Chapter 13

When Henry clapped eyes on Catherine in the great hall where their hosts were serving an opulent dinner, the sight of her left him speechless. His wife was wearing a burgundy dress that emphasized her petite form in the most exquisit way. The sleeves were made of lace and covered the scars on her left arm. And unlike her usual wardrobe, this dress had an exciting, almost daring neckline.

Like the previous days, Catherine had forgone wearing make-up and therefore countless freckles adorned her face. Seeing her like this aroused Henry's desire to kiss every single one of them. Especially the ones on her décolleté and those hidden beneath the bodice's lace bordure.

To his secret disappointment, his wife was wearing her honey colored hair pinned up this evening. A familiar sight and yet Henry longed for the moment he would be able to undo all these barrettes and clips.
"You look beautiful tonight," Henry whispered into her ear and the blush on her cheeks and her surprised reaction made him realize how rarely he must have complimented her in the past. He intended to change this neglect in the future and gallantly offered his left arm to his wife.

With her left brow raised, Catherine looked up at him, but then she accepted his arm without comment but with the tiniest of smiles on her lips and traversed the hall at his side to the plentifully laid banquet table. During dinner, Henry paid special attention to her every wish and assisted her in every conceivable way that was necessary to hide her handicap from their hosts. Not only once did he feel her indecisive gaze come to rest on him and eventually she gave in to his care.
Henry acknowledged her unexpected giving in with a grateful smile.
The atmosphere at dinner was informal and relaxed. Their hosts were cordial, communicative people who were more than willing to provide the major part of their conversation, which bothered neither Catherine, nor Henry. So Henry allowed Lord Bernard to press him for a glass of whiskey after they've finished their dinner.

Thirty minutes later, Henry observed through the half opened door how Catherine was trying to suppress a yawn, so he thanked Lord Bernard for his hospitality and returned to the dining room to drag his wife away from her talkative hostess.
"Lady Bernard, I'm afraid I have to alienate my wife from you. It has been a long day and after this excellent meal it's finally time to turn in. I bid you good night".

The glance Catherine gave him thereupon seemed almost relieved and she hurried to wish the full figured lady goodnight in turn. Shortly thereafter Henry escorted his wife up the stairs.

The King opened the door to their chamber and let her go first. Florence, the young novice, who had patiently waited for Catherines return, literally jumped out of her chair, but Henry stopped the girl who was already hurrying towards her Queen.
"Florence, you didn't have to wait. Go to bed, girl. I will assist my wife," he told her in his friendliest voice since he was eager to get her out of the room the quickest possible way.

The girl nodded, clearly intimidated by his order, but she still looked at his wife for affirmation.
"It's alright, go to bed, my dear child," Catherine dismissed the novice. Once the young woman had left the room, Catherine turned around and gazed at him sceptically.
"All the care, this unusual consideration and the way you treat me... don't get me wrong, Henry, I really appreciate it. Yet I can't help but wonder, are you doing this only because you want to have sex with me?" The directness of her words dumbfounded the King of France for a second.
But Catherine hadn't finished yet.
"You don't have to flatter me in order to get what you're perfectly entitled to anyway."

Henry took a few steps towards his wife. Once he was standing in front of her, he raised his hand to stroke Catherine's cheek with his index finger.
"No, sweetheart, you're quite mistaken. But there's one thing you're right about. I do desire you and yes, I want to sleep with you. It's been far too long since I've lain with a woman - with my wife. But Catherine, when or even if we are ever going to share a bed as husband and wife, we won't be having sex - we will make love."
Henry tried to win her over by putting all his powers of persuasion into his words.
"What difference does it make?" Catherine asked him matter of factly and Henry gently clasped her chin with two of his fingers to direct her head up to look at him.
"A great difference," he replied thereupon and kissed her with as much devotion and tenderness as he could muster. He didn't want Catherine to assume that she was merely a means to an end.

