Jud

He finally had her alone. She stared at him, unsure and terrified, and it took every bit of strength he had to resist throwing her onto the bed and fucking her. He didn't, though; he married her in order to protect her from men who would do that.

"We probably shouldn't do anythin' now." She squeaked as he walked towards the bed. "Might be a shivaree later on and we don't want anyone to see us…"

"Ain't gonna be a shivaree. Talked to Will Parker at the weddin', and he said the men decided against it. You know, considerin'..."

"Right. Well, I-I s'pose we better turn off the light." She moved toward the lamp.

"No, I wanna look at you, you know I like lookin' at you."

"Oh. All right." She sat back on the bed. "Um, so do we…what'r we supposed to do?"

"Are you okay, Laurey?" He hadn't imagined doing much talking on their wedding night, but for Laurey's sake, he'd do it, guide her through every little thing they were going to do if that was what it took to make her feel better.

"I'm sorry, I just-I never…before. Scared it's gonna hurt somethin' awful, then I'll have a baby that'll hurt worse." Tears filled her eyes and he put his hands on her shoulders, gently as he could.

He sat next to her. "There's…ways to do it that don't hurt and won't get you pregnant neither. Ways that just feel nice"

"Really?" she asked, clearly skeptical.

"Sure. Plenty of different types of lovemakin'." She sniffled and seemed to relax the tiniest bit. "You wanna try that? Want me to make you feel nice?"

"I-I guess, I just don't…"

"Laurey" he whispered, his hands on her shoulders "ain't gonna do nothin' you don't wanna do." Experienced as he was, he still had to look away from her; she was awfully fetching in that lace collar.

"But it's our weddin' night, I thought–"

He smiled. "We're just gonna do exactly what we wanna do, okay? Ain't a law tellin' us what to do"

"Okay" she tried to smile. "But won't you be…well, I know that men get…I mean, I've heard it's difficult for men if they feel a way and they don't…I just figured you'd be excited too, for your first time."

"My first–" he laughed "Darlin', it ain't…I've been with women before."

Her face fell into a pout. "You have? But I thought…at the social, you made it sound like I was the only person you cared for."

He thought of what he could say to comfort her, not wanting her to be upset with him on their wedding night, not wanting her to be so mad she'd deny them both any kind of pleasure just to punish him. "I only ever paid for it, Laurey. Ain't the same thing. You're the only girl I've ever loved, you gotta know that, gotta understand."

"Oh, well, still, they must have known all kinds of things, and I don't, and what if you're disappointed?"

"Listen to me, I wanna be your first time. And since I know what it's like, it means we can go slow, ain't that right? Means I know how to make it nice and gentle for you. You understand, don't you?"

She nodded, and he had never been so sure that he had done the right thing in hiring El Gallo. Without him, there was no telling who she would have married, and any other bridegroom would be inexperienced, would tear into her, leave her unsatisfied and probably pregnant. She needed a real man like him, a man who knew how to treat a girl right, who had been with enough girls to be able to restrain himself. A man who could teach her to do all the things he liked.

"I guess." She admitted. "I just—well, you know, I don't like thinkin' of you with no one else." He felt a tiny pang; he'd been jealous enough of Curly, who had never actually done anything to her; if Laurey really loved him like she said, it must be awful for her knowing there had been other women in his life. But it was different with men, everyone knew that.

"Laurey, I'm with you now. Ain't even thought of another girl since we've started…spendin' time together. I promise."

She nodded and took a deep breath "All right. So how do we start?"

He smiled, glad they were off the subject of his old habits. "You like kissin', don't you?"

"Sure, sure I like kissin'."

"Then let's start there, okay?"

"What–just kissin'?"

"Yeah. And if you don't like anything, we'll stop."

"Promise?"

He kissed her on the lips and for the first time, she didn't kiss him back.

"Promise."

He held her hand like they were a couple just starting to court. They turned toward each other and started kissing. Gentle at first, like it was the very beginning. He purposefully held back, let her be the one to deepen the kiss, let her lean into him and push her lips against his, until his lips were tingling and bruised. He knew he was powerful enough to let her be in control, didn't need to shove her down and take her; he'd just guide her when she needed him to.

Eager to start exploring new territory without alarming her too much, he broke his mouth away from hers once the kissing subsided and kissed a line along her jaw, around her neck, and up to her ear.

"Mm, that tickles" she flinched slightly.

"Want me to keep goin'?"

"I think so"

He kissed her earlobe, then took it gently between his teeth, rubbing his tongue back and forth along it.

