Chapter 26

It was already past noon when Stephane awoke the next day and to his surprise his wife was still sleeping peacefully in his arms. Apparently their nightly activities had completely exhausted her. This realization brought a smug grin to his face. He carefully removed his arm from her still form and sat up in their bed to look at her more closely.
Catherines red-blonde hair laid spread out on her pillow like a golden halo and framed her beautiful face with wild and unruly curls. Countless freckles graced her skin and her features were soft and relaxed. The comforter had slipped down a bit and offered an incredible view of the gentle curves of her breasts.
He hoped to wake up to a sight like this much more often in the near future.

Narcisse ran his fingertips gently over Catherine's cheek. Fascinated he watched her wrinkle her cute little nose as if to chase away a pesky fly which mad him chuckle. He repeated this action and his wife reacted the same way as before but she still didn't seem to wake up.
"Ma Belle," he said more instistingly, still trying to wake her. But instead of opening her eyes she just groaned and buried her face in the pillow. Stephane gently removed the blanket and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. Then he let his lips wander down her back until they reached the very inviting arch of her buttocks.
"It's already noon, Catherine. Time to rise and shine. I'll have them bring our breakfast. Or maybe... we could... ", he did not get any further because his wife wriggled out from under him and abruptly sat up.

"Breakfast?! I am dying of hunger!" Her reaction didn't really surprise him so the Lord Chancellor pulled his wife closer, kissed her good morning and rose in search for his dressing gown he had carelessly stripped off the previous night.
Catherine on the other hand had discovered the tray with their forgotten dinner. She rushed towards it in all her naked glory.
"Order me an omelette with cheese and bacon - not too much salt on it - plus some fruits and a piece of cake," she demanded while sticking a piece of cold pheasant into her mouth to overcome her initial hunger.

"Yes, my Darling," Narcisse confirmed dutifully, struggling to tear himself away from the spectacular sight his naked wife presented him with. Her ecstatic expression while eating was pure aphrodisiac. He decided to include strawberries, champagne and cream to their lovemaking in the future.

Stephane left their chambers and mobilized the servants. Back in the room he contented himself with the role of the silent observer. He only came back to action when a soft knock at the door announced the arrival of their food. So he rose again and affectionately covered Catherine with her dressing gown before calling the servants in to serve their food. Silent but in complete harmony they shared a late breakfast.
Only when her maids appeared to ready their mistress for the day, Stephane reluctantly left his wife to fulfill his neglected duties as Lord Chancellor.

All day long he wore a satisfied smile on his face. A smile his brother couldn't miss.
"So I take it - your wife has obviously forgiven you, Stephane", he teased, but the older one assumed indifference by his banter.
"Considering the fact that Catherine can be quite resentful, you'd better keep watching out, dear brother."
"I will keep that in mind."
Just then Stephane's wife appeared on the tread of the stairs and slowly walked down to the two men. Rafael looked first at his radiant sister-in-law then turned his gaze towards his brother who smiled from ear to ear at the sight of his wife.

"Oh my, I think I'm losing my faith! Are you seriously in love? With your own wife?!" Rafael whispered in disbelief and punched Stephane ruggedly into his side.
"What do you care," his brother murmured instead of a denial.
"Basically I would not care very much about it, but we're talking about a self-determined, mature woman. One of your own age, with a will of her own and both feet on the ground. And as far as I can tell she does not listen to reason nor to her husband."
These thoughts weren't foreign to Stephane, they had already crossed his own mind but he tried to ignore his brother and rushed towards the stairs to greet his wife instead.
"You look beautiful, ma Belle. May I take you for a short walk before dinner, my dear?"
"You may," she graciously permitted while blushing slightly at his flattering words.

The couple peacefully strolled from the gardens to the stables as Catherine insisted on checking her mare's condition by herself. Liberté's fetlocks had been cleaned and treated with a wound healing tincture, yet her rider felt a sense of guilt at the sight of her.
"Do not worry, these are just superficial scratches. In a few days she will be her old self again", Narcisse assured his wife as if reading her thoughts.

Catherine sighed and offered the animal the carrot she had brought from the pantry as some kind of reparation. "Ain't you hungry? How about dinner now?" Her husband suggested unexpectedly, trying to distract her. When his wife nodded in agreement, he stole a sweet kiss and led Catherine back to the chateau.

This is a shorter chapter, I'm afraid, but I hope you still like it.

I'm still amazed by the sheer amount of reviews from you guys. Many many thanks to all of you - Leryn, CallmeCordelia1, MediciQueen, eve_mullerova and demedicigirl!

And I'm sorry so to dissapoint you, demedicigirl, but no more smut in this chapter. More to follow a bit later. :-)

CallmeCordelia1: sooo happy that you still find their actions in character. I'm trying real hard.