Robert stood in front of his dressing room door, examining the grain of the wood, the richness of the stain, and the decorative hinges. He was stalling, and he knew it. He could hardly contain his nervous fidgeting. Why was he so hesitant to simply knock on the door? His stunning wife was waiting for him on the other side. He could picture her turning towards him as she sat on the settee in her soft pink dressing gown. She would flash him a beseeching smile, a hint of mischief in her eyes, and beckon him to join her. It was a delicious scenario – the kind he fantasized about as he walked the estate in the afternoons.

But tonight was different. Tonight he was going to make love to her – truly, make love to her – for the first time, and he wanted it to be perfect. And perfection was a heady goal. He wanted there to be no trace of awkwardness, no thought of duty. Tonight should be about showing Cora how much he loved her. She deserved that and so much more for the months he simply walked into her room, plundered her body, and left. Tonight was about apologies and forgiveness and letting go.

And that's what he knew he needed to do now – let go of his insecurities and join the woman he loved on other side of the door. The woman he loved.

Straightening his back, Robert looked forward and exhaled slowly, then lifted his hand and rapped lightly on the door.

Cora's melodious voice called out to him like birdsong, "Come in, Robert."

Robert clutched the doorknob and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, a final gulp of courage. He pushed open the heavy door, and the image that greeted him was much like he had envisioned it. Cora was perched on the settee close to the fireplace, a thick blanket over her legs. She beamed up at him as he entered, her smile wide, welcoming, and reassuring.

"Please, join me. I was just thawing out."

Robert grinned as he walked toward the settee and sat down next to her. "I thought you said you'd never be cold again."

Cora giggled and reached for his hand. "Well, I'm a romantic, Robert. It seemed like the right thing to say." She studied his long fingers carefully for a moment and ran her thumb over his knuckles before returning her gaze to him.

"I can't fault you for that," he replied with a chuckle, lifting her hand to kiss the inside of her wrist. "In fact," he continued, turning serious, "it's another one of the many things I adore about you, Cora. You're romantic, passionate. You love with your whole heart, and you let it guide you."

She sighed happily, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "I must admit I began to question the worth of that particular trait. I started to wonder if I was just a stereotype – the impertinent American girl who followed her heart, forsaking all for love, only to have her hopes dashed. But tonight you proved I am anything but that. I let my heart guide me, and I got exactly what I desired – you."

Cora tightened her grip on his hands and stared deeply into his eyes. Love and hope reflected back at him, and Robert felt the rest of the world slip away, receding like the tide. The raging waters would return soon enough, but tonight, it was just the two of them, anchored by their newly discovered romance.

Robert pulled Cora into his lap and wrapped his arm around her waist, the blanket covering her legs falling to the floor. He gingerly gripped her chin and pressed his forehead to hers, breathing deeply, her rose-scented perfume filling his nose.

When he finally brought their lips together in a tentative kiss, Cora melted against him with an airy sigh and threw her arms around his neck, immediately deepening the kiss. Her supple tongue pressed insistently against his bottom lip, and he crumbled under her gentle siege, parting his lips in surrender. Drinking from her like he would a goblet, he luxuriated in each pass of her tongue and the taste of her mouth.

Their lips in constant motion, Cora untied the belt of his dressing gown and deftly began unbuttoning his night shirt with one hand, eventually slipping her hand inside to run it along his bare chest. Eager to be rid of the wretched robe and shirt, Robert broke their kiss, his breathing uneven and erratic, and shrugged out of the offending garments with a triumphant huff, which was soon replaced by a soft whine when Cora slid from his lap and stood before him.

Speechless, Robert watched as his wife slowly, deliberately, untied the bows of her own dressing gown, parting the ruffled panels to reveal that she wore nothing underneath. Letting the gown drop seductively to the carpet, Cora turned her attention to her braid, pulling the ribbon from her hair and tossing her head back, her lustrous dark locks tumbling about her shoulders.

