Chapter 28
As the sleep clears from my mind I realize that it is mid morning and if we are to continue at this pace we must keep our strength up. Taking care not to wake Marie, I remove her arm from about my waist and carefully lift her head from my chest, placing it gently on the pillow. Once I am certain I have not disturbed her, I ease out of bed. Not bothering to dress, I walk the short distance down the hall to my room to retrieve my robe, careful not to allow Pandora out of the room. I do not wish for any further interruptions on her part. I find my robe where I had left it and put it on, securing the sash about my waist. As I do so, the feel of the smooth satin against my bare skin reminds me of the sensations caused by Marie's caresses. With that thought in mind, I make my way to the kitchen.
As I move about the kitchen, preparing breakfast for Marie and myself, I cannot help but reflect on everything which transpired last night. It seems that I have finally been rewarded after enduring all of the horrors that my life has been until now. Yesterday was a dream come true for I have, in one day, become a husband and a lover, both things I had deemed myself incapable of becoming. Even now I find it hard to believe that it is possible to feel such rapture, such pleasure, as that which I discovered time and time again in the arms of my sweet Marie. I do not think there is a word in any of the many languages that I am skilled in that properly expresses the feelings her body, her lips, her tongue provoked from my own in our many shared hours of love making. My skin still tingles from her lingering caresses. If there is only one thing that I can be certain of it is that I will never grow tired of our shared moments together. Alas, breakfast is complete and it is time to wake my lovely bride.
Upon entering the room, I place the tray on the stand beside the bed and, careful not to wake her, ease onto the bed.
"Wake up, my love," I whisper softly in her ear, brushing my lips against her earlobe sensually.
A murmur is her only response.
I begin to hum her favorite song as I trail my lips lightly down her neck to her collar bone where I pause to nibble lightly. She stirs slightly. I resume my travels until my lips come to rest at the corner of her mouth. A smile curves her lips as her eyelids flutter open.
"Good morning," she says sleepily after kissing me softly.
"Good morning," I say in return.
"How long have you been awake?" she asks as she stifles a yawn and stretches sleepily.
"Only long enough to prepare breakfast," I say as I reach for the tray next to the bed. "I thought you might be hungry this morning."
"I am famished," she says with a smile as she situates herself against the pillows so she is now sitting beside me.
"Here you are," I say as I place the tray on her lap and remove my plate from it.
"You spoil me so, my husband," she says before taking a bite of her food.
"It is my pleasure, my wife," I reply as I pick up my fork and prepare to eat.
We are soon enveloped in a comfortable silence, the occasional clink of silverware against china are the only sounds. As we sit here eating I cannot help but wonder what thoughts are going through her mind. My own thoughts are a jumble of recollections of last night and the wee hours of this morning. After I empty my plate and place it on the bedside stand, I sit back and allow my eyes to take in the sight of her bare shoulders. There are faint marks on her delicate skin from my passionate kisses and I cannot help but wonder if there are similar marks on my own flesh. She has the sheet tucked around her but as I watch, it slips downwards with each movement she makes, exposing the top of her breasts. I watch in anticipation as she finishes the last of her food and, leaning forward slightly to pick up the tray and place it on the stand on her side of the bed, the sheet slips down further to rest in her lap leaving her upper body fully exposed to my view. The sight stirs visions of the night before. Visions of her skin glistening in the candlelight as she lay beneath me in the throws of passion...
"Enjoying the view, Erik?" she asks, startling me from my thoughts. My eyes snap up to meet hers, she is grinning slyly.
"Yes," I say softly as I pull her close and kiss her tenderly.
"I can see that," she says after a moment, glancing at my crotch. It seems that my arousal has parted my robe and is quite evident.
My only response is a sheepish grin as I pull her close once more, not bothering to close my robe. As we kiss, I allow my hands to wander over her bare flesh. She moans softly as my hand kneads her breast gently while my other cradles her head while we kiss.
After a few minutes, Marie pushes the sheet from her lap and moves over top of me, straddling my hips. The feeling of pure ecstasy envelopes me as she lowers herself upon me, uniting us once again. As the pleasure builds between us our voices merge in a collection of moans and loving words as the music of our love making fills the otherwise quiet house.
