have liked. Jack's concerns have been mine as well. I can't leave my family at this time and I am hoping you won't be too disappointed in spending your wedding night here."

He had looked so serious, Kate had thought there was going to be some major problem, but she smiled in relief. She put her arms around him, "Leopold, I don't need a honeymoon. I have you, that's all I want and could ever possibly need."

He lightened up a bit, "That is a relief. In all honesty I wasn't thrilled with the whole idea of traveling anywhere. I rather like staying put. Well, without further ado, my darling dearest wife, let us retire to our chambers for the evening. It has been an incredible exhausting day and I for one and am desperate need of a bed." He had a twinkle in his eye.

She smiled, and took his arm and they proceeded up the stairs.



As they reached the bedroom door, he put the candle down, opened the door and picked her up, carrying her over the threshold. They were both a bit giggly and the room being fairly dark Leopold nearly tripped over the leg of a chair. He set Kate down and picked up the candle, Kate took hold of his hand and was surprised when he pulled her in the opposite direction of the bedroom.

"Leopold, the bedroom is that way."

He turned and smiled at her and headed towards the bookcase in the corner, which he pushed, and it revealed a passageway, Kate was surprised, "You have a secret passageway. Leopold, this is incredible."

"A lot of old houses have them, this was my favorite hiding place as a very young child. My father had no idea I knew it existed, but being rather curious, I stumbled upon it and from then on I was often found in here." He closed the bookcase behind them and they walked through the dark passageway, lit only with the single candlelight. It was very eerie, and Kate held onto Leopold's hand tightly.

When they reached the end of the passageway Leopold pushed on what seemed to be a wall and as it opened Kate was amazed by the sight of hundreds of candles illuminating a beautiful large room. "Leopold, this is beautiful."

She was in awe as she took in her surroundings; it was a sitting room and bedroom in one. The candles strategically situated throughout the room, a bottle of champagne and glasses on a table and a magnificent 4- poster bed against the wall, Leopold watched her expression and could see she was pleased.

"This is perfect." He felt awkward and needed something to do so he opened the bottle of champagne and it managed to spill down his sleeve, "Damn!" he spurted out. Kate turned towards him and saw how incredibly nervous he seemed. She moved closer to him, as he tried wiping the spill with a handkerchief.

She took it from his hand and he eyed her, "That won't do you any good. Take your jacket off."

He looked apprehensive, but did as he was told. After removing his jacket and draping it onto the chair, Kate poured him a glass of champagne. She handed it to him and then proceeded to loosen his tie and unbutton the top buttons of his shirt, "Is that better?"

He nodded as he took a swig of the champagne and watched as Kate kicked off her shoes and let her hair fall down onto her shoulders, giving it a slight shake. "My feet are killing me." She sat down on the bed sipping her champagne.

"This is amazing, the whole day, Leopold. You really have outdone yourself."

"I am glad you are pleased." He still stood at the other end of the room and Kate found it very sweet.

She had had quite of few glasses of champagne, and she kept getting the giggles, "Are you going to stand there all night?"

"No, of course not." He poured himself another glass and made his way to her side. She had put the glass down on the floor and had lain back onto the bed looking up at the canopy, "Is that real velvet? It is absolutely gorgeous. You know I always wanted a bed like this when I was a little girl." He sat on the bed and was looking down at her, she then focused on his face and smiled tenderly, "And I always wanted a dashing prince to take me away from the suburbs of New York. I guess a debonair Duke will have to do." She took him by the collar and pulled him down on top of her kissing him, he was still holding the glass of champagne and somehow managed not to spill it holding it out to his side.

Being a bit tense, Kate let go, "Leopold loosen up."

"I was trying not to spill the glass of champagne, for god's sake."

"Loose the champagne."

He sat up and swigged it back setting it and the glass she had put on the floor on the bedside table. When he moved back over to her, she once again pulled him on top of her. She tried finding the fastening of his trousers but was fumbling. For some reason, this annoyed Leopold and he wasn't responding, as Kate would have liked. "Leopold, what is wrong?"

"Are you always this aggressive? Because I find it very unromantic and not how I envisioned our first night together."

He sat up and turned away from her.

"I am sorry, I just thought you might be nervous and if I made the first move, it might be easier."

"Kate, I am perfectly capable of making the first move, given the time."

Kate didn't know if she had blown it, and sat up putting her head in her hands, this wasn't how it was suppose to be. Leopold sulking on the other side of the bed. She didn't know if she should say something, or just let him sulk, this was a tough call.

"How did you imagine our first night together?"

"Not like that. I am not some brash sex driven American male who wants nothing more than to have his trousers removed by a woman impersonating a whore."

Kate was a bit outraged, and Leopold realized he had said too much.

She stood up, "fine. I think I will go back down to the party, if that's how you feel about me…I don't think I have ever been called a whore before and never thought my husband would call me one!"

Leopold stood up and took hold of her hand, "Kate, Kate, I didn't mean that. Please. I am sorry. I had no right to say that. It was incredibly insensitive and no gentleman should ever say such a thing to any woman, let alone his wife. Forgive me, please. I don't know where my head is at the moment."