Robert's breath caught in his throat. She was a goddess – his Venus – a sacred gift from the heavens above. The golden firelight danced over her pearly skin, highlighting her shapely legs, the curve of her hips, and her small but voluptuous breasts. She stood confidently with her arms at her sides, her hands open and inviting. He pictured himself running his fingers through her hair, kissing along the arch of her neck and the delicate jut of her collarbone, curling his body into hers – learning her, studying her, memorizing every dip and contour. She deserved to be loved and worshiped, and tonight, he sought forgiveness for all the nights he had failed her.

Cora extended her hand to him, motioning for him to stand, but he pulled her back into his lap instead and situated her between his legs. Moving her hair to the side, he kissed behind her earlobe and started placing feather-light kisses down her neck and along her shoulder. She tilted her head to the side to grant him better access, mewling in contentment at the sensation of his lips moving across her skin. Her breathy sighs spurring him on, Robert's hands roamed over her torso, one hand trailing up her waist and ribcage to knead her breast and lightly tease her hardened nipple, and the other slipping lower. Running his fingertips along the sensitive skin on inside of her thigh, he encouraged her to lift her leg up and to the side to settle on top of his before he parted her silky folds and began stroking her gently – caressing her with intention, exploring with purpose.

Cora was enticingly hot and wet under his fingers, but Robert maintained his focus. His own arousal strained painfully against the small of her back, but he wanted nothing more than to prolong her pleasure, to prove the depth of his love for her.

"Oh, Robert..." she sighed, almost inaudibly, as she stared to roll her hips against his hand. Reaching up behind them, Cora tangled her fingers in hair at the nape of his neck and pulled his forehead to hers. Robert felt her hot, shuddering breath against his lips, and the way she writhed against him, her hips arching and falling to meet his every motion, left him in shambles, careening on the edge of coherent thought.

Cora's eyes suddenly flew open, and she started to quiver, reaching down to clench Robert's forearm, stilling his motions. She stared at him, her countenance uncertain, almost fearful. This was all so new. "Robert, please, I..."

Robert shushed her tenderly and kissed the corner of her mouth. "Let go, my love. Let go," he murmured as he stared in her eyes. Relaxing her grip on his arm, she sunk more heavily against him, her head falling back on his shoulder.

Suckling on her neck, Robert began to caress her again, gratified when his ears were met with her muffled sounds of ecstasy. "Yes, darling, yes. Let go. Let go," he chanted softly until she shattered in his arms, the force of her climax causing her to cry out and tremble violently. He tightened his grip around her waist, causing each of wave of bliss that passed through her body to vibrate along his own.

Unable to resist the urge any longer, he crashed his lips to hers in a bruising kiss, letting his actions show how much he enjoyed giving her pleasure, enjoyed loving her the way she deserved. Cora smiled against his mouth and broke away to turn in his lap.

Snuggling against his chest, she ran her fingers over his lips and gazed up at him, her eyes dark as midnight and beads of perspiration forming along her brow. She was so heart-wrenchingly beautiful Robert felt numb, paralyzed. How could it be that this heavenly creature he held in his arms was his wife? Perhaps it was only a glorious dream.

"Robert?" Cora whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Take me to bed," she pleaded with a string of kisses along his jaw.

Lifting her easily, he cradled her small body in his arms and made his way across the room. He sat her down on the top of the plush duvet, then quickly removed his pajama bottoms. When he looked to her face after kicking the clothing across the floor, he found her studying him earnestly, a thoughtful smile gracing her lips. Her intense regard was a bit unnerving, but his anxiety evaporated immediately when her warm voice met his ears.

"Robert, you are so beautiful sometimes I feel as if I can hardly breathe."

He looked down, touched but slightly amused. "Beautiful?"

"Yes," she sighed as he took a step towards her. "Like Bernini's David is beautiful."

