Two Years Later

Mary blinked a few times as the sun woke her. The sun streamed bright white light that day, rather than a creeping dawn. It shone starkly across the room and through the gossamer-thin curtains that adorned their bed, white and rippling in the breeze through the open window.

With all traces of sleep now gone, Mary sat up a little in the bed and turned to gaze upon the view out of the window. She smiled at the sight, just as she had done every morning she had woken in this place. The painted blue window frame, the color of the sky beyond, was set within a white stone wall, framing the view beyond perfectly, as though it were a landscape painting.

It was very different from England. Though she loved the view of the ocean that could be found a short walk away from the Meadowbank estate back home, the ocean before her now had a crystal-blue tinge to it, cresting with gentle white waves every now and then. With their lodgings on the very edge of the Greek island of Mykonos, set within the clifftops, they had a grand view down to the bay beyond and the beach nearby, as well as across the open water. Many mornings since they had arrived, boats had bobbed on the water, and this morning was no different, with fishermen moving to and fro across the bay.

“You’re awake early.” A sleepy voice made her smile and turn on the white bed to see Walter lying down beside her. His hair was mussed from tossing and turning on the pillow in the night, and the sheet that laid over him only just reached up to his waist, exposing his naked chest and trying to keep the secret that Mary already knew: he was completely bare beneath. It reminded her of what they had shared the night before. They had made love in the depths of the night, with the stars visible beyond the window.

“Jonathan is usually crying by this time,” Mary pointed out as Walter smiled and stretched in the bed. “What if he needs me?”

“We have a nursemaid for that,” he said, gesturing through the door. “So that we can share the care for him.”

“I know, but I never like leaving him too long,” Mary complained and shifted in her seat on the bed, showing that she wished to stand to her feet and go to see their son.

“I have noticed. I had to persuade you very hard last night to leave him alone to come and have dinner with me,” Walter said, chuckling. “I think you are being overprotective.”

“Overprotective?” Mary scoffed, moving on the bed until she was on her knees. “I think it’s love!” Her words brought another laugh from Walter. He knew she adored their son as much as he did. Mary was sure she would never forget the day Jonathan had been born. She was not the only one to cry tears of happiness. Walter had too as he held their baby for the first time, silent tears running down his cheeks.

“Yes, I had noticed,” Walter said and reached out toward her. “If I’m going to be able to keep you to myself for a little longer, I will have to find a way to distract you.”

“Well, maybe I’ll just quickly go and check on how he’s doing, then I’ll come back,” Mary said as he took her hand and tried to draw her down to be with him.

“He is fine,” Walter said. “Stay with me for a little longer.”

“Well…maybe just a little longer.”

“Thought I might be able to persuade you,” Walter said as he pulled her down, so she was laying on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, nestling her body against his.

“You have quite a knack of persuading me,” she said softly as he moved his lips toward hers. He teased her for a second, hovering above her lips before he moved his face down a little, angling to move his lips to the top of her neck and set small kisses at the top.

“I know how to persuade you,” he said sultrily between kisses.

“We cannot stay in this bed the whole time we are on this island!” Mary said, laughing as he nibbled her, tickling her softly.

“I beg to differ,” he said within an even deeper voice, tickling her. She giggled and tried to roll away from him. He went with it and rolled the two of them over until she was underneath him, then he braced himself above her, lifting his weight on one forearm as he lowered his other hand down to her stomach and placed a gentle palm to the curved belly there.

“How surprised do you think they will be when we get home?” Mary asked in a whisper as she followed her husband’s gaze down to her swelling stomach.

“Rather surprised,” Walter said in jest, prompting Mary to laugh and her belly to shake slightly. “Lucy will be upset that we haven’t mentioned it in our letters.”

“I know,” Mary sighed. Since she and Walter had married two years ago, there wasn’t a thing that she and Lucy did not share. As soon as Mary had discovered she was pregnant the first time, Lucy had been the second person in the world to learn of it, after Walter.

“Father will forgive us. Though he may be a little upset that he does not have more time to buy this second baby presents.”

“He has bought so many for Jonathan already that we couldn’t bring them all with us!” Mary pointed out with arched eyebrows.

