Chapter 16

Two days later, Alessandra sat

in her room with people all around her, fussing over her hair and

her gown, making everything look perfect. Inside herself, all she

could think about was seeing Edward again. The strongest thought

was how she would soon sleep beside him as his wife. The idea both

excited her and scared her.

Before leaving to go to the

chapel, her mother requested everyone leave the room so she could

have some time alone with her daughter.

"Are you worried about

tonight?" she asked quietly.

Alessandra shook her head. "No,

Mother. I know it is my duty to bear children."

Her mother looked embarrassed

and like she was trying to formulate the right words in her head,

before speaking.

"The … act …

it is something that I know many women do not enjoy and do only for

their husband's pleasure or to conceive a child, but Alessandra, it

can be pleasurable also. There is no shame in enjoying what you

will share with your husband, and if it is not pleasurable, do not

keep quiet about it. Talk to him , and work together in that part of your marriage," she

said, looking extremely flustered. "Many would disagree with me

telling you this, but I have had too many friends who have talked

about it as though it was the most disagreeable thing in the world,

and yet I know that it does not have to be that way. I will say no

more about it as it is making you and I both uncomfortable. Edward

will be good to you. I know he will."

Alessandra hugged her mother

and enjoyed what she knew might be the last time she would see her

for a long while.

"Mother, you

have chosen well for me , and

I thank you for not pressuring me, but I am happy."

~~~~~

Two hours later, Edward

and Alessandra stood at the altar in the small chapel, both eager

to get through the ceremony so they could be pronounced husband and

wife at last. Finally, it was all over and they were walking out of

the chapel with dried rose petals being thrown over them by the

bucketful, making them both laugh in their happiness. With the

chapel being on the estate land, it was a short walk back to the

house. Edward and Alessandra walked side by side while holding

hands.

As Alessandra looked at

her husband, she felt a desire and need to spend time with him

alone, away from the masses of people who had watched the ceremony.

She regretted it would be hours before she and Edward would be able

to be in private.

Edward felt the same

inside of him. Even holding her hand was enough to make him feel

somewhat excited at the prospect of the two of them being alone and

in the private confines of what would be their marriage bed.

Desperate to not let those thoughts keep taking over his mind, he

had to keep talking to people about anything except his wife and

upcoming marriage night.

~~~~~

After much feasting and

festivity, the time came when the young couple would leave everyone

else and be alone together. Alessandra was taken to a new room,

away from what had been her bedchamber since she'd arrived in the

manor house. There, Margaret helped her to undress from her gown

and get into a nightdress. She had become a regular support and

help to Alessandra in previous weeks, and, despite their age

difference, the closest person Alessandra regarded as a friend.

As Margaret stood behind the

young woman and brushed out her long hair, Alessandra let her mind

wander to the night ahead.

Margaret could sense everything

and so remained quiet. Finally, she helped Alessandra into the

large bed in the room, said goodnight, and left the new bride

alone.

Alessandra sat up in the bed

with the covers pulled up over her chest, not sure what she should

do.

In another room, across

the hall, Edward was similarly prepared and put into a nightshirt,

before being led into the marital room, and the door was silently

closed behind him. He felt vulnerable in only a nightshirt. When he

laid his eyes on Alessandra, he could see she was just as

apprehensive. After climbing into the bed and lying down beside

her, he faced her as she moved downward and lay facing him also.

They didn't touch. For a long while, they just looked at each

other.

"My wife," Edward finally

said, taking in what she looked like with her hair out.

Alessandra smiled at

him meekly. "My husband."

He returned the smile as

they both thought of ways to remedy the discomfort they

felt.

"You are so beautiful," he

said, reaching his hand out to touch her cheek and hair.

Alessandra,

feeling an overwhelming surge

of emotion, leaned in slowly to kiss him on the lips, just as they

had already done so many times. They didn't move for anything more,

just enjoying kissing as they lay facing each other but not

touching any other part of their bodies.

Edward felt that part of him

grow. He understood it was necessary for the conception of a child,

but still disliked that his body reacted so harshly when he wanted

to take things slowly and find his way as they both felt

comfortable with.

Kissing him more and more,

Alessandra felt a strong longing to be closer to him. She moved

forward so that she could put her arms around him and hold him

while they kissed. As the gap closed between them, she felt it,

rigid and hard against her stomach.

"Oh!" she said before thinking.

She saw Edward blush considerably, even in the dim light of the

room.

Edward remembered that she

hadn't grown up on a farm and possibly didn't know the mechanics of

how mating was performed. He then found himself wondering what to

say or do, but with her inquisitive mind, he wasn't surprised to

find she was completely open in her questioning and wonder.

"Are you always like

that?" she asked timidly, but also with the confidence that told

Edward she would view the two of them joining, just as she did

learning to ride a horse or learning to run a household. She had an

amazing ability to compartmentalise learning as something to ask

questions about until she understood it.

He initially found the

discomfort at his embarrassment unbearable. He then remembered how

Alessandra had been when she'd first come to his home, and how hard

she'd fought with herself to get over that.

"No, but always when I am

kissing you," he said quietly, stroking her cheek and watching her

face.

"That is what … you will

… put into me, to make a child?" Alessandra asked, feeling her face

grow even more heated, but determined to question and

learn.

