SWEET HESITATION

Hello everyone...It's weekend, it's summer, it's a beautiful day, so I decided to write a one-shot, that popped into my head this week. Usually, I get the best ideas just before I fall asleep, so it sometimes happens that I switch on my phone, to write a sketch for the story, just so I wouldn't forget it till the morning. It was the same this time...In this story we will accompany Chelsie during their wedding night (again) ;-) Elsie has many fears and doubts about her looks and the question of intimacy with her husband..Will Charles be able to erase them all? Let's find out... I'm hoping to stay in the T-zone with this story, but it is possible that somewhere along the way it will go to M level.

Legal note: Don't own Charles or Elsie, just let them have a little more fun than Fellowes did.

Elsie was standing in front of the large mirror in their bedroom. She was looking at her reflection attentively. While Charles was in the bathroom, having his bath, she wanted to make sure to prepare herself for his return the best way possible.

She was tired, but happy, excited, but frightened at the same time...She spent so much time picturing this moment in her head, that now, when it finally become reality, it seemed a little surreal... So, finally this is going to happen...In few moments Charles will join her and they will be alone, in their cottage, in their bedroom, away from the Abbey, their colleagues, the family and everyone else. Separated from the world with a closed door. It was not the first time that they will be alone in one room. They have been alone many times during their mutual years of service. But it was never like it will be now. So close, so intimate, with that burning awareness, that they are husband and wife now. Married. United. This situation opened a lot of new possibilities for them. Possibilities that were never available before.

Elsie blushed, realizing that now she and Charles can not only talk, joke and confide in one another, but they can also kiss, touch and learn new things about themselves...Things that they didn't know earlier, but probably both of them were curious about. She knew she was and she had a deep feeling, that Charles was also curious about these things...After all, he was the one who didn't have any doubts about wanting a full marriage. The words that he said to Mrs Patmore, didn't leave any second thoughts about his desires..Elsie would never be able to speak in such open manner, as a woman of her times, liberated, but not that much...Even if she wanted those things the same as he did...She couldn't let anyone know how she really felt..Not even to her dear friend-Mrs Patmore, who was a kind woman with a golden heart, but also with big mouth. Elsie could have easily predicted, how many jokes would she have to handle from her, if she told her or let her know in any way that she loved and desired Charles the same way as he did her...That was the thing that she always kept to herself and never let it out. And it wasn't like those feelings appeared yesterday or only after their engagement...Those feelings were in her, much, much earlier...For many years...

Still, these were two completely, different things..To think and dream about something and to confront those dreams with reality...Standing and looking at her reflection, all her fears have returned to her with a doubled force...She was a middle age woman..That's for sure. Not bad looking, but her looks wasn't the same as it was twenty years earlier...If this night happened then, Elsie would be much more relaxed, knowing exactly what she had to offer to her newly wedded husband...She sighed deeply, thinking that it would all be so much easier...Men are helpless when it comes to young women..They let them do all sort of things and forgive them a lot...But now...

She looked at her night dress, carefully chosen in a shop, few weeks before their wedding, bought with a purpose for using it at her wedding night...This was pure silk, with a low-cut neckline. Style that she normally never used..Embellished with lace...It cost her few pennies, but she figured, that if she hadn't spent too much on her wedding dress, she should at least spoiled herself a bit (and Charles too), by buying this little piece of art...

She wondered for few more moments and she decided that her hair should not be styled in a plait, but instead, she should do something that she never did with it-that is release them completely...For a moment she was hesitating if it is a suitable thing at her age, but her vanity won...She had a beautiful, thick hair, inherited by her mother, and her hair style never really showed it...

When she released them and chestnut, curly locks covered almost all of her back, she suddenly blushed again, as she remembered herself that she once heard a remark from someone, that only fallen women release their hair to tempt men...So be it-she thought...On this one night, I can be a fallen woman...

Will Charles like it? Will he appreciate her like that? All of those years, he hasn't seen her in anything else, that her tightly buttoned up to her neck dresses and neatly styled hair...Won't he be shocked when he sees her the way she was now? Standing here in this suggestive night dress, with wildly released hair, blushed cheeks and sparkling eyes? Won't he be intimidated? Disguised? Outraged? She knew Charles so well, better than he knew himself...She has learnt over the years, that he was very easy to shock...

