Act of Will (16 page)

And then, amidst lots of laughter and a deluge of confetti and rice, they dashed to the car waiting at the church gates. Vincent’s Uncle Phil drove them to Calpher House, where the champagne wedding breakfast was being given by Mr and Mrs Thomas Bell.

Sitting very close to him in the back of the motor car, Audra smiled up at her young husband and then glanced down at the gold band on her finger. She had not thought it possible she could ever be so happy.

The moonlight had transformed her into a silver statue.

She stood near the window, motionless, staring out towards the sea, one arm resting on the sill, her body held at an oblique angle, turned inward to the room, her face in profile. It was the white satin nightgown, a mere wisp of a thing, that caught and held the light from the full moon, and in the duskiness of the room it had taken on the sheen and colour of pure silver.

There was something ethereal and illusory about her as she stood there, so still and unmoving. Unobserved, Vincent regarded her from the doorway, unable to tear his eyes away from her, wanting to prolong this moment, to etch this image of her on his mind and his memory.

She did not seem real to him at all; it was as if she was part of some dream he had dreamed long ago and was dreaming again. He felt that if he moved, or spoke, the scene would shatter and then evaporate, as all dreams did, and that she would be lost to him for all time.

As he gazed at her his longing shot through him, and in the same sharp and urgent way that it always did when she was near him. He had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted her. When they had arrived here at the Victoria Hotel in Robin Hood’s Bay late on Saturday afternoon he had been unable to restrain himself. The
pent up emotions, the desire constantly suppressed and held in check for the past five months, had exploded the minute they were alone in the suite. He had taken her to bed at once, before they had even unpacked.

In five days they had hardly left the suite.

He had become the inspired and skilful teacher, enjoying and revelling in this role, she the attentive and ardent pupil, eager, so ready to please. After the first couple of days she had begun to overcome her modesty and her shyness with him, and now she was very much at ease with him in their lovemaking. She accepted everything without question, her adoration of him written all over her face. He had been overjoyed to discover that his tender and blushing virgin had a deeply ingrained sensuality, just as he did himself, was thrilled that her ardour was now beginning to match his.

Oh how he loved her, this warm, loving, willing young woman who was his now… and forever. His woman. His lover. His wife.

The knowledge that he possessed her in every way was like an aphrodisiac, and just looking at her brought him to searing heat. He fastened his eyes on her slender yet shapely figure, so fully revealed to him through the flimsy texture of the satin that clung to her body in such a provocative way. She was small boned and finely wrought—but beautifully curvaceous. Her breasts were young, high, taut under the satin. He could see her nipples standing out sharply.

Heat raged through his loins, and in his groin there was a dull ache. Suddenly he had an enormous erection. He could not remember being as hard as this ever before, not even in the past five days and nights with her, she who charged him up more than any other woman ever had.

He took a step forward. His movement disturbed the air.

She swung her head towards the door, saw him, faintly smiled.

When he reached her side, Vincent took her face in his hands tenderly, looked deeply into her eyes. They were inky black in the dim light. He bent forward, kissed her brow, her eyes, her cheeks and tasted the salt of her tears.

Startled, he drew back, stared at her in bafflement. ‘Audra, whatever is it, love? Aren’t you happy with me?’ His erection went down.

‘Oh Vincent, yes, I am. Of course I am.’ She drew closer to him, put her arms around his back, rested her head against his smooth, bare chest. A deep sigh rippled through her.

‘Then what is it? Why are you so upset?’

‘I’m not upset, truly I’m not.’ She nestled closer, hoping her body movements would reassure him. She loved this man so very much, with all of her heart and soul and mind. She did not want him to misunderstand her tears.

Slowly, she said, ‘I was standing here, waiting for you, admiring the beauty of the sea in the moonlight, when all at once I thought of the endless, endless miles of ocean stretching from here to Australia. And quite suddenly I did miss William and Frederick so, it was like a tight pain in my chest, a terrible constriction. I felt very sad, and I longed for them to be here in England. Somewhere. Anywhere. It didn’t really matter where, so long as they were under the same sky as me… and then I thought of my wedding, and that’s when I started to cry. Oh I do wish they’d been there, Vincent, that they had seen us get married.’ She sighed again, but it was a light sigh and one that was barely audible. ‘There was a moment in the
church, just before the vicar married us, that I felt utterly and completely alone. It was awful.’

