“With this ring, I thee wed, with my body, I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods, I thee endow. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
He gently slipped the ring onto her finger and held onto her hand as they went down on their knees for the prayer. All the while, Silas imagined their life together from the moment they had met up until this point. He remembered how much he disliked her when she challenged him about his horse, how irritated he felt when she refused to listen to him and how she seemed to grate on every nerve of his.
And then, little by little, he learned to care for someone else besides himself and learned to listen. To love. And now, hewould get to spend an eternity with the precious soul who essentially saved his life. For the longest time, he had felt wretched, perhaps even cursed. But Agnes had come to him as a blessing, and now, she was his, as he was hers.
She turned to him slightly and gave his hand a light squeeze as though she could feel his thoughts and echoed the same sentiment, and not for the first time that day, Silas looked forward to their future together.
Agnes stared at the shiny silver band on her finger, somehow still in disbelief, even though the event had ended hours ago.
She had done it. She had married the love of her life. She now had a husband.
For the umpteenth time that day, tears filled her eyes, and she sniffled, shuffling closer to her husband’s side. His arm wrapped around her immediately, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead gently.
“Love, your tears are breaking my heart.”
“But they’re happy tears!” she exclaimed, pouting as he wiped her cheeks.
“They are a little worrisome because you seemingly have been crying on and off since the ceremony ended.” He pouted back, leaning in to kiss the corner of her lips.
“Silas,” she scolded, glancing down the corridor that led to the ballroom where they were heading for their dinner party. “Not in public.”
“Oh, so you would rather I kiss you privately? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Come along then.”
Before she could realize that something was afoot, he had steered her away from the direction they had been walking to and was instead leading her to his bedroom.
“S-Silas! Our dinner!”
“Don’t worry,” he grinned over his shoulder, “I bet they won't even miss us.”
She glared at him playfully. “I hardly think that is possible – given it is our wedding day and that dinner party is being thrown in our honor.”
He pulled her into the room, shut the door and pressed her against it, kissing her slow and sweet. As quickly as ever, she melted against him, heart fluttering as his tongue teased hers.
“I’m sure we will be forgiven. It is, after all, our wedding night. I think this is much more important, don’t you?”
His hands held onto her waist, keeping her pressed flushed to him as his lips worked over her throat, leaving little kisses and sucking bruises onto her fair skin.
“I-I suppose… you’re right,” she sighed, pulling his lips back to hers.
He smiled into the kiss and lifted her into his arms, carrying her to his bed. Delicately, he deposited her on top of it to sit by the edge and dropped to his knees. The sight of him like that caused her heartbeat to quicken, her skin itching with the desire for him to possess her, just as she had thought about for days on end.
He lifted her left foot and took off her shoe, repeating the process again before looking up at her, so breathtakingly handsome as he leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers once, twice before they latched onto her neck again. His hands skittered over her sides and went to her back, his nimble fingers undoing her buttons with ease. When they had all been opened, he took her by the hand so she could stand and helped her ease off the dress.
Even though they had done… other things before, for some reason, she felt more embarrassed at this moment, standing in her undergarments and stockings. He took her hands and rested them on his shoulders, tilting her chin upwards so he could kiss her a little as he asked,
“Help me too?”
She was more than happy to oblige, undoing the buttons of his waistcoat as he toed off his shoes and began to work on ridding himself of his breeches. This was much more different from the moments they had shared in his study – softer, warmer and more delicate. He clearly wished to take his time with her, and as much as it made her feel embarrassed, it also thrilled her to know that he would still ravish her thoroughly.
Soon, they fell into bed together, their hands roaming their bare bodies as they kissed. Her hands found purchase on his shoulders, occasionally running up and down his arms, fascinated by the strong muscles she had longed to see. They seemed to ripple beneath her touch, tensing and relaxing with each appreciative caress and squeeze, and it pleased her to know that she could affect him as much as he affected her.
“You are so incredibly beautiful,” he mumbled, kissing down her chest to her breast, momentarily relishing in how she arched off the bed when he took a nipple into his mouth. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this… things I’ve wanted to do.”
“Show me, then,” she told him with a gasp, one of her hands coming up to tangle in his hair. “You have me now. So show me just what you wanted to do to me.”
His gaze bore down on her, heavy with molten desire, and he smirked as his fingers sneakily dipped between her legs, deeply reaching into her wet heat, ripping a moan from her lips.
“Don’t worry, darling. I fully intend to,” he promised, dipping his head to continue sucking on her breasts.