Elsie looked down...Suddenly feeling that this whole situation is starting to be really overwhelming for her...All those crazy emotions dancing inside her-the hesitation, the anticipation, uncertainty...How will she ever manage to put it behind her, when they will...When he will..Take her to bed...

She was so submerged in her thoughts, that she didn't notice Charles inserting himself quietly into the room and closing the door behind him...

She only realized that he was here, when she felt his arms wrapping around her waist tightly..He stood behind her and as soon as he saw that wonderful phenomen as his wife was, he immediately wanted to do the things that he was never allowed to do all those years...To touch her...To feel her soft skin and the warmth of her body..So he could be sure that she is finally his..After so many years of waiting...And wanting...All the hidden desires eating him inside, are to become reality now...

Was he scared? Unsure? Of course he was...He didn't know how it is to be intimate with a woman...Let alone that woman..A woman that he worked with for so many years. Admiring her, loving her, lusting after her...He wasn't more sure of anything, than he wanted to be with her, but in the same time, he was also scared...Confused...Unsure of how it is going to be, to bare not only his soul, but also his body in front of Elsie? Will she like what she will see? Will she be attracted to him? Won't his old and tired with a life full of hard work body reject her?

He may have not expressed his fears to anyone just like Elsie did, but it didn't mean he didn't have them..He wanted this night to be perfect for both of them..Something to remember for always...He knew that this is going to be a rather hard task, considering their lack of experiences in those matters and that strange situation that they were both in-knowing each other for so long, like friends, work colleagues, but never anything more...Now, they will know everything about each other..They will see their bodies naked, know every wrinkle, flatness, or roundness...There will be no more secrets, no more mystery, that was between them and what kept them so attractive to each other for all those years..Charles trembled, fearing that it might have ruined what they had to this date, but he swiftly scolded himself for those thoughts...

When his arms wrapped around her midsection and his lips started to kiss the side of her neck, she felt sudden flushes of hot...She put her hair on the other side of her neck, just so she could give him a better access to her neck and he gladly accepted it...

"Charles..."-she whispered, closing her eyes, as the sensations coming from his kisses, were more than pleasurable...She never felt anything like that in her life...His hands were touching her belly gently, staying on the safe side for a moment and he focused on her creamy neck, which had a vanilla scent...He was placing soft kisses on the side of her neck, until the moment, when he reached a certain spot below her ear, which unpredictably drove her wild...She closed her eyes, enjoying what he was doing to her and her lips parted a little, making small, almost inaudible moans, which were like a music to his ears...

"Elsie...You are so beautiful...So amazingly beautiful...I have pictured you a thousand times like that, but all of my dreams were nothing compared to reality...You are the most beautiful woman in the world.."

"Charles...You are so sweet...I have never heard anything like that from any man before...I didn't expect to hear something like that...Did you really picture me?"

"I have..Many times...Especially during night time, just before I fell asleep..When we parted for the night, after our evenings with Sherry and I went up to my room..I was imagining you in yours...Getting undressed and ready for a night..."

"Oh Charles...I..."

He gently turned her around, never letting her out of his arms, even for a second and before she knew it, his lips landed on hers...His kisses were soft at first, very gentle and loving..He was tasting her slowly, like the greatest of wines...That was their first, real kiss...Not the shy one, that they've shared after they explained themselves the question of intimacy in the marriage, not the chaste one, that they've shared in front of the church, with all their friends being present..This was a real kiss. Sweet and full of love, but also full of increasing passion, that overtook them...

When Charles hugged her tighter than before and deepened his kiss, Elsie felt a little dizzy and weak in the knees...She wasn't used to that kind of passion...Or any passion for that matter...This was all so new..Exciting, but also overpowering...His wet, hot lips on hers, his tongue slipping inside her mouth, seeking for hers...She clung to him, feeling a sudden need of holding something and he noticed that she was uncomfortable...