She turned and looked at him, he was still holding on to her hand and pleading for forgiveness with his eyes. He gently kissed her hand, and proceeded to gently kiss her up her arm all the while looking up at her and watching her reaction change. He reached around her with his other hand and pulled her close to him, "I don't want our night to be ruined by my childish behavior."

Kate, although a little put off by his words, understood his annoyance with her. She was acting like some sex crazed college girl, who couldn't wait to get into his pants. That is not what Leopold was all about. "I believe I was the one being childish." She admitted, " And I forgive you. You were right, I was acting like a whore."

He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and looked in her eyes, "I want to be your lady, Leopold, I want this to be right for you."

He smiled, "And it will be, it will be right for both of us." He passionately kissed her and Kate let him make the moves knowing that is how he wanted it to be. While caressing her back he had found the dress had a row of buttons down the back, one handed he tried to unfasten one and found it impossible, Kate noticed his frustration, he stopped kissing her and looked down her back seeing what the trick was, "Who the hell would put buttons like this on a wedding dress?"

Kate laughed and he followed suit, "Maybe some mother who obviously was not pleased at her daughters choice in husbands. Thought the man would be so frustrated he would give up and she would have her precious daughter back."

"How the hell did my father cope with these?"

Leopold now stood behind her, unbuttoning the buttons one at a time with both hands. "Well, so much for being suave and sophisticated in undressing you. I am not doing so well am I?"

"You are doing fine, Leopold, really? You are laughing, that's important. Don't take it so seriously."

After he finally managed the last button, he raised his hands in triumph, "the task is complete."

Kate let one sleeve fall off her shoulder and as she began to take the dress off Leopold stopped her, "Please, let me have the pleasure."

She smiled as he carefully removed her dress, leaving Kate standing in her slip. He let out a deep sigh as he noticed her nipples showing through and gently placed his hand over one of her breasts, Kate then sighed, as Leopold began kissing her neck and her chest. She moved backwards to the bed and Leopold gently laid her back and laid next to her on his side, his left hand caressing her leg and finding his way up her slip. The way he touched her was like nothing she had ever experienced. It was tender and gentle and sensual all at the same time. He managed to unbutton her camisole revealing her perfectly formed breasts.

"Ah, Kate, you are more beautiful than I ever imagined." He took his fingertip and traced it across her breasts and nipples, and Kate sighed.

"Are you sure you have never done this before?"

"What are you insinuating?"

"You seem to know what you are doing?"

"I read a lot of books."

She laughed, "I am serious."

"Believe me, so am I."

"What kind of books are these?"

"Can we talk about this later?" He found everything all a bit odd. How was he suppose to concentrate on anything. In his mind, so much was going on. He sat up and removed his shirt, trying to collect his thoughts. Then stood up picked up his glass and moved over the table, pouring himself another glass of champagne. Kate propped herself up on one elbow, watching him. She sat up and removed her slip, then slipped under the covers. She didn't want to pressure him. He was doing just fine, but needed some time to compose himself. He turned to look towards the bed, and noticed she was actually in the bed. He began to blow out the candles, leaving only a few still burning. Now feeling a bit more comfortable, the glass of champagne had helped, he crossed the room again and sat on the opposite side of the bed removing his shoes and his trousers and quickly getting into bed besides her. He moved closer to her. Kate was lying on her back, Leopold propped himself up on his right elbow so he was looking down at her. She reached up and pushed his hair away from his face, a tender look passed between them. Leopold's left hand began to explore her naked body, his touch was tender and passionate and Kate shivered as his hand brushed over her breasts and her stomach, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, her eyelids, and eventually found her lips where his kiss was more sensual then it had been in the past. Then his hand caressed her upper thigh, Kate knew where he was going and sighed, anxiously awaiting to feel his touch between her legs. But he stopped, in fact his hand backed away and rested on her stomach. She placed her right hand over his left, which was on her stomach, gently squeezing it and then guiding it between her legs, where Leopold felt her warmth and wetness. She took her hand away and touched his face tenderly.

"That's what you do to me, Leopold."

He smiled and found pleasure watching her face as his finger gently explored this unfamiliar territory. He then took her hand and placed it on his penis, which was hard and erect, "and that is what you do to me, Kate."

Kate was relieved he had relaxed and knew now that he was okay with her making any kind of advancement, the initial awkwardness was now gone. She began stroking him and Leopold thought he was going to lose it; he finally had to take her hand away, "This is too quick,"

"Are you okay?"

"I am perfectly fine, in fact I would say I have reached a state much higher than that. I want it to last."

He rolled towards her and took her in his arms, gently caressing her shoulders, her head on his chest, kissing her. "I love you, Kate."

"I know. I love you too."

