The King, The Duke, and The Lady

Chapter 13

It was three months after Charles was born and Brianna was finally given permission to go forward with relations with her husband. Even though he had shared her bed every night since Charles' birth, their sexual relationship had been primarily one way and she was looking forward to seducing him into bed, even if it was the middle of the morning and the Council was meeting shortly. She didn't care and thought that maybe that would make it even more exciting for them both.

She dismissed the minimal number of ladies she had in attendance on her and summoned Charles to their apartments, knowing he would come as soon as he was able. She laughed as her ladies left. Being one of her ladies-in-waiting was easily considered the most sought after of positions at Court. Brianna had little use of the ladies, and other than providing the minimum of support for easily the most influential and self-possessed woman at Court and yet the most unpretentious as well, all she really demanded, and received, was the utmost discretion. If one of her ladies was heard to gossip or share the secrets Brianna held dear, that lady and her family was immediately dismissed from her service and banished from Court forever, with the likelihood that they would lose any titles or land given to them. That kind of mercilessness was the doing of the King and at his discretion. Brianna would never have wished that punishment on any of her ladies. Therefore Brianna had surrounded herself with a very limited number of women who were the utmost in discretion and more dedicated to her than even the King's subjects to their King.

Charles entered their quarters which were known for intense privacy and guarded at least as well as the King's. His immediate concern was to find the apartments empty and walked towards the back room where their bedroom was. He was afraid that perhaps Brianna had fallen suddenly ill. After childbirth and Henry losing his Queen, Charles' fear of losing her had become sometimes overwhelming. Instead, he found her standing by the upper window with the sunshine pouring over her porcelain skin and golden hair. He thought he had never seen her so beautiful.

He spoke first, his voice deep and gravelly with the pent-up desire he had since the few months before the birth of their child. He wanted his wife back, not just her humor and attention, but her body as well. "Sweetheart, are you well? Has something happened to Charles?"

Brianna turned to face him, a soft smile on her face. "I am well my love. Our son is well and is thriving."

"Then…?"

Brianna laughed and walked saucily towards him, reaching for his massive gold chains around his neck and slipping them off, throwing them on the bed. His eyebrows rose and his face showed a not-altogether pleased countenance with her behavior. Brianna giggled and pulled off his belt and quickly undid his codpiece, knowing it didn't need any of that extra padding so many men wore these days. Charles quickly caught on to what was about to happen, and smiled somewhat doubtfully at his wife. "You have been given the appropriate permission, Bri?"

"Yes, husband. We are free to engage as we so please. And while you have been 'engaged' by my mouth several times a day for the last several months, my body has not had the pleasure. I intend to take mine now."

"The Council starts in just an hour."

"Quite. I believe you are capable of much within that hour, Your Grace."

Brandon hastily thought out his timing and without delay picked his wife up off the floor and pushing her against the wall. Knowing her as he did, he could tell by her particular mood what it was she wanted and she wanted hard and fast. No romance at this moment for them. Their first union in several months would be passionate and pounding, with both of them exhilarated by the end. Brandon pushed her bodice and corset down which caused her even more ample breasts from childbirth to spring out of their covering and present their wickedness right to his waiting mouth. His hands held her bottom while at the same time clawing his way through all the petticoats, which she had the forethought to remove some of them already. His codpiece and other coverings were already being clawed off by her remarkable hands, and without further ado, Brandon entered his more than ready wife for the first time in months. As he pushed her hard against the wall, their mouths locked together as tightly as her legs around his waist, it wasn't long before they both broke away with a scream of each other's names and his seed filled her body once again. Their breathing was rapid and their bodies sweating in the heat of their first coupling in months.

Brianna laughed softly in Brandon's ear. "Your Grace has clearly not forgotten this particular performance. The question is do you have another one in you before you must leave me for Council?"

