***Steaming keyboard alert...mature, adult scene in this chapter***

Chapter 28

November 20, 1925 PD 1520 hours

Sergeant Ashton turned onto the manor's driveway and Matt, from the backseat, sighed. He knew his charge was missing his bride, but he and Rachel's armsmen kept her earlier arrival to themselves as a surprise for him. He pulled to a stop when they reached the manor and Matt left the car. He paused when he reached the top stair of the portico and hurried through the front door when he heard piano music. When he stepped inside the foyer, Hipper jumped on his shoulder, chirping and purring. He dropped his satchel and stepped into the living room, where Rachel was smiling at him and playing a rolling, merry tune. They met in the middle of the room in a passionate kiss.

"I wanted to surprise you," she said. "We finished earlier than expected."

She squealed when he swept her into his arms and giggled all the way up the stairs and to their room. He closed the door with his foot, set her down, and took off his jacket.

"What happened?" she asked when she saw the large brown spot on his shirt.

"Someone knocked their coffee on me," he said and took off the shirt. "Good thing I had the undershirt on, it was hot."

He took off the undershirt and slid off his trousers. "Join me for a shower? I don't want to make love to you smelling like coffee."

#

After their mattress-shifting tumble, he fussed at himself for not lasting longer than a couple of minutes, but he didn't hear her complaining. He let out a breath and collapsed on her chest. She chuckled, kissed the top of his head, and gently ran her hands through his hair. He saw a bruise on her right rib cage and sighed.

"What happened here?" he asked and his fingertips traveled over the bruise.

She twitched and giggled. "That tickles!"

"You should have said something before I manhandled you," he said and kissed the bruise. "Although I'm glad to hear that tickles instead of that hurts."

"Caught a knee Wednesday night when I was sparring. I got a dose of quick heal after," she said. "The other guy got an elbow to the cheek, so it evened out."

He was never going to get used to how lackadaisical she was about being hurt. "Evened out, huh."

She tweaked his nose. "Really, it doesn't hurt."

"Sometimes I wish you were interested in a sport where this wouldn't happen so much."

"I like softball and tennis too."

"I never see you play those."

"I played some soccer at the academy that first semester, but coup took up a lot of extracurricular time. The only pool on the planet is at Aunt honor's home."

"Which she said you can use anytime."

"I last played softball and tennis in high school, and I might get back into tennis. Natalie plays."

"Some guys from class invited me to play ball this weekend."

"Sounds fun!"

"And I invited my parents to dinner tonight...and to stay the night."

"What time?"

"Seven, and don't worry, Gillian has it under control. Baked spaghetti and minestrone soup. I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow."

"And I invited Natalie and Pat for dinner tomorrow."

He nodded. "Sounds great, I like that you have a female Navy friend. I'm curious about to hear about that courtship."

"It's hilarious. She reminds me of Angie."

"Something else happened that I want to tell you about, but you have to keep it secret. Like...ultra-secret."

She sat up, spilling him from her chest. "Ultra-secret?" Was that even a thing? "Is it bad?"

He smiled and rested on an elbow. "No, it's quite good. Lew is looking at engagement rings."

She put her hands over her mouth and her eyes teared up. She was so happy for her sister!

"He wants to ask her on her birthday. I...uh...hope it's alright that I lent him some money help pay for his parent's passage. He wants them to meet her and be there when he asks."

She gave him a hug. "Of course it's all right. See? All the money is good for something, right? We get to help a friend."

"Remember, ultra secret!" he repeated.

#

At six pm, Rachel stood in the foyer while Matt welcomed his parents to the home. Ruth and Christine held flowers and two wrapped presents, and Stephen a bottle of wine. They greeted Rachel with hugs and gave her the gifts and wished her a belated happy birthday.

"I'll get your things out of the car," Matt said, and Sergeant Ashton followed.

Rachel settled their guests in the living room.

"We haven't seen your home since before the wedding. You've done a beautiful job with it," Ruth said.

"It reflects the both of you," Christine said, gesturing to the piano and billiards table.

"And you still have so much room in here," Stephen added.

Matt and Sergeant Ashton returned with a suitcase and two valises.

"You can choose which rooms you want," Matt said and his parents followed him to the hallway. "There's three bedrooms free down here, and three on the second floor."

"We'll stick to down here," Stephen said.

#

After the Goodsons chose their rooms, Matt returned from the kitchen with four wine glasses on a tray and a bottle opener. He placed the tray on the coffee table and opened the wine.

