A/N: Hi everyone, I just wanted to say a quick thank you, as always, to everyone reading this story, for the follows, adding it to your favourite lists and, of course, an even bigger thank you to those taking the time to leave me such lovely reviews. I really do appreciate them and honestly can't thank you enough for all your continued support! It means the world to me. Thank you all so very much.
Here's the next chapter for you now ;) I hope you enjoy it…
"Oh, no. We don't need to wait," Joseph said as he leant past Clarisse sitting on the edge of the bed next to him and set his champagne glass down on the bedside table next to her glass and the bowl of strawberries before sitting back and turning on the spot so he was now facing her. His hand still grasped in both of hers. "Yes, there's bound to be some nerves between us. Wedding night jitters, and all that. But as long as you are ready, then I'm ready too."
"Oh good, I'm glad you said that," Clarisse smiled cheekily as she let go of his hand now and raised both of her hands up to momentarily cup his jaw in them while leaning slowly forward and pressed her lips to his, her eyes fluttering closed as she kissed him slowly a couple of times before pulling back ever so slightly to study his face while contemplating her next move.
"What are you thinking?" He asked curiously and watched as she closed her eyes while leaning close once again to give him a couple quick kisses before pulling back and standing to her feet at the side of the bed. His question going unanswered.
Taking a deep breath, Clarisse raised one of her hands up, to remove the claw that had been holding her hair in place ever since they were in the back of the limousine on the journey to the Winter Castle and let her hair fall down over her shoulders while nervously pressing her other hand to her stomach. "Can you unzip me, please?" She asked and briefly closed her eyes as she slowly turned around so her back was now to him still sitting on the edge of the bed.
"With pleasure," he replied huskily as he stood to his feet behind her and slipped his hands onto her hips before turning her slightly so she was now facing the bedside table. His tummy fluttered at the thought of unzipping her dress for her. Sure, she had asked him to do it many times before, but this time was different. This time he would get to see the beautiful woman beneath the dress and not the woman who would run and hide from him, from his gaze, as soon as the zip was low enough for her to finish unzipping it herself. And that thought made him smile. Made his heart skip a beat.
"Thank you," she replied, a breath hitching in her throat when she felt him remove one hand from her hip and began to slowly unzip her dress for her. It was at that moment she realised that he was about to not only see her in the special royal blue transparent lace lingerie and suspender belt that she had purchased especially for tonight, and matched the colour of her dress perfectly, but he was about to see her, all of her. The only other man to have seen her body in that way before now was that of her first husband, and to say she was growing more and more nervous the lower the zip went was an understatement. She was absolutely terrified.
She was a fit woman, of course, she exercised regularly, went on long walks, bike rides and even went horse riding with her boys as often as she could. She loved to dance, too, but she didn't have the body of a goddess. She wasn't slim like his previous girlfriends had been. Her tummy was slightly rounded and covered in stretch marks from carrying her sons. So what did he see in her? Why did he love her so much.
"All done," Joseph whispered in her ear a moment later, pulling her from her thoughts, and watched as she nodded slowly in acknowledgement.
'What if he doesn't like what he sees once the dress comes off,' she fretted now and bit her bottom lip anxiously as she slowly removed the straps of her dress from her shoulders and began to lower it down her body until it fell freely into a pool around her feet for the briefest of moments before she carefully stepped free from it around her feet and nudged it to one side with one foot before standing still in front of him once again.
Taking a step back, Joseph let his gaze fall lower to admire her beautiful back, the curve of her gorgeous lace covered bottom and down to her sexy, long legs, those oh so perfect legs that he had fantasied being wrapped around him more times over the years than he'd like to admit, when spotting the garter that was around her thigh caused him to take a sharp intake of breath and his manhood to twitch in response.
'Oh she was beautiful.' He thought to himself as he took a step closer to her and slipped his hands back onto her hips. She was even more beautiful than he could have ever imagined and it took every ounce of strength he had in him not to take her in his arms, lay her on the bed and make love to her right then and there. No, he had to take this slow. He couldn't rush this, that he knew. He wanted to savour every moment with her and certainly didn't want to ruin their first night together by rushing. He had to keep control and not get carried away. They had all night and the whole weekend after all.
"Turn around for me," he asked seductively and kissed the back of her shoulder, causing a shiver to run through her entire body but as her heart began to pound wildly in her chest at his request, at the thought of him seeing her, she suddenly found herself shaking her head instead.
"I… I don't think that I can. I'm sorry," she replied and closed her eyes. Her voice shaky and low. She wanted to turn around, oh how she longed to turn around for him, to reveal her body to him, he was after all her husband now, but she just couldn't. She felt embarrassed and was frozen to the spot.
"It's okay," Joseph replied softly while removing his hands from her hips and placing them lovingly on the tops of her arms. Hoping that it would be more of a comfort to her, having them there instead.
He was gutted that things between them were now halted when they had come this far, but he knew that from the many years they had been friends and from being able to read her like a book, she wasn't feeling comfortable right now and he certainly wasn't going to push her into anything that she didn't feel comfortable with. He has never been that kind of man, and he never will be. "I can sense that you aren't comfortable, and that's okay. Like I said earlier, if you're not ready for this step, then we don't have to do anything you don't want to do."
"I'm sorry, I can't…" Clarisse said, trailing off as she raised her hands up to briefly bury her face in them before shaking her head and lowering her hands back down at her sides. "I thought I could, but I don't want to disappoint you." She said, her voice barely a whisper.
"Oh my love," he said softly as he took a step closer to her back and slowly wrapped one arm around her front, his hand resting on the top of his other hand still resting upon her arm. "You should know that you could never disappoint me."
"But my body.. I'm not as slim as some.." she said in anticipation and turned her head sightly to the side while lifting her hands now to rest on his arm resting across her front. "What do you even see in me?"
"I'll tell you what I see," he began as he rested the side of his face gently against the side of her head before continuing softly, "I see the most beautiful woman in the world. Always have, and I always will."
"But my stomach," Clarisse said with a small laugh and shake of her head, "how can you say that when you haven't even seen my stomach yet."
"What about your stomach? As far as I'm aware, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your stomach. Well, except for the fact that it's just as gorgeous as the rest of you," he said matter of factly and felt her chuckle a little in response. He knew exactly to what she was referring to, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. He just hoped that she would believe him.
"That's because you haven't seen it yet," she replied quietly. "But I'm sure you won't be saying the same when you have seen it."
"I bet I will," he said, and she shook her head once again. "Alright then, tell me. What's wrong with your stomach?"
"Well it isn't exactly the flattest stomach, and it's covered in stretch marks," Clarisse replied and closed her eyes at the thought, once again, of him seeing her stomach.
"And what about them?" He asked and shook his head a little as she turned slightly to look up at him over her shoulder, her hands still resting on his arm. "They are what make you, you. They are what make you a mother, my wife, and the most gorgeous woman to ever walk this earth. You are so incredibly exquisite."
"Really?" Clarisse said in surprise and slowly turned now to face him. To study his face in eager anticipation a moment. "No one has ever said that to me before."