Read the prologue, chapter one, two, three, four and five by following the links provided. Thanks for stopping in to see me.
Horace and Lydia by John Collier
Chapter
Six
Henry held
Claire until she came down, his own body tight as a coil as he kissed her brow
and said, “Is the day after tomorrow too soon for the wedding, you think?”
“Oh, I hope
not,” she said languidly, “For I shall not survive above a day out of your
arms.”
“In that we
are agreement, chérie,” he said with hot greedy lips and she reached up to
deepen the kiss. Then he dragged his lips from her with ragged breath and his
words urgent, “How far are you willing to go with me, sweetheart?”
“To the ends
of the earth,” Claire said without really understanding what he was asking. He
smiled then took a fortifying breath. He had but two choices now. Leave without
delay, or die in her arms. Then she said, “I’m yours, you know.”
“It’s just as
well,” Henry said his lips on her face, “For you have me tethered… held
captive.”
“That appeals
to me,” Claire said with an expression he had never seen on her before
something ripe, primal and outright carnal. Then she pushed him back into the
mattress and straddled him in one decisive move, “Knowing you can never be free
of me… tied and bound, entirely at the whims of my curiously… well…”
Her breath
caught suddenly as she sat back, her naked flesh pressing against the bulge of
his erection. She looked to Henry but he was long gone, too lost in his own
struggle for control to offer her any guidance or explanation. She had melted
his brain with the delicious weight of her body nestled against his.
When he
finally refocused, it was with anxious hands on her hips trying to still her in
her seat to slow the friction of the relentless waves of pleasure that her
sitting atop of him produced. No sooner did he stop her wriggling against him
did she bend over him with open mouth and lick at his nipple before grazing at
it as he had done for her.
Then he was
nothing but ripples of ecstasy. Reduced to nothing but throaty growls as this
inexperienced woman pulled tortured groans from his flesh. Her eager fingers
glided over his sweat-drenched chest and abdomen before reaching down fondle
him through his breeches.
He was all
sensation as the silken strands of her flaming tresses feathered over his
aroused skin as she kissed along the path her hands blazed. Then she was undoing
the flap of his trousers and he was struggling to hold still. She was
intoxicated by the feel and smell of him.
His body was
conditioned muscles pulled over long lean bones covered with barely visible
blond hair and taut satiny skin. She could smell it on him then, the scent of
her earlier satisfaction and his growing desire. It radiated from his fresh skin
as if he were the source of all things sexual.
Claire slid
her hand into his now open trousers and slid her fingers over his erection. It
jumped against her touch all hot and hard then she rubbed her thumb over the
moist tip, reducing him once more to groans. Then she was kissing along the
shaft with a slow madding pull of her lips until slow kisses turned to languid
licks and he could take no more.
He roared up
and in one elegant commanding move pinned her under him, kissing her until her
breath was as strained as his then he pulled away some and pulled off his
trousers. Claire laid in a sort of languid anticipation her breath coming fast,
her eyes wide open, her nakedness glistening with a faint sheen of sweat.
Henry slid
along her body his hot lips on her wanton flesh as he nestled back between her
legs, only this time moving up over her. His body pulled tight and still he did
not seem to be in much of a hurry. He did not want to frighten her, needed to
be inside her and felt certain he would die a little if she became alarmed and
he’d have to stop.
He mounted
her, trying not to shiver at the feeling of her so soft and sweet against him.
She held his eyes, her own full of wonder. She sighed as he paused, her eyes
searching his, her voice a hush.
“Henry...” She
whispered, biting her lips before her words could fall away. Henry grazed her with
his tip and gently rocked his hips, letting it rub up and down very lightly
against her opening. She shivered. Braking eye contact to glancing down her
eyes going wider and he took breath in order to assure her.
“I’ve got you,
chérie,” he whispered with miraculous calm, “I’ll take care. I’ll make certain
it’s more pleasure than pain.”
He eased
forward, the head parting her, his hand and lips coaxing her back to languid as
he pushed down toward her opening. He held himself up with one hand as he used
the other to tilt her face so she held his eyes once more. Then she smiled as
if to comfort him before reaching up and running her hands along his face.
It was all the
encouragement he needed before easing his hips forward, and his head slid inside
her. She gasped loudly, arching up and grabbing his shoulders for support. He
resisted the urge to push deep knowing that it would take time for the pain to
fall away so he could bring her to pleasure.
Once she
caught her breath, he swirled his hips, letting the soft folds of her inner
muscles adjust to his penetration. Allowing her time to stretch to him while he
gently rocked and twisted. She tried to speak several times, her voice coming
in broken little bits of wordless gasps.
Her breathing
accelerating as he rocked back and forth, as she relaxed around him.
“You’re doing
brilliantly,” he whispered, leaning down closer to take her lips in tender kiss
until he felt her move a little beneath him. Then he pulled out some and eased
back into her several until they moved slowly in time. Soon she was clinging to
him, both of them gasping for air.
She bit at her
lips as he pressed further still, his name caught in her throat as he moved deeper
into her body. Caressing her firm round bottom, squeezing just enough to get
her to arch higher, as he glided in and out with fluid thrusts of his hips.
Claire
revelled in his touch and cried out softly as the wave of his strokes climbed
over each other.
“Henry I… oh
my God… I can’t stand it…”
It was what he
was waiting for without even realizing it. He reached down, gripped her hips,
and pushed deep inside her, moving slowly and gently, little thrusts matched by
longer outward movements. Every ounce of his self-control going into not
burying himself in her all at once.