‘Yes, I understand,’ he murmured gently, stroking her hair, pressing her closer to him. ‘Of course you missed your brothers, wanted them at your wedding, it’s only natural.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘But the instant we were married you were no longer alone, Audra. And you’ll never be alone again. You have me now.’

‘I know I do, Vincent. And you have me.’

‘I’ll never forget the way you looked on Saturday morning in the church, Audra. Not as long as I live, I won’t. You were so bonny in your blue frock. You should always wear blue, it does suit you, love.’

He felt her smile against his chest. He knew that her sadness was trickling away, and he was glad of that.

She said, ‘Vincent… tell me again… you know, the things you said last night.’

He chuckled softly. ‘I said a lot of things last night. What
things
in particular do you mean?’

‘Why you married me.’

‘Because I love you.’

‘And why do you love me?’

‘Fishing, are we?’ He laughed, very quietly.

‘Tell me,’ she persisted in a low, whispery voice, and she trailed her fingers across his shoulder blades.

This made him shiver. Instantly he wanted her.

‘Because I love the look of you, the sound of you, the touch of your hands. I love the way you feel under my hands. I love every part of you. Oh Audra…
love
.’ He tilted her head back, kissed her throat, her soft yielding mouth. The blood rushed through him. His desire for her was rampant.

She responded to his kisses ardently. When he moved his lips against hers she opened her mouth slightly so that
his warm, loving, probing tongue could enter, rest against hers. His embrace tightened perceptibly and he kissed her more deeply, passionately, and their teeth grazed.

Audra shifted slightly so that their bodies melded together. Moving closer to him, she felt his hardness against her stomach through the thin fabric of the satin nightgown and she shivered involuntarily. A fierce and sudden heat began to throb at the core of her, and the shivering intensified as she anticipated what would happen next, thought of the way it felt when he took her to him. The first time they had made love, on their wedding night, she had been apprehensive when she had seen him standing naked before her. But he had loved her with such care and tenderness, and so exquisitely, the pain had only been a few moments of sharp discomfort; now they fitted each other perfectly.

Unexpectedly his kisses ceased.

Stepping back, Vincent slipped the thin straps of her nightgown over her shoulders, pulled it down past her breasts. It slithered to the floor unaided, lay like a gleaming pool at her feet.

Again Vincent gazed deeply into Audra’s eyes, his love for her spilling out. He lifted his hand, stroked her cheek. After a long moment he dropped his eyes and kneeling down in front of her, he rested his head against her stomach and his arms went around her. Pressing his hands into the small of her back, he slowly smoothed them over her buttocks, moved her body slightly, adjusted her stance to suit him.

She trembled under his touch, and her desire for him swept through her. Her blood raced, her heart beat rapidly and her skin tingled in anticipation. Reaching out, she stroked his hair, then let her hands fall onto his shoulders, where they rested.

Covering her stomach with light, fluttering kisses, he continued to stroke her back, her buttocks and her thighs. Then he leaned away from her ever so slightly, rested on his heels, brought his hands around onto her stomach, still smoothing and stroking her skin. Finally, his hands came to a stop in the soft silky coils of fair hair that covered the mound between her legs. Slowly, with infinite care, he parted the tender petals, touched the tiny folds of warm, moist skin that protected her womanhood.

He kissed her navel and her stomach. They were long, slow, lingering kisses, and all the while his hands played amongst the musky folds, touching and seeking. At last he brought his tongue to join the quest. He began to nuzzle her, kiss her, and as he did he heard the soft moans in her throat. She gripped his shoulders, straining towards him, and he brought her to the edge of ecstasy.

He stopped abruptly, pulled away from her.

She caught her breath. Her eyes flew open. She gaped at him.

He took hold of her wrist quickly, firmly, pulled her down onto the floor with him. Impatiently, he kicked off his pyjama bottoms, stretched out next to her on the carpet, wrapped his body around hers, held her close to him. Wanting to possess her though he was, he wished to prolong their loving for a short while.

