Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (29 page)

Taking his seat opposite his bride,
Drew drawled, “Madame, I would encourage you to take your sustenance as you
will need your stamina for this nights work!”
 
There was a delightfully evil twinkle in his eyes that set
Elle’s blood to boil.

Once they had completed their meal,
Drew assisted Elle from the table taking only a moment to hold her against him
and to kiss her one more time.
 
He
then escorted her to the adjoining door leading her though the dressing area
into her chambers.
 
When they
entered Elle was pleased to see Enad, her personal maid,
there
finishing the preparations for her bath.

“Oh Drew, you have thought of
everything.
 
I thank you.
 
She pulled his face down so that she
could place a kiss on his cheek.

“Honey, enjoy your bath.
 
I will be next door when you are
finished.”
 
He gave her a bow and
withdrew into his chambers to find that their dinner had already been removed
and a tray of cheese and bread and a bottle of wine were in its place.
 
Drew disrobed then slipped into his
silk dressing robe.
 
He paced his
chambers waiting for Elle to finish her preparations.
 
He had withheld himself for the longest period of his adult
life and he was more than ready for a release.
 
More than that however, Drew was acutely aware that this was
going to be the most important night of his life.
 
This was the first time he had ever consciously taken a
wife, his wife no less, to his bed.
 
He wanted it to be a night that they would both remember.

Elle was still worried about her
ability to live up to her responsibilities in that relationship.
 
Drew had no such concerns.
 
He knew that Elle loved him and that
she wanted so much to be a true wife to him.
 
She was so full of love for him that there was no way she
could not respond.

Drew knocked lightly on the door to
Elle’s chambers but was gripped with something close to terror when Elle
replied, “Please enter.”
 
He slowly
pushed the door open to find Elle already in bed.
 
She was lying naked with the sheet pulled up to the top of
her breast.
 
Drew could feel the
immediate effect.
 
He walked to the
edge of the bed and looking down at her with her honey colored tresses fanned
out on the pillow beneath her.
 
He
whispered, “My God you are lovely.”

“I thank you my lord, but won’t you
join me.”
 
She turned back the
sheet in order for him to join her in bed.

“Elle, I am scared.”
 
Drew stood as still as a statue.

To say that Elle was shocked would
have been a grave understatement.
 
“I do not understand.
 
It is
not like it is your first time, or even our first time together.”
 
She was confused.
 
“Have I done something wrong?”

Standing at the side of the bed he
replied, “Oh no, sweetheart.
 
It is not you
,
it is I
.
 
I have been with easily a hundred of
different women, but never has it been this important to me.
 
No one else, at least while I was in my
right mind, mattered.
 
No night has
been as special except perhaps the night that Alex was conceived, but even then
it was different.
 
That night was
about helping and healing. Tonight is about the rest of our lives.
 
Once I commit myself to you tonight
there will be no others.
 
You are
my wife and I will love you and honor you until the day that I die.
 
I want this to be so special that
neither one of us will ever forget this night and that is a lot of pressure to
perform.”

Elle scrambled to her knees at the
edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around her husband, “Drew sweetheart, this
is not a performance.
 
I love you
and you love me.
 
We are going to
celebrate our love.
 
That is
something I know I will remember the rest of my life.”

Drew tilted her face up and gently
placed his lips on hers with feather light gentleness.
 
Slowly increasing the pressure, he felt
her mouth relax under his.
 
He traced
her lips with his tongue,
then
drew her lower lip
between his teeth sucking and gently nipping at it.
 
Elle wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him with
her as she sank back on the bed.
 
Drew
held himself above her as he increased the pressure of his lips on hers.
 
He ran his tongue over her lips waiting
for her to open her mouth in an invitation.
 
She slowly relaxed her lips allowing them to part enough for
Drew to slide his tongue just inside her sweet mouth.
 
The tip of his tongue caressed hers.
 
Elle countered with her tongue.
 
Drew relaxed his restraint and put his
whole soul into his kisses.
 
Drew
plundered her mouth with increasing passion as Elle began to squirm beneath him.

Drew held himself above her, resting
on his left elbow, while his right hand was busy first stroking her face, then
her hair, traveling down her neck and shoulders and eventually to her
breast.
 