She giggled. "Oh, you–that feels awful funny." He let go of her earlobe as she started to pull away.

"Um, so you just…" she started kissing his jaw and his neck, soft and gentle, a little too ticklish to be sensual, but he wasn't about to tell her so.

"And then you…" she took his earlobe into her mouth, repeating his gesture. The wet flick of her tongue made him groan and clench his fists, imagining what else she could do with her tongue.

She let go and murmured "Is that nice?"

She even sounded like a whore when she wanted to. He'd have to encourage that.

"Yeah, that's nice. Real nice. You–mmm" she did it again, pressing closer to him. "Okay, okay" he pulled away before she could drive him too crazy, before he lost control.

"Come on, what…what comes after the kissin'? It ain't just kissin', I know that much." Part of her fear had gone away, and she seemed more flushed and excited, like she wanted to explore everything they could do together.

He took a deep breath. "I think next, it might be, uh, nice to take off our clothes. You let me look at you before; you know I won't do nothin' you're uncomfortable with" he added after seeing the look on her face "We'll just kinda get used to each other. See how we look up close, and touch each other some more. Kiss each other some more"

"Right," she nodded. "And if I get scared…"

"Then I stop."

"Okay." she turned away and inclined her head, giving him access to the buttons along the back of her dress. "Okay" she repeated. He didn't know if she was consoling herself, or was excited for him to touch her, but he certainly wasn't going to turn down the chance at being able to feel her for the first time.

He undid each button as gently as possible, remembering the first time he saw her wear it. It was her church dress, not that he went, but he saw her at breakfast the day she got it. Noticed her before he noticed the dress, the way she sat up straighter than usual, and the way her hair seemed to be done up with extra care. He was used to seeing her in shirts and jeans, and her old church dress had very much been a little girl's dress, shapeless, plain, and white. But that pink dress was sewn up in a new way, a way that emphasized the new curves and dips of her body. He remembered the pang he felt when he first saw her in it, not because he realized for the first time how lovely her body had become–he'd known that for months. No, he'd been worried that other men would notice it, too.

And now her dress was coming undone in his hands, separating so that the back of her neck was exposed. She raised her arms and he pulled the dress off her. He reached up and undid her hairpins, then buried his face in the dip between her neck and her shoulder, letting her hair cascade over him. She let out a little whimper, and reluctantly, he stopped.

"You want me to keep goin'?"

"I do. Yes. Please."

He smiled and pressed his lips against her, even biting her as hard as he dared.

"Oh, I–I think maybe I like that" she sighed, leaning back into him.

He continued, sucking at the skin until she made a tiny noise that didn't sound entirely pleased. He pulled back and admired the mark he'd left on her skin. His own little brand on his girl, his wife, his dirty little whore.

He slipped his arms around her and embraced her, the stiff corset dulling the sensation of her body. He undid the lacing, and she willingly slipped it over her head when it was loose enough. She turned to face him, her plump breasts hanging slightly lower without the corset, her hair spilling over her shoulder. She was like a French postcard come to life, sitting in front of him, waiting for him to touch her.

He reached out and cupped her breast, which was heavy, soft, and warm even under her shift. He tore his gaze away to gauge her reaction. Her bitten lip and bedroom eyes told him everything he needed to know, told him how much she enjoyed it. The effect of her unbound breasts under the soft fabric was stunning, but he couldn't resist her body any more. He kissed her deeply on the lips, and gathered the shift in his fists before tugging it upwards.

She sat up on her knees, allowing him to pull the shift over her head.

"Am I pretty?" she whispered.

He nodded, unable to form words to describe how beautiful she was. Plump breasts capped by pink nipples, full hips, the triangular tangle of hair between her legs. It was too much to take in all at once. He didn't let himself kiss her or even touch her right then, knew he wouldn't be able to resist taking her or at least grabbing her so tightly he'd leave bruises in every new place he had access to.

"Hey, um, Jud," she murmured in her newly acquired bedroom voice, "I thought we were gonna look at each other."

He unbuttoned his shirt, charmed by the way her eyes lingered on the chest hair visibly peeking out from his undershirt. He purposefully left his undershirt on just to hear her say…

"Can you take that off, too?"

He complied, watching her eyes dart around the expanse of his chest.

"Can I touch you?"

"Yes," he laughed, "you can touch me."

She reached out a tentative hand, pressing his wiry chest hair down. She moved her fingers through his chest hair, admiring the effect of the hairs curling around her fingers. Wordlessly, her fingers explored his shoulders, the muscles on his upper arms, his stomach.

