Edward woke up to the unmistakable sensation of his manhood throbbing between his legs. Stiff, fully engorged, it ached him so that even half-asleep his hand found its way around his girth.
He let forth a deep moan as he squeezed it. Eyes still closed, his mind turned to the cause of his morning surprise, the same place it had been all last night, and the same that had blessed his dreams so that he did not wish to wake up.
Celestine… he imagined her still on her knees. He pictured her soft mouth and her wet lips. He returned to last evening, when she had pleasured him for no other reason than she wanted to comfort him and distract him from his woes. It had been mind-blowing, truly sensational, and he started to stroke himself as he remembered…
However, as he did so, his mind wandered further. Not on purpose, but a natural consequence of his intrepid thoughts.They moved past the pleasure and focused on the reason that it had happened in the first place. And despite his desire to stay focused on that pleasure and the arousal it brought, Edward was soon thinking about the conversation that they’d had before it all began.
His eyes snapped open and he released his member.
Last evening, Edward had been in a state of venomous fury. He had wanted to rage, to scream, to break something so that he might somehow find calm. But Celestine, seeing through his fury, had talked him down and then guided him into opening up about his past.
It hadn’t been a particularly deep revelation. Rather, it was a confession of why he had bought his gaming hell in the first place, and what he’d hoped to gain. No lies. No misdirects. Just the truth. What was more, he had wanted her to hear it, to know that he was not as bad as so many people thought.
It should not matter that I told her. But it does…
He went limp suddenly, but that did not concern him.
Edward had spent this marriage convinced that his feelings for Celestine were purely physical. That was easy. That allowed him to ignore the shame that he knew he ought not to feel. Never having wanted to marry in the first place, it felt like a betrayal to suddenly be glad that it had happened. But that was no longer the case.
Lying in bed, Edward pictured Celestine’s face last night when he had opened to her. He pictured her smile, her soft words, her calm and gentle easing of his anger. She hadn’t pleasured him with her mouth because she had been so incredibly drawn to him, unable to control her urges. She had done so because she cared for him. Just as he cared for her…
Not so long ago, such a revelation might have struck fear into Edward. But that was no more. Weeks of marriage, weeks of happiness, weeks of finally seeing what his life might be if he allowed it, and Edward was now able to admit that his feelings for Celestine were beyond where they started.
Damnation, he was falling for her! And that wasn’t such a bad thing.
With that in mind, Edward quickly rose from bed. He had a bath drawn, hurried to clean himself, and then dressed for breakfast with the intent of meeting his wife. He was excited to do so, wanting to spend time with her. What was more, he wanted her to see that he did.
“Good morning.” He greeted Celestine as he strode into the breakfast room. She sat at the end of the table and upon seeing him enter, her smile was like the sun. “How did we sleep?”
“Very well,” she said. “And yourself?”
Edward very nearly went to her so he might greet her with a kiss. But he resisted that urge, thinking that they were not quite readyfor that yet. Still, he smiled as he walked to the head of the table, and he held it on her as he sat.
“Like a baby,” he said. “One of those sleeps I did not want to wake up from.”
“Oh…” A coy smile. “Were you having a nice dream?”
He returned that coy smile with his own. “A very nice one. I might tell you of it but…” He took note of the footman hovering in the corner, and he dropped his breath. “Such things are not appropriate.”
She blushed furiously and Edward chuckled.
“I am glad to see that your good mood has returned,” she started once she recovered. “In truth, had it not, I feel that I might have found a cure.”
He frowned at the comment. “What do you mean?”
“Concerning what we spoke of last evening,” she explained. “Millicent and Lord Grundon.” Celestine scoffed when she spoke his name. “I spent much of last night thinking about it, and I think that I might have found a solution.”
“You have?” He blinked in surprise.
“I hope so,” she said. “Of course, that will be for you to decide.”
Edward looked at his wife with utmost surprise. While she had promised last evening to try and help him, he had not considered that she would follow through. At least not so quickly. Once again, it was impossible to deny how much she cared about Millicent, and him also. More than that, she cared about their marriage.
This marriage… it has become so much more than either of us expected. And that is not nearly such a bad thing at all.
“The problem is Millicent,” Celestine explained. “She is young, excitable. It is her first Season, so she does not know what to expect. I remember my first Season, how determined I was to make it count, not willing to consider that it would end without being a success.”
“She is rather stubborn about it, isn’t she,” he sighed. “Perhaps I am to blame? Raising her expectations as I did.”