He wanted her, desired her with an intensity that made his head spin when thinking too much about it. Everything in him urged him to make her his again, to re-claim his beautiful wife. And this time he would hold her dear and never let her go again.

Losing Catherine had opened his eyes. And he admittedly loved himself in the new role that now fell upon him thanks to her injury. Even more he loved the fact that for the first time since they were married, his wife was allowing him to take care of her. Maybe being needed was the feeling he had missed in all these years?
The feeling of being able to be there for her, regardless of her independence and her strength. Because during the long years at his side, Catherine had learned only to depend on herself. She didn't need anyone in her life, most certainly not him, her husband.

But he wanted to be needed by her.
He wanted to be the one person she could always confide in during her darkest hours, just as he wanted to trust her unconditionally.
He wanted to be her hero in shining armor, the man who got her the moon and the stars and in whose arms she could always find strength and security in case she ever needed it.
He wanted to make sweet love to her every night, count the freckles on her body and make up for all the years they had lost out of false pride, hurt feelings and selfishness.

When Henry released Catherine after what felt like an eternity, they were both out of breath. Henry's pulse was racing and his whole body vibrated in anticipation.
"Henry, I don't know what to say. I am your wife and..."
"That's true, you ARE my wife and I want us to live together as husband and wife, Catherine," he told her in dead earnest.
"That's what you say here and now, away from..." Henry interrupted her again by placing one of his fingers against her lips.
"I need you in my life," he stated with desperate courage and took a few steps to slowly guide Catherine towards the middle of the room. "Let me show you how much, sweetheart."

He kissed her again and though she initially reacted with passivity, it didn't take long before she started returning his kiss. A kiss that was getting more and more intense. Driven by the feelings that reigned over him, Henry let his hands wander to the base of her breasts. His touch caused a slight tremor to run over his wife's body, which he interpreted as a good sign.

So he intensified his efforts and caressed her tender skin first with his fingers, then with his lips. When his tongue glided over the gentle curve of her cleavage, Catherine couldn't suppress a quiet moan.
A broad and self-satisfied grin appeared on his lips. Mischievously Henry looked up at his wife, who was wordlessly staring at him, caught in a state between entrancement and unwillingness.

To reduce her remaining doubts to nothing, Henry freed her right breast from the bodice and took the pink nipple into his mouth to suck on it eagerly. The moaning that escaped Catherine's throat was deep and sensual and made his blood shoot into his lower body region.
With his teeth he teasing nibbled at her nipple and let his hands wander to his wifes back to open her dress. After three unsuccessful attempts he released her breast in frustration to turn Catherine around. Then he kissed her neck in an apologetic gesture and set about loosening the tight lacing.

Her dress finally glided to the floor with a soft rustling noise, Henry looked at his wife dignified. Catherine was standing before him, wearing nothing but a flimsy chemise made of finest silk. With a smile on his face he embraced her petite figure from behind and pulled her into his arms. His erection gently poked Catherine's shapely behind.

Henry let his left hand wander to her breasts while his other hand fumbled with the numerous clips that were holding her hair together. A few seconds later her gentle curls cascaded down her back like a golden waterfall.
"So beautiful," he whispered into his wife's ear and turned her in his arms to look deep into her eyes. The golden embers he saw in her gaze gave him hope. With the necessary patience and finesse he would hopefully be able to ignite new flames of passion, which would turn into a bonfire of love.

When he kissed Catherine this time, she didn't hesitate but instantaneously opened her lips to invite his eager tongue in. More than happy, Henry took possession of what she was willing to give him and step by step he urged his wife towards to bed.
When her knee pit hit the frame, Henry kept on pushing Catherine backwards with tender force and by doing so he send them both down on the mattress.
"Now would be your chance to stop me in case you don't want me to..." Henry couldn't finish his sentence for Catherine forcefully pulled him down by the collar of his shirt for her part to mute him with a kiss.

