Chapter XXIV

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Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire

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Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire

Edward didn't even bother to change out of his riding clothes and instead he made a beeline for Charlotte's chambers, wanting to see her right away.

He found her sitting in a chair, reading a book only for her to drop the book and clutch her stomach tightly.

"Charlotte!" Edward exclaimed, worried, racing to her side. Yes, she looked healthier, but he remembered how hard the first few months of the pregnancy had been on her body, how she had almost lost the child. "Should I get Dr. Hatteclyffe?"

"No, no, here, feel this," Charlotte demanded, grabbing his hand and putting it on her firm stomach. Within seconds, the King felt a thump against his palm and he gasped in awe.

"Now that was a powerful kick," Edward declared with a grin. "Our child must be strong."

"Just like his father," Charlotte said, lying her hand on his. "Soon we shall have our son."

"The prince England has been waiting so long for," Edward agreed, kissing her lips before kissing her belly.

"Our very own Prince of Wales," Charlotte declared, smiling softly.

"And we will be able to announce our marriage," Edward said urgently. With a baby boy at Charlotte's breast, few would dare protest their union. The council was already coming over to his side, on the argument that first they needed to stabilize the kingdom before actually looking for a foreign queen. His sons and daughters could marry to forge alliances.

"We will call him Edmund or perhaps a name that no other king has had," Charlotte said, meeting his eyes, almost daring him to challenge her.

"Well, we have until April to decide," he reminded her, smiling softly, his eyes were shining with excitement and joy. "We'll decide once he is born."

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Charlotte was pacing in her chambers, wondering where Edward could be at such an hour. Since he had arrived, he had promised he'd spend every night with her, but it was nearing midnight by now and he had not appeared yet.

The door to their chambers creaked open, a clearly tipsy Edward stumbling inside. He gave Charlotte a cheeky smile which she returned with a scowl.

"I've been worried sick, Edward. You've been gone for hours. What could you have possibly done for the past six hours to disappear without telling me?" Charlotte was playing the wounded wife, filled with a combination of worry as well as betrayal as she questioned him, her hand firmly settled on the swell of her belly.

In fact, it did not require much acting. The idea of him going to another's bed was one she had long since resigned herself to, but it was not one she liked.

"Forgive me for visiting a tavern. I didn't think I needed your permission to enjoy some pastimes," Edward was in a playful mood, not realizing that Charlotte was about to unleash her anger on him.

"Does that include whoring and gambling?" Charlotte responded bitterly. Her sharp eyes pierced him to the spot, Edward's joking mood disappearing in the blink of an eye. It was replaced with one of defensiveness, a green haze of disbelief appearing in his orbs.

"You think so low of me?" Edward asked, wounded. "I am not such a fickle man to turn my attentions onto other women while you are heavy with my child," he plopped himself down on the edge of their bed, lazily taking his boots off and shrugging off his jacket to reveal the white shirt beneath.

"What else am I to think? With you returning at such a late hour and your senses clearly clouded by drink?" Charlotte spoke exasperatedly.

Edward suddenly rose to his feet, making a direct beeline for her. She was taken aback by his aggressiveness, helpless as he backed her against the wall and trapped her between his arms. She could feel his hot breath against her face. "Do you have any idea how hard it is day in and day out to keep my hands to myself? To play the proper husband while all I think about is taking you everywhere? In the stables, on my desk, in the gardens, in our bed? Do you?"

Charlotte let out a small gasp, her whole body tingling. She was frozen against the wall, the stone almost cutting into her back as Edward used his pointer finger to lightly touch her neck, followed by her collar bone, and finally the top of her breasts. But it wasn't just there that she felt him. She felt him everywhere, touching her on every part of her body, and then she nearly collapsed as his mouth latched onto a sensitive part of her neck.

"If you want me to stop, then all you have to do is tell me," he muttered softly into her ear.

Edward was met with a lustful gaze, Charlotte's hazel eyes beckoning him further as she grasped the collar of his shirt.

"Don't," she replied, as she finally gave into her instincts and crashed her lips on his. She wanted to kiss him until reason was far from her mind, until the only thing she was conscious of was what she desired to do to him. She was receptive to the touch of his hands roaming over every inch of her body, practically ripping at her laces and tearing the fabric from her body to lay in shreds at her feet.

Charlotte stood completely naked before him, Edward studying her ripe body intently before kneeling and kissing every inch of her swollen belly, his hands going up and down her thighs.

He picked her up with one arm while his hand pulled her hair back, moving his face from her stomach to her breasts. She couldn't understand how he carried her so easily to the bed when he only used one arm, but he barely showed signs of stress from the effort as he threw both of their bodies on the bed.

They wrestled his clothes off, Charlotte eagerly running her hands over his newly naked body as she straddled him. His lips went over the length of her body, moving slowly down her stomach, and kissing just above her pubic bone. His eyes were hooded as he looked up at her, slipping two fingers inside her wet folds.

Charlotte felt the pressure of his warm fingers, a silent moan forming on her lips. She bucked her hips down, feeling Edward's strong hands inside her and running over her body. He removed his fingers, Charlotte starting to protest, but then she felt fuller than before, realizing that he had entered her and wrapped her legs tightly around his middle.

Edward ever so slightly leaned his forehead against hers, feeling her contract around him, her muscles massaging him softly. He cursed silently, Charlotte seeing his lips mouth the words, but he never spoke them. She sank down further and let out a moan, starting to feel her peak come over her as his thrusts became more rapid and frantic, signaling his own.

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