Her tongue entered the ear she had just whispered into, bringing her hand between the two of their bodies, sliding her hand around his slick standard. It rose rapidly to attention, and the Duke of Suffolk wasted no time in pursuing his wife's body once again. He carried her to their bed, still embedded within her, her petticoats and his underclothes still between them. He laid her gently on the bed, but had no intention of being gentle with her until much later. He knew this was just as urgent for her as it was for him and he would have her just that way.

Laying her on her back he ripped at her bodice completely exposing her breasts to his mouth causing her body to arch up to meet his. His hands reached between the two of their bodies and began his masterful fingering of her most delicate area. Her breath immediately picked up again, practically without a break from before. She moaned and gasped calling out his name while he held her body in place with his own. He brought her twice until he flipped her roughly onto her stomach bringing her body to the edge of their bed. One hand still manipulating her body into a quivering gel, his other hand pulled up her skirts and entered her from behind riding her roughly and deeply. She screamed out yet again as he pounded her insides with a pleasant but rough seeming pain. His body shuddered over hers as he called out her name one final time, rather loudly, and then sank his body on top of hers. The skin where their bodies touched was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and their breathing was hard and fast while they regained their wind.

"And Your Grace," Brandon spoke to his wife, "you seem to have not forgotten your part in this as well."

"And thank God for that Charles. It would be a shame if we were to have to learn it all again."

They were both silent for a minute while the accidental inference of hers was realized. They both laughed loudly and then Brandon said with a quick kiss on her nose while he stood to repair himself for Council. "Perhaps we have forgotten more than we thought, Bri. We shall have to spend the rest of our lives relearning it all."

Brianna didn't even bother to respond. Her dress was torn and her petticoats destroyed. She just slid out of the cumbersome clothing leaving her in only a thin linen chemise and laid her happily satiated body on the bed. Her eyes were already closing as he washed his face and hands, cleaned himself up and organized his clothing and gold chains, eating a piece of fruit before he left. Brandon kissed Brianna's eyelids as he looked at his wife lying provocatively in their bed, wearing almost nothing and her hair and body exposed. Oh, if only he wasn't expected to lead the Council, he would not leave this room all day.

A little more than an hour later, she heard the outer door open and close quietly. Brianna was still in a slightly euphoric and sleepy state and exactly as Brandon had left her. She thought foggily that perhaps he had come back to her more quickly than expected. Instead she heard no noise, and eventually opened her eyes. Before her was the King, leaning his body against the door jam, watching her sleeping and breathing. He motioned for her not to move or say anything.

"Brianna, I only want to watch you breathe. You are so beautiful. You look perfect."

Brianna smiled at Henry, and sleepily and quietly answered him. "I am satiated and sleepy, in what are certainly not proper clothes to receive the King." Despite her answer, she did not move and stayed right where she was.

"Right now, right here, I am not the King." Henry smiled again, his small little boy smile he saved for when he was very comfortable and very happy. No one saw that smile very often, perhaps only her.

"Brianna don't move. I'm going to ask for something. I'll be right back and we can talk for a few moments."

She held her head up on her bent elbow and smiled at him nodding sleepily. He had gone to the door of their quarters and summoned one of his groomsmen, also the complete picture of discretion. She heard him ask for something specific and then closed the door.

He walked back into the bedroom and sat on a stool by the bed. "I'm guessing that since you are obviously not ill, and your bedding and clothing is in great disarray, that you have been able to begin pursuing your nocturnal pleasures." He snorted looking around the room. "But apparently, not so nocturnal at this moment."

Brianna giggled softly. "No I suppose not so nocturnal. Why are you not at Council? You have been at less and less of those, leaving Charles to manage more and more of them." Her voice wasn't critical, just curious.

The King shrugged his shoulders. "I grow tired of managing a Kingdom, and Charles is so much better and wiser at it than I. The older he has gotten the less of a temper he has and the smarter he has become. It seems that the older I have become and the more disappointments I have the more of a temper I have. And Spain and France, they just annoy me to no end. First it is war, then it is a truce or a treaty, then it is war. I personally, and England as a country, are poorly used Brianna. I need a break and Charles is perfectly willing to step up for the time being."