“Jonathan is his first grandchild. He’s entitled to be a little…doting,” Walter said, caressing her stomach a little more. He had done the same action when she was pregnant with Jonathan, this soft, sweet touch that calmed her. She expected it calmed the baby too. With Jonathan, when he had kicked and been restless, this gentle touch had usually soothed him.

“Well, maybe after this child is born, your father will be able to dote on both of them,” Mary said, lowering one of her hands from Walter’s bare muscled shoulder and placing it down to her stomach. “We shall just have to see Lucy married quickly, then there will be even more children for him to buy gifts for.”

“Married!?” Walter flinched and practically shook the bed with his surprise, pulling a hearty laugh from Mary. “Lucy? Married?”

“What did you expect, Walter? We are going home in a few weeks so I can help her with her debut. Do you think she will not turn any gentleman’s head?”

“Oh, I really do not want to think of my sister being old enough for that!” Walter cringed and lowered his head, practically hiding in Mary’s shoulder. She giggled and lifted her arms around him, holding him down to her.

“She’s growing up. She won’t be married before she is ready, but you must prepare yourself for the possibility,” Mary said softly as she lifted a hand and wove it in his hair.

“No, I do not want to think about it,” he said and turned his head a little so that he could kiss her neck. Mary arched into his touch, elongating the moment for as long as possible. “All I want to think about, while we are traveling is right here with me now and in the next room.”

“Should I go check on Jonathan then?” Mary asked with a tease, tangling her hand more in his short locks as he picked up the pace of his kisses.

“Not yet,” Walter said, his voice slightly muffled by his kisses.

“You want me to stay here?”

“Very much.” He lifted his head a little, kissing up her neck and across her cheek until he hovered over her lips, teasing her with another kiss that didn’t quite come. “In fact…I do not think we should leave our lodgings at all today. Let’s stay here. We can go see Jonathan, play with him for a while, then come back here and spend the entire day in bed.”

“What will our nursemaid think at that?” Mary said with laughter.

“She’ll think that you are resting because you are with child.”

“Then why would you be with me?”

“She’s a woman of the world. She can use her imagination.”

Walter’s words made Mary laugh another time before he pressed his lips to hers, cutting her off. The kiss was intense and fast. With the passion that had always been between them, every time they made love was equally intense, whether it was slow and loving or fast and full of need. This time was no different.

Walter moved slightly, moving to Mary’s side so that he could begin to lift the thin nightgown over her body, breaking the kiss just long enough to lift it over her head and discard it on the floor nearby.

“You do not need that anymore,” he said with a teasing whisper before settling himself between her legs. “It’s too hot to sleep with a nightgown anyway.”

“Right now, I’m wondering why I even bothered.” Mary agreed as he began to kiss down her body. He started high at the top of her neck, then traveled down her chest, through the valley between her breasts, lingering just long enough to plant two kisses to the curves of her breasts, making her arch against him. He moved further down, placing loving kisses against the baby bump before he went even further down.

These kisses picked up in heat. Walter settled between her legs, planting soft nibbles to the inside of her thighs, teasing her even more, before he kissed her center. Mary gasped and bit her lip, trying to muffle any moans that she made. God forbid the nursemaid heard them in the adjoining room!

Walter hooked one of her legs over his shoulder as he kissed her center, he started outside of her, then delved deeper with his tongue, making her gasp and tip her head back on the pillow.

“Shh, love,” he said as he paused in his kisses, then moved down to her again.

“If you wanted me to be quiet, then we should not be doing this,” she said in an amused whisper. As though taking on the challenge of her words, he delved even deeper, making her moan his name.

Once she was wet and ready for him, he moved above her. She was already sweating, partly from the heat of the day that was basking through their windows, but mostly from his actions. When he entered her, it was easy, with the two of their bodies moving together in a natural rhythm that had become theirs from the first time they made love.

“Mary…” he whispered her name as he braced himself above her with both palms planted down to the pillow on either side of her head. She widened her legs as much as she could, panting as they moved together.

“So…” he said between breaths. “Do you see any reason why we should leave our lodgings today?”

“With you and Jonathan here?”

“And our new baby too,” Walter said, laying a hand to her stomach.

“Where else could I ever want to be?”

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