A/N: This story is nearly finished, I'm guessing only 3 or 4 more chapters. I hope you all enjoy. Please review :)
Part XXI
They had been stealing glances of one another all day. Sometimes they would pause for long moments to observe them and sometimes it was a quick glimpse. Occasionally they would both look at each other at the same time and would break into smiles as they held one another's gaze. It reminded them of the early days at Downton, when a smile or a simple look was all they could offer one another. When words that weren't about work could only be exchanged in the cloak of night; in their courtyard.
It had started over breakfast. Anna seemed overly fascinated with the way John's hands moved as they stirred at his tea. Her interest piqued as he took a long, slow pull of his tea. His tongue swiping back and forth to consume every last drop, lips puckering as he savored the taste. She'd almost been caught when her mother had to remind her twice why she wasn't eating her breakfast. John winked at her as he rose from the table to head outside and help David get a head start before the field workers showed up to help.
It was a little later in the day when John was helping David in the barn to unload some hay for the animals when he saw Anna tending to the horses. He watched her treating the steed with such love and tenderness. The way her hands soothed the startled animal and her soft voice cooed for into the majestic animal's ears. She fed the animal a bucket of oats and combed it's hair. John was about to leave her be until he heard the soft sound of humming coming from her. Her sweet rhythm perked up the horse and soon the large animals was gently nudging her with the tip of it's muzzle and caused Anna to laugh aloud.
Instead of joining her, John stayed hidden in the shadows. Enjoying her figure as it milled about in the stall: the slope of her neck and the way her dainty finger tips rubbed at the slight ache in her shoulder, her backside as she dipped to pick up a carrot for the animal, and the way her body moved in the looser dress that Ingrid had loaned her.
They were a long way from Downton, a long way from home. It had taken some getting used to for John, but Anna seemed to be falling back into step with life on the farm. As if she was always meant to be here.
At dinner the conversation seemed to flow over them. Sure they would pitch in a word here or there, but John and Anna were too wrapped up in their own silent conversation that they were having with each other. Their knees would knock against each other; intentionally of course. John allowed his hand to slide up against her thigh, resulting in the release of a pleasant moan. A moan, which Anna would later lie about, and say was a result of the delicious food her mother had set out. Similar risky activity had taken place under the roof of the Abbey, but not nearly as frequently. Then again if they were caught, they weren't exactly at risk of losing their jobs.
He stopped to help her with dishes later. A task that was normally reserved for the women, but John didn't mind. Anna had worked just as tirelessly in the fields as he had, and it wasn't uncommon even back at home for them to help one another with their duties. Not only to get the job done faster, but it seemed to be the only way they could get more time together. She washed and he dried. Soon it was John that was humming "If you were the only girl and I were the only boy."
She could see the corner of his eyes begin to crinkle. Anna flashed a smile his way.
Their hips eventually began to sway, bobbing up against one another. Anna tsked at him for putting unnecessary strain on his knee, but John didn't care. He would have danced the can can for her if it would have put a smile on her face.
John sighed audibly in bed as his eyes roamed over the figures on the page once more. He did the math over and over in his head as he confirmed the numbers were correct. Even if the farm performed well this harvest and the next few to come Mrs. Smith would still be behind in payments to the bank. It wasn't that the farm didn't do well, but in the years that followed her husband and youngest son's passing, combined with the shortage of workers to help tend the fields during and after the war it seemed they fell into a hole they couldn't climb out of. The only way John could see them being able to keep the farm would be if someone were to loan them the money to get the bank off their backs and use the remaining money to hire more help and equipment. It wasn't the first time the idea had popped into his head and he hadn't even broached it with Anna but they could invest in the farm with the money they had saved for the hotel. Of course it would mean giving up on their dream of a place by the sea. But John couldn't see them revisiting that topic anytime soon.
He looked over at his gorgeous wife who seemed so content and lost in a world of her own as she applied lotions and perfume to her skin. How had he gotten so lucky to be bestowed with one of God's angels? John turned his focus back to the paper in front of him.
Anna had been braiding her hair on her end of the bed, sitting clad in her nightgown. Her eyes shot over to steal a glimpse of her husband's broad figure, his glasses perched on the edge of his nose, and his large feet crossed over one another at the ankle. His hair looked disheveled from a hard days work and his eyes appeared to be falling asleep as he reviewed the paper once more. When he groaned in disapproval once more, Anna crawled across the bed to be closer to him and removed the paper from his hands. "What's all this?" she asked as she reviewed what had been holding his attention the past few days.
"Something I'm working on for your mother," he replied. John let his arm loop around the back of her neck and hang over her shoulder as she snuggled up against his side.
"Is there anything I can help with?" she inquired.
"No, I don't think so." John considered revealing to her that he was trying to make the numbers work in Anna's mother's favor so she could keep the farm. But he saw no way around it. Helen had been kind enough to confide in him the true nature of the problem and John wouldn't betray that trust. Quite frankly, he wasn't so sure how Anna would take the news to know that her childhood home may not be hers for much longer. "I'll work on it for her some more tomorrow," John said as he gently pulled the paper back and set it on the bedside table.
"She seems to be taking a shine to you," Anna observed cheerfully.
"So it seems," he answered back.
While life on the farm was hard work and they had to wake up early every morning, John had to admit it wasn't much earlier than when they woke up at Downton. Yet, they managed to fall into bed at an earlier time. Part of it from sheer exhaustion and the other part of it that the farmers life was managed by the sun rather than their masters. They both still were able to work side by side and John could see that in the few days they had been there Anna certainly seemed to be much happier.