Lifting himself up on one elbow, he glanced down. Their eyes locked in a gaze so filled with passion, so intense, so searching in its depth of feeling it seemed to sear them both. Vincent thought he was seeing into her very soul. Her face overflowed with her abiding love for him and her yearning. And looking into those clear green eyes, Audra saw the burning desire in them, and the wonderment, and the glitter of bright tears, and her heart clenched as she reached up to touch his face.

It was Vincent who finally broke the contact. He found it unbearable, suddenly, to look at her in this manner, so moved was he by her and so choked up with feeling.

Now his glance swept over her body stretched out before him.

How pale and translucent she looked in the moonlight streaming in through the open window. She resembled a piece of perfectly sculpted marble, except that no cold stone was she. He sighed. She was warm and desirable flesh and blood. How lovely her breasts were, pearlytinted, rounded and smooth, and her nipples were upright and hard like little bursting May buds, deep rose in colour.

‘Oh Audra,’ he breathed. ‘My Audra. You’re so beautiful.’

She half smiled, lifted her hand, smoothed one finger along his lips, then traced an outline around his mouth in the shape of a bow.

He caught hold of her hand, kissed the palm, then bent over her, brought his mouth to the cleft between her breasts and kissed her, enjoying the fragrant smell of her young sweet skin. Presently, he cupped his hand around her breast, began to fondle the nipple. It sprang up, grew more taut and erect than ever under his caressing fingers. Audra let out a little gasp of joy as his mouth came down on her other breast.

She cleaved to him, ran her hands over his back, then up onto his neck, and she twined her fingers in his crisp dark hair.

‘Oh Vincent, Vincent, I love you so much,’ she whispered.

On hearing his name, this endearment, he pulled away from her, moved rapidly. He braced himself above her on his hands.

There was no reason to wait now. He could not wait.

He took her urgently, needing to be joined to her, needing to make them as one. He shafted deeper and deeper, luxuriating in her total embrace, one that enfolded him in warmth and love and made him feel complete in a way that he had never felt except with her.

Oh yes, how he did love her… this lovely girl he held in his arms… his beautiful wife. She was his. They were made for each other, belonged together. And oh, how he fitted into her so well.

Slipping his hands under her body, he lifted her closer to him, clasping her tightly, plunging in and out. And she thrust herself up to meet his long and thrusting strokes. Her arms clung to him and she matched his fervent loving with an urgency of her own.

He cried out in his rapture, called her name over and over, all the time clutching her to him as though never to let her go. He knew he could not control himself much longer, that he was on the verge of exploding. He thought he might be blacking out. He seemed to be pitching forward from a great height… falling, falling, falling.

‘Oh, I’m ready,’ he gasped against her burning cheek. ‘Oh Audra. Take all of me.
Now
.’

‘Oh Vincent!’

She arched her body towards his, meeting his passion, accepting it with love, offering him her passion in return, showing no restraint.

Wave upon wave of pure joy washed over her and she thought she was drowning in her pleasure and his. Suddenly she was gripped by an uncontrollable trembling and she crested up on the soaring waves and as she did she felt an immense shuddering pass through him, and they were united in their shattering release. And then he fell against her, lay exhausted in her arms and she stroked
his hair, rested her head on his, feeling exhausted too, and overwhelmed by her emotions.

***

Eventually Vincent roused himself. ‘I’m too heavy,’ he murmured against her throat.

‘No, it’s all right. Anyway, I like to feel the weight of you on me,’ she whispered. Then she shook her head. ‘Why on earth am I whispering?’ she wondered out loud, speaking in her normal voice.

‘I’ve no idea. And God knows why we’re lying here on the floor.’ He began to chuckle.

‘What’s so amusing?’

‘I am, love. For months and months all I could think about was making love to you in a nice comfy bed and now that we have one in the very next room I ignore it, choose the floor instead. Can you beat that!’ He pushed himself up on one elbow, moved a strand of hair away from her face. ‘Anyway, it’s all your fault.’