"Do you want me to keep my pants on, or…"

She hesitated, clearly flustered by the question.

"Don't have to if you don't want me to. Just figured you might be curious to see it."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, I–I ought to get used to it."

He undid his belt and slid out of the rest of his clothes.

Unknowingly, she said the perfect thing, the thing every man wanted to hear. "Oh, it's so big"

"'Spose so."

"And it's supposed to fit inside me? That don't seem possible."

"Don't have to worry about that now, now's just about lookin' and touchin' and kissin'."

Her gaze returned to his cock, which was by then completely hard. "Can I touch it?"

He took her hand in his and guided it gently to him.

"It's, um, it's smooth" she offered.

Wrapping her hand in his, he began stroking up and down, so she could get a sense of the rhythm, so that she would want to do it herself sometime. She pulled back after a few seconds, smiling awkwardly in apology. "'M sorry, it's a little strange."

"Yeah, you'll get used to it." He cleared his throat, not able to resist her any longer. "Now it's my turn"

He swept his thumb over the swell of her breast, and heard a sharp inhale when he made contact with her nipple.

"You, uh, you like that, darlin'?"

"I-I don't know. I think so."

"Maybe I ought to do it again to see"

He brushed his thumb over her again, earning himself more stifled gasps from her.

"You can tell me if you like somethin'. It's better if you do, so that I'll know I'm doin' a good job. I want you to feel nice, so there's no reason to be shy with me. If you're enjoyin' it and it makes you…feel a way, that's, uh, that's good for me to know. It's okay to wanna feel good with your husband"

"You won't think I'm a bad kinda girl?"

"'Course not." He flicked at her nipple again. "But, um, if you feel like a bad kinda girl, that might be fun. If you wanna act like a bad kinda girl, I'll know you're just pretendin'; I know what a good girl you are so it's safe to act any kinda way you want with me."

"Okay" she blushed becomingly. "Then, um, then yeah, I like it when you touch me there, like that. Makes me feel kinda tingly all over. Like I could just burst into a million pieces.".

"Feels that good, huh?"

"Yeah, it does. It feels real good, and maybe you could do it some more? I mean, I want you to do it some more"

"I think I can do that for you. You're sensitive. That's nice, I like that." He didn't know if all girls were like that their first time, but he was certainly going to revel in it. He kissed her on the lips again, his hands clamped on her breasts, kneading and squeezing them so hard it must have been painful for her. But she didn't seem to mind, just wrapped her arms around him and whimpered into his mouth while she kissed him back, ferocious and sweet at the same time.

Finally, she pulled away from him and lay down, putting a hand on her breast."Can you kiss me? There?" her voice was ragged, more desperate than it had been before.

"I can do that" he whispered, as though he hadn't been dreaming of doing that from the first time he saw her undress in front of her window. He pressed his lips against her breasts, gentle and teasing, but enough to make her whimper and tangle her fingers in his thick hair. Finally, he gave her the satisfaction she wanted and enveloped her nipple in his mouth.

"Jud! What're you–oh, god!" she groaned, as though he was the first man to think of flicking his tongue across a girl's nipple. She immediately put a hand between her legs, but Jud decided to tease her a little more. Gently as he could, he took her wrist and pinned it back on the bed.

"Not yet. I'm your husband and from now on, I decide when you get to come."

"That ain't fair. That's mean" she whined through short, shallow breaths, but all he did was increase the ferocity of his tongue, slipping it over and across her wet, hardened peak as she squirmed underneath him. Finally, he decided he was ready for more, so he let go of her hand. She pressed her palm between her legs and ground her hips until she arched her back, then lay still.

"Sorry I called you mean. That was…that felt nice."

"Hey, um, how'd you learn to do that? With your hand, I mean?" he didn't want anything to ruin his wedding night, but he had to know, or else the question would eat him alive. If someone else had taught her–if some man had shown her what to do and where to touch herself under the guise of some childish game, Jud knew he'd have to hunt him down and kill him.

"Well, I-I can't say for sure. I'd find myself thinkin' about…certain things and start to feel a little strange down there, and touchin' myself was the best way to make it better. That's all right, ain't it?"

"'Course it's all right" he kissed her forehead. "Just wanted to make sure no one else ever kissed and touched you like that before."

She shook her head. "I've been…kissed before, but not like that."

"Wish you hadn't been kissed before. Wish I could've been the first person to ever kiss you."

She laughed, uneasy again. "Well, but, you just said you've been with other ladies before."

"That's different."