"Let it breathe a bit," Stephen suggested.

"Sure thing...come on sweetheart, let's see the presents!" Matt said.

Rachel opened one to reveal a framed photo from the last time she visited their home before the wedding. She remembered the day well. Evelyn's husband took a candid shot of her with the family, sitting next to Matt's nephew. She was leaning on the arm of his wheelchair, and the photographer snapped the shot just as she and Will took a bite of a cookie.

"I know just where to place this," she said and placed it on top of the piano.

She returned to the couch and opened the second gift; a beautiful ceramic vase with a G elegantly etched on front.

"Thank you, it's beautiful. I don't have a single vase here," Rachel said and put the flowers in the vase.

Gillian came into the living room. "Dinner is ready, m'lady."

Rachel handed her the vase. "Can you put these in water?"

"Certainly."

The Goodsons followed the couple into the dining room, and they grinned when they heard Ruth murmur, "my goodness" when she saw the 12 person dining room table.

"Kind of outrageous, isn't it?" Rachel asked. "I admit I might have went overboard when I picked it out, but after I saw it, no other table mattered."

"It'll be just right when your entire family comes over," Matt added.

Plates of baked spaghetti and bowls of minestrone soup waited at five places.

"Dad, you can sit here," Matt said, indicating the seat at the head of the table.

"That's kind of you, but this is your home, your place is there," Stephen said. "But allow me to say the blessing over the food."

Stephen held chairs for his wives on Matt's left, while Matt held a chair for Rachel, to his right. Stephen said a blessing over the meal and they dug in.

"This is delicious," Ruth said and looked to Rachel. "Did you prepare any of it?"

"I heated the soup, that's all. I can take apart an air car engine and put it back together, but I'm not really a cook."

"Understandable, you weren't raised for it, am I right?" Christine pointed out.

"I guess?" Rachel replied.

"You were raised to look after a home, like your mothers do. Do they cook often?" Stephen asked.

Rachel tried to remember the last time she saw either of them cooking something in the kitchen. Grace would tactfully shoo them out. "Come to think of it, I can't remember."

"What did you do at that station?" Stephen asked her.

"A demonstration refit on an LAC."

"I'm not sure what that means," Ruth added.

"We did an upgrade on an LAC, but it was more for demonstration to see if it was feasible on the rest of the LACs."

"And is it?" Stephen asked.

"Yes. The refits are being planned, but there's a lot of LACs."

"How many are there?"

"200 here, over a hundred at Blackbird, and over 300 at Manticore. It takes two and half days for the actual work, and between our stations they can dock 12 at a time. I'm not sure how many Manticore can dock, as their stations are being rebuilt."

The Goodsons were astounded.

"Will you be taking part in that?" Christine asked.

Rachel shook her head. "Not unless they transfer me to Repair and Refit division."

"What division are you in?"

"Design and Production, Environmental Section."

"Are you enjoying your work?" Stephen asked.

"Very much so. It was touch and go at first with my section, but the corners are being roughed out."

"She's being humble. The refit was her idea," Matt said.

"Was it now?" Stephen asked.

"It's not that big of a deal. Yes, my name will be in the footnotes of the blueprints and instructions, but it's really just me doing my job."

#

After supper, they all sat in the living room so that Christine and Ruth could watch their Friday night program on the viewer.

"How are your other kids doing?" Rachel asked.

"Hmm...Chris might be taking a position at the Armsman Academy after the new year as an instructor. Julia started junior high school this year and is caught up in band class, and she's spending the night with a drummer friend of hers."

"She picked drums to play?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, tenor drum," all three Goodson parents chorused.

"So guess what we get to hear at the house?" Ruth quipped and playfully narrowed her eyes at her son.

Matt and Rachel snickered, Matt the most, because he had bought his sister a drum to have at home for practice.

"And Jake…" Stephen said and glanced at his wives. "He fancies himself a big man on campus now that he's a senior. I know he's popular, but at times he gets too big for his britches. We have to take him by the collar and shake him out sometimes."

"Do I need to have a talk with him?" Matt asked.

"We've got it handled, but a call to him every once in a while wouldn't go amiss," Stephen said.

"Has he figured out what to do after high school?" Matt asked.

"He went to the Army and Navy recruiter's office last week to get some information, but we know for sure college isn't in his plans. He's barely tolerating his last year of high school."

"He does like math class and the boxing team," Ruth commented.

