Authors: Violet Walker
R
ebecca wakes up with a start as the carriages jerks to a halt. She realizes that she’s been sleeping on Henry’s shoulder all this time. Her neck and back feel a little sore after having slept in this awkward position for so long and she tries to stretch her limbs a little. Her small movement wakes Henry and he looks out to see where they are.
“We’re already at the inn. We’ll be spending the night here,” he informs her.
Both of them alight from the carriage and go inside. The night is almost upon them and, after sharing a light meal, they retire to their room. This is supposed to be their wedding night, thinks Rebecca. She once again starts getting the jitters as she realizes that she’ll have to share the room with Henry.
“Not just the room, the bed too,” says Rebecca, unaware that she’d said it out loud!
“What? Did you say something?”
“No….nothing. I just said that this bed here looks very ummm…comfortable. I am thinking it will be amazing to sleep on.” God! What was she saying!
“Really?” says Henry, unbuttoning his shirt. Rebecca tries to avert her gaze. Why is this man taking off his shirt in front of her?
Because this man is now your husband!
Scolds a voice in the back of her mind.
As his shirt comes off, Rebecca can’t help but notice how beautifully built his body is. Well over six feet, he has a narrow waist but broad, firm shoulders and chest. His hair is a bit too long even by current fashion and is as black as a raven’s feathers. He is definitely a sight to behold!
“Are you going to sleep in your gown?” he asks her, amusement clearly showing on his features.
“Yes. It is very comfortable. Besides, all of my things are packed and I’m too tired to open any of the boxes right now,” she lies.
Henry has begun to take off his trousers.
“Stop! Stop right there! What do you think you are doing? Taking off all your clothes in front of a lady?” Her protest escapes before she can stop herself.
“In front of a lady?” Henry asks, his brown eyes sparkling with laughter. “As far as I can remember, the lady you are talking about is now my lawfully-wedded wife!”
“Of course. I am your wife, but that does not mean I have to see you taking off clothes.”
“Well then don’t! You can close your eyes if you’re feeling so uncomfortable,” he shrugs and continues taking off the rest of his clothes until he is standing in front of her, completely naked.
“Oh my God!” Rebecca shrieks and closes her eyes. She turns around and tries to focus on something,
anything
to take her mind off the glorious naked body behind her. Oh God, this man looks like some Greek God, his entire body chiseled to perfection. And if she knows even a little bit about the secrets of the bedroom, he is properly aroused too!
After a few heart stopping-moments, she hears him say her name. She slowly turns around and opens her eyes, not knowing what to expect. To her surprise, she finds him fully covered in a red robe.
“Rebecca, this is our wedding night. Ideally, I should be taking off your clothes and making love to you until you are unable to think straight.” She feels her cheeks heat at his words. She knows that she is blushing profusely. Unable to meet his intense gaze, she lowers her eyes but he lifts her chin with his finger and forces her to look up at him.
“I know that we didn’t get a proper courtship, in fact, we don’t even know each other that well. So, despite the fact that I want you more than anything else at the moment, I will try to keep my hands off you. You have nothing to worry about, my dear. I am not going to touch you until you want me to.” Saying so, Henry gives her a crooked grin and moves towards the huge bed. He takes off his robe and once again he is stark naked but quickly pulls the blanket to cover himself.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, you’ll have to share this bed with me…..unless of course, you want to sleep on that sofa.”
“I don’t have a problem with sharing this bed with you. You are my husband after all,” Rebecca says with false bravado. Inside, she is a bundle of nerves. In fact, she is seriously contemplating sleeping on the sofa, but when she realizes that it is too small to accommodate her, she changes her mind. She doesn’t want to end up with an aching body when there are still two days of travel in front of her.
Henry smiles as though he can read her thoughts. “Now be a good girl and change your clothes. You’ll not get even a minute of sleep in these clothes, no matter how pretty they are.”
“I have no idea where my nightgowns are.” When Henry raises one of his eyebrows, she explains. “All my belongings were packed in such a hurry that I don’t have the least idea where I kept my nightgowns. They must be in one of the boxes, but I am not sure which.”
“Hmmm… in that case, you can wear one of my shirts. I am sure they’ll be far more comfortable than what you are wearing.”
He begins pulling back the covers to get up when Rebecca stops her.
“No need….” She says a bit too loudly. “I mean….no need to get up. Here, I’ll wear this shirt if you have no problem.” She picks up the shirt that he’d taken off a few minutes ago.
“Of course! You can wear that if you want,” Henry says but does not look away. Rebecca waits for him to close his eyes or to turn around or to lie down but when he keeps on looking at her with a funny grin pasted on his face, she gets irritated. “How am I going to change if you keep on staring at me like that,” she asks.
“I promised not to
touch
you. I didn’t say anything about not
staring
at you,” he says cheekily.