"He is your man through and through Henry. No matter what, your interests are all he has in mind. And if this is what you need from him right now, then he will serve that need. But others of your advisors may not have your best interests in mind, Henry."

He sighed and looked at her, "Cromwell." He stated it as fact, not a question. Brianna just looked at him and made no movement one way or the other. "I will take care of it at the right time."

Brianna just smiled at him as there was a knock on the door. She started to move to cover herself but the King motioned for her to stay. He whispered to her as he got up to answer the door, "Holbein."

She knew that could only mean one thing. Henry wanted a portrait made. But she was not sure he should commission a portrait of her. That was something for Charles to do. Of course, nothing between the three of them was very conventional.

"Mr. Holbein," the King's voice filled the chamber, "I should like to commission a portrait. Actually two portraits, perhaps mirror images of each other. That is something we can discuss later. The Duchess of Suffolk is laying here, almost au naturel. I would like to commission a portrait of her looking very much like this for myself and the Duke as a…Christmas present. See how the sun comes through the window and lights her translucent skin, her blond curls cascade around the messed bed, the linen barely covers her lush body. I should like to have a portrait of Brianna looking very much this way. I will leave it to you Mr. Holbein, to determine the ins and outs of the portrait. I would like her wrapped in the linen, but something even finer and more transparent. I will provide jewelry to accompany the portrait, a large portrait. Do you need to sketch the scene or do you have what you need?"

Mr. Holbein had long ago lost any surprise at what the King might commission and how he might ask for it. He often, like now, had a particular image in mind, but he told him the key things he was looking for and that was all he needed to give his King exactly what he wanted. "No, Your Majesty. I know what is needed. All I will need is for the lady to be available to me to paint."

Henry looked at Brianna who looked back at him. She smirked at him indulgently, shaking her head slowly, letting Mr. Holbein know she would make herself available as required.

Before he left the room, the King turned to Holbein, calling his name. "And Mr. Holbein," Holbein turned to the King, looking at the King holding a finger up to his lips signaling silence. Holbein nodded his head in understanding. There would be no talking about this situation with anyone. Very occasionally the King required this, but in this case, he knew absolute discretion would be required.

The two friends were silent as Holbein left the room and the guards once again took their position outside the door. The King slipped onto the bed next to Brianna and slowly stroked her breasts through her open chemise. Her nipples rose to the occasion and she sighed softly. His hand slid under her light covering taking some of Brandon and her mingled fluids onto his fingers and brought them to his lips, tasting the spent fluids of the two people he loved most in the world.

Brianna had closed her eyes at the King's exploration, loving the feeling of his hands on her again. The two were so engaged in their softness towards each other that neither had heard Brandon enter the room. He was leaning up against the door jam at the same place the King had been earlier.

Not wanting to break the other couple's enjoyment and pleasure, but needing to announce himself, Brandon asked in a soft voice, "When do you think we can return to Cheverly again?"

The King slowly released his fingers from his mouth and withdrew his other hand from Brianna's breast, while she just laid back against the pillows, still exposed to the two men and seemingly not planning to change that.

The King looked to Charles with a heated look, for both him and for Brianna. "I think it should be soon. Do you think we could take a few days alone in a few weeks? It is harder to get away alone these days. We would have to go without anyone."

Ever the practical one, the Duke noted, "We would have to take some guards. You and I together are very good, but I would not want to have to be put in a position to defend your life, Henry."

"Perhaps we can come up with some reason. Maybe it is time to take the boys to the country for a few days. Let us think on it. For now Charles, it is time for us to receive those who desire our attention. I want to keep this short. I have little patience for this as much as I have for the Council."

Brianna laughed, and Charles smirked. "Which is little indeed, Your Majesty."

Henry gave them both a good –natured smirk as well, "Cards tonight after dinner? That is if you have another gown and petticoat? This one," he picked up from the ground and tossed it to the bed, "is quite destroyed."

Brianna and the two men laughed as they left her for another nap and to dress for later. She tired of Court and was ready to retire to the country at least for some time. Perhaps it would be soon…

TBC