Upon reaching our final release, we settle back against the pillows as Marie snuggles against me, kissing my deformed cheek lovingly. I wrap my arm about her possessively content to remain like this for all of time.
As I sit here in the afterglow of what we have just shared, with my beautiful wife so close, I realize how precious she is to me and how much she has changed my life around. She has managed to single handedly tear down all the defenses I have spent my entire life building up. She has given me something I had thought long lost to me... Hope. And with that hope came acceptance and love, two more things I had thought I would never achieve for as long as my soul roamed this earth. If she had not come into my life I would surely be in my coffin alone in my constant solitude awaiting death's welcoming embrace to release me from my private hell. But instead, here I am, a married man holding my wife in my arms after countless hours of shared passion. With this woman I have also gained a son who is currently being cared for by a friend I had thought lost to me long ago and a promise of our own children in the future. And to think that I had come very close to losing all of this just a couple days ago. Had things turned out differently, I would not be sitting here like this. I would never have experienced the nervousness of awaiting her at the altar or the pleasures we have shared in this very bed. I am grateful that Marie's vision did not play out in reality as it had done in her dreams. If I had not been prepared for what had transpired I would have lost her and if that had happened I would have blamed myself for all eternity. I only wish that I had been able to conceal her better so that Claude would not have found her. If he had not found her, she would not have been injured further by his despicable hands. Because of him, she is marked for life. This scar will be worse than the first sustained under his orders. That one will at least fade in time but I cannot say the same for this one. I will need to check it soon for I do not wish it to become infected.
"What is it that you are thinking about, Erik?" Marie asks, dragging me from my thoughts.
"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you in my life and how happy I am to be here with you like this. I can hardly believe that this is real but I know that no dream could ever produce such wonderful feelings within me. I never dared to believe that one day I would be as happy as you have made me," I say. This is partially true but I do not wish to upset her with talk of almost losing her the other night.
"And this caused you to frown as you were before I spoke?" she questions and I know that I am going to have to tell her the true cause of my frown.
"No, I am afraid my thoughts had drifted to other, not so pleasant thoughts," I reply, hoping she will let it go at that. "How is your head feeling today?" I question, hoping to change the subject.
"It feels much better, thank you," she says as she tenderly places her fingers to the jagged line.
"Here, let me look," I say as I lower her hand and tilt her head so that I can see the long row of stitches. The skin is raised but it does not look the angry red color that would indicate infection. However, I do not wish to take a chance.
"How does it look?" she asks as I study her forehead.
"It is healing nicely but I need to put some medication on it to be sure that it does not become infected. Wait here, I will only be a moment," I say as I get out of bed and secure my robe. I then proceed to gather up the tray with our dirty dishes before leaving the room.
"This should do the trick," I say as I enter the room a few minutes later. I have mixed up a concoction that contains a medication that will prevent infection and will serve as a water proof bandage that will help to speed the healing process while at the same time allowing her to wash her hair without worry of getting her stitches wet. It is almost like putting a layer of skin over the wound to protect it.
"What is it?" she asks as she eyes the thick substance I have placed on a saucer.
"It is a medication that will help to protect your wound as it heals. You will be able to get your hair wet without worrying about your stitches. This will keep them dry even if you were to submerge yourself in water," I explain as I set the saucer on the stand and brush her hair out of the way.
"Will it hurt?" she questions as I situate myself on the edge of the bed so I can apply the medication.
"It might sting slightly but it will only last a moment," I say reassuringly as I prepare to smear the concoction over her stitches.
Her only reaction is a quick intake of breath as I apply the first layer of the cold substance.
"I hope that did not hurt too much, my dear," I say as I finish up.
"No, it was not bad at all," she replies with a brave smile as she reaches her hand up to touch the area.
"You must let it dry before you touch it," I say as I swiftly capture her wrist before she can get her fingers to her forehead. "I do not wish to have to apply it again and cause you more pain," I say softly as I smile at her gently, placing a tender kiss to her fingertips one by one.
"How long will it take to dry?" she asks as I release her wrist.
"It shall only take a few moments. In fact it should be dry by the time I return," I say as I rise from the bed and retrieve the saucer.
"Alright," she replies as she settles against the pillows once more to await my return.