“You think you’re very smart, don’t you?” asks Rebecca. She goes to the nightstand and blows out the candles. The entire room dissolves into pitch darkness. She hears Henry’s laugh and something that sounds like “my fiery beauty.”
R
ebecca tries her best to undo the buttons on her wedding gown, but to no avail. In the darkness, it is becoming extremely difficult for her to take the damned thing off. She knows that Henry is well aware of her predicament and the fact that he is offering no help infuriates her further.
When she almost trips over her gown in a bid to undo the buttons on her back, she decides that she can’t take it any longer. She swallows her pride and asks Henry to help her.
“My dear husband, do you mind helping me with these damned buttons on my gown,” she asks through clenched teeth.
Laughter bubbles up in Henry’s chest, but he knows better than to laugh at his furious wife.
“Of course, my dear wife,” he replies and is behind her in less than a moment. As his fingers fumble with the buttons on her back, a strange shyness overtakes her. She feels her body come alive under his gentle touch. When he finally undoes the last button, her gown falls in a heap on her feet. Now she is standing there in just her chemise and stockings.
“Is there anything else that I can do for you,” Henry asks huskily. His breath tickles her bare shoulders and she fights an insane urge to lean back on him.
“No!”
“Do you need help with all those pins in your hair?” Henry doesn’t want this magical moment to end so soon. He is dying to hold Rebecca in his arms and kiss her senseless, but he is bound by his promise.
There is an agonizing moment as Rebecca considers. “Alright!”
Henry gently begins removing the pins holding her luscious hair in place. As each pin comes out, a strand of her silky hair is let loose and it falls down her almost-bare back. When he removes all the pins, she turns around to face him. Her entire body is shaking with anticipation. What will he do next? Will he kiss her? Will he take off her chemise too? Rebecca feels a sweet ache down in her belly. She’s never been kissed before.
It takes every bit of Henry’s willpower to go back to the bed after standing so close to Rebecca. Just a step further and he would’ve been touching her curvaceous body. But he is a man who honors his word. He’ll not touch Rebecca unless she asks him to. And he’ll make sure that day arrives soon! If her shallow breathing was anything to go by, Rebecca had been as affected by their close proximity as he was. In a matter of few days, he’ll make her crave his touch and much more.
When Henry steps back, Rebecca wants him to ask him to stop. She wants him to hold her in his strong arms, to kiss her. But she can’t say such scandalous things to him! What would he think? She doesn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she’s so affected by his touch.
A little disappointed with herself for her wanton behavior and with Henry for deliberately putting her in such a situation, Rebecca puts on his shirt and goes to bed. She tries to lie down as far away from him as possible and soon falls into a deep sleep.
Henry, on the other hand, is painfully aware of his sweet, tempting wife sleeping mere inches away from his fully aroused body. He is cursing the moment he made that foolish promise. After a lot of tossing and turning, he too finally falls asleep.
The next morning, Rebecca wakes up to an empty bed. As she wonders where her husband is, Henry emerges from the bathroom, a towel tied low on his hips and his body glistening with drops of water. He looks too handsome for his own good! What an incredible way to start the morning.
“Good morning, my dear. We’ll be leaving the inn in another half an hour or so. Please get ready for the next leg of the journey.”
Half an hour! Rebecca jumps out of bed without realizing that she’s wearing nothing except Henry’s discarded white shirt. The way his eyes widen and fill with hunger when he looks at the long expanse of flesh exposed to his hungry eyes, makes her heart begin to pound. She immediately snatches a blanket to cover her legs and rushes to the bathroom. She hears Henry calling out that he’d wait for her in the dining area. Thank God, he is leaving! Now she just needs to get control of her pounding heart and ready for yet another day of gruesome travelling.
As much as Henry tries, he can’t seem to keep his libido in check whenever he is around Rebecca. So he decides to spend as little time with her in seclusion as possible, at least until they reach Southampton. Then maybe he can work something out.
After having breakfast in relative silence, Henry and Rebecca start the next leg of their journey. Both of them deliberately steer clear of any scandalous topic, each for their own reasons. Rebecca informs him of the new techniques that she’d encouraged the farmers back in Leicester to try and the positive response they generated. Henry is highly impressed by her knowledge of managing the estate and
agriculture. She seems as good as any of the men he’s known.
By the evening, their carriage reaches the second inn where they would spend the night. Rebecca quickly fished out the most modest nightgown she owned earlier that morning after Henry left the room. She is relieved that she will not have to wear any of Henry’s shirts! To her surprise, Henry proposes to wait outside as she changes her clothes this time.
“I’ll wait here. You go ahead and change and let me know once you are done.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind if you close your eyes for a little while when I’m changing.”
“I can’t trust myself around you anymore, Rebecca. I don’t want to break my promise,” Henry says huskily.
