A myriad of emotions crossed Cora's face so quickly he could not identify them all. She settled on confusion, her brow furrowing in a way that Robert was coming to regard with bemusement.

"Because...you've hardly touched me." Cora finally explained, her expression now more concerned that he was somehow not particularly bright.

"I've hardly touched you because I'm terrified of disappointing you again."

"Again?"

"Our wedding night." Robert was watching her closely, for any signs that she might be attempting to deceive him.

Cora looked down at her hands, her hair obstructing Robert's view of her gaze. She seemed to weigh her thoughts before speaking. Her words came slowly.

"I thought it was nice." She said at length, and some pink had returned to her skin, painting her attractively rosy from hairline down her arms. "But I don't have anything to compare it to."

It was something he knew, of course. But having her spell it out for him so clearly was sobering. While Robert had limited experience, it was in fact, experience. He knew what to expect from the night, knew how his performance failed to live up. It hadn't occurred to him, at the time, that the entire evening would have been completely foreign to Cora. He never really knew what to assume mothers told their daughters, but if it was anything like what fathers told sons...there was little wonder.

"I thought it was nice, too." Robert took a few tentative steps in her direction and moved to sit beside her. "Albeit short."

"You're the one who left." Cora finally looked up to eye him critically and Robert was forced to laugh stiltedly.

"That's not exactly what I meant." He grinned at her before reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She caught his hand in hers and brought it down to rest in her lap.

"It's important that we can talk, isn't it?" Cora asked, looking down at his hand as she traced fingers along the lines of his palm. "If we're going to make this work."

Robert resisted the urge to ball his hand into a fist, the soft press of her fingertips tickling the soft skin and causing a warm flush to fill him. If she continued to touch him, there would be no talking at all.

"I like talking to you." Finally Cora's ministrations stilled and she slid her fingers through Robert's until their palms were clasped tightly together.

"I like talking to you, too." Robert was entranced by her, by the easy and yet shy way she touched him. The way she seemed to boldly speak her thoughts but make them seem so common sense. She disarmed him with her gentleness, then surprised him with her strength. It was a stunning realization to him, daily, that she was so much more than he bargained for. A thought that was tempered by the belief that he held the far better end of that particular bargain.

So Robert pulled away. Cora clutched at him briefly but let him go, disappointment sharp in the pucker of skin between her brows. He didn't move far and with a swift motion he pulled down his drawers and kicked them away.

He simply stood in the cool of the room shifting from one foot to another, resisting the urge to cover himself.

Cora looked over at him, blushed scarlet and looked away. Her gaze was only averted for a handful of seconds before she glanced again, her lips twisting into a little smile.

Robert continued to stand boldly before holding his hands out to his side and turning in a slow circle.

It would be years later that Robert would realize how much easier it was to bare one's body over one's soul. It would be Cora who would teach him to trust that things would be dealt with easier together.

That night, however, it felt as though he was most vulnerable. He was flooded with relief when he she patted the mattress beside her and he sat gratefully.

"We are very silly." Cora remarked, and she was absolutely right. They had become somewhat farcical in their mutual anxieties, and the fact that they both sat naked in the still-burning lights of the room staring tentatively at one another...

Robert didn't know who started it, but before long they were both giggling helplessly. The giggles gave way to full-bellied laughs and each time either of them tried to start speaking, they would dissolve again into hiccuping mirth.

It was as though all the anxiety and emotion had come swelling to the surface, to be released in a most unusual fashion. They laughed until their sides ached and tears pooled in the corners of their eyes. They laughed until their heads hurt and their lungs burned. They laughed until Cora collapsed against his chest, wheezing, clutching the sheet against her chest.

Her eyes were bright and her face was flushed to match, although not from embarrassment or fear. Her hair tumbled messily over both of them, tangling over her shoulders and across his chest.

"Oh my," she breathed against him then shifted even closer, drawing her legs up onto the bed. Robert could do nothing but put an arm around her shoulder to keep her from tipping, and her nearness gave him a bird's eye view down the front of the sheet.

Feeling bold after their laughter, Robert caught the gape in the sheet with his finger, tugging slightly and peering down. For a moment Cora resisted, pulling the sheet against her chest, but then her expression melted from concern into serenity and she let him pull the sheet down.

She allowed him a few seconds to stare at her unabashedly before lifting her hand to the nape of his neck. He could sense that she needed to touch him, to anchor herself. For all her bravado, she was still more girl than woman, and he could feel her tremble as he traced a finger over the contour of her breast.

