TITLE: Wedding Night
AUTHOR: B
RATING: oh, I don't know...R-17?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters; I make no money from them.
SUMMARY: the first night, POV, Maria
ARCHIVE: surely, if you'd like
FEEDBACK: Of course, that's half the fun...!
Wedding Night
Maria lay in the darkness.
She could feel his weight collapsed on top of her, feel his breath along her neck and in her ear, moving her hair. She could smell the scent of him and her own perfume and she could smell the odor of sex that rose from them, her moisture and his spend.
She could feel the texture of his skin, smooth and taunt, under her hands, under her fingers and palms as she stroked along his back and sides then up to his shoulders, then down again to his backside. There was some sweat just drying along his spine, slick and damp, his hair was curling with it, too.
It was their first time together, they had just been married that morning and then he had to leave before the breakfast was over to oversee something or other on his ship, leaving her alone with the remaining guests and her mother's complaints. Kissing her as he went out the door, he had promised that he would return, saying something about "nothing being able to keep him from her".
God she loved him.
It was late when he had let himself back into her mother's boarding house and into her room. She had wanted to wait up for him, but it had gotten so late that she had finally fallen asleep sitting up in the chair, candle burning next to her. Wrapped in her new nightgown and her shawl against the chill, she had woken to his lips on hers. Opening her eyes, she had just been able to make out his form, her arms went up around his sides and he has whispered, "I told you I'd be back, dearest."
She had tasted the wine o his tongue when he had used it to part her own lips, knew by the way he moved that he hadn't come straight back to the house from the ship. Likely he had stopped with some of his mates for a few toasts. Disappointed, she had immediately forgiven him, he would be leaving the day after tomorrow, at dawn. She knew that he had other obligations that just her.
But she was his wife and it was their wedding night and she had dreamed about how perfect it would be.
He wouldn't lay with her before they were married. He insisted that they would wait until it was sanctioned. Not agreeing that it mattered, she had given in to him on this as she did on all things. This would be their first time together. It would be her first time ever, if you didn't count that time in the storeroom when she was thirteen with that packman. That didn't count, did it? They hadn't actually—he hadn't managed to finish the deed. She had never told anyone about that, surely that didn't count.
She wondered if it was Horatio's first time. No, that couldn't be. She would never ask him, but he was a sailor and he was, what was he?, twenty-seven. He was no virgin. That would be too much to believe. She wondered who the others had been and hated them for a minute before she remembered that she was the one he had married.
He was here now turning to place a couple more logs on the fire, and pulling her up to her feet, pushing the shawl off her shoulders. "We wouldn't want to be cold." She had smiled, a blush not visible in the dark room and in a rush of boldness, she had removed his heavy coat from his shoulders, and placing it on the chair she had just left. His hands were on the buttons and ties at her throat and across her breasts as he clumsily tried to loosen her gown. Her hands were more deftly untying his cravat, undoing the buttons on his waistcoat. Both joined the coat on the chair behind her.
"I'm sorry I'm so late. I wanted to come to you sooner. I did, Maria, truly. Am I forgiven?"
"Always."
His fingers were still working at the gown's ties, she let him be engrossed in them, his hands roving down to her breasts and his thumbs stroking her nipples through the thin lawn covering them.
Her own hands pushed his braces off his shoulders, and then moved on to unfastening the buttons at the top of his shirt, exposing his throat to her hands. It was lovely, his throat. Muscle and tendons and smooth skin. She could feel his breath rushing in and out through his windpipe. He was so incredibly alive. Warm and strong and vibrant with strength.
He was so beautiful.
She unfastened his cuffs, lifted his shirt over his head and leaned in for a moment, resting her head and face against his chest, breathing him in, feeling his warmth, her arms around him. She could feel his arms holding her and suddenly wished that they were already naked and on the bed. Pulling back from him, smiling up at his height above her, she moved her hands down to his trousers, down to the buttons holding them onto his hips.
Released, they slid to the floor. She felt him stab into her belly and he moved back slightly. "Sorry." Shaking her head, smiling at him, she next undid the buttons on his under drawers. They joined the trousers on the floor and she realized that he was naked, his shoes and stockings removed without her noticing. He must have done that before he woke her.