"I have waited all my life for someone like you." She sensed a little sadness in his voice; she wondered what he was thinking. The way he held on to her, was like he was afraid he would lose her. He then rolled so she was underneath him, and began to fondle her breasts. He sensually ran his tongue across her nipples which caused her to shiver, he took one into his mouth and gently sucked on it causing Kate's body to arch, he allowed his fingers to explore between her legs once more sending her body into pure ecstasy, before he entered her and as they moved together as one, Leopold's body arched he held onto her with all his might and they both came in the same moment, his body trembled and she held him caressing his back, gently kissing his chest. He fell limp into her arms. She stroked his face and gently kissed him. It took him a few minutes to compose himself.

"Well, I now understand what all the fuss was about." He smiled.

"That's it? That is all you are going to say."

He rolled on to his back bringing her with him, so she lay on top of him. He held her close, stroking her hair and her back, he liked the feeling of her naked body against him, "Incredible…enjoyable…a sensation I most definitely would like to include in my daily life, if you are agreeable." She loved when he teased. It was sweet. "Somehow I doubt I could achieve this kind of pleasure on my own."

"Well, that is encouraging. I am glad I have some purpose for you, giving you pleasure." She put on a little pout.

" Extremely gratifying pleasure, Kate." He leaned towards her, "None of this." He traced her lips with his finger; "I obviously have not met your expectations as a lover, other wise you would have a smile on your face. Possibly I could use a little more practice." He reached down between her legs and felt she was still wet,

"Ah, I see, you still desire me." He teased.

"You are surprised?"

"I guess not. What's not to desire?" he smiled.

"Stop being so cocky and self-assured."

"On the contrary I am only desirable because the lady that is sharing my bed makes me so."

"You are so damn good at twisting everything around. All you have to do is change a word here, a word there."

"I want to make myself perfectly clear, everything I say is in complete sincerity." He looked quite serious and she smiled.

"Curious what you meant about the practice."

"Oh, the practice. So you do feel I could use some?"

"Well, everyone should strive to better themselves."

"Oh, I see."

"I have no complaints mind you, but there is always room for improvement."

"No time like the present. Any objections?"

"I can't think of any at the moment."

He pulled the covers up over their heads and began to playfully kiss her and tickle her. She pulled away from him, laughing, "Leopold, stop that."

He managed to pin her down, " Don't like tickling, do we?"

"Not especially."

"And what pray tell do you like?"

"You are teasing me and this is really cruel. Leopold, I want you for god's sake."

"You have got me, Kate." He started kissing her neck and slowly moved down to her breasts, his hands caressing her whole body. She felt impatient and excited, and Leopold wasted no time and entered her a second time. Their lovemaking was tender and passionate; Leopold wanted it to last as long as possible this time, although inexperienced, he was in total control. This time Kate was the one who lost control and clung to him as she came, Leopold followed suit and they both then fell exhausted unto the bed. While not feeling any discomfort at the time, he felt a throbbing in his shoulder and Kate noticed as he rubbed it.

"Your shoulder? Are you alright?"

He rolled towards her facing her holding her in his arms, and managed a smile, "I am exhausted and extremely content. My shoulder is nothing."

She too felt exhausted and yawned, "It has been a magnificent day, Leopold."

"That it has been." He stroked her hair as he recalled the last few hours, the wedding, the party, and their lovemaking. It was only a matter of minutes and Kate had fallen asleep in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and smiled, this was what was important. It had been a day of forgetting the troubles of his ancestral home, the blackmail and Edgar. He closed his eyes and thought of Kate, knowing tonight would be the first good night sleep he will have had in weeks.



Leopold was an early riser, and was awake before Kate. She was lying on her side, right next to him and he couldn't think of a more beautiful sight to wake up to. She was so peaceful and he didn't want to disturb her. He got out of bed and pulled on his trousers, and made his way down the passageway to his rooms, where he found Otis sorting out his clothes.

"I didn't expect you to be up so early, sir. Did you sleep well?"

Leopold blushed, "I did, Otis. It was a very pleasant evening indeed!"

"And Miss Katherine?"

"Sleeping like a baby. I was hoping to have some breakfast brought up to us."

"I can arrange that sir."

"Wonderful."

"I must say, sir, you look remarkably well, and in such high spirits. I believe marriage suits you."

"I will have to agree with you, Otis. Marriage does indeed suit me. I can't remember ever feeling quit like this before. I recommend it highly."

"I will keep that in mind, sir,"

"How is the courtship between you and Cook going, Otis?"

"Sir, really."

"How many years has it been now? Let's see at least 20! Don't you think it's about time you popped the question?"

"My obligations are to you, sir. I do not have the time to be a husband."

"You make the time, Otis. Don't use me as an excuse. You know perfectly well, I would be all for a marriage between the two of you. I suggest you seriously think about it. Life is to short. Live for the moment, Otis."

"I will think about it, sir."

"Good."

Leopold paced the floor a bit. Looked out the window. He had a lot of nervous energy, and Otis smiled, "You should go back to Miss Katherine, sir. I will bring your breakfast up within the hour."

"Right, I will do that. Thank-you, Otis."

He headed back down the passageway and found Kate still asleep. He removed his trousers and climbed back into bed next to her, she stirred and snuggled up close to him, putting her arm across his bare chest. Leopold placed his left hand over hers and sighed closing his eyes. This is how he always wanted it to be.