I quickly return the concoction to where it belongs, anxious to return to Marie's side. She smiles at me as I enter the room and remove my robe before getting back into bed. I wrap my arm around Marie and pull her close to my side as I situate myself against the pillows. I would be content to remain like this for the rest of time.
After a few moments, Marie turns onto her side and props herself up on an elbow as she gazes at me intently before asking, "What shall we do today, Erik?"
"Is remaining in bed, making love an option?" I ask teasingly, knowing we should do more than that today. After all, it is our first full day as husband and wife and should be spent doing something special. That is not to say that making love is not something special but even I know that marriage is not only about sharing intimate relations. I wish to show her that she has not made a mistake by becoming my wife. With this thought comes an idea for this evening.
"No, my love, remaining in bed most certainly is not an option," she says, playfully smacking my arm.
"Then I suppose I will just have to convince you otherwise," I say devilishly as I pull her close and kiss her lips as my hands roam freely about her body.
"You cannot possibly be up for this again so soon," she says with a laugh as she squirms out of my grasp.
"Oh, I do believe that I am," I say as I get out of bed and chase her around the room, joining in her laughter. I make quick work of trapping her in a corner and press her against the wall with my body.
"I guess you are correct," she says slyly as I make it a point to press my hips close to her own.
"I think a nice warm bath would be the perfect place to relax since remaining in bed is not allowed," I say huskily as I wrap my arm around her waist and lead her to the bathroom.
"Yes, I daresay that does sound inviting," she says as she snuggles contentedly against my side.
I release her only long enough to turn the water on and add some scented bath salts causing bubbles to form on the surface of the water. Wrapping my arm about her, I relax as I watch the steaming water pour into the marble bathtub. Once the tub is filled I turn off the water and turn to her once more.
"Ladies first," I say as I hold out my hand in an offer to assist her into the luxurious, deeply sunken tub that is easily large enough to accommodate the two of us without any discomfort.
"Thank you," she says as she eases into the water. She does not release my hand, causing me to sink to my knees beside the tub as she sinks below the surface only to rise to her knees a moment later.
I can do nothing but stare at her naked body as the water runs over her flesh and causes her skin to glisten in the soft candlelight. The sight of her like this truly takes my breath away.
"I do believe it is time you join me," she says as she gives my hand a tug. Her movement catches me off guard, causing me to lose my balance. She laughs as I tumble into the water with a splash, landing in her waiting arms.
"Why did you do that?" I ask indignantly as water sputters from my mouth. I was not prepared for that at all and managed to get a mouth full of water before realizing what was happening.
"I simply did not feel inclined to bathe alone while you simply stared at me," she says as her laughter subsides. "You seemed as though you needed a little help."
"I was going to join you in just a moment," I argue before lowering my lips to her exposed neck.
"You seemed rather entranced by something," she says as she tries to squirm out of my grasp as I tickle her earlobe with my warm breath.
"I was simply taking in the sight of my beautiful wife. I do believe making love all night has given you quite a radiant glow, my dear," I say as I cease my torment as I ease away from her only far enough to allow me to get my feet under me. Once I have accomplished this task I pull her to her feet as well.
"Do you really think so?" she asks while I situate myself in the water once more, pulling her down onto my knee.
"Yes, I do. You have made me the happiest man on the face of this earth," I say before kissing her tenderly to show that I speak the truth.
After a long moment, I pick up a washcloth and bar of soap from the side of the bathtub. Getting the washcloth sudsy, I begin to lovingly wash Marie from head to toe, making sure to pay close attention to what I have discovered to be her most sensitive areas. It soon becomes obvious that my touches are having the desired effect on her for she is practically purring with enjoyment.
"I believe it is my turn," she says, panting with pleasure, removing the washcloth from my hand.
She then begins to run the cloth over every part of my body. Will her gentle touches never cease to send my blood racing and my soul soaring? Feeling that I am close to reaching my limit of endurance, I still her hands and pull her lips down upon my own, kissing her deeply.
As our kisses become even more passionate, I feel Marie shift above me. Instead of simply leaning against my chest as she had been, she rises up on her knees and straddles my legs before lowering herself down upon me, joining us together as one once again. I am amazed at how something as simple as water can cause the sensations of love making to be intensified. I shall most definitely study this further but for now I am content to simply let the powerful feelings of our union flood my senses as we create the most beautiful music I have ever known.