R
ebecca blushes at his words. She is elated about the fact that her husband desires her. That he is willing to withhold his passion to honor his promise speaks volumes about his character. Rebecca recalls Peter's words..... "Don't judge him too quickly"......."He seems like a good man".
Rebecca badly wants to believe her brother's words. In the little time they've spent together, Henry has not been nasty to her even once. She feared that he'd be vindictive and take revenge for her less-than-polite behavior back in Leicester, but he has been a gentleman throughout.
She goes into the room and quickly changes into her nightgown. When she opens the door to let in Henry, she sees that he has already taken off his jacket and undone the top buttons of his shirt. A splattering of dark hair peeps out of the opening and she is unable to tear her eyes away. Henry notices her staring at his chest and clears his throat to get her attention. Rebecca looks up instantly and feels mortified when she sees the amused grin on Henry’s face.
“Like what you see, huh?” Henry winks at her and enters the room. Good Heavens! She is sure she is blushing right to her toes.
“So you finally found your nightgowns,” Henry’s gaze rakes her from head to toe. He had hoped for something as exquisite and scandalous as what she’d worn that night when he saw her on the balcony. The one she is wearing right now covers her completely from her neck to her toes. “I was wondering what you’d wear since we decided that you’d be wearing my shirts.”
“Well, I found all my nightgowns in one of the boxes this morning.”
“Hmmmm… And why did you choose to wear this particular one, may I ask?” When she does not reply for a few seconds, he says, “Is it because it was the
safest
one you had?”
When she does not answer his question, he goes up to her and holds up her chin so that she looks directly into his eyes.
“I’ve told you, Rebecca, I won’t come near you until you want me to. I know that we didn’t get married under the best of circumstances, but I’ll try my best to see to it that you get the life that you deserve. I’ll make sure that you have all the comforts…”
“Do you think all I want from my husband is a
comfortable
life?”
“Well, that is what most women want. You’ll be attending lavish parties, you’ll enjoy the status of a Duchess in the society, you’ll have the privilege to shop to your heart’s content, you’ll have many servants at your beck and call…..”
Rebecca gives him a sad smile that stirs something deep within his heart.
“Then I think I am not like most of the women that you’ve met,” Rebecca says softly. Henry looks at her questioningly, but she ignores him. She quietly goes to the bed and lies down with her eyes closed. Another day of continuous travelling has exhausted her completely.
She hears Henry change his clothes and come to her side. But, when he sees her closed eyes, he probably assumes that she’s asleep and lies down beside her after extinguishing the candles.
The sad look on Rebecca’s face haunts Henry. What had she been talking about? What else did she want from him? She obviously knew by now that he desired her. He’d also told her in as many words that she’d enjoy all the material comforts that every lady dreams of. So why did she look so sad?
Unable to answer his questions, Henry fell into a deep sleep.
***********************************************
Henry specifically asks Rebecca to wear her wedding gown next morning. Both of them reach Southampton by the afternoon. The entire Northwall Castle has been decorated with candles and flowers. The news of their marriage has reached Southampton before them and there is festive ambience all around.
Rebecca feels overwhelmed by the sheer size of the castle before her. She’d known that the Northwalls were quite wealthy but still she had not expected such grandeur. Henry is apparently a little embarrassed by all the decoration and celebration and Rebecca finds this quite amusing and endearing at the same time.
“My mother wanted to see me married for quite some time. Now that I’ve finally tied the knot, she seems to have gone a little over the top with all this…..” He nods towards the beautifully decorated castle.
“It is natural for any mother to be ecstatic at such a time. I am looking forward to meeting Her Grace,” smiles Rebecca.
“I am sure you’ll love her. She tries to put up a tough exterior, but she is as soft as cotton on the inside.” Henry is relieved Rebecca does not find this entire thing ridiculous. He has no idea what his mother had been thinking! It looks like he’s come back after winning a major battle!
Her Grace Lady Elizabeth Northwall is standing at the huge entrance of the mansion to welcome her son and his bride. She is finding it difficult to contain her excitement and happiness.
“My dear, you are finally here! I am so happy to see you,” the Duchess is talking to Henry but looks appreciatively at Rebecca all the while. Henry feels glad and relieved that his mother seems to approve of his choice of bride.
“Mother, she is Lady Rebecca Thompson….I mean Lady Rebecca
Northwall,
your daughter-in-law.” Rebecca bobs a curtsy to her.
“Oh…I know, I know! How beautiful! God bless you, my dear. Henry, I wouldn’t have been able to choose a better bride for you! You both look made for each other!”
Rebecca likes Lady Elizabeth at first glance. She is glad that she will once again have a maternal figure in her life.
“Please come in. You both must be very tired after this long journey.”
“Yes, we are. My back is sore after all these hours of travelling,” Henry says.