He had much to atone for, Robert thought. Perhaps he didn't quite lie to her, but he had never been one hundred percent honest with her either. She accepted that, and had even feared that he didn't find her attractive.

So, with single minded determination, Robert set out to show her exactly how attractive he found her. He began by worshipping at her breasts. Exploring them slowly, without the barrier of material, was even more exciting than he'd realized. He was grateful to put his focus on his wife, as it gave him the opportunity to ignore his own mounting desire. When he leaned forward to press his lips to the dusky pink center Cora hissed out a breath and arched forward, her fingers tugging in the hair at his nape.

Their position on the edge of the bed was precarious so Robert urged her out of the sheet to lay against the pillows. She let him go reluctantly and laid back, one arm tossed up over her head. To Robert, she was wantonness and innocence combined and he couldn't help the slightest leer in his expression as he crawled up next to her.

"You are beautiful," He said, and he could tell by his expression it was not simply the usual platitude she heard in society. "You are perfect."

He allowed his hands to roam over the velvet skin of her belly, arms, torso. He paid more attention to her breasts, secure in the knowledge that they would probably be his favorite for a long time to come. His exploration was gentle and unhurried, seeking only to familiarize himself with her, to make her comfortable with his nearness. When he reached the apex between her thighs she lifted her hips into his hand, her body remembering the sharp joy he'd brought to her earlier that day. But he bypassed her there and continued to move slowly, torturously down her legs. He pressed and rubbed, warming her skin as he moved along, sometimes following the path of his hands with his lips.

His own arousal, a steady burning in his blood, was kept at bay by his single-minded concentration. Cora allowed him long unhurried minutes before her hands could no longer be still, and sought to return the favor. Her touch was more tentative, fingers nimble where she could reach. She stayed to the less sensitive areas, her hands merely roaming his shoulders and arms until he moved to lay beside her, his head propped on the pillow.

His smile was warm, honeyed and loose, and for the first time in their very short union he was content. Once more he brushed her hair from her face before leaning in slowly, ever so slowly, to press his lips to hers. His palm found the small of her back and drew her to him slowly, her arms reaching up to loop around his neck. With a mewl of pleasure in the back of her throat, her lips opened to his and her hands clasped at his cheeks, thumbs brushing over his stubbled chin. She tasted of champagne and garlic, but also some essence that was purely Cora.

Pulling away slightly, Robert smiled down into Cora's eyes before taking her hand and moving it to his hip. A silent request that she conduct her own inspection that she seemed to understand. A request he almost regretted when her small hand gripped his arousal gently. He watched her as she watched her own hand, shifting and rubbing, over the heated flesh. He could not contain a few moans of pleasure, of which she took note. She was a quick study and it wasn't long before he was forced to still her sliding fist, lest the night take yet another embarrassing turn.

Robert gently urged her onto her back and settled between her thighs.

"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered to her, and her smile was brilliant.

"You won't." She said, and he knew she was speaking of far more than this night. She drew him to her, languidly and warmly.

And so it began.


Many things make a marriage.

A promise, a contract, a ring, a church.

A vow, a honeymoon, the act of being together.

Having a child. Having disagreements. Making up.

They would spent the next thirty years doing it all, making it up as they went along.

Cora would confess that she had been in love with Robert from the first night they met. After all, she was wonderfully romantic even with her pragmatic heart.

Robert would confess that he wasn't in love when he married but it didn't take him very long at all to fall.

If he were to pinpoint a time at which he began to stumble it would be in the city of love, on Valentine's eve.

When Cora stood before him in that ridiculous nightgown engineered by his devious sister.

It would be when she laughed in his arms, and trusted him to love her.

Which, of course, he did.

Always.

~fin~


So obviously also in this section was something posted on tumblr lo a thousand years ago from imagineyourOTP seeing each other naked for the first time and being all nervous about it. CHECK. That part was planned from the very beginning.

Apologies for the fact that I kind of chickened out on the smut. But they got all schmoopy on me and all they wanted was candlelight and privacy. Who am I to deny them? I've abused them so this foray, especially robert and his fragile male ego. I figured he could do it right with less of an audience. ;)

Big thanks and love to everyone who supported me along the way, with reviews and pokes and gentle reminders to get off my ass and do something. We are the bestest fandom ever and I'm proud to be a part of there you have it. Happy Valentine's Day, my coberts! Now maybe I get caught up on READING all the lovely stories that were posted! I just know they're all fabulous.