"Cora," he replied with a smirk, "I hardly think I can be compared – "

"No," she hissed, her smile growing larger. Her gaze floated happily over his face, and she sighed as she stood to meet him, curving every soft part of her body into his. Reaching up, she drew her index finger along his forehead, her commentary mapping her intended path. "You are beautiful – your strong nose, dimpled chin, broad chest..."

When she grazed her finger down his abdomen between them and unexpectedly wrapped her hand around his arousal, Robert moaned and closed his eyes tightly, reeling at her closeness – the feel of her fingers gliding methodically over his length, the sound of her ragged breaths pummeling his ears, the scent of her fragrant hair assaulting his nose. It was all too much.

"Cora," he faltered as his hands drifted down her spine, "I need you. Please."

"Then have me," she panted, looking up into his eyes. "Take all of me. I'm yours. I've always been yours."

Her words were erotic, but so full of love and devotion Robert hardly knew how to respond. Cora trusted him fully with her heart, with her body. She had every reason to doubt him – his behavior over the past few months was ample proof – but she remained unmarred. Her love was so innocent and pure and unyielding he thought his chest might explode.

Gripping her bottom, Robert lifted his wife onto the bed and laid her among the pillows. He cradled her in his arms as he settled between her legs, searching her eyes for consent. She cupped his cheek and nodded, but Robert could sense she needed something more. So he kissed her forehead, her eyes, the tip of her nose, and finally her mouth before whispering the venerated phrase he knew she longed to hear him say:

"I love you, Cora."

"And I love you, Robert," she murmured, stroking his cheek before placing a long, lingering kiss against his lips.

When he pushed into her, love and lust burned so hotly in Robert's veins he could hardly maintain his composure. He exhaled slowly as her velvety walls enveloped him, and Cora whimpered. Afraid he had caused her pain, Robert held himself back, his body quaking with the effort. But when she hooked her legs around his waist and arched her back, rolling her hips against him in answer to his unspoken question, he knew she was simply as overcome as him.

He moved slowly above her, reveling in the way her body welcomed him, taking each measured thrust with ease and care. Her delighted gasps fell upon his ears, and her breasts rubbed against his chest. Dizzy with need, Robert sought her gaze to anchor himself. He wanted to savor this night and prolong every moment, but he was perilously close to losing control.

"Look at me, my love," he whispered throatily.

When Cora lowered her chin and opened her hazy eyes, he kissed her fiercely, and she reached up to stroke his hair, her fingers smoothing his wild locks with the continual motion. The loving care she showed him at such a desperate moment made him want to weep, and he realized he would never deserve the way she loved him.

A delicious tension built and coiled around within him, and he plunged into her furiously as they continued to kiss, their tongues moving in tandem with the rhythm of their hips. Wanting her to fall with him, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her lower body more tightly against his. The friction between them intensified until Cora went rigid and cried out his name, sinking her fingernails into his neck and shoulders.

"Oh, Robert, my darling," she moaned as she started to shudder beneath him.

The salacious sound of her voice, the way her body convulsed around him, sent him hurling over the edge only seconds later, and he nuzzled his head against her heated flesh, kissing her neck and murmuring endearments into her skin as he came down from his high.

Robert could hear her heart beating, thundering inside her chest. His blood moved through his veins, racing to his limbs, as his own frenzied heart mimicked hers. They were vital and alive, and so was the love that passed between. It was real and palpable. And he could never doubt it again.

Robert gently eased them on their sides with a soft grunt, and Cora laid her hand on his chest, playing with the soft curls there. She gazed up at him, her eyes gleaming like the sun.

"Let's always remember this moment, Robert," she implored, her voice gravelly. "We can never forget the precious love we feel tonight. There will come a time when we're no longer young and beautiful, when the world will change, when life will challenge us. But this –" She grabbed his left hand in hers and held it over her pounding heart, tears welling up in her eyes. "This love will carry us through the rest of our days. Please...please don't forget."

Robert wrapped his arms around her, pulling her naked body flush against him, and kissed away her tears.

"I'll never forget, my love," he spoke softly. "Never."