"As for Evelyn, she's been talking about trying to have another baby," Ruth said. "After Will, she was told she wouldn't be able to have any more, but a friend of hers had twin boys last month after using the services of that genetic clinic."

"She still blames herself for Will's handicap, no matter how many doctors tell her different. She doesn't want to chance it happening to another baby," Christine explained.

"That's understandable," Rachel said.

"You two still waiting on that?" Stephen asked.

Mat and Rachel looked at each other, held hands, and nodded.

"After I'm done with this first year of medical school, we'll start trying," Matt said and kissed her hands.

"It's for the best, I think. We can take a year learning how be married before bringing a baby into it," Rachel said.

"It's like that with grad school too, but my CO advised me to wait on that. I just finished at the academy, and for the time being, it would be best to learn about being an officer. He said he waited two years after the academy to start grad studies, but there was a war going on, so that was his focus."

"Who's your CO?" Stephen asked.

"Commander Kimbrell."

"Steadholder's son?"

Rachel nodded. "The middle one, and the younger son is also in the Navy. They don't get along with their heir apparent. According to the commander, he's kind of a snot."

—

After everyone had gone to bed, Rachel lay on her side and admired Matt's arm and chest muscles ripple when he turned a page of the histology text he was reading. She couldn't help but think back to a bedtime chat she and Natalie shared back at Yanakov Station. Wives usually always talked about their husband's foibles, but Natalie was a Manticoran, so her conversation was less inhibited and more straightforward. Natalie was interested in having children, and inevitably, she brought up the sexual mores of Manticorans and Graysons.

"When you're in a committed relationship, if what you do in the privacy of your bedroom is consensual and pleasurable, there shouldn't be an issue and it's no ones business."

She never, ever asked her mothers about their sex life. Mom, did you ever use your mouth on dad? Yeah, that would go over really well. She was sure that if she had asked for advice, they would have given her some, but she really was learning as she went along. When it came to her own sex life, she was satisfied and happy, and she didn't think of herself or Matt as prudes. However, after chatting with Natalie, she did wonder if Matt wanted more.

She scooted closer to him and ran her fingertips down his side. He twitched, kissed her hand, and continued to read. She rested her hand on his stomach and then slowly moved it down.

He paused his reading and set the book aside.

"Do you want more?" she asked and gently started stroking his growing erection.

"More what?" he asked and closed his eyes as she now steadily stroked.

"More from me...sexually," she answered.

He chuckled and let out a breath, and it was hard to form a coherent sentence with what she was doing.

"Love, there are literally millions of lonely men on this planet, in their lonely beds tonight, wishing that a woman was doing to them what you're doing now," he said and kissed her.

"I'm curious," she murmured and slid under the bedcovers.

"About wh —"

He sucked in a breath and held it, in shock, when he felt her mouth close over his erection. He moaned and his hips rose in time with her motions.

"More...don't stop," he groaned. If this is a dream, may I never wake!

He knew how he sounded, but at the moment he didn't care. She took the initiative to pleasure him this way, so he laid back and enjoyed it. Her magnificent hair spilled onto his hips and stomach, and the feel of those silken lengths on his aroused body sent his lust for her sky high. She smiled and did as he requested, stroking, bobbing, and sucking as he writhed and praised her skills. By his panting and gripping the sheets, she knew he wouldn't last long, so that meant she was doing it right.

"Coming!" he gasped, and his hips bucked when he released into her mouth. She sucked even harder, feeling more lust than ever before, and drew out his release. When he fell flaccid, she wiped her lips and sat up. He was gazing at her, panting, amazed at what she did.

"Let me return the favor?" he asked.

She nodded and he pounced, laying her out on the bed and kissing his way down her body. He gave her rib bruise an extra gentle kiss and moved his head between her thighs. She thought she would levitate off the bed when his tongue first dipped into and lapped at her.

—

After, they drew up the bed covers up and cuddled in the afterglow.

"So that's what you meant by more," he murmured. "Feel free to do that anytime you please."

She giggled. "Noted."

#

(I recently finished the David Weber-Eric Flint Crown of Slaves series, and after the fourth book, I realized that I made some errors in this story and the previous one, lore-wise. I went back and edited the first story, and I'll be editing this story as well. It's not much, but significant. In November 1923, Honor gave birth to a boy named she named Andrew, not a girl. She went into premature labor after tripping and falling over a treecat kitten. I should have read the fourth book before I started these stories! The fourth book in the Crown of Slaves series gives a good look at what happened after Uncompromising Honor.)