"Elsie...Sweetie..Are you all right? Did I scare you too much?.."

"No Charles...You didn't scare me at all..It's just that...All those feelings...I have never in my life felt something like that...It is so new..."

"Do you want us to stop?.."

"No..That's not what I want at all..."

"I'm so glad...I don't think that I would be able to stop myself from kissing you now... Would you like us to...Maybe we should...Lie down...So you would be more comfortable..."-Charles felt that he blushed violently, saying those words...

"Yes Charlie...I would like that very much..."-Elsie took his hand in hers and they slowly headed towards the bed...She climbed on it, feeling that her cheeks are burning her immensely and she lied on her back, with her heart pounding in her chest like crazy...He looked at her with adoration in his eyes...And she blushed again, being very contended...What she saw in his eyes, completely reassured her how much Charles really loved and wanted her...He lied next to her and took her hand in his and pressed it into his lips...

"My sweet, beautiful wife...Finally all mine...Can't even count how many years I waited for having you all to myself..."

"I could say exactly the same Mr Carson..."

Charles smiled profoundly and he kissed each of her fingers, separately, before he gently hovered over her...When she felt his body atop of hers, there was a sudden rush of passion in her and she pulled his face near, letting him know how much she wants his kisses again...He understood the message and gave her what she wanted...They were kissing for infinitely long time...Charles's body was all on fire now...Literally every part of him, let him know how much he wanted her...

It was the same with Elsie...Her body was fully ready for him...She felt like her secret place was opening for him, like a blossoming flower...She wanted nothing else, but Charles...All of him..

When they parted for breath, he whispered to her lovingly:

"You taste so good Elsie...You are as delicious, as I always thought you would be..."

"You taste so good to Charles...All those years, I have always wondered how your kisses would taste.."

"Did you really?"

She shyly nodded and lower her sight down, feeling a little embarrassed, with her own confession... Charles noticed it immediately..

"There is no need to be embarrassed Elsie...You have no idea, how proud it makes me, to know that all those years you wanted me, as much as I wanted you..."

"I wanted you very much Charles...I just couldn't say it...It would not be proper..."

"Fortunately my love, it is very proper right now...And I'm hoping to hear this very often..."

Elsie smiled to her husband and watched how his hands studied her..So carefully...Like she was the most precious piece of China, that he always took care of...His big, but delicate hands, caressed her body in a way that she was never touched...She was touching him too..Very carefully, but with the same amount of love...

After a while, Charles wanted to go to the next stage and he started to lift her night dress up, looking at her with a silent question in his eyes...She understood that question and she helped him to get it off...She was so afraid what his first reaction will be, at the sight of her naked body, but when she saw the look in his eyes, she knew that it was nothing to be afraid of...There was so much love and appreciation...

"I'm honored to be the first man who can see this luscious body..."

"The first and the last Charles..."

"I certainly hope so..."

He kissed and caressed her and she let him show her all the deepness of his love...She reached to his pajama top, wanting to let him know, that it is now time for her to enjoy the view of him and he gladly obliged...

He was very frightened too, but her loving eyes, swiftly convinced him that he had nothing to worry about...She admired his form, with a pure fascination and there was no sign of rejection from her...

Few moment later, their bodies have fully joined and so Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes finally became a husband and wife, in a true meaning of this word..All their fears and doubts were now totally forgotten, as they lost themselves in expressing their enormous love and adoration, that they always had, but could never show it...

When their love act finished and they lied naked in their arms, holding closely and still touching gently, they already knew...That there was nothing better, than the thing that they just had...All the sweet hesitation from both sides, was not necessary...But maybe it was worth of having it, just so they could experience the miracle that they had now, so late in their life, but equally precious, precious as nothing else in the world...

That's all for today dear people...I was wondering if I could still write something about a wedding night for Chelsie, after so many stories that I wrote, involving this subject and it turned out that I can ;-) It was more from Elsie's point of view, but I think that's fair, because so far I have written more stories with Charles's point of view. Anyway, I hope that you liked it a bit. If so, please let me know. Sorry for any mistakes and see you soon!