"Enough talking, husband. You wanted to show me how much you need me," she breathed against his lips, whereupon Henry reached for her right hand and guided it towards his crotch area.
"Is this proof enough?" he asked her and opened the leather lacing of his trousers.
When he felt Catherine's hand slipping into his pants, Henry closed his eyes in voluptuousness as soon as her delicate fingers pusillanimously glided over his manhood.

He threatened to get lost in the sensation of her touch but then he remembered his actual mission. He wanted to make love with Catherine, win her back with tenderness and generosity and not by giving her the feeling that he only wanted her because she was the only woman available.
So he gently closed his fingers around her wrist and took her hand from his pulsating penis. Instead he lovingly kissed Catherine and let his hands glide over her body instead.

Finally his desire became unbearable, so he freed first his wife, then his own body from their remaining clothes until they ended up laying completely naked in front of each other.
He devotedly stroked, kissed and caressed her skin and took all time in the world to elicit the kind of moaning from her throat that clouded his senses with naked desire. Her body was a sensual instrument, one that only he could play.
Usually it was him who was taken care of in bed by his countless mistresses in every possible way, but now and here with Catherine he felt as if the true meaning of his very existence was merely to give her pleasure. A feeling whose intensity frightened him.

Was this love? Real, true love? Had he actually fallen in love with his own wife once again?

"Now, Henry," she urged him and her words shot right through him as if electrified. The anticipation nearly killed him. And who was he not to obey to her request?
So he placed himself between her slightly spread thighs and finally re-claimed the woman he had missed for so many months.
Catherine's soft body felt extremely good beneath his own. Dainty and hot. Her wet and incredibly tight center clasped his penis and a hoarse groan escaped his lips.
Once he had fully penetrated her, Henry paused briefly and looked down at Catherine.

Her chest raised and lowered at a breathless pace and her face seemed tense.
"Are you okay, mon petit coeur?" he asked anxiously, whereupon Catherine raised her uninjured arm to stroke his cheek.
"Yes, just give me a second," she asked him with a strained voice. He nodded and kissed her affectionately. Henry would have given her all the time in the world, but after a minute he felt Catherine noticeably relax under him.
"Okay," she whispered, giving her husband permission to finally move.
First at a slow and deliberate pace, then Henry took up speed and penetrated her much faster and deeper.

He loved the feeling her sweet body sparked within his own, loved how she began to squirm beneath him and how she reared up towards him with fervour. His lips sought hers again in order to kiss her with the same passion he made love with her.

Time and again he increased the speed of his thrusts until one of them came to the verge of an orgasm, only to slow down to a moderate rhythm that multiplied their sweet agony.
Then he stopped his movements altogether. Henry grabbed his wife by the waist and rolled himself over with her so that they came to rest laying face to face next to each other on the mattress. His penis had slipped out of her body during this unexpected movement. So Henry reached for Catherine's thigh and pushed it up towards his hip.

This position left her sex fully exposed and Henry slid two of his fingers between her legs to stroke her in the most intimate way before penetrating her again.
Now that his arms no longer had to prop his upper body, he let his hand linger between her thighs and stimulated the little pink button there until it began to swell and Catherine started to twitch under his caresses. With her eyes closed, Catherine threw her head back in pleasure and let herself be washed away by a wave of pure delight.
Was there ever a more beautiful sight?

When Catherine came down from her pinnacle of pleasure and opened her eyes, Henry kissed her tenderly.
Slowly he accelerated his pace again until a load goan announced his tremendous orgasm and Henry exploded inside her still quivering body. Completely exhausted by their lovemaking, he sank back onto the mattress and pulled his wife into a loving embrace.
They stayed like this for a long time and listened to each other's heartbeat. The only thing moving were Henry's fingers, that leisurely painted invisible patterns on Catherine's bare back.

"I love you." This confession just rolled off Henry's tongue in his state of absolute bliss. And although he had muttered these words right after the throes of passion, they still were true.
He loved Catherine. He had actually never really stopped loving her.

Thank you sooooo much for your reviews. I hope you like this new chapter. ;o)