"Yes."

"May I … may I look at

you?" she asked, shocking Edward in the process. After a moment, he

realised he didn't want his body to always be a source of

embarrassment so he should view her question as an opportunity to

help things seem easier between them.

"Yes," he replied and

gulped heavily. He watched her face as she pushed back the covers

that were over him. She then raised his nightshirt enough to be

able to see him.

Having read

novels, Alessandra had gained

some understanding from them about how the process of conception

worked. When she looked at that part of Edward, she was surprised

at how it looked.

"May I touch you?" she

asked, tentatively.

"Yes."

Alessandra reached down with

her hand and let her fingertips run over him, until a moan escaped

from him, making her pull her hand back.

"I'm sorry!" she said.

"Does that hurt?"

Edward felt awkward but surged

ahead in his feigned confidence.

"No, quite

the opposite, Alessandra ," he

said. "When you touched me, it felt wonderful, like I have not felt

before."

Alessandra placed her

fingers back on him, moving them over him while watching his face

and listening to him moan again. She saw him open his eyes and look

at her before he leaned in and kissed her. She boldly closed her

hand around him while she enjoyed the kissing he was indulging her

in. They didn't stay like that for long before Edward pulled away

from the kiss.

"Oh … Alessandra, I do not know

what is happening, but I feel … oh … do not stop," he moaned at her

and closed his eyes.

Alessandra continued her

fondling and then, all of a sudden, heard him sound as if he was in

great pain, as he moaned loudly and his body seemed to convulse.

She then realised that a considerable amount of wetness had escaped

him, and was all over her hand and nightgown. Surprised by what had

happened, she watched his face, worried that she'd done something

wrong and hurt him. When he opened his eyes, she saw him look

content and then smile.

"Are you alright?" she

asked and saw him laugh softly.

"I have never felt

anything like that," Edward said. "I do not even know how to

explain it. It was like a volcano building to an eruption, and then

a release."

Edward

kissed her again, making her melt in

her longing before Alessandra pulled away and brought up her hand,

covered in moisture.

"This is what

makes a baby?" she

asked.

Edward

looked at her hand, embarrassed, but

nodded.

"I

believe so," he said before gently

wiping her hand, and then raising it to his mouth to kiss

it.

"Do you think you could

have the same feeling in you, as you just made me feel?" he asked,

curious.

"I do not know. Do you

think it can be as nice for a woman?" Alessandra asked, remembering

how her mother had told her that some women found the act

distasteful and awful, while at the same time implying that it was

not like that at all.

"Alessandra," Edward

found the confidence to ask. "May I see you?"

Alessandra nodded

slowly at his question, then watched as he pushed the cover back on

her side of the bed.

Edward slowly raised her

nightgown to above her hips. He had no idea about the female form,

and wanted to explore.

"May I touch you?" he

asked and saw her nod again.

He tentatively reached

his fingers out and touched the top of her thigh and the hair that

was visible. It was all tucked away, he realised, so he did not

know what he could touch - if anything. He slowly caressed the area

as lightly as he could, and heard her breathing change.

"You will tell me if I

hurt you," he said to her.

"Yes,"

Alessandra answered, revelling in the new sensations that came from

feeling Edward's fingertips move across her skin.

As he caressed more, Alessandra felt

a natural desire to open her thighs slightly.

Edward moved

his hand between them, feeling more and more , down and around where the hair was growing. As

he let his fingers move inwards of what felt like lips to him, he

heard a quiet 'oh' escape from Alessandra's lips. Edward looked at

her face. She was looking right into his eyes, with the same look

he had seen on her face sometimes when they had kissed.

"There," she whispered.

He looked to see the location

she seemed to want him to touch and moved his finger back and forth

across the small pea-like piece of skin he could feel. He watched

her face and could see her excitement.

"Keep going," Alessandra

whispered, encouraging him to continue.

As he

did, Edward felt himself

growing again in the excitement he was also

experiencing.

"Oh, Edward … something

is … oh!" he heard her moan as she seemed to also convulse before

him. He watched her face as she relaxed back and finally opened her

eyes and looked at him. When Alessandra suddenly started to giggle,

Edward smiled even more.

"I

believe that, yes, that can happen

to men and women," she said between giggles.

They lay together for a while

in silence before she spoke again.

"It will be expected that

I will become with child, to give you an heir," she said

quietly.

"Yes, my parents would expect

that," Edward replied.

"But this is not how we

can make a baby," she said.

"That is true."

"Edward?" she asked and

saw him turn his head to look at her closely. "Must we rush for me

to become with child? Might we take some time to further get to

know each other like this first? When my brother's wife conceived,

I overheard my brother talking about how he then had to sleep apart

from her until some time after the baby was born. Could we perhaps

not rush to that?"

Edward heard her words and

pleasantly agreed with her.

"I would like

to get to know you more before we bring a little person into the world," he said and kissed her

again, making her melt and move closer again, to find him hard once

more.

"Can I touch you again?"

she asked, prompting Edward to laugh softly at her.

"I think so," he said quietly

before she resumed touching him with her hand once again, making

him excited until he again climaxed.

Both of them felt the effects

of such a long day. Edward pulled her into his arms and held her

until he felt her drift off to sleep, after which he did the same,

silently thanking his mother once again for choosing his wife.