He stood before her, nude, aroused, laughing slightly as his erection poked her stomach. With the differences in their heights, it hit her naval and she smiled up at him.
"Now you." Was whispered to her. She undid the closures of her gown herself and began to raise it up and over her head when his hands stopped her. He did the service himself and she was naked with him.
His hand cupped her cheek and her chin and he leaned down to kiss her carefully.
She felt his arms go about her back and he bent down to pick her up. He was laughing quietly again as he deposited her on the bed, laid out like a meal for his pleasure.
He climbed in beside her, his long body overreaching her smaller one. Rolling on top of her, their legs tangled together, he looked down at her, his hands bracketing her face.
"It's your first time, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"I'll try not to hurt you, Maria. I'll try, but it likely will."
"I know. It's all right."
He was kissing her, it began gently but he quickly deepened the kissing, his tongue, caressing her own and his hands began moving over her. He raised himself up on one elbow so that he would have access to her, his hand moving down to her breasts, his mouth now suckling her breasts, sending shocks through her. She hadn't known that it would feel like it did, she had thought that he would just mount her and do his duty, but he was stroking her and making her want him. She began squirming under him, his hand moving down, to her soft stomach and then down to play in the hair she had down there. Oh, Lord, was he going to put his hand there? Right inside of her? Wouldn't he mind that it was wet and slippery? She should have thought to have a basin of water and a towel for after.
His fingers were playing with her now, stroking in the wetness, making her ready. He was kissing her mouth again, swallowing any noises that she made. She found that she was pushing herself up against his fingers, wishing that he would put them inside of her, wanting to feel fullness there. This was incredible; she had no idea that it would be like this. She had thought that it would all be over in a minute or two, but he was drawing it out so long. Finally, she managed to whisper the single word, "Please" into his mouth and felt his weight move onto her, felt a hardness pressing against her center and opened her legs to allow him room.
He slipped his hand between then to place himself at her entrance, their mouths still pressed together. Pressing, pushing against her, she could feel him begin to slide into her.
She could hear her breath, now starting to come in gasps and pants as he gently slid slightly in and out of her, rocking his hips against her, each thrust slightly deeper then withdrawing to press again.
She could feel him reach the barrier, still unbroken inside of her and felt him stop. He broke the kiss and looked down at her, pausing. "I'll try not to hurt you." She nodded and felt him push harder. There was pain and she grasped his shoulders as she felt him hesitate. Her hands moved down to clench his arse and, raising her legs, she pulled him all the way into her. There was a quick burst of pain and what was likely blood adding to their own juices, but he was lost now, moving with his own rhythm and with his own needs.
She lay unmoving in her pain for a brief moment then rocked with him. He was sliding in and out of her, breathing hard and she could hear him make sounds, gasps and grunts and soft cries.
He was groaning with need for her and she wanted to give him this in the short time they had before he would have to go.
She could feel his muscles gathering for a final effort, his hands clutching almost convulsively against the skin of her back and then sliding down to her backside to pull himself as deeply into her as he could manage.
His shudders started, racking his entire body and he was gasping for air as she could feel him climax inside of her. It lasted long seconds and he was collapsed on her, his weight covering her and his breath coming in great gulps of air.
They lay unmoving together. Finally, she turned her head, looking at his face next to hers, his expression slack, his eyes half closed. "Was it very painful for you?"
She shook her head. "No, not so much."
He nodded, attempted a smile. "Good."
Kissing her, he raised himself up onto his elbows, taking his weight off of her. He gently withdrew from her and shifted so that he was lying at her side, his arms around her as she snuggled against him, kissing his chest and caressing him.
She could feel him begin to relax as he drifted into sleep and looked up at his face, now composed and sated after what they had just done.
She knew that he would leave soon and she knew that he would be gone a long time. There was a chance that he would be killed while she waited for him to return.
She thought that the greatest miracle in her life would always be that Horatio had married her. It was more than she had ever even dared to hope for, that a man like him would have her.
She knew that he didn't love her, certainly not the way that she loved him. But she knew that he would come back to her, when he could, just as he knew that she would be here.
It was enough.
9/28/02
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