“Lady Louisa, speaking of music,” Charlotte spoke up, visibly anxious at the mention of duelling and the direction the conversation was heading in. “Why don’t you play something for us again?”
That night, Elizabeth tossed and turned in her bed, unable to calm both her body and her mind. Finally, some time after midnight, she threw off the covers and got up. For once, she appreciated the wastefulness of having an excessively illuminated corridor as she sneaked to her husband’s room.
She knocked and died several times as she waited for him to open the door, which he soon did, dishevelled and confused in his nightshirt.
“Lizzie?” he asked, looking sleepy at first, then suddenly worried. “Is aught amiss?”
Elizabeth couldn’t speak, so she just entered his room without being asked to and closed the door. Colin had stepped back to let her in and now stood at the foot of his bed, his body tense and seemingly ready to attack someone if need be. Something on her face must have betrayed her intentions, for his body suddenly completely changed its stance, and he asked in a much darker voice, “Why are you here, wife?”
Elizabeth was certain the hunger in Colin’s eyes was but a reflection of hers. She walked over to him and kissed him on the mouth as they embraced each other. She arched into him in order to touch as much of his body as possible and enjoyed how hard he already was, but then she gasped and stepped back.
“Your arm,” she gestured helplessly.
“It’s all right, it doesn’t hurt, I just don’t have my strength back. We’re going to have to use your knowledge from our riding lessons tonight,” he said mischievously.
He pulled her back to him with his left hand and slowly unlaced the front of her nightdress with his right. He softly bit her neck and kissed down her collarbone as she impatiently pulled on his clothes. Elizabeth managed to take off his nightshirt as carefully as possible despite the urgency she felt, and then threw hers off.
Colin sat down on the bed and looked up at her naked body in awe. She stepped closer to him. He ran the back of his hand across her stomach, and it contracted and trembled under his touch. She inhaled sharply as she felt a corresponding tremble between her legs.
His hand travelled lower and lower, until she had to hold onto his shoulders and set one knee on the bed in order to enjoyeverything that it was doing to her. Her release came almost embarrassingly quickly.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Colin whispered as she still pulsed around his fingers.
“Me too,” she managed to say before leaning down to kiss him some more.
“Wait,” he said after a while and moved to the head of the bed, where he could lean his back on the frame.
Elizabeth crawled over to him, and he looked entranced.
“My kitten,” he murmured affectionately, and she smiled at the familiar nickname.
She straddled him, and he helped guide his tip inside her. A moan escaped them both at the sensation.
“Colin,” she said into his mouth, ever increasing the urgency of their kisses, until she was biting and sucking more than she was kissing as she moved up and down on him.
Elizabeth was overwhelmed by being one with him again. In the warm, soft light of her newfound knowledge that Colin loved her, their union felt more significant and rewarding than ever before.
She held on to the drapes around the bed to facilitate her movements but also to avoid putting pressure on his injured arm, while he held onto her behind with both hands. At one point, she gasped in delight, which broke the kiss, and Colin leaned forward to take one of her breasts into his hot, eager mouth, which, together with the inevitable change in their positions, ultimately pushed her into another bout of ecstasy.
She hadn’t even been aware he’d followed her there. Her ears were filled with sounds similar to rushing water, and her heartwas threatening to burst out of her chest. She slumped onto Colin’s torso and hugged his neck as their sweaty skin started to cool.
After a while, she attempted to move away, but he wouldn’t let her.
“Stay like this, please, it feels so right,” he implored.
She pulled away slightly to look at his face. The tenderness and love in it were disarming.
“All right, for a little while. I don’t want to hurt your arm.”
“All right. A little while.”
The next morning, Elizabeth woke up feeling more relaxed and sated than she had in months.
“Good morning.” She smiled sleepily when she noticed Colin was already awake.
He appeared to be waiting for her to do something or lash out at him somehow, but when he noted that she was content, she saw and felt his whole body relax.
“Good morning, wife. How are you feeling?”