"Oh, it's different?" She was skeptical, but he didn't have the patience to explain to her how men needed to do it more often, how a woman had to wait for the right man. She'd probably find some way to argue with him, but he knew he was right.

"Spread your legs."

"I thought we was just kissin'." She was flushed and breathless from her orgasm, but still looked up at him with those timid, unsure eyes.

"There's different kinds of kissin'."

"But I never heard of…can you use your fingers first, or…"

"Just do it, Laurey. I promise it'll be okay."

She moved her legs so her knees were about an inch apart, her face screwed up in anticipation of something awful. He knew he couldn't describe it or make her believe how nice it was going to be, knew he just had to show her, didn't want to waste time talking her into it anyway. He sat on his knees in front of her and grabbed her thighs, lifting them easily onto his shoulders.

"What're you…"

"If it don't feel nice, tell me and I'll stop," he reassured her, holding her hips in place, taking in the sight of her pink cunt, fully exposed to him for the first time. She whimpered and tried to bury her head in the pillow. Before she could try to stop him, he pressed his face against her, licking and sucking at the places she was most sensitive.

She laughed, a strange, high-pitched laugh he'd never heard before. He looked up to make sure she wasn't making fun of him, but the look on her face made it clear that doing it the French way had the desired effect and that her laughing was just another of her cute little quirks. So, he kept at it, licking and sucking every crevice as she squealed and giggled some more. Then he found it, that most sensitive spot that made her scream when he nudged it with his tongue. Even as she squeezed her thighs against his neck, he was unrelenting, lapping at her as she clutched the bedsheets and shook her head back and forth.

He couldn't take any more, and lifted her legs off him. She lay there, splayed out on the bed, dripping and panting through the aftermath of what he had done to her.

He slid his hand down her belly, let his fingers start to explore where his tongue had just been, when he felt her hold her breath. He figured it wouldn't be too alarming for her if he put his finger against her cunt, figured it could still be counted as just touching. He looked up at her face, hoping she was just excited or still catching her breath, but her expression told him otherwise. She stared at him in mute terror, until he took his hand away.

"I'm sorry, was that…that still too much for right now, darlin'?"

She nodded. "That man, he touched me there, and it scared me so bad, I can't…"

"Don't think about that tonight. This is you and me, okay? And I won't do that, won't touch you there until you're good and ready, you hear?"

She nodded again.

"But you liked what I did before, right?"

"Yeah. I liked that."

"Good. Good, I'm glad"

He took his cock in his hand, desperate for release. "Now I promise you I ain't gonna touch you, but I gotta..take care of myself, okay?"

"Yeah, o-okay" She gazed at him, slightly calmer, but still wary as he straddled her and stroked himself. It didn't take long until he came all over her chest and neck.

"Oh" she blinked, startled but not as horrified as she could have been.

He got off her, and looked down at her, splayed out on the bed, totally naked aside from his come. "That's just about the prettiest thing I've ever seen."

That made her laugh, made her come back to her old self. "'M glad. It's, uh, it's…warm. So, that's supposed to go inside me?"

"'F you wanna have a baby. Can also, um…you know…in your mouth."

"Uh, well, maybe." She grimaced. "Some other time. If that'd be nice for you."

"We'll try it sometime. When you're ready"

He cleaned them off with a damp towel and kissed her forehead. "You wanna go to bed?"

She nodded. "Should I put my shift back on?"

"Don't have to. I'd kinda like to hold you just the way you are. 'Sides it'll be warm when we're under the covers together. Now, cuddle up here, darlin'." He lay down and held his arms open. She slid eagerly into his embrace, pressing her backside against him as he draped his arm over her, cupping her breast. "That okay?"

"That's so nice," she whispered. "Been lookin' forward to this part the most, to tell the truth, just bein' in your arms. I feel so safe, like nothin' bad could ever happen"

"That right?" He kissed the back of her head, "'Cause I feel the same way. Can't believe I get to sleep like this every night the rest of my life." He would never again have to spend a miserable night alone in the smokehouse; every night from then on would be spent entangled with Laurey in their light, airy room.

She sighed, then he felt her body stiffen. "Oh, no! I left the window open! Oh, god, they probably heard us all the way to Catoosie."

He laughed, squeezing her breast the way he could do now that he was her husband. "C'mon, no one around to hear, just Aunt Eller."

"That aint' much of a comfort. 'M mortified; god, I was so loud!"

"C'mon, a girl's supposed to have fun on her weddin' night."

"I guess so." She relaxed slightly. "'Sides, I guess she'll know what a good husband you are."