He grasped her breast in
his hand, caressing and squeezing her soft flesh.
 
He circled her nipple with his thumb and then flicked his
thumb gently and repeatedly across the tip of her nipple.
 
Elle could not suppress the moans that
were building in the back of her throat.
 
The more Elle moaned the more excited Drew became.

Drew lowered his mouth to her other
nipple, running his tongue around the areola before taking her nipple into his
mouth.
 
While he continued to flick
her nipple with his thumb, he flicked her other nipple with his tongue.
 
Elle could not handle
the pleasure
,
it was so intense
.
 
She cried out from the thrill of his
touch.
 
This was almost more than
Drew could handle himself.
 
He
pulled back just long enough to rid himself of his robe.
 
Stretching back out, he once again held
himself over Elle lowering himself just enough for the dark curls on his chest
to brush her nipples tickling and teasing them back to hard peaks while he
covered her face with kisses.
 
He
lowered himself to stretch out beside her so that he could use his hands to
explore her body.
 
He caressed her
breast while he nibbled at her ear lobe, and then ran his hand lightly over her
waist and flat stomach.
 
His touch
was so light and so gently that it raised chill bumps on her arms and drove her
almost over the edge.
 
Finally, he
lowered he hand to the curls between her thighs.
 
He ran his fingers through the curls drawing circles as he
gently wrapped the curls around his fingers.
 
He then lowered his hand to the wet flesh that was his true
goal.
 
His fingers found her cleft
and slid between the lips, which were swollen, and waiting for his
attention.
 
Elle gasped with the intensity
of the sensation.
 
When he slid his
finger inside of her, she arched her back in a spasm of pleasure as she again
cried out in ecstasy.
 

Once she had returned to reality,
Drew positioned himself between her legs and lowered himself to her entrance.
 
Leaning down he kissed her one more
time deeply and thoroughly and then in one deep thrust he entered her.
 
He held himself still for just a few
seconds judging her response.
 
When
he felt her moving under him, trying to take him even deeper, he lost all
control and commenced to pound her with all of his pent up love, for it went
far beyond just lust.
 
Finally,
ecstatically, they climaxed together in the frenzy of their lovemaking.
 
Drew collapsed on top of Elle, again
covering her face with kisses, eventually rolling off her and clasping her to
him as he lay on his side.
 

Drew realized that Elle had tears
escaping down her face.
 
“Are you
alright
honey
?
 
Did I hurt you?”
 
He
instantly felt contrite that despite his best intentions he had lost control and
hurt her.

“No darling, it was wonderful,
amazing really.
 
These are tears of
happiness.
 
I never thought to be
this happy or this blessed.
 
I love
you so much.
 
It scares me to be
this happy.”
 
Elle was not
completely sure how to describe her feelings.

“Honey
don’t
feel that way.
 
Now that we are
together nothing can hurt us.”
 
Drew felt like he could conquer the world with one hand tied behind his
back.

“I am just afraid that God will
think that no mortal deserves to be as happy as I am tonight.
 
I do not like to tempt fate.”
 
She did feel better with Drew’s
assurances though.

“Honey, the way I see it is that God
knows you have suffered enough already in this life time and he is going to
send nothing but happiness from this time on.”
 
With that he kissed her soundly and rolling over on his side
he pulled her even closer beside him cuddling her up against him as he drifted
off to sleep.

She awakened a couple of hours later
to the feel of him rolling her nipple between his finger and thumb.
 
She moaned and stretched out on her
back to give him better access to her body.
 
Drew did not hesitate to accept her invitation, once again
leaving her feeling thoroughly loved.
 
Again, they slept in order to renew their strength for further
lovemaking.

The next two days were spent in
wedded bliss and mostly in bed.
 
They both knew that eventually they would have to come up for air, but
they were enjoying each other to the fullest while they could.
 
By the end of the second day however
Elle realized that she was missing her son.
 
She knew he was being well cared for, but she had never been
separated from him before.
 
Drew
missed him as well.
 
He had only
known of his existence for less than two months, but he almost felt like he
could not remember a time when Alex had not been a part of his life.
 