He could hear
now the erotic sounds of their coupling. The sweet friction of his hard wanton
shaft surrounded by her soft wet warmth. Then she cried out his name, arching
up higher than ever, raising them both from the bed. Gasping breathlessly, and
then slumped back into the mattress.
She was hot
and pulsing around him, pulling him tight as he pushed deep into her body,
finally he melded his hips with hers, shuddering at the stimulation of her
unrelenting grip as he savoured the feel of her thus. Moving with long, slow,
smooth strokes in and out, rapidly learning as he went what made her moan, gasped,
and what kind of thrusts drew soft, breathy cries from deep in her throat.
“Henry, oh God
yes,” she cried as the bed rocked beneath them and he worked atop her.
Sweat trickled
down his back and she dug her nails into shoulders in a mad grip, which caused
his breath to labour as he pumped into Claire beneath him, his eyes drinking in
the sight of her heaving, writhing form beneath him. He could feel her starting
to shake, knowing she was close, and accelerated, groaning with the effort of
not coming himself.
“Oh Henry!
Please, please don't stop,” she pled urging him on and he thrust deeper. Her
hips jerked against his with every impact. She strained forward, crying out, still
on the verge as Henry kept pace. Claire squealed, her hips grinding up into him,
causing bolts of pleasure to rock his body.
It made him
frantic, suddenly worried he wouldn’t be able to hold out until she found her
end. His thrusts were now becoming jerky as he twisted his hips, trying to
avoid the sweet friction that was driving him out of his mind. He shook as Claire’s
legs tightened around his hips.
“Sweetheart,”
Henry pled his words a breathy grasping which soon fell away, “Claire release
me or...”
She was
dragging her nails down his back robbing him of speech and drowning his pleas
with her own.
“Now Henry
please…now…,” she gasped her body drawn tight her words fading to but a low hum
in her throat. Gripping tight to Henry as her muscles locked, their bodies
bucked together wet slick sounds of their coupling just under their frantic
breaths.
The two moaned
repeatedly in harmony, answering each other's call to ecstasy until her body
went rigid and her breathing stopped and Henry lunged against her to maximize
the contact. Going into spasms that seemed to light every nerve in body,
jerking and thrashing.
Their bodies were
moulded together, her legs still tightly wrapped around his hips, jerked wildly
out of control, her body pulsating and quivering right up the entire length of
him buried inside her. The spasms of her inner muscles were so strong they
stripped him of control.
He buried his
face in her neck inhaling her skin, smelling himself on her, feeling the dam
silkiness of her skin against his face as his heart frantically attempt to
supple his brain with enough oxygen to stop him collapsing. Then her body
shook, a wail coming from her mixed with grunt from him as they gasp for air
and she went limp, allowing him to collapse on top of her both of their breaths
thin and laboured.
It took them an
eternity to find equilibrium. Every inch of their body weighted down the force of
blissful satisfaction. It had never been like that for him before as he lift
his head to press his lips her it occurred to him that he hadn’t every been
made love to.
No one had
ever given all she possessed to him.
It humbled him
and when her hands smooth over the plains of his back he reached up and push
hair stuck to her face then whispered her name. Looked down at her face with
all the love in his heart, watching as lazy smile pulled over her peaceful
slightly dazed face. The she opened those luminous hazel eyes of her and his
breath caught.
It was as
thought he was seeing her for the first time. Seeing beyond her beautiful face
and alluring figure to the compassionate woman who loved him though he had been
reckless with both their hearts. His face must have shown some his distress for
Claire reached up and cupped his face in both her hand then asked, “What’s the
matter, my love?”
“I’m full of
regret at having caused you pain.”
“The pain lasted
but a moment,” she assured him, completely missing his meaning. “And it was
soon drowned by the rapture.”
“Rapture?”
“They is no
other word for it, Henry I swear I died and went to heaven,” she said her voice
full of wonder and he kissed her in a sort of slow cherishing all-consuming
way.
There was a
decade’s worth of history between them, most of it a strong friendship, a great
deal of it a fervent attraction but more than all that was the love. She knew
him completely and loved him nonetheless and he was going to spend the rest of
his life making certain he was worthy of her.
Epilogue
They had to
wait a full month before marrying but neither seemed to mind very much, which
no doubt had quite a bit to do with their scandalous pre-marital behaviour.
Both of their
mothers insisted that the ceremony at least have the appearance of decency, though
they needn’t have bothered, for eight months after the wedding Claire delivered
Aphrodite, a fat little red-haired girl with her father’s clear blue eyes that
instantly made their show of decency
a lie.
His mother
married and returned to France
as planned. She visit near every summer under the guise of seeing her
grandchildren but the truth is she misses England very much but will never
admit it.
After they had
been married five years Henry entered the salon – a recently updated French
blue – to fine his wife awash by the sun’s golden rays and instantly remembered
their first kiss.
“I kissed you
here the very first day we met,” he said with the start of recollection.
“Yes, I remember,” she laughed. “And you also
asked me to marry you here at least a dozen times and so much more…”
“Why didn’t
you ever say?”
“You needed
time to get sorted. Besides, if I’d told you we would not be the friends we
were when we married.”
“It took me
nearly a decade.”
“You were well
worth the wait, my love,” she said without falter and he went to her falling to
his knees then kissed her with love anew.
My love my care,
Simone
