The Happy Marriage of Rosannah Winthrop (Completed)

Ch 8 - New Sisters

Copyright VedaPettigrew

Rosannah awoke the next morning with her husband curled around her. His embrace was so tight it bordered on uncomfortable but having his arms wrapped about her waist and under her neck was heavenly.

The delicious pressure from his frame behind her went from the bottom of her feet to the crown of her head. No part was left cold. She wriggled in his warmth, delighting that he sought reassurance in her body. His chest provided pleasurably solid stability for her back, making her wonder how she ever managed to sleep without it.

Morning light brought with it a new freshness to her spirit. She breathed deeply, enjoying the crisp smell in the air that only came after a storm, yet wishing she was waking up at Amblethorpe and sniffing the scent of rich, earthy peat enhanced by heavy rains.

Her movements alerted Henry and he loosened his grip on her, mumbling a sleepy apology into her hair. She turned in his arms and tangled her legs in his, pressing her lips to his neck. His soft sigh encouraged her to continue. She caressed his jawline with her teeth, slightly nibbling the bristly edge - he groaned. She kissed his ear, licking the shell and sucking the lobe playfully into her warm mouth.

Suddenly he lunged, twisting her to lie flat on her back, and loomed over her with a simulated fierce look.

She merely smiled serenely and licked her bottom lip before tugging it between her teeth. He growled at her, watching the movement of her tongue as his eyes flared heatedly. She tried to move her hands to his broad chest, but he held her wrists firmly, with a sardonic smile.

Pouting, she wiggled her hips suggestively, he responded by dropping his head and plundering her mouth with his tongue.

She lifted her head eagerly, he could never be close enough. She moaned in his mouth as his tongue sent sparks exploding through her whole body. His fingers flexed on her wrists and she wrapped her legs around his middle, drawing him against her.

She really could not do without their morning activities she thought earnestly as his hand left one of her wrists and started determinedly exploring her body.

Too soon it seemed, they were sitting at the dining table breaking their fast. Today marked the beginning of a return to normality; she was to receive guests and he was to see to some business.

She was enthusiastic to spend some time with Sophia. They had planned that she would arrive late morning so that Henry would have a chance to see her at lunch. Then she would stay to sit with Rosannah for the afternoon rounds.

Sophia was one year older than Rosannah but they had not met during the season because Sophia had been away in Europe. Purportedly the trip had been to develop her artistic talent but Rosannah had been unable to avoid hearing rumours of a scandal involving a none-too-polite refusal of marriage she gave to a duke four times her age. Her aunt had offered her a place by her side on her Spring Tour and hastened her away very soon afterwards.

Fortunately, before her sooner-than-expected return to attend her brother's unexpected wedding, other scandals had been brought to light which made hers fade from popular gossip into something that would only be brought up occasionally.

Rosannah was glad of it, for Sophie seemed as kind as Henry, though a lot more girlish and free. She looked at her husband eating his toast with one hand, holding a newspaper in the other, and giggled inside at the mere thought that he could be girlish. He was a stalwart, strong and dependable, gentlemanly to the core and she marvelled that he was hers.