“Elle honey, I was thinking that as
wonderful as our time together has been, it is time for us to be a family.
 
Are you ready to retrieve Alex from
your brother and Gwen?”

“Oh yes, thank you Drew.
 
You must have read my mind.”
 
Elle reached up and pulled Drew’s lips
to hers one more time.
 
She quickly
realized that if she was in a hurry to fetch her son home she had made a
logistical mistake.
 
Alex would be
happy for another hour or so and… oh my God… so would she.

Chapter 14

The newlyweds were anxious to leave
for Virginia as soon as possible, however Drew had a few business matters to
conclude.
 
He wanted to initiate
proceedings to legally acknowledge Alex and to update his will to insure that
Alex would be named his heir in the case of his death.
 
While unrealistic, he still hoped that
Alex
would be allowed to be legitimized
so that he
would be able to inherit the title as well as the estate as should be his right
by birth.
 
The fact that he and
Elle were not married at the time of his birth, in his opinion, should not
deprive his son of his birthright.
 
It was a high price for Alex to pay for
Drew’s
and Elle’s mistakes.
 
John and
Thomas would continue to pursue the matter in his absence and Drew’s father was
willing to call in favors at court in hopes of working a miracle.

Finally, the day of departure
arrived.
 
Drew, Elle and Alex were
to board the Susan B., one of the Lewis lines newest ships that was fitted out
with a few plush passenger cabins in addition to a large cargo hull, the night
before they were to sail, in order to be in place for their early morning tide
departure.

They said their goodbyes to
everyone, but just prior to leaving Drew asked if he could speak with John and
Eirian privately for a few minutes.
 
John was reluctant, but finally, agreed in order not to make a scene yet
still knowing he was probably not going to like what he heard.

Once they were alone in the library
Drew turned to John, “John, with your permission, I would like to speak to
Eirian in private for a minute.”
 
Drew requested.

“I do not think that there is
anything that you need to say to her in private that I should not be privy to
hear.
 
You may speak to her, but in
my presence.”
 
John could not be
persuaded to relent.

Taking Eirian’s hand in his, Drew
looked Eirian in the eyes, “Honey, there is no way that I could ever make it up
to you for what I did.
 
If I could
go back and undo everything that happened, I would.
 
I feel guilty returning to the colonies to start my new life
and leaving you here to face the consequences of my actions.
 
I have endangered your marriage, and I
am not yet sure what it will do to mine.
 
John is hurt, beyond measure, and I feel so horrible about it.
 
I can only hope that someday he will
find it in his heart to truly release you of any responsibility in the
incident.
 
I know, and I do not
blame him, that he will never forgive me, as I will never forgive myself.” With
that said, he squeezed her hand and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

He then turned to John, “John, I
have said this before, and I do not know any other way to express it, but I am
so incredibly sorry.
 
Please
believe that I did not intentionally set out to betray you.
 
I feel sure you know that I tried very
hard to honor your marriage.
 
Despite my best intentions, I failed miserably, and for that, I will be
forever remorseful.
 
I think you
also know that I truly love Elle and that I am no longer a threat to you in
anyway.
 
Loving her as I do, I can
understand the depth of my betrayal even more keenly than I did before.
 
Were I in your position, I do not know
if I would have been as tolerant as you, my friend.
 
I understand why you must never forgive me.
 
I have, and will continue to, regret
our loss of friendship.
 
What ever
you may think, I still love you as a brother and always will.
 
Someday maybe you will forget to hate
me.
 
I hope I live long enough to
see that day.”
 
Drew’s sincerity
shone in his eyes in the form of
unshed
tears.
 
He held out his hand in hopes that John
would relent and shake his hand.
 
For a moment, John just stared at Drew’s hand.
 
Finally, he reached out his hand and grasped it, and then
pulled Drew to him for the masculine equivalent of a hug complete with backslapping.

Drew had trouble speaking through
the knot in his throat, “I thank you for that my friend.
 
I am not sure when I will see you
again, but take care of each other until we meet again.”
 
With that, Drew returned to the drawing
room to collect Elle and Alex and then left to begin their new life.