"But I don't want to talk of that now. It's been a long day and I want to relish this time with my wife," John softly purred into her ear.
His voice sent volts of electricity through her body. Her skin almost humming to life with every syllable he uttered.
The next thing he knew, Anna was climbing onto his lap. He was so taken aback by the action he didn't quite know how to react. The mattress squeaked slightly under their shifting weight and John playfully shushed her, remembering the warning that Anna's brother had issued to them about Helen being able to hear from the other end of the hallway. The two of them giggled and simultaneously reached to cover one another's mouths. As their laughter subsided John couldn't help but enjoy the way her small weight felt as she settled above his manhood with her legs straddling either side of him. He let out a pleasant groan. As much as he wanted her, it didn't feel right to do it here. Not with her mother so close down the hall. John let his finger wrap around a loose strand of hair and twirled it around his finger before letting it slide between his fingers. She looked so gorgeous-always had- but somehow it was different this time. His eyes drank in the sight of her before him and she looked as young and innocent to him as she had that first day they met at Downton.
She began to remove his glasses and set them aside on the side table. "What has got you in such a serious mood husband?" Anna teased with a tender smile.
"Just thinking," he answered back.
Anna let her head dip back a bit as she rolled her eyes. There was hardly a second that passed when her husband wasn't thinking. She let her hands brush through his hair, stopping at the short hairs just above the back of his neck. "What is it in the world of John Bates that seems to be bothering him at this late hour?"
John chuckled softly as he ran his hands up and down her arms and squeezed them a little tighter. "You. Always you my darling," he replied before reaching up to kiss her lips before running the pad of his thumb over her forehead. "Sometimes I don't know what's going on in that mind of yours anymore and I just hope that you are happy."
"I'm always happy when I'm with you."
"As am I."
"But John, if you want to know you only need ask," she said simply.
"Are you...happy?"
"I am," she answered without a moment's hesitation. "Something about this place is lifting a weight off my chest. I don't quite know how to explain it, but it's healing me."
"That's good. I'm glad."
"Are you?"
"What?" he looked confused.
"Are you happy?" she asked.
"I am happy whenever I look at you," he said genuinely. A comfortable silence overcame them and after a few seconds Anna began to roll her hips.
John couldn't help the natural response and reciprocated back with a small thrust.
Anna's mouth captured his and let her fingers run across his chest.
Her touch was almost scalding as it made contact with his skin. Rationale had kicked in for a split second and John pulled his lips away from her, "Anna...what are we doing?"
"Do you really need me to tell you?" she shot back between sweet kisses.
God she would be the death of him. His hands ran up her thighs and began rolling the hem of her night dress up, but his judgement got the better of him. "We shouldn't...it's been a long day. We should get some sleep."
Anna looked disappointed as her shoulders slouched and her head slumped forward. She knew this arrangement for their marital relations wouldn't last long. Her husband-no matter how good he was to her-was still a man after all. He had needs. "You...you no longer desire me?" she asked. "Is it because of what I've asked you to do when we make love?"
"What? No. Absolutely not," John responded as quickly as his words would allow him to. He tried to soothe her worries as his hands reached for her cheek. "It's just been a long day and I thought you could use the rest." He was being completely honest with her, but he could tell she still was harboring insecurities on the matter. "I still desire you just as much as I always have."
"Prove it then."
"With your mother just down the hall?" he asked. His voice had raised a little but he still attempted to whisper his concerns.
Anna began her ministrations once more and kissed him languidly with closed eyes before whispering in his ear, "Especially with her just down the hall."
"You'll have to keep it down then, my naughty girl."
She smiled in response as her forehead rested against his, "We both will."
John raised an eyebrow in response, sensing she was challenging him.
The two began a dance that was as old as time; one they were both very well versed in. They fought to keep their motions as minimal as possible so as not to disturb her mother. It didn't stop the steady rhythm of the springs beneath the mattress from crying out. When John could feel himself dancing on the brink of release he began to pull out as he had become accustomed to now. But Anna refused to rise from his lap. In fact, she only ground down harder on him. Her hips picking up pace and her hands grappling onto his shoulders for dear life.
John began to speak, to inform her he wouldn't be able to hold on any longer, but Anna beat him to it.
"Stay with me," she muttered between pants. "Don't leave me."
"I never would," he choked out. "But...Anna…"
"It's alright. I don't want you to hold back, John," she instructed him.
Her words were like salvation washing over him. He felt liberated and thought he could actually feel his heart swelling with love for her, knowing that this was her way of telling him she was returning to him. She was affirming to him their marriage was still intact and she was ready to move forward with their plans. And maybe it wouldn't happen right in this moment, but it only spurned John on to release into her with an unbridled passion in hopes that this act of love would result in a baby.
Before he let go inside of her John teased and pinched her nipples to ensure she met her end at the same time as he did. Anna nearly gasped aloud, but John muffled her sounds by pressing his lips to hers. He plunged into her as deep as their bodies would allow. There was an awakening inside of them both-in heart and mind. Their bodies shuddered in the cool night air as they tried to collect themselves. Anna collapsed forward onto his chest and John covered her with his hands and arms to warm her. Their hearts were beating in time next to one another. "I love you, Anna," he said in a rumbling voice.
Anna rested her chin on his chest, her eyes peeking up beneath her lashes to stare into the eyes of the man she had chosen to be